December 2, 2024 • 43 mins
In today's episode, we go over...
- Introduction: Overeating vs. Undereating
- Overeating gets more attention, but undereating poses significant risks.
- Importance of addressing the physical and mental health impacts of eating too little.
- What is Undereating?
- Consistently eating fewer calories than the body needs.
- Often unintentional, influenced by stress, dieting, or busy schedules.
- Signs of Undereating
- Physical Symptoms: Fatigue, hair loss, cold intolerance, weakened immunity, digestive issues.
- Mental Symptoms: Mood swings, anxiety, difficulty concentrating.
- Behavioral Patterns: Skipping meals, over-reliance on caffeine, obsessive thoughts about food.
- Risks of Chronic Undereating
- Hormonal imbalances, weakened immunity, and loss of bone density.
- Slowed metabolism and long-term health consequences like heart and cognitive issues.
- How to Eat Enough
- Listen to hunger and fullness cues.
- Work with a dietitian for personalized guidance.
- Focus on variety, balance, and avoiding restrictive eating.
- Shifting the Narrative
- Undereating is harmful despite diet culture messaging.
- Conclusion
- Pay attention to your body’s signals.
- Food is essential nourishment, not a source of fear.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to another episode of Bites and Body Love
with V.
I never explained that before,but the V in love and the
podcast name is to show actionas a verb rather than love as a
noun, because to love our bodyis to take actionable steps in
(00:24):
that direction.
To practice that through bodyrespect, through how we speak to
it, to how we feed it, how welisten to it, how we befriend it
, how we become companions.
So never explained that before.
Anywho, welcome to Bites andBody Love.
I'm excited to have you heretoday.
We are going to be talkingabout the signs and symptoms of
under eating and before we gointo that, just to introduce
(00:46):
myself for folks who are new tothe podcast my name is Jamie you
see her pronouns.
I am a registered dietitian andbody image specialist.
I'm the owner of a grouppractice of 12 plus dietitians
that help people through theirrecovery, and also the owner of
Jamie LLC, which has programsand courses to help people to
(01:10):
reach full recovery.
No stone unturned All goodstuff that I'm really excited
about, because I love helpingpeople get to that finish line.
I do believe in full recoveryand I am fully recovered myself,
and so I like to scream it fromthe rooftops and help everyone
get there, because once upon atime I did not think I was going
to get there and now I am veryhappily on the other side, with
(01:32):
no distressing thoughts of foodand body image, and helping
other people to get there too.
So I really like spreading thatmessage.
Okay, that was a long intro.
Let's get into the signs andsymptoms of under eating.
Okay, that was a long intro.
Let's get into the signs andsymptoms of under eating.
Now there is so much talk aboutovereating and all the fear
around overeating and consumingtoo much.
(01:54):
That is where the conversationis.
It is never about the dangersof under eating.
There are so many, there are somany.
And so when we're talking abouthealth, of course, diet culture
, because of weight stigma,because of body image, because
of our view of bad bodies andgood bodies and the messages we
(02:15):
get because of that fear ofweight and weight gain and body
size, the message we oftenreceive is to be afraid of
overeating, that our body cannothandle it, that there are so
many bad things that are goingto happen if we overeat, and
never, ever, ever do we talkabout the very real realities
(02:40):
and harms of under eating, noteating enough and harms of under
eating, not eating enough,which often happens because of
our fear of overeating, so wedon't trust our body.
We don't trust our body with acertain amount of food we don't
trust, so we try to make sure wedon't overeat and, in turn, we
(03:01):
under eat and there's a spectrumof under eating, there's a
spectrum of undereating, there'sa spectrum of disordered eating
and restriction.
But we're going to talk just ingeneral today about the
symptoms and signs that you mayhave and be experiencing if you
are undereating and what happensdue to that.
Okay, so we really under.
(03:24):
Eating deserves our attention,it deserves this conversation
for our physical health, ourmental health, our holistic
health, and so today we're goingto honor that conversation and
have it.
Okay, so what does under eatingmean?
What does under eating mean?
This is a complicated question,actually, because it is going
(03:48):
to be different for everyindividual and the only way you
can understand if you are trulyunder eating sorry, I'm getting
over being sick If you are undereating, is by having that
connection to your body andunderstanding what your cues are
(04:08):
and practicing listening tothat and have been doing that
for a while and if your body isat the right place, weight wise,
and you're not underweight.
So this is a question thatyou'll want to dive into more in
depth with your treatment team,with me and my program, true
Fruit and Body Image Freedom.
But it is very individualized.
(04:29):
So if you are under eating,what under eating means, though
essentially generally okay,although it's going to look
different for everyone and I'mnot going to give those
specifics what it means isyou're consistently getting
fewer calories than what yourbody needs, ok, or you're not
getting enough of the variety ofcalories, right.
(04:53):
You might be under eatingessential fats or carbohydrates,
ok, but under eating we'regoing to define that as
consuming fewer calories thanwhat your body, as consuming
fewer calories than what yourbody, what your individual body
needs, which only yourindividual body can tell you.
And you can only find that outif you're connected and practice
(05:15):
that connection and respectwith your body, to find that out
over time with practices andsee how your body feels, okay.
So now I want to clarify thatunder eating for some people is
sometimes unintentional.
It can stem from stress, busyschedules, misinformation, right
, being just not thinking enoughabout it, from diet trends.
(05:38):
So it isn't always intentional.
Most of the time it isn'tintentional and we actually,
because of the messages wereceive, we think that we are
doing the right thing.
Okay, so I again, always whenI'm speaking to you and we're
having these conversations, Idon't want any shame to come up
(06:00):
here as you learn more aboutmaybe some behaviors you have or
maybe some things that youweren't unaware of prior to
listening to this podcast.
Okay, no shame.
All the compassion in the worldI'm sending out to you because
this stuff is hard and we are soconfused, because the messages
are so confusing.
Okay, so it's not intentional.
(06:21):
I understand some, some.
For some people it's notintentional, for some it, some
it is, and compassion to both ofthose groups of people.
Okay, so now that we definedwhat under eating is, let's talk
about the signs and symptoms ofunder eating.
We're going to talk about thephysical symptoms, the mental
and emotional symptoms and thebehavioral patterns as well.
(06:46):
Today we want to name that.
Very unfortunately, these signsand symptoms that we're going
to be talking about today arenot an all-inclusive list.
This is not an all-inclusivelist.
There are so many things thatcan happen when we undereat and
when we undereat consistently.
So if you are experiencingother symptoms, they're very
(07:07):
valid, but we're just not goingto talk about all of them today,
all right, so let's dive intofirst the physical symptoms.
When your body doesn't receiveadequate fuel, it's going to
prioritize the vital functionsover others.
Okay, now there's a wonderfulstudy called the Minnesota
(07:27):
starvation study.
I have a podcast episode onthat.
You can go check that out andit goes through what happens to
these men in these in this studythat were underfed
intentionally for days and daysand days, and what happened to
their body physically.
So this is a great.
(07:48):
That's a great one for physicalsymptoms and that's another way
you can find out if you havesimilar symptoms to those men
that were experiencing thatstarvation.
Okay, so when the body doesn'treceive adequate fuel, it
prioritizes vital functions overothers.
What does that mean?
That means your body requires acertain amount of food and
(08:09):
calories and energy to do whatit does, and it does a lot.
All the symptoms, the systemsof your body do a lot to keep
you going.
It's pretty wild and in orderto keep that going, it needs
fuel to keep that up and sustainthat.
Okay, so if you're not gettingenough fuel, what your body is
(08:32):
going to do?
In a very smart, survival basedway, it's going to take those
calories that you're giving itand it's going to give it to the
vital systems, because that'swhat they need to keep you alive
.
And that means your other, yourother, the other parts of your
body, the other systems are notgoing to get enough.
(08:53):
And then this is what happenswhen those other systems shut
down and don't get enough fuel.
Okay, number one, pretty obvious, pretty obvious one.
But at the same time, oh, dietculture sucks because it it's
just going to blame us and and,uh, give us other reasons for
(09:14):
why this symptom happens, butthe number one one thing that
can happen very often is you'regoing to have lack of energy and
be tired and fatigued.
Okay, I'm going to say it again, you're going to be tired and
you're going to lack energy.
So, if you are blaming yourselfand you're saying I'm out of
shape or I am tired all the time, okay, well, let's back up.
(09:36):
And I want to ask you are youstruggling with disordered
eating?
Are you dieting?
Are you restricting calories?
Are you ignoring your hunger?
Because when you're doing thosethings, of course you're going
to be tired, you do not haveenough calories, your body's
going to struggle to maintainthe energy for these daily
activities, tasks that once feltlike effortless.
(09:57):
They might become draining.
You might find yourself needingfrequent rest.
You're just going to, you'regoing to feel it in your body.
It's going to be hard to getthrough the day or get through
certain activities in the day,and you're it's.
You should feel energized.
Okay, bottom line, you shouldfeel energized.
You should feel like, whenyou're going to do that exercise
, that you have energy to dothat exercise.
(10:17):
Not saying it's not might notbe hard physically in some ways
if you're pushing yourself, butyou should feel like you have
energy to get through it.
If you don't, you are notfueling yourself adequately.
Now this one fatigue and lackof energy.
It's wild how people or how weblame ourselves and we can blame
(10:38):
everything else other than thefact that we are not getting
enough food in right Because wedon't want to look at that.
We don't want to.
That's scary, you know sometimefor our disordered eating
thoughts and our giving updieting.
But I remember.
I'm going to share a personalstory.
I remember one time when I wasshopping with my sister and my
mom and I did not eat a lot thatday and I was so tired shopping
(11:01):
and they had energy and I justwas watching them and they had
so much energy to shop and talkand and, but they were both,
like you know, excited and I wasnot.
I didn't have the mentalcapacity to really be excited.
I was, you know, pretty downand I was so tired and I
remember in that moment I wasblaming myself like, oh, what's
(11:22):
wrong with me?
I'm just not doing the healthythings, I'm not eating healthy
enough, I'm not doing, you know,I should be exercising more.
All these crazy ridiculousthings, rather than, hmm, I need
to be treating myself with moreself-compassion and taking
better care of myself by restingmore and eating more.
No, anything but that, right.
So, anyways, that's a physicalsymptom to pay attention to, and
(11:46):
if you're experiencing that, Iwould question that.
Of course, there's other reasonsfor fatigue and lack of energy,
but let's see if we are.
If it's due to food, okay.
Next one hair thinning or hairloss.
Undereating can lead tonutrient deficiencies,
especially in protein, iron,essential fatty acids, and these
(12:06):
all are very crucial forhealthy hair growth.
So, hair being brittle if it'sshedding excessively, growing
back thinner, hair thinning andhair loss could be a sign of
malnutrition.
Cold intolerance, so alwaysfeeling cold.
Low energy intake can slow downyour metabolism, causing the
(12:28):
body to produce less heat.
So constantly feeling cold,even in warm environments, is
definitely a hallmark ofinsufficient calorie intake.
Another one and remember this isnot an exhaustive list, I'm not
going to give you all of themhere.
Another important one to payattention to is digestive issues
constipation and bloating Bigbig things when it comes to not
(12:54):
eating enough.
Digestive issues, I want to sayalmost everyone I have worked
with and work with who is undereating has digestive issues and
sometimes it's like what camefirst the IBS or the disordered
eating.
Sometimes they can worktogether and IBS can cause
disordered eating and disorderedeating can cause the IBS, and
(13:17):
IBS can cause disordered eatingand disordered eating can cause
the IBS.
So why does this happen?
Why do we have digestive issueswhen we are not eating enough?
Well, a lack of food can slowdown your digestive process,
leading to constipation.
Okay, so I'm going to say thatagain.
If you're not getting enoughfood in, it's going to slow down
your digestive process and,additionally to that, reduced
(13:43):
energy levels can impair yourgut motility, causing bloating
and discomfort.
Okay, so if you're havingdigestive issues and you are not
eating enough, another reasonto experiment increase your
calories and see what happens.
Now I want to say it's notgoing to get better right away.
You have to consistently eatmore and eat enough to start
(14:07):
seeing any of these issuesreally start to resolve,
especially depending on whereyou're at in your disordered
eating and your recovery.
So, again, work with adietician on this specifically.
Okay.
Next physical symptom, nextphysical sign that you are not
eating enough is a weakenedimmune system.
(14:29):
Okay, so a weakened immunefunction, chronic under eating,
is going to suppress your immunesystem.
It's going to make yoususceptible to more illnesses,
infections or prolongedillnesses or not getting better.
I hear this often from peoplewhen they are feeling sick and
(14:49):
they have some disorder eatingthoughts and mentality, they
feel guilty that they are notable to move because they are
feeling sick and so theydecrease their food intake.
No, your body needs food, evenif you are, especially if you're
(15:11):
resting, especially if you'reresting and feeling sick.
You need to take care of thatimmune function.
Okay, you, not having enoughfood is definitely going to make
you more susceptible.
Dieting is going to make youmore susceptible to illnesses
and not feeling good and notbeing able to get better.
Okay, we got to give our bodysystems the adequate amount of
calories to do what it needs todo to take care of us, like
(15:34):
protect us against these bugs.
Okay, very, very important Toprotect us against anything we
might be experiencingchronically.
You know, any kind of chroniccondition we have.
We have to feed itappropriately to help it out.
Okay, next one disruptedmenstrual cycle.
So for those who menstruateunder eating is going to lead to
(15:58):
irregular or missed periods dueto those hormonal imbalances.
So a disrupted menstrual cycleis another thing we see a lot.
Now, just because you're notexperiencing it doesn't mean
that your undereating is notsignificant.
So, if you're that's anotherthing to name about all of these
If you're undereating andyou're not experiencing any of
these, wow, you're lucky.
(16:19):
You're lucky your body might bea little bit more resilient.
Now, I can't say it's alwaysgoing to be that resilient.
And the other ways in whichit's impacting you is still
significant, and how it'simpacting your mental and
emotional health, which we'regoing to get into in a second,
is significant and important toname.
If you're not experiencingthese, it does not mean you are
not sick enough.
It does not mean you are notsick enough.
(16:40):
It does not mean you are notsick enough.
It just means that your body isresilient in those ways, and
every body is different.
For me, for a very, very longtime in my disorder eating and
eating disorder I didn't have alot of these things, a lot of
these physical symptoms.
(17:01):
Right, a lot of times we canfeel quote, unquote maybe feel
like we're feeling goodphysically while our other parts
of our health are struggling.
So does not mean you're notsick enough, it's significant.
Okay, so those are somephysical symptoms.
I'm not going to go through allof them, but those are really
just naming a few.
So fatigue, lack of energy,hair thinning, hair loss, cold
(17:22):
intolerance, digestive issues,constipation, bloating, weakened
immune system, disruptedmenstrual cycle are only a few
Headaches are going to.
I want to like list the other20.
I think I have an Instagrampost that names a bunch of other
physical symptoms as well, butwe want to go into the other
things as well today.
(17:43):
So we'll wrap it up withphysical symptoms and move on to
the mental and emotionalsymptoms of undereating.
And, again, the reason we'regoing over all this is because
we need to understand therealities of undereating and
what it's doing to our healthour physical health, our
emotional health.
It's so talked about ofovereating, but there are so
(18:07):
many horrible side effects andconsequences of undereating, so
that is why we are payingattention to that today.
Okay, all right, mental andemotional symptoms Undereating
doesn't just affect the body.
It's going to take a toll onyour mental health and your
cognitive function Big time, ok,big time.
Do you ever notice when you,when you skip a meal, you don't
(18:31):
eat enough, and what happens toyour mood?
And then what happens when youdo eat?
Right, mood swings,irritability.
Irritability and low mood aregoing to happen if you are not
eating enough, because the brainrequires a steady supply of
glucose to regulate your mood.
I'm going to highlight glucoseCarbohydrates.
(18:54):
Carbohydrates are the mainenergy source that your brain
thrives off of.
It needs carbs, okay.
So if you're eating, if you'rereducing your carbs or
eliminating or not gettingenough carbs in, then you think
you're eating enough calories.
Well, if you're not getting theglucose, you're still under
(19:14):
eating, the necessary nutrientthat your body needs and your
mind needs in order to help yourmood and to help all your
system.
So glucose is very important.
So, again, mood swings,irritability and low mood will
happen with under eating becauseyou're going to deplete your
energy reserves.
So you're going to haveheightened irritability,
(19:37):
emotional sensitivity andfeelings of depression and low
mood.
So make sure you're eatingenough.
Make sure you're eating enoughand then your mood will pick up
in general over time.
With a better nutrition, withmore nutrition, with being at
the weight you should be at, sogaining the necessary weight,
(20:00):
you're going to see a majorimprovement in your mood.
It has had such a huge impact.
There's something else I wantedto say there, something that has
to do with yeah, I guess, justworking with with clients.
I want to name that whenclients are in a low mood and
they're not eating enough,they're not at the weight they
should be in a low mood andthey're not eating enough,
(20:21):
they're not at the weight theyshould be, and sometimes they
can feel like well, you knowthey don't always link the fact
that they're stressed and thefact that they're stressed, the
fact that they have the like lowmood and low depression and not
a lot of hope, and maybe likenegative thoughts that this is
(20:42):
going to come into play for afew different reasons, but a big
reason for that is because yourbrain and your body do not have
enough calories and it doeslead to a depressed state.
Okay, other mental andemotional symptoms difficulty
concentrating or brain fog.
Without enough energy,cognitive functions like memory,
(21:03):
focus, problem solving aregoing to become compromised.
So if you find that the tasksrequiring mental effort are
overwhelming, impossible, hardto get through, take a very long
time, you cannot focus, askyourself am I eating enough?
When's the last time I ate?
Start experimenting, increaseyour calorie intake, increase
(21:26):
the frequency of food and seewhat happens.
And the last one we're going totalk about is increased anxiety.
All right, so chronic hunger,low blood sugar, is going to
amplify those feelings ofanxiety.
It's going to lead to obsessivethoughts, it's going to lead to
(21:47):
anxious thoughts and it'sdefinitely going to increase the
obsessive thoughts around foodand food, guilt and guilt around
eating and body image and thosenegative thoughts.
But it also just increasesanxiety overall.
It increases this.
There's a lot of science behindall of what I'm saying, but
there's a lot of science thatI've read and used with clients
(22:08):
to show hey, this increasedfeeling of anxiety that you have
, this is due to not eatingenough.
So just right there for mentalemotional symptoms.
Those all suck, those do notfeel good to feel, irritable and
low mood and have mood swingsand we have constant anxious
thoughts and have a brain fogand finding difficult to
(22:31):
concentrate or think this is alldue to lack of food intake.
Okay, all right, now let's gointo behavioral patterns that
happen so under.
Eating is often accompanied byspecific habits or patterns that
reflect an unhealthyrelationship with food, like
(22:52):
avoiding meals, eating verysmall portions, over-reliance on
caffeine and stimulants forenergy, obsessive thoughts
around food or eating rules andcompensatory behaviors.
All right, so behavioralpatterns that can increase with
inadequate nutrition definitelyimpact our behaviors and the way
(23:14):
we interact with food and bodyimage.
And again, this is why, when westart practicing body respect
and eating enough, thesebehaviors that we rely on
they're tied together.
They are like, they feel, theyfeel safe.
So as soon as when we startletting go, when we start eating
(23:35):
more, are those behaviors,we're also going to practice
letting go of those behaviors aswell.
This one I'm not going to spendtoo much time on.
I want to just point you in thedirection of going to the
episode on the Minnesotastarvation study that I think
will be extremely helpful foryou.
(23:55):
So check that out the Minnesotastarvation study to learn more
about the behavioral patternsand what's so interesting about
the behavioral patterns in thatstudy is that it shows these men
did not have a disorderedeating relationship with food.
That was disordered.
They did not have a complicatedrelationship.
It was very neutral andpositive these men's
(24:18):
relationship with food and bodyimage.
However, when they decreasedtheir food intake right, that's
what the whole episode, whatthis episode is about when they
weren't getting enough caloriesin in that experiment.
Behavioral patterns for thosemen, like everything I just
named avoidance of meals, eatingvery small portion, playing
(24:39):
with their food over reliance oncaffeine and gum, obsessive
thoughts about food, eating verysmall portion, playing with
their food over reliance oncaffeine and gum, obsessive
thoughts about food, lookingthrough cookbooks all these
rules that started happening.
These all started happeningbehaviorally due to the decrease
of food.
So sometimes we think ofbehavioral patterns leading to
(24:59):
the decrease of food, and thatdoes happen, right.
But also the decrease of foodcan lead to behavioral patterns.
I hope that's making sense.
It's making sense in my brain,so I hope it's.
Let me know if it doesn't and Ican re-explain it on a
different episode or we can chatabout it on Instagram.
But super, super important, sogo check out that episode.
Other symptoms to watch out forafter we talked about
(25:24):
behavioral, emotional and mental, and the physical symptoms, I'm
just going to name some otherones that might not fit into
those categories.
Okay, sleep disruption.
So chronic hunger can interferewith your sleep, and not even
chronic, it can just be, youknow, hunger from not eating
enough that day and it couldlead to difficulty falling
asleep and staying asleepthroughout the night.
(25:45):
I hear this a lot and this issomething like I'll tell my
friends or family members andthey're like I had a hard time
sleeping yesterday and I'll tellthem did you eat enough?
And if they don't know, I tellthem hey, next time you can't
sleep, wake up and go eat a meal.
Every time they do that,they're able to fall asleep.
My ex-partner when he wouldhave a hard time sleeping, it's
(26:10):
like go eat a banana, go eatpeanut butter.
As soon as that happened, I wasable to fall asleep.
Okay, so sometimes weunintentionally do not eat
enough as well, and so that'sgoing to definitely disrupt your
sleep and that's that's a bigreason.
You know, you can tell by allthese things that you're not
getting enough food in.
So once you get to a placewhere you are at a healthy
(26:31):
relationship with food and bodyand you're eating enough, you'll
notice when you're not, becausethese will be very obvious to
you when you are, you know, havea headache, when you can't
focus, when you're having sleepdisruptions.
So you'll be able to startknowing and listening and
trusting your body enough to beable to understand oh, I did not
eat enough because I'mexperiencing this, I gotta go
(26:53):
take care of that because thisis what my body needs.
Okay, other symptoms to watchout for with under eating it's
gonna be physical weakness ormuscle loss or inability to gain
muscle.
So when the body doesn'treceive enough calories, it's
going to break down your muscletissue for energy.
That's going to lead todecreased strength and decreased
endurance.
Those athletes are people whowork out and exercise, who are
(27:16):
not eating enough.
They're not going to be able tobuild calories I'm sorry, build
muscle.
They're going to feel weak whenthey're exercising.
Other symptoms dull or dry skinbecause of the lack of those
essential vitamins and fats thatare going to result in that dry
, flaky skin.
(27:37):
And then cravings or episodes ofbinge eating.
This is very big too.
So our body binges because ourbody is not getting enough food.
So under eating is going totrigger purposely.
Our body is very smart.
It's going to trigger thoseintense food cravings and
periods of overeating becauseyour body is trying to
(28:00):
compensate for the caloriedeficit.
So binging is a great survivalmechanism that our bodies have.
Not everyone has that, which Ithink.
Again, if you're binging,that's your body trying to take
care of you.
So we shouldn't be shaming thebinge and shaming ourselves.
(28:21):
We should get curious about whyam I binging?
Your body is trying to protectyou.
We need to be eating more.
I have a ton of episodes onthose, so check those out too.
For binging and overeating.
Okay, let's talk about somelong-term risks of undereating
that happen as well.
(28:42):
Um, and I'm going to list theseout there's I have a lot of
descriptions here on this, but Idon't want this episode to be
too, too long, um, but I do wantto talk about the the long-term
risks of under eating.
We chat, we chat about theshort term, like what you would
be experiencing, but these arethe very real effects of under
(29:04):
eating long-term.
And again, we hear so many ofthe long-term impacts of
overeating, right, that weshould be afraid of, but there
are.
So I'm looking at this listhere, this very significant list
of things that happen when weunder eat and it's scary.
So under eating can seemharmless, but and that's only
(29:31):
because of the messages we getbut it can have very serious and
lasting effects on the body.
So we're going to take a closerlook at the potential long term
consequences here.
Okay, we talked about hormonalimbalances with irregular
menstrual cycles.
Additionally, there's otherhormonal imbalances that can
(29:51):
happen over time.
Chronic undereating disruptsthe body's ability to produce
and regulate very essentialhormones.
So that's going to manifest asthose menstrual irregularities
complete loss of periods.
Irregularities, complete lossof periods.
(30:15):
Low testosterone can result inmuscle mass decrease, fatigue,
fertility issues, disruption ofyour thyroid hormones can lead
to slow metabolism, fatigue,difficulty regulating body
temperature and then, inaddition to those hormonal
balances, over time we have aweakened immune system, as I had
named.
This is going to lead to notbeing able to have a robust
immune response.
(30:36):
It's going to lead to increasedsusceptibility to infections,
slower wound healing, prolongedillnesses.
It's going to lead to a lack ofproteins and vitamins and
minerals that compromise ourimmunity, like vitamin C and
zinc.
There's a loss of bone densitythat can happen.
So insufficient intake ofenough calories is going to be
(30:59):
insufficient intake, most likely, of calcium, vitamin D and
other bone-supporting nutrients.
That can lead to osteopenia,which is low bone density, or
osteoporosis, which is brittlebones.
Additionally, those hormonalimbalances we were talking about
, that reduces estrogen.
That exacerbates bone loss aswell and over time this is going
(31:24):
to lead to risk of fractures,chronic pain, posture issues.
Additionally, slow metabolismand weight regulation happens
over time, with chronic undereating.
Chronic under eating is goingto slow down your metabolism and
it's going to complicate yourweight regulation.
(31:46):
Your body has a weight setpoint I have a podcast on that
and that weight regulation issomething that our bodies do for
us throughout our lives in away to take care of us, and
everyone has a different weightthat your body likes to be at
(32:06):
and that it feels best at.
A different weight that yourbody likes to be at and that it
feels best at.
This becomes when we arechronically dieting or
disordered eating ormanipulating that it throws that
weight regulation off.
Okay, slows down our metabolismand throws that weight
regulation off.
So really going against thislike dieting like it, logically,
(32:27):
you know, and when you look atthe facts, if you are afraid of
overeating and therefore you'reunder eating, you're actually
doing the opposite of what youwant to be doing in order to
speed up your metabolism a lotof the time and regulate your
weight and be at the best weightfor your body.
But of course, it's not yourfault, it's the messages we
receive so under eating causesthe body to enter a state of
(32:51):
metabolic adaption.
It's very smart and that'swhere it conserves energy by
slowing down the essentialfunctions like digestion and
cellular repair, and it's goingto burn less calories
intentionally because it needsto spare them this, spare them
(33:13):
Um, this sorry, again sick,getting over being sick.
So this can make weightregulation very difficult.
The body's going to burn fewercalories even at rest and over
time, this metabolic slowdown umwhen normal eating resumes,
it's um going to be confused andum the it's um going to be
confused and um the the.
The body's going to be confused.
We have to re-regulate it, re?
Um, work with it, make sureit's getting enough um and help
(33:35):
it to get back to a place whereit feels best.
So we need to give it enoughcalories for a while um to get
back its metabolism to the rightplace and to start feeling um
on the same team.
So we've been screwing it upwith under eating for a long
time.
We need to give it the time itneeds to get back to a good
place with eating enough.
(33:57):
Okay, despite that scariness, Iunderstand.
That's why you should getsupport here from someone who
can hold hope and whospecializes and can can can help
you get there.
So you're not, you don't get acold feet in the process, um,
because we're going against alot in our society, a lot of
(34:19):
messages that make it scary togain weight and eat more.
Okay, other potential risks aregoing to be your heart health.
Chronic under eating is goingto weaken that heart muscle,
leading to low blood pressure,irregular heart rhythms and even
heart failure.
Cognitive impairment prolongedcalorie restriction deprives the
(34:39):
brain of glucose, impairs focus, memory and decision-making
abilities.
Psychological effectspersistent under eating is going
to increase anxiety, depression, obsessive behaviors um, all in
general and also related tofood and body image.
Okay, so so many signs andsymptoms.
I'm sure some that you noticedin yourself today if you're
(35:01):
struggling with under eating.
These are significant.
These can lead to issues downthe line and right now that
impact all aspects of our life,all aspects and once we start
eating more and taking care ofourselves and getting enough
calories and getting a varietyof calories, although scary, so
(35:23):
it's going to feel very crappyat first, it starts to make us
feel better.
It is the solution.
Going to feel very crappy atfirst, it starts to make us feel
better.
It is the solution, is theanswer.
Despite the messages we get indiet culture, this is the answer
.
And so, if this is, if you'relistening to this and you it,
you know it's ringing some bellsand turning some light bulbs on
(35:43):
for you and you'reunderstanding, wow, I need to
take care of this.
Wonderful.
Light bulbs on for you.
And you're understanding, wow,I need to take care of this
Wonderful.
And then, if your next thoughtis how do I do that?
Because this is so scary and sodifferent, get support.
Do not do this alone.
I am here to support you.
I have a major, no stoneunturned program where you can
(36:04):
walk through to full freedomthat I can help you with.
So message me.
Walkthrough to full freedomthat I can help you with.
So message me.
You can DM me on Instagramjamierd underscore or you can
email me at hello at jamierdcom.
You can contact me with thelinks in my profile.
I'm happy to help you because Itruly believe you can get there
, but I also truly believe thatmost people need support because
(36:25):
it's a very it's confusing,it's scary, it's unfamiliar, um.
So, yes, but let me tell yousomething you can do now to
start knowing how much to eat.
Okay, so if you're listening tothis and you're like, okay, I
know I'm under eating, I'mexperiencing those things, but
how the heck do I start eatingmore?
(36:45):
How do I know?
Cause I know you're afraid ofstill overeating.
Right, that's not going to goaway.
So how do you know how much toeat?
Well, first of all, that takestime and practice and getting to
the root of things making sureyou're eating enough and eating
consistently, and building trustwith all foods and trust with
(37:06):
your body, and getting to theweight that you need to be at
and allowing your body to getthere.
So it takes a lot.
So when I give you some ofthese little tips on how to know
how much to eat, I want you totake away that that is something
that should be.
You should work with someone toassess that and make sure, but
(37:26):
you can absolutely practice that.
You should absolutely startpracticing that as soon as
possible.
So, number one listen to yourbody.
We have to start listening toour body and in order to start
listening to our body, we dohave to start eating more
consistently and eating more toturn on those cues if our hunger
(37:47):
and fullness cues are off.
I believe I have a podcastepisode about this as well.
So, number one how to know howmuch to eat.
We have to become moreintuitive by listening to our
bodies, by listening to ourhunger and fullness cues.
The only way you can trustthose hunger and fullness cues,
though, are if you have themrecalibrated by consistently
(38:09):
eating and by eating enough, andby doing that for a while, so
that they're turned back on andyou can listen to them, because
a lot of times, people saythat's not hunger.
That's not hunger, when itactually is a subtle hunger cue,
and people are afraid to listento their subtle hunger cues or
their hunger cues, and so theyare still there, they think
(38:30):
they're listening, but they'recontinuing to ignore it, and
also, people are really afraidof fullness cues, so they don't
allow themselves to eat enougheither.
So this is a complicated thingthat I would like to help you
with.
If you would like help, solisten to your body to help you
with.
If you would like help, solisten to your body, acknowledge
(38:52):
it, acknowledge the energylevels that you need, based on
your activity as well.
And number three is buildingthat body trust.
I have a whole episode on that,but that is where that's key.
We can't we can't listen to ourhunger and fullness cues if we
still have major distrust in ourbody.
Right, because we're going tobe questioning it.
We're not going to be listeningto it.
It's going to be very, veryhard to practice body respect
(39:15):
when we don't have trust in ourbody.
So we need to build that.
And a lot of things that can getin the way of body trust is our
body image, some root beliefs,some safety things here, some
mental health stuff, ourbehaviors around food.
So there's so much that we needto do to build body trust and
build food trust that Iabsolutely am here for to help
(39:38):
you.
So, yeah, that how to know howmuch to eat, that listening to
your body part that is going tobe very complicated and I would
say you should absolutely try,but I would like to check you
and support you on that to makesure you're actually building
body trust, because body trustis a beautiful thing to have and
I want you to have the actualbody trust rather than, you know
(40:00):
, maybe a diet culture versionor, still like was I, recovery
version of body trust.
Um, because when you have fullbody trust, you can truly let go
of all these things and livefree of those thoughts and um
beliefs with food and body imagethat are so stressful.
Okay, so I'm going to stopthere.
(40:21):
Um, I want you to just practiceshifting this narrative a bit,
with this episode, which isrecognizing the importance of
eating enough, bit with thisepisode, which is recognizing
the importance of eating enough.
Sitting with this episode andthinking about how do I
experience this, what do I thinkabout this and how can I start
practicing eating more andmaking sure I am not under
(40:44):
eating, and reach out support,reach out for support.
Some closing thoughts I wantyou to, um, yeah, help this up
and take this episode to helpyou to raise awareness.
I want you to start payingattention to the signs that your
body is giving you.
Um, I want to emphasize thatfood is something to not be
(41:10):
feared but to enjoy and tounderstand, that is helping your
whole body thrive, and thateating enough is a beautiful,
beautiful thing that adds toyour life.
Okay, and last closing thoughtis that I want to invite you to
apply to work with me in TrueFood and Body Image Freedom so
(41:34):
that you can gain thatrelationship with food and body
image where you do not need tolisten to podcasts like this.
You can listen to otherpodcasts of interest because you
do not have to worry about foodand body image and you're at
full recovery, which you deserve.
(41:56):
Like I said, I believe youabsolutely can get there because
, although you might not trustfood and you might not trust
your body, I trust your body110% is I.
As long as you go through thenecessary process to get to that
and you don't give up and youget the right support and you
get uncomfortable and you do thework, I believe, I believe you
(42:20):
can get there.
Okay, so link in profile, um,or link in show notes to that
program if you'd like to apply.
It also links a few.
I also will also go check outthose other episodes that I
mentioned as well.
I would encourage you to dothat.
So, without further ado, I hopethis was helpful for you and I
(42:43):
will see you next time and keepempowering yourself to learn
more, to build more awarenesswith that mindful
self-compassion, and be carefulof that shame that pops in.
We're all on a journey.
You got this.
I'm excited for you and I'mglad you're here wanting
something better for yourself.
I will see you next time onBison Body Love.
Welcome to another episode of Bites and Body Love
with V.
I never explained that before,but the V in love and the
podcast name is to show actionas a verb rather than love as a
noun, because to love our bodyis to take actionable steps in
(00:24):
that direction.
To practice that through bodyrespect, through how we speak to
it, to how we feed it, how welisten to it, how we befriend it
, how we become companions.
So never explained that before.
Anywho, welcome to Bites andBody Love.
I'm excited to have you heretoday.
We are going to be talkingabout the signs and symptoms of
under eating and before we gointo that, just to introduce
(00:46):
myself for folks who are new tothe podcast my name is Jamie you
see her pronouns.
I am a registered dietitian andbody image specialist.
I'm the owner of a grouppractice of 12 plus dietitians
that help people through theirrecovery, and also the owner of
Jamie LLC, which has programsand courses to help people to
(01:10):
reach full recovery.
No stone unturned All goodstuff that I'm really excited
about, because I love helpingpeople get to that finish line.
I do believe in full recoveryand I am fully recovered myself,
and so I like to scream it fromthe rooftops and help everyone
get there, because once upon atime I did not think I was going
to get there and now I am veryhappily on the other side, with
(01:32):
no distressing thoughts of foodand body image, and helping
other people to get there too.
So I really like spreading thatmessage.
Okay, that was a long intro.
Let's get into the signs andsymptoms of under eating.
Okay, that was a long intro.
Let's get into the signs andsymptoms of under eating.
Now there is so much talk aboutovereating and all the fear
around overeating and consumingtoo much.
(01:54):
That is where the conversationis.
It is never about the dangersof under eating.
There are so many, there are somany.
And so when we're talking abouthealth, of course, diet culture
, because of weight stigma,because of body image, because
of our view of bad bodies andgood bodies and the messages we
(02:15):
get because of that fear ofweight and weight gain and body
size, the message we oftenreceive is to be afraid of
overeating, that our body cannothandle it, that there are so
many bad things that are goingto happen if we overeat, and
never, ever, ever do we talkabout the very real realities
(02:40):
and harms of under eating, noteating enough and harms of under
eating, not eating enough,which often happens because of
our fear of overeating, so wedon't trust our body.
We don't trust our body with acertain amount of food we don't
trust, so we try to make sure wedon't overeat and, in turn, we
(03:01):
under eat and there's a spectrumof under eating, there's a
spectrum of undereating, there'sa spectrum of disordered eating
and restriction.
But we're going to talk just ingeneral today about the
symptoms and signs that you mayhave and be experiencing if you
are undereating and what happensdue to that.
Okay, so we really under.
(03:24):
Eating deserves our attention,it deserves this conversation
for our physical health, ourmental health, our holistic
health, and so today we're goingto honor that conversation and
have it.
Okay, so what does under eatingmean?
What does under eating mean?
This is a complicated question,actually, because it is going
(03:48):
to be different for everyindividual and the only way you
can understand if you are trulyunder eating sorry, I'm getting
over being sick If you are undereating, is by having that
connection to your body andunderstanding what your cues are
(04:08):
and practicing listening tothat and have been doing that
for a while and if your body isat the right place, weight wise,
and you're not underweight.
So this is a question thatyou'll want to dive into more in
depth with your treatment team,with me and my program, true
Fruit and Body Image Freedom.
But it is very individualized.
(04:29):
So if you are under eating,what under eating means, though
essentially generally okay,although it's going to look
different for everyone and I'mnot going to give those
specifics what it means isyou're consistently getting
fewer calories than what yourbody needs, ok, or you're not
getting enough of the variety ofcalories, right.
(04:53):
You might be under eatingessential fats or carbohydrates,
ok, but under eating we'regoing to define that as
consuming fewer calories thanwhat your body, as consuming
fewer calories than what yourbody, what your individual body
needs, which only yourindividual body can tell you.
And you can only find that outif you're connected and practice
(05:15):
that connection and respectwith your body, to find that out
over time with practices andsee how your body feels, okay.
So now I want to clarify thatunder eating for some people is
sometimes unintentional.
It can stem from stress, busyschedules, misinformation, right
, being just not thinking enoughabout it, from diet trends.
(05:38):
So it isn't always intentional.
Most of the time it isn'tintentional and we actually,
because of the messages wereceive, we think that we are
doing the right thing.
Okay, so I again, always whenI'm speaking to you and we're
having these conversations, Idon't want any shame to come up
(06:00):
here as you learn more aboutmaybe some behaviors you have or
maybe some things that youweren't unaware of prior to
listening to this podcast.
Okay, no shame.
All the compassion in the worldI'm sending out to you because
this stuff is hard and we are soconfused, because the messages
are so confusing.
Okay, so it's not intentional.
(06:21):
I understand some, some.
For some people it's notintentional, for some it, some
it is, and compassion to both ofthose groups of people.
Okay, so now that we definedwhat under eating is, let's talk
about the signs and symptoms ofunder eating.
We're going to talk about thephysical symptoms, the mental
and emotional symptoms and thebehavioral patterns as well.
(06:46):
Today we want to name that.
Very unfortunately, these signsand symptoms that we're going
to be talking about today arenot an all-inclusive list.
This is not an all-inclusivelist.
There are so many things thatcan happen when we undereat and
when we undereat consistently.
So if you are experiencingother symptoms, they're very
(07:07):
valid, but we're just not goingto talk about all of them today,
all right, so let's dive intofirst the physical symptoms.
When your body doesn't receiveadequate fuel, it's going to
prioritize the vital functionsover others.
Okay, now there's a wonderfulstudy called the Minnesota
(07:27):
starvation study.
I have a podcast episode onthat.
You can go check that out andit goes through what happens to
these men in these in this studythat were underfed
intentionally for days and daysand days, and what happened to
their body physically.
So this is a great.
(07:48):
That's a great one for physicalsymptoms and that's another way
you can find out if you havesimilar symptoms to those men
that were experiencing thatstarvation.
Okay, so when the body doesn'treceive adequate fuel, it
prioritizes vital functions overothers.
What does that mean?
That means your body requires acertain amount of food and
(08:09):
calories and energy to do whatit does, and it does a lot.
All the symptoms, the systemsof your body do a lot to keep
you going.
It's pretty wild and in orderto keep that going, it needs
fuel to keep that up and sustainthat.
Okay, so if you're not gettingenough fuel, what your body is
(08:32):
going to do?
In a very smart, survival basedway, it's going to take those
calories that you're giving itand it's going to give it to the
vital systems, because that'swhat they need to keep you alive
.
And that means your other, yourother, the other parts of your
body, the other systems are notgoing to get enough.
(08:53):
And then this is what happenswhen those other systems shut
down and don't get enough fuel.
Okay, number one, pretty obvious, pretty obvious one.
But at the same time, oh, dietculture sucks because it it's
just going to blame us and and,uh, give us other reasons for
(09:14):
why this symptom happens, butthe number one one thing that
can happen very often is you'regoing to have lack of energy and
be tired and fatigued.
Okay, I'm going to say it again, you're going to be tired and
you're going to lack energy.
So, if you are blaming yourselfand you're saying I'm out of
shape or I am tired all the time, okay, well, let's back up.
(09:36):
And I want to ask you are youstruggling with disordered
eating?
Are you dieting?
Are you restricting calories?
Are you ignoring your hunger?
Because when you're doing thosethings, of course you're going
to be tired, you do not haveenough calories, your body's
going to struggle to maintainthe energy for these daily
activities, tasks that once feltlike effortless.
(09:57):
They might become draining.
You might find yourself needingfrequent rest.
You're just going to, you'regoing to feel it in your body.
It's going to be hard to getthrough the day or get through
certain activities in the day,and you're it's.
You should feel energized.
Okay, bottom line, you shouldfeel energized.
You should feel like, whenyou're going to do that exercise
, that you have energy to dothat exercise.
(10:17):
Not saying it's not might notbe hard physically in some ways
if you're pushing yourself, butyou should feel like you have
energy to get through it.
If you don't, you are notfueling yourself adequately.
Now this one fatigue and lackof energy.
It's wild how people or how weblame ourselves and we can blame
(10:38):
everything else other than thefact that we are not getting
enough food in right Because wedon't want to look at that.
We don't want to.
That's scary, you know sometimefor our disordered eating
thoughts and our giving updieting.
But I remember.
I'm going to share a personalstory.
I remember one time when I wasshopping with my sister and my
mom and I did not eat a lot thatday and I was so tired shopping
(11:01):
and they had energy and I justwas watching them and they had
so much energy to shop and talkand and, but they were both,
like you know, excited and I wasnot.
I didn't have the mentalcapacity to really be excited.
I was, you know, pretty downand I was so tired and I
remember in that moment I wasblaming myself like, oh, what's
(11:22):
wrong with me?
I'm just not doing the healthythings, I'm not eating healthy
enough, I'm not doing, you know,I should be exercising more.
All these crazy ridiculousthings, rather than, hmm, I need
to be treating myself with moreself-compassion and taking
better care of myself by restingmore and eating more.
No, anything but that, right.
So, anyways, that's a physicalsymptom to pay attention to, and
(11:46):
if you're experiencing that, Iwould question that.
Of course, there's other reasonsfor fatigue and lack of energy,
but let's see if we are.
If it's due to food, okay.
Next one hair thinning or hairloss.
Undereating can lead tonutrient deficiencies,
especially in protein, iron,essential fatty acids, and these
(12:06):
all are very crucial forhealthy hair growth.
So, hair being brittle if it'sshedding excessively, growing
back thinner, hair thinning andhair loss could be a sign of
malnutrition.
Cold intolerance, so alwaysfeeling cold.
Low energy intake can slow downyour metabolism, causing the
(12:28):
body to produce less heat.
So constantly feeling cold,even in warm environments, is
definitely a hallmark ofinsufficient calorie intake.
Another one and remember this isnot an exhaustive list, I'm not
going to give you all of themhere.
Another important one to payattention to is digestive issues
constipation and bloating Bigbig things when it comes to not
(12:54):
eating enough.
Digestive issues, I want to sayalmost everyone I have worked
with and work with who is undereating has digestive issues and
sometimes it's like what camefirst the IBS or the disordered
eating.
Sometimes they can worktogether and IBS can cause
disordered eating and disorderedeating can cause the IBS, and
(13:17):
IBS can cause disordered eatingand disordered eating can cause
the IBS.
So why does this happen?
Why do we have digestive issueswhen we are not eating enough?
Well, a lack of food can slowdown your digestive process,
leading to constipation.
Okay, so I'm going to say thatagain.
If you're not getting enoughfood in, it's going to slow down
your digestive process and,additionally to that, reduced
(13:43):
energy levels can impair yourgut motility, causing bloating
and discomfort.
Okay, so if you're havingdigestive issues and you are not
eating enough, another reasonto experiment increase your
calories and see what happens.
Now I want to say it's notgoing to get better right away.
You have to consistently eatmore and eat enough to start
(14:07):
seeing any of these issuesreally start to resolve,
especially depending on whereyou're at in your disordered
eating and your recovery.
So, again, work with adietician on this specifically.
Okay.
Next physical symptom, nextphysical sign that you are not
eating enough is a weakenedimmune system.
(14:29):
Okay, so a weakened immunefunction, chronic under eating,
is going to suppress your immunesystem.
It's going to make yoususceptible to more illnesses,
infections or prolongedillnesses or not getting better.
I hear this often from peoplewhen they are feeling sick and
(14:49):
they have some disorder eatingthoughts and mentality, they
feel guilty that they are notable to move because they are
feeling sick and so theydecrease their food intake.
No, your body needs food, evenif you are, especially if you're
(15:11):
resting, especially if you'reresting and feeling sick.
You need to take care of thatimmune function.
Okay, you, not having enoughfood is definitely going to make
you more susceptible.
Dieting is going to make youmore susceptible to illnesses
and not feeling good and notbeing able to get better.
Okay, we got to give our bodysystems the adequate amount of
calories to do what it needs todo to take care of us, like
(15:34):
protect us against these bugs.
Okay, very, very important Toprotect us against anything we
might be experiencingchronically.
You know, any kind of chroniccondition we have.
We have to feed itappropriately to help it out.
Okay, next one disruptedmenstrual cycle.
So for those who menstruateunder eating is going to lead to
(15:58):
irregular or missed periods dueto those hormonal imbalances.
So a disrupted menstrual cycleis another thing we see a lot.
Now, just because you're notexperiencing it doesn't mean
that your undereating is notsignificant.
So, if you're that's anotherthing to name about all of these
If you're undereating andyou're not experiencing any of
these, wow, you're lucky.
(16:19):
You're lucky your body might bea little bit more resilient.
Now, I can't say it's alwaysgoing to be that resilient.
And the other ways in whichit's impacting you is still
significant, and how it'simpacting your mental and
emotional health, which we'regoing to get into in a second,
is significant and important toname.
If you're not experiencingthese, it does not mean you are
not sick enough.
It does not mean you are notsick enough.
(16:40):
It does not mean you are notsick enough.
It just means that your body isresilient in those ways, and
every body is different.
For me, for a very, very longtime in my disorder eating and
eating disorder I didn't have alot of these things, a lot of
these physical symptoms.
(17:01):
Right, a lot of times we canfeel quote, unquote maybe feel
like we're feeling goodphysically while our other parts
of our health are struggling.
So does not mean you're notsick enough, it's significant.
Okay, so those are somephysical symptoms.
I'm not going to go through allof them, but those are really
just naming a few.
So fatigue, lack of energy,hair thinning, hair loss, cold
(17:22):
intolerance, digestive issues,constipation, bloating, weakened
immune system, disruptedmenstrual cycle are only a few
Headaches are going to.
I want to like list the other20.
I think I have an Instagrampost that names a bunch of other
physical symptoms as well, butwe want to go into the other
things as well today.
(17:43):
So we'll wrap it up withphysical symptoms and move on to
the mental and emotionalsymptoms of undereating.
And, again, the reason we'regoing over all this is because
we need to understand therealities of undereating and
what it's doing to our healthour physical health, our
emotional health.
It's so talked about ofovereating, but there are so
(18:07):
many horrible side effects andconsequences of undereating, so
that is why we are payingattention to that today.
Okay, all right, mental andemotional symptoms Undereating
doesn't just affect the body.
It's going to take a toll onyour mental health and your
cognitive function Big time, ok,big time.
Do you ever notice when you,when you skip a meal, you don't
(18:31):
eat enough, and what happens toyour mood?
And then what happens when youdo eat?
Right, mood swings,irritability.
Irritability and low mood aregoing to happen if you are not
eating enough, because the brainrequires a steady supply of
glucose to regulate your mood.
I'm going to highlight glucoseCarbohydrates.
(18:54):
Carbohydrates are the mainenergy source that your brain
thrives off of.
It needs carbs, okay.
So if you're eating, if you'rereducing your carbs or
eliminating or not gettingenough carbs in, then you think
you're eating enough calories.
Well, if you're not getting theglucose, you're still under
(19:14):
eating, the necessary nutrientthat your body needs and your
mind needs in order to help yourmood and to help all your
system.
So glucose is very important.
So, again, mood swings,irritability and low mood will
happen with under eating becauseyou're going to deplete your
energy reserves.
So you're going to haveheightened irritability,
(19:37):
emotional sensitivity andfeelings of depression and low
mood.
So make sure you're eatingenough.
Make sure you're eating enoughand then your mood will pick up
in general over time.
With a better nutrition, withmore nutrition, with being at
the weight you should be at, sogaining the necessary weight,
(20:00):
you're going to see a majorimprovement in your mood.
It has had such a huge impact.
There's something else I wantedto say there, something that has
to do with yeah, I guess, justworking with with clients.
I want to name that whenclients are in a low mood and
they're not eating enough,they're not at the weight they
should be in a low mood andthey're not eating enough,
(20:21):
they're not at the weight theyshould be, and sometimes they
can feel like well, you knowthey don't always link the fact
that they're stressed and thefact that they're stressed, the
fact that they have the like lowmood and low depression and not
a lot of hope, and maybe likenegative thoughts that this is
(20:42):
going to come into play for afew different reasons, but a big
reason for that is because yourbrain and your body do not have
enough calories and it doeslead to a depressed state.
Okay, other mental andemotional symptoms difficulty
concentrating or brain fog.
Without enough energy,cognitive functions like memory,
(21:03):
focus, problem solving aregoing to become compromised.
So if you find that the tasksrequiring mental effort are
overwhelming, impossible, hardto get through, take a very long
time, you cannot focus, askyourself am I eating enough?
When's the last time I ate?
Start experimenting, increaseyour calorie intake, increase
(21:26):
the frequency of food and seewhat happens.
And the last one we're going totalk about is increased anxiety.
All right, so chronic hunger,low blood sugar, is going to
amplify those feelings ofanxiety.
It's going to lead to obsessivethoughts, it's going to lead to
(21:47):
anxious thoughts and it'sdefinitely going to increase the
obsessive thoughts around foodand food, guilt and guilt around
eating and body image and thosenegative thoughts.
But it also just increasesanxiety overall.
It increases this.
There's a lot of science behindall of what I'm saying, but
there's a lot of science thatI've read and used with clients
(22:08):
to show hey, this increasedfeeling of anxiety that you have
, this is due to not eatingenough.
So just right there for mentalemotional symptoms.
Those all suck, those do notfeel good to feel, irritable and
low mood and have mood swingsand we have constant anxious
thoughts and have a brain fogand finding difficult to
(22:31):
concentrate or think this is alldue to lack of food intake.
Okay, all right, now let's gointo behavioral patterns that
happen so under.
Eating is often accompanied byspecific habits or patterns that
reflect an unhealthyrelationship with food, like
(22:52):
avoiding meals, eating verysmall portions, over-reliance on
caffeine and stimulants forenergy, obsessive thoughts
around food or eating rules andcompensatory behaviors.
All right, so behavioralpatterns that can increase with
inadequate nutrition definitelyimpact our behaviors and the way
(23:14):
we interact with food and bodyimage.
And again, this is why, when westart practicing body respect
and eating enough, thesebehaviors that we rely on
they're tied together.
They are like, they feel, theyfeel safe.
So as soon as when we startletting go, when we start eating
(23:35):
more, are those behaviors,we're also going to practice
letting go of those behaviors aswell.
This one I'm not going to spendtoo much time on.
I want to just point you in thedirection of going to the
episode on the Minnesotastarvation study that I think
will be extremely helpful foryou.
(23:55):
So check that out the Minnesotastarvation study to learn more
about the behavioral patternsand what's so interesting about
the behavioral patterns in thatstudy is that it shows these men
did not have a disorderedeating relationship with food.
That was disordered.
They did not have a complicatedrelationship.
It was very neutral andpositive these men's
(24:18):
relationship with food and bodyimage.
However, when they decreasedtheir food intake right, that's
what the whole episode, whatthis episode is about when they
weren't getting enough caloriesin in that experiment.
Behavioral patterns for thosemen, like everything I just
named avoidance of meals, eatingvery small portion, playing
(24:39):
with their food over reliance oncaffeine and gum, obsessive
thoughts about food, eating verysmall portion, playing with
their food over reliance oncaffeine and gum, obsessive
thoughts about food, lookingthrough cookbooks all these
rules that started happening.
These all started happeningbehaviorally due to the decrease
of food.
So sometimes we think ofbehavioral patterns leading to
(24:59):
the decrease of food, and thatdoes happen, right.
But also the decrease of foodcan lead to behavioral patterns.
I hope that's making sense.
It's making sense in my brain,so I hope it's.
Let me know if it doesn't and Ican re-explain it on a
different episode or we can chatabout it on Instagram.
But super, super important, sogo check out that episode.
Other symptoms to watch out forafter we talked about
(25:24):
behavioral, emotional and mental, and the physical symptoms, I'm
just going to name some otherones that might not fit into
those categories.
Okay, sleep disruption.
So chronic hunger can interferewith your sleep, and not even
chronic, it can just be, youknow, hunger from not eating
enough that day and it couldlead to difficulty falling
asleep and staying asleepthroughout the night.
(25:45):
I hear this a lot and this issomething like I'll tell my
friends or family members andthey're like I had a hard time
sleeping yesterday and I'll tellthem did you eat enough?
And if they don't know, I tellthem hey, next time you can't
sleep, wake up and go eat a meal.
Every time they do that,they're able to fall asleep.
My ex-partner when he wouldhave a hard time sleeping, it's
(26:10):
like go eat a banana, go eatpeanut butter.
As soon as that happened, I wasable to fall asleep.
Okay, so sometimes weunintentionally do not eat
enough as well, and so that'sgoing to definitely disrupt your
sleep and that's that's a bigreason.
You know, you can tell by allthese things that you're not
getting enough food in.
So once you get to a placewhere you are at a healthy
(26:31):
relationship with food and bodyand you're eating enough, you'll
notice when you're not, becausethese will be very obvious to
you when you are, you know, havea headache, when you can't
focus, when you're having sleepdisruptions.
So you'll be able to startknowing and listening and
trusting your body enough to beable to understand oh, I did not
eat enough because I'mexperiencing this, I gotta go
(26:53):
take care of that because thisis what my body needs.
Okay, other symptoms to watchout for with under eating it's
gonna be physical weakness ormuscle loss or inability to gain
muscle.
So when the body doesn'treceive enough calories, it's
going to break down your muscletissue for energy.
That's going to lead todecreased strength and decreased
endurance.
Those athletes are people whowork out and exercise, who are
(27:16):
not eating enough.
They're not going to be able tobuild calories I'm sorry, build
muscle.
They're going to feel weak whenthey're exercising.
Other symptoms dull or dry skinbecause of the lack of those
essential vitamins and fats thatare going to result in that dry
, flaky skin.
(27:37):
And then cravings or episodes ofbinge eating.
This is very big too.
So our body binges because ourbody is not getting enough food.
So under eating is going totrigger purposely.
Our body is very smart.
It's going to trigger thoseintense food cravings and
periods of overeating becauseyour body is trying to
(28:00):
compensate for the caloriedeficit.
So binging is a great survivalmechanism that our bodies have.
Not everyone has that, which Ithink.
Again, if you're binging,that's your body trying to take
care of you.
So we shouldn't be shaming thebinge and shaming ourselves.
(28:21):
We should get curious about whyam I binging?
Your body is trying to protectyou.
We need to be eating more.
I have a ton of episodes onthose, so check those out too.
For binging and overeating.
Okay, let's talk about somelong-term risks of undereating
that happen as well.
(28:42):
Um, and I'm going to list theseout there's I have a lot of
descriptions here on this, but Idon't want this episode to be
too, too long, um, but I do wantto talk about the the long-term
risks of under eating.
We chat, we chat about theshort term, like what you would
be experiencing, but these arethe very real effects of under
(29:04):
eating long-term.
And again, we hear so many ofthe long-term impacts of
overeating, right, that weshould be afraid of, but there
are.
So I'm looking at this listhere, this very significant list
of things that happen when weunder eat and it's scary.
So under eating can seemharmless, but and that's only
(29:31):
because of the messages we getbut it can have very serious and
lasting effects on the body.
So we're going to take a closerlook at the potential long term
consequences here.
Okay, we talked about hormonalimbalances with irregular
menstrual cycles.
Additionally, there's otherhormonal imbalances that can
(29:51):
happen over time.
Chronic undereating disruptsthe body's ability to produce
and regulate very essentialhormones.
So that's going to manifest asthose menstrual irregularities
complete loss of periods.
Irregularities, complete lossof periods.
(30:15):
Low testosterone can result inmuscle mass decrease, fatigue,
fertility issues, disruption ofyour thyroid hormones can lead
to slow metabolism, fatigue,difficulty regulating body
temperature and then, inaddition to those hormonal
balances, over time we have aweakened immune system, as I had
named.
This is going to lead to notbeing able to have a robust
immune response.
(30:36):
It's going to lead to increasedsusceptibility to infections,
slower wound healing, prolongedillnesses.
It's going to lead to a lack ofproteins and vitamins and
minerals that compromise ourimmunity, like vitamin C and
zinc.
There's a loss of bone densitythat can happen.
So insufficient intake ofenough calories is going to be
(30:59):
insufficient intake, most likely, of calcium, vitamin D and
other bone-supporting nutrients.
That can lead to osteopenia,which is low bone density, or
osteoporosis, which is brittlebones.
Additionally, those hormonalimbalances we were talking about
, that reduces estrogen.
That exacerbates bone loss aswell and over time this is going
(31:24):
to lead to risk of fractures,chronic pain, posture issues.
Additionally, slow metabolismand weight regulation happens
over time, with chronic undereating.
Chronic under eating is goingto slow down your metabolism and
it's going to complicate yourweight regulation.
(31:46):
Your body has a weight setpoint I have a podcast on that
and that weight regulation issomething that our bodies do for
us throughout our lives in away to take care of us, and
everyone has a different weightthat your body likes to be at
(32:06):
and that it feels best at.
A different weight that yourbody likes to be at and that it
feels best at.
This becomes when we arechronically dieting or
disordered eating ormanipulating that it throws that
weight regulation off.
Okay, slows down our metabolismand throws that weight
regulation off.
So really going against thislike dieting like it, logically,
(32:27):
you know, and when you look atthe facts, if you are afraid of
overeating and therefore you'reunder eating, you're actually
doing the opposite of what youwant to be doing in order to
speed up your metabolism a lotof the time and regulate your
weight and be at the best weightfor your body.
But of course, it's not yourfault, it's the messages we
receive so under eating causesthe body to enter a state of
(32:51):
metabolic adaption.
It's very smart and that'swhere it conserves energy by
slowing down the essentialfunctions like digestion and
cellular repair, and it's goingto burn less calories
intentionally because it needsto spare them this, spare them
(33:13):
Um, this sorry, again sick,getting over being sick.
So this can make weightregulation very difficult.
The body's going to burn fewercalories even at rest and over
time, this metabolic slowdown umwhen normal eating resumes,
it's um going to be confused andum the it's um going to be
confused and um the the.
The body's going to be confused.
We have to re-regulate it, re?
Um, work with it, make sureit's getting enough um and help
(33:35):
it to get back to a place whereit feels best.
So we need to give it enoughcalories for a while um to get
back its metabolism to the rightplace and to start feeling um
on the same team.
So we've been screwing it upwith under eating for a long
time.
We need to give it the time itneeds to get back to a good
place with eating enough.
(33:57):
Okay, despite that scariness, Iunderstand.
That's why you should getsupport here from someone who
can hold hope and whospecializes and can can can help
you get there.
So you're not, you don't get acold feet in the process, um,
because we're going against alot in our society, a lot of
(34:19):
messages that make it scary togain weight and eat more.
Okay, other potential risks aregoing to be your heart health.
Chronic under eating is goingto weaken that heart muscle,
leading to low blood pressure,irregular heart rhythms and even
heart failure.
Cognitive impairment prolongedcalorie restriction deprives the
(34:39):
brain of glucose, impairs focus, memory and decision-making
abilities.
Psychological effectspersistent under eating is going
to increase anxiety, depression, obsessive behaviors um, all in
general and also related tofood and body image.
Okay, so so many signs andsymptoms.
I'm sure some that you noticedin yourself today if you're
(35:01):
struggling with under eating.
These are significant.
These can lead to issues downthe line and right now that
impact all aspects of our life,all aspects and once we start
eating more and taking care ofourselves and getting enough
calories and getting a varietyof calories, although scary, so
(35:23):
it's going to feel very crappyat first, it starts to make us
feel better.
It is the solution.
Going to feel very crappy atfirst, it starts to make us feel
better.
It is the solution, is theanswer.
Despite the messages we get indiet culture, this is the answer
.
And so, if this is, if you'relistening to this and you it,
you know it's ringing some bellsand turning some light bulbs on
(35:43):
for you and you'reunderstanding, wow, I need to
take care of this.
Wonderful.
Light bulbs on for you.
And you're understanding, wow,I need to take care of this
Wonderful.
And then, if your next thoughtis how do I do that?
Because this is so scary and sodifferent, get support.
Do not do this alone.
I am here to support you.
I have a major, no stoneunturned program where you can
(36:04):
walk through to full freedomthat I can help you with.
So message me.
Walkthrough to full freedomthat I can help you with.
So message me.
You can DM me on Instagramjamierd underscore or you can
email me at hello at jamierdcom.
You can contact me with thelinks in my profile.
I'm happy to help you because Itruly believe you can get there
, but I also truly believe thatmost people need support because
(36:25):
it's a very it's confusing,it's scary, it's unfamiliar, um.
So, yes, but let me tell yousomething you can do now to
start knowing how much to eat.
Okay, so if you're listening tothis and you're like, okay, I
know I'm under eating, I'mexperiencing those things, but
how the heck do I start eatingmore?
(36:45):
How do I know?
Cause I know you're afraid ofstill overeating.
Right, that's not going to goaway.
So how do you know how much toeat?
Well, first of all, that takestime and practice and getting to
the root of things making sureyou're eating enough and eating
consistently, and building trustwith all foods and trust with
(37:06):
your body, and getting to theweight that you need to be at
and allowing your body to getthere.
So it takes a lot.
So when I give you some ofthese little tips on how to know
how much to eat, I want you totake away that that is something
that should be.
You should work with someone toassess that and make sure, but
(37:26):
you can absolutely practice that.
You should absolutely startpracticing that as soon as
possible.
So, number one listen to yourbody.
We have to start listening toour body and in order to start
listening to our body, we dohave to start eating more
consistently and eating more toturn on those cues if our hunger
(37:47):
and fullness cues are off.
I believe I have a podcastepisode about this as well.
So, number one how to know howmuch to eat.
We have to become moreintuitive by listening to our
bodies, by listening to ourhunger and fullness cues.
The only way you can trustthose hunger and fullness cues,
though, are if you have themrecalibrated by consistently
(38:09):
eating and by eating enough, andby doing that for a while, so
that they're turned back on andyou can listen to them, because
a lot of times, people saythat's not hunger.
That's not hunger, when itactually is a subtle hunger cue,
and people are afraid to listento their subtle hunger cues or
their hunger cues, and so theyare still there, they think
(38:30):
they're listening, but they'recontinuing to ignore it, and
also, people are really afraidof fullness cues, so they don't
allow themselves to eat enougheither.
So this is a complicated thingthat I would like to help you
with.
If you would like help, solisten to your body to help you
with.
If you would like help, solisten to your body, acknowledge
(38:52):
it, acknowledge the energylevels that you need, based on
your activity as well.
And number three is buildingthat body trust.
I have a whole episode on that,but that is where that's key.
We can't we can't listen to ourhunger and fullness cues if we
still have major distrust in ourbody.
Right, because we're going tobe questioning it.
We're not going to be listeningto it.
It's going to be very, veryhard to practice body respect
(39:15):
when we don't have trust in ourbody.
So we need to build that.
And a lot of things that can getin the way of body trust is our
body image, some root beliefs,some safety things here, some
mental health stuff, ourbehaviors around food.
So there's so much that we needto do to build body trust and
build food trust that Iabsolutely am here for to help
(39:38):
you.
So, yeah, that how to know howmuch to eat, that listening to
your body part that is going tobe very complicated and I would
say you should absolutely try,but I would like to check you
and support you on that to makesure you're actually building
body trust, because body trustis a beautiful thing to have and
I want you to have the actualbody trust rather than, you know
(40:00):
, maybe a diet culture versionor, still like was I, recovery
version of body trust.
Um, because when you have fullbody trust, you can truly let go
of all these things and livefree of those thoughts and um
beliefs with food and body imagethat are so stressful.
Okay, so I'm going to stopthere.
(40:21):
Um, I want you to just practiceshifting this narrative a bit,
with this episode, which isrecognizing the importance of
eating enough, bit with thisepisode, which is recognizing
the importance of eating enough.
Sitting with this episode andthinking about how do I
experience this, what do I thinkabout this and how can I start
practicing eating more andmaking sure I am not under
(40:44):
eating, and reach out support,reach out for support.
Some closing thoughts I wantyou to, um, yeah, help this up
and take this episode to helpyou to raise awareness.
I want you to start payingattention to the signs that your
body is giving you.
Um, I want to emphasize thatfood is something to not be
(41:10):
feared but to enjoy and tounderstand, that is helping your
whole body thrive, and thateating enough is a beautiful,
beautiful thing that adds toyour life.
Okay, and last closing thoughtis that I want to invite you to
apply to work with me in TrueFood and Body Image Freedom so
(41:34):
that you can gain thatrelationship with food and body
image where you do not need tolisten to podcasts like this.
You can listen to otherpodcasts of interest because you
do not have to worry about foodand body image and you're at
full recovery, which you deserve.
(41:56):
Like I said, I believe youabsolutely can get there because
, although you might not trustfood and you might not trust
your body, I trust your body110% is I.
As long as you go through thenecessary process to get to that
and you don't give up and youget the right support and you
get uncomfortable and you do thework, I believe, I believe you
(42:20):
can get there.
Okay, so link in profile, um,or link in show notes to that
program if you'd like to apply.
It also links a few.
I also will also go check outthose other episodes that I
mentioned as well.
I would encourage you to dothat.
So, without further ado, I hopethis was helpful for you and I
(42:43):
will see you next time and keepempowering yourself to learn
more, to build more awarenesswith that mindful
self-compassion, and be carefulof that shame that pops in.
We're all on a journey.
You got this.
I'm excited for you and I'mglad you're here wanting
something better for yourself.
I will see you next time onBison Body Love.
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