The grey area between a diet and an eating disorder
In this episode, we delve into the concept of Orthorexia, a fixation on eating healthily and an obsession with body image, which can lead to extreme behaviors and eating disorders like Anorexia.
The episode begins by asking listeners to visualise a pie chart describing who they are. This guide provides an understanding of how your thinking patterns can be dominated by food, weight, and body image. This exercise helps gauge the extent of your obsession and its impact on mental health and lifestyle.
Using intriguing statistics, the episode assesses time spent worrying about body image over a lifetime. This analysis reveals how a seemingly small percentage of your day spent stressing over body image accumulates over the years, encroaching on valuable time that could be spent on more meaningful pursuits.
The episode then introduces Orthorexia, explaining its place in the spectrum between dieting and Anorexia. In the process, the impacts on mental health, social interaction, and daily life are explained. The factors differentiating a healthy, conscious eater from an Orthorexic, including signs such as emotional distress when rules are broken and avoidance of social situations that do not match their strict diet, are discussed.
Critiques of societal normalization of Orthorexia, the tendency to equate thinness with health and the role of faulty perceptions in the manifestation of weight-related mental health issues also form part of this discussion. The conversation ends with an introspective message: It pushes listeners to evaluate whether a relentless pursuit of a healthy body at the cost of mental wellbeing and life-enriching experiences is worthwhile.
In addition to this deep dive into Orthorexia, listeners are invited to explore resources, including a Change Your Relationship with Food course and a journal/workbook available on Amazon. The online course is designed to help you reassess your relationship with food and understand it from a different perspective.
Kyla Holley is the Director of the Australian Centre for Eating Behaviour www.acfeb.com
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