Eating and body image concerns can exist along a spectrum…

Flexible Eating & Body Trust

  • Listening to body’s cues

  • Food is not a major source of stress

  • Variety & flexibility

  • Eating for pleasure, celebration, social connection and nutrition

  • Intuitive eating

Food Rules & Dieting

  • Restrictive diets

  • Food is “good/healthy” or “bad/unhealthy”

  • Weight loss culture

  • Tracking & control

Disordered Eating

  • Chronic dieting

  • Weight cycling

  • Emotional eating

  • Food guilt & shame

  • Compulsive exercise

  • Skipping meals

  • Obsessive calorie counting

  • Self-worth defined by weight

Impairment & Distress

  • Thoughts about food, eating, weight & body image take up large portions of the day

  • Increasing anxiety around eating in both private and social settings

  • Avoiding social events that involve food

  • Significant guilt & shame when unable to follow preferred eating patterns

  • Feeling trapped or controlled by food rules, rituals or compensatory behaviors

Clinical Eating Disorders

  • Anorexia Nervosa

  • Bulimia Nervosa

  • Binge Eating Disorder

  • Orthorexia

  • OSFED

  • ARFID

We can move back and fourth along the spectrum in both directions, influenced by many factors…

What moves us towards flexible eating?

  • Feeling seen, heard and accepted

  • Kindness, self-acceptance, reducing self-criticism

  • Seeing diverse bodies represented

  • Learning accurate information about nutrition, biology and the harm of diet culture

  • Consistent, structured eating and meeting energy and nutritional requirements

  • Counselling, dietetic support, family & friends

  • Rest, sleep, recovery, mindfulness, connection with others, coping tools for emotional regulation

What moves us towards disordered eating?

  • Comparison, idealized images, wellness culture

  • Weight-loss messaging, food rules, focus on weight instead of health

  • School, work, finances, uncertainty, perfectionism

  • Grief, trauma, divorce, bullying and teasing, major life transitions, weight stigma, systemic discrimination

  • Aesthetic sports, weight-class sports, high performance environments, competition

  • Weight-focused comments, family dieting, conflict, pressure to succeed

  • ADHD, autism, sensory sensitivities, executive functioning challenges

  • Food allergies, chronic illness, GI disorders, appetite changes

When to seek support

You don’t need a diagnosis to seek support.

You don’t need to be in crisis to seek support.

If food, eating, weight or body image are causing distress, taking up significant mental space, affecting your relationship or reducing your quality of life, I am here to help.

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