When the pandemic started, I was working on a new program that consisted of a very regimented eating plan and long, difficult strength training workouts. I had already accomplished my "fitness goals" with other programs and was ready to take on the next challenge. With the additional time due to things shutting down, I felt it was a good time to go for it.
In the past 3-4 years I thought I had found my calling with being a health coach and highly structured workouts. It filled the void that sports used to for me. I would begin each day at 4:30 am with a "perfectly" portioned and balanced breakfast mapped out by my plan, wait an hour for it to digest, then complete my 5:30 am hour long workout. The workouts were super hard, but they seemed worth it since it was giving me the body I had always dreamed of.
I did this for a month or so when I started to notice that I was beginning to be in pain every day. I didn't seem to be recovering like I would expect from following the program down the to very last detail.
Around the same time, while listening to a podcast that I liked, they mentioned a different podcast that was two dietitians, who talked all about issues, surrounding eating, exercise, and health and wellness culture. Things they were talking about started to resonate with me like feeling like I was a slave to my diet plan, or that I felt like I could never take a day off. (The podcast, now called "What the Actual Fork", is one I would still highly recommend!) They brought up this condition called "Orthorexia". While not formally listed in the DSM, it is becoming a more widely recognized condition meaning an obsession with healthy eating and considered a form of a disordered eating, if not a full blown eating disorder (Nationaleatingdisorders.org). The more they explained, the deeper I listened. They were describing my day to day life. What began as a mission to be "healthy and fit" grew into an obsession where at one point, I was about 20 lbs lower than my baseline (healthy) weight I was when I started.
One study found that 75% of women between 25-45 have some form of disordered eating and about 10% would meet criteria for a clinically diagnosed eating disorder. A 2019 study-25% of men between 18-24 also have disordered eating. (Tribole and Resch, IE Pro Series).
According to the Academy of nutrition and dietetics, "Disordered eating is used to describe a range of irregular eating behaviors that may or may not warrant a diagnosis of a specific eating disorder." Many times, if left untreated or unrecognized, disordered eating can progress into a clinically diagnosable eating disorder.
I think it's really important to understand the signs of disordered eating. If I had not identified them in myself, I fear I could have developed an eating disorder or even passed along the behaviors to my children.
Directly from the National Eating Disorder Association's website:
"Signs and symptoms of disordered eating may include, but are not limited to:
• Frequent dieting, anxiety associated with specific foods or meal skipping
• Chronic weight fluctuations
• Rigid rituals and routines surrounding food and exercise
• Feelings of guilt and shame associated with eating
• Preoccupation with food, weight and body image that negatively impacts quality of life
• A feeling of loss of control around food, including compulsive eating habits
• Using exercise, food restriction, fasting or purging to "make up for bad foods" consumed
Detrimental consequences can include a greater risk of obesity and eating disorders, bone loss, gastrointestinal disturbances, electrolyte and fluid imbalances, low heart rate and blood pressure, increased anxiety, depression and social isolation."
From Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
For more information or guidance on finding support, visit The National Eating Disorder Association website https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/
Reach out to your healthcare provider if you're having concerns as Orthorexia can very likely go unnoticed as the behaviors fit within our weight obsessed society's version of the "ideal lifestyle" when in reality they can be really dangerous.
I hope this sheds some light on the darker side of health and wellness culture. While striving to incorporate healthy habits is great, just like anything, when taken to the extreme can be not so good anymore. As always, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend time with me thinking about unpopular opinions 😂
Take care!
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