Disordered eating refers to experiencing a preoccupation with food, dieting, weight, and body size. Unfortunately, disordered eating is extremely prevalent in our image-obsessed society, and we often normalize some of these problematic behaviors without realizing it.
That said, certain habits can cause significant distress to your mental and physical health.
These patterns can also create a dangerous pathway toward developing a clinical eating disorder.
Here are some warning signs to look out for:
Constantly Classifying Foods as 'Good' or 'Bad'
Do you frequently find yourself saying things like, I shouldn't have eaten that, or, I ate so badly this weekend, or, I'm really going to try to eat well at this party?
These classifications may seem harmless (because they're socially acceptable), but labeling foods often exacerbates stress when planning meals or enjoying what you eat.
People with disordered eating patterns often demonize certain foods as 'bad.' When they eat those foods, they may experience guilt, shame, and excessive anxiety.
Frequently Losing Control Over Eating
Disordered eating often includes some restrictive behaviors. For example, you may fear gaining weight, and that fear causes you to limit certain foods or engage in compensatory behaviors, like excessive exercise.
Things might feel 'fine' if they're perfectly controlled. But one taste of a forbidden food might send you on a compulsive eating or binge eating spiral. As a result, you often feel like you're living in this rigid all-or-nothing state.
Isolating Yourself From Others Due to Eating Behaviors
Do you ever avoid seeing friends because you're worried about what food they might serve?
Disordered eating may coincide with social isolation. And even if you make an effort to spend time with loved ones, you may feel distracted. Instead of connecting, you're focused on your body weight, food intake, or others noticing your irregular eating behaviors.
Using Appetite Suppressants
Do you automatically reach for a cup of coffee when your stomach is grumbling and ready for a snack? Or do you chain-smoke to skip meals?
Some people with disordered eating habits abuse caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, or diet pills to suppress their appetite. However, these suppressants all have side effects and serious health risks. Furthermore, extreme restrictions related to food intake often perpetuate issues with perfectionism and control.
Experiencing Constant and Persistent Body Dissatisfaction
91% of women report feeling unhappy with their bodies. Young adults and female athletes, in particular, are susceptible to body image issues.
Of course, body dissatisfaction doesn't automatically translate to eating disorder behaviors. But if you eat in response to how you feel about your body, that might be a cause for concern. If your weight, for example, dictates what you choose to eat (or not eat), you risk ignoring what your body really needs for nourishment.
Constantly Going on Fad Diets
Eliminating entire food groups have taken the spotlight in recent years. If you've dabbled with the keto, veganism, or gluten-free trend (without having a legitimate medical reason for doing so), you may be a yo-yo dieter.
But research overwhelmingly shows that diets don't work. Despite their efforts, most people actually gain weight. In addition, you may develop the emotional signs of disordered eating due to the obsessive nature of these rigid diets.
Intense Focus on Healthy Eating
There's nothing wrong with caring about nutrition and wanting what's best for your body. But some people take it to the extreme and develop orthorexic tendencies. Although it's not formally diagnosed in the DSM, orthorexia refers to an obsessive focus on healthy eating.
Someone with orthorexia:
avoids or limits foods that aren't deemed nutritious or 'clean' enough
obsesses about their health to the point where it affects their daily routine
feels immense anxiety if they consume foods they deem as unsafe
Using Exercise to Combat Eating
You know that regular physical activity is good for you physically and emotionally. But if you use exercise as a form of punishment or as a way to compensate for your eating behaviors, the pattern may be more problematic.
Some signs of excessive exercise include:
exercising despite injuries, extreme soreness, or fatigue
consistently forgoing other social activities to exercise
exercising solely as a way of managing weight with the intention of burning a certain amount of calories
Lying to Healthcare Professionals
Deceit and secrecy can coincide with disordered eating behaviors. You might find yourself lying about how much you eat. If you engage in behaviors like bingeing, purging, or restrictive eating, you might feel ashamed to share these struggles with a professional.
This doesn't make you a bad person. But if you find yourself downplaying or boldly lying to people who want to help you, that's a warning sign that you may struggle more than you realize.
Trying to Control Other People's Eating Behaviors
Do you ever find yourself obsessing over how other people eat? Maybe you get upset when your toddler refuses food or when your partner overeats at a dinner party. Perhaps you get extremely jealous or competitive when it comes to weight loss.
Some people with disordered eating patterns project unhealthy behaviors onto other people. That's because it's easier to focus on someone else than yourself!
Occasionally Engaging in Anorexic or Bulimic Behaviors
Maybe you engage in self-induced vomiting "every so often." Or you restrict meals whenever you feel stressed. Or you occasionally plan cheat days that escalate into a full-blown binge. But you rationalize these behaviors because you don't do them frequently enough to warrant an official eating disorder diagnosis.
Even if that's true, if you exhibit disordered eating behaviors, you may sabotage your well-being more than you realize. Even if you do so infrequently, engaging in any of these patterns heightens your risk for emotional and physical distress.
Feeling Increasingly Depressed or Anxious
Disordered eating can coincide with or exacerbate other mental health conditions. For example, feeling like you must engage in specific food rituals often drives anxiety. And depression may trigger appetite changes, causing you to skip meals, binge eat, or develop an unrealistic body image.
Many people use disordered eating behaviors to self-medicate their mental health symptoms. These strategies may provide temporary relief. But in the long term, they often cause more problems.
Final Thoughts
Disordered eating often causes significant distress to your overall quality of life. These behaviors can also escalate into an eating disorder like anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder. Even if they don't, it can feel agonizing to live in a way that feels so imbalanced or obsessive.
Therapy can help you better understand your triggers and behaviors. It can also help you develop healthier coping skills to manage your stress. Contact me today to learn more.
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