February 25, 2023 • 11 mins
OUTWEIGH: It is estimated that over 30 million Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetime, and something you may not be aware of is that In the United States, eating disorders are the second most fatal mental illness, surpassed only by opioid use disorder. Both of those stats are wild.
It's National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, so NEDA and other organizations will spend the week focusing on people with eating disorders and educating others about eating disorders — both of which are key to change. We highly encourage you to check out the NEDA website for info, tools, support, helplines, etc... It is: nationaleatingdisorders.org
5 Mental Health Self-Help Ideas for you to keep in your back pocket:
-Try Mindfulness
-Keep a Gratitude Journal
-Focus on Sleep
-Soak up Uncomplicated Relationships (for example, your pets!!)
-Tap Into Your Creativity
If you're here because you're curious about whether or not you even have disordered eating behaviors, Mental Health America has an eating disorder test up on their website - the link will also be in the show notes. This test can't diagnose an eating disorder, but it can help you understand where you are. So looking into where you fall with this screening tool could be helpful.
Eating Disorder Test:
https://screening.mhanational.org/screening-tools/eating-disorder/
Sending hugs to everyone. You are not alone. And we hope you get the support you need!
Best places to find more about Amy: RadioAmy.com + @RadioAmy
To contact Amy about Outweigh: hello@outweighpodcast.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I won't let my body out outweigh everything that I'm made,
DOT won't spend my life trying to change. I'm learning
a love who I am again. I'm strong, I feel free,
I know who every part of me. It's beautiful and
then will always outway if you feel it with your
(00:24):
hands in the are, she'll love to the boom. I
am the let's say good day at time did you
and die out? Happy Saturday? Outweigh Amy here and it's
need a week National eating disorder Awareness. And it's crazy
that it's estimated that over thirty million Americans will have
(00:47):
a needing disorder in their lifetime. That number just seems
incredibly high. But I'm one of those millions and millions
of Americans. And as I always like to say, especially
for new people listening, i am not here as an expert.
I am only here to share my experience, to share
resources and maybe even just help one person not feel
(01:09):
alone in their journey. Because a life without disordered eating
outweighs everything. That's why this podcast is called Outweigh and
NITA weeks often I'm pretty sure always maybe the last
week of February. So this year twenty twenty three It's
starting on Monday, February twenty seven and ending on Sunday,
(01:31):
March fifth, And I love NITA, I love their resources.
It's a great organization. They're going to be spending the
week focusing on all kinds of things, experiences of people
eating disorders, educating people about all the things, and I
encourage you to check out their website for info, for tools,
(01:52):
for support, for helplines. Their website is National Eating Disorders
dot org. I'll link it in the show notes. And thankfully,
I've been a recovery for three years now, but it's
an ongoing process and some of you may not be
there yet, but you're curious, you're you're trying to figure
it out, or maybe you're listening right now because you
(02:13):
have a loved one that has an eating disorder and
you don't know what to do to support them. And
something that you may not be aware of, which is
another crazy stat is that in the United States, eating
disorders are the second most fatal mental illness, surpassed only
by opioid use disorder. And this is why educating ourselves
(02:37):
and others about the dangers and the causes of eating
disorders are imperative. I mean, it just is. It's it's
imperative for us to have this info. And the most
important thing I want you to know right now is
that recovery is possible, and it's possible at any age.
(02:57):
I was around thirteen or fourteen my disorder started, and
it took me until about thirty eight thirty nine years
old to finally get into full recovery. And some people
recover early in their disorder, others it may take decades
and decades and decades. I get emails to our Outweigh
podcast email from teenagers. I get them from moms who
(03:21):
are worried about their teenager. I get them from people
in their thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies. I've heard from
so many people that have been dealing with a needing disorder,
whether it's themselves or a loved one. So anyway, recovery
(03:41):
is possible. But have compassion for yourself or for your
loved one that you know is struggling. Everyone is doing
the best that they can, and recovery takes time. Now,
if you're a loved one and you're experiencing anger or
any other big feelings or emotions, because it's frustrating at times.
(04:06):
That is totally understandable. I know that my loved ones
experienced all kinds of feelings during my eating disorder. However,
I would say sharing this with your loved one could
impact their recovery. So find some outlets for your big feelings.
Talk to close friends, maybe even join a support group
(04:26):
or talking to a therapist is always a good idea
no matter who you are in this eating disorder equation.
If you have access to therapy, do it. Start researching
therapists that specialize in eating disorder recovery today, because therapy
takes time. I mean something may not even click for
you for a couple of months, Like say you go
(04:47):
every week for you know, six to eight weeks, it
might finally start to get somewhere. So it takes time
that therapy definitely can help, so don't put it off
if if you have access. I remember having such mental
distress during my eating disorder, and like I said, I
know I caused so much stress for those around me.
(05:10):
So self help is crucial for everyone involved. And I'm
going to share a handful of mental health self help
ideas for you to keep in your back pocket. The
first one would be mindfulness if you're wondering how to
deal with triggers. Mindfulness is something that has definitely helped me,
and that's, you know, as simple as me going on
(05:31):
a walk, leaving my environment, getting outside, leaving a building
where I might be having a thought, leaving my home
and going outside and looking at things, touching things, smelling things,
hearing things, tapping into all of my senses and then
doing some breathwork at the same time, and then noticing
how my body is responding. So really stepping away, putting
(05:53):
yourself in a different environment can help switch that and
then you can go into mindfulness from there, notice the
beauty around you, which leads me to the next thing
is keeping a gratitude journal. It's sometimes hard to notice
all the beautiful things around us or the things we
have to be thankful for, when we're focused on our
(06:16):
eating disorder, which honestly can occupy a lot of your
brain space. Don't feel shame in that. I've been there.
Everyone's been there. It takes space, but gratitude can help
dig you out of some of those thoughts. A gratitude
journal can help remind you of what's in your life
right now and find it in the small things, maybe
a pretty sunrise or sunset that can help you find
(06:38):
the joy. My twelve year old son is so good
at that. He loves sunsets, he loves taking pictures of them.
He notices every single one. He notices cool clouds, and
so I learned from him. I'm like, oh wow, he's yeah,
soaking up the little things. I guess we get used
to seeing clouds all the time, so we don't notice
when they look really cool. And your journal can also
(06:58):
help remind you of the good times when you're feeling low.
So that's why I think it's good to document things
write them down. I actually helped create a four Things
gratitude journal that we made through our Spua line, which
a Spua means hope in Haitian Creole. All proceeds go
to education in Haiti. It's where I adopted my kids from.
(07:18):
And it's an awesome tool. So if journaling is intimidating
for you and you want to guide and you know
you want it, you want to be reminded of a
way to do it. In four Things, it's not very
overwhelming at all. We even have fun stickers in the
back for the days you don't have words, so that
might be an option for you. Four things dot com,
or maybe you have an old journal sitting around that
you can open up and start practicing gratitude there. Start
(07:41):
with just one thing a day and build up to
two things, three things, four things. I'm focused on sleep.
A good night's rest is closely tied to a good
mood the next day. Sleep is so important. I prioritize
sleep more than anything in the world right now. I
used to prioritize working out and eating clean all the time,
whatever claim means. Like in my disordered days, it's just
(08:04):
that's all I cared about. And now I can go
to bed and sleep totally fine if I you know
ate who knows? I ate whatever foods and I didn't
work out at all because I know how important sleep is.
And also my mind is at peace with certain things.
I don't have to stress my body out anymore. And
(08:26):
try to set your room up for success. I now
try to keep my room really dark. I try to
not look at screens an hour before bed. I got
these special light bulbs that are amber colored that I
can turn on my light, my nightlight or what is
it called my lamp on my bedside table so that
I can have a light on and I can do
things in my room to get ready for bed. But
(08:48):
I have you know I'm protected. I'm setting my brain
up for success and helping with melatonin production. See how
you can set your room up for success and that
way you can get better sleep. Soak up uncomplicated relationships.
This is another way to care for yourself. And for example,
(09:12):
my relationship with my cat is very uncomplicated, like I
don't have to talk to my cat. I can just
cuddle with her, and same goes from my dog. They
have unconditional love, they have acceptance. And spending time with
pets if you have them, it is a great idea
because it lowers stress, it brings us joy and caring
for a pet is another way to give you a
goal that you can complete each day, which some people
(09:35):
definitely find helpful in eating disorder, recovery is caring for things,
having goals, taking the focus off yourself. Also, enabling your
creativity is a great way to care for your mental health.
Activities like drawing, painting, puzzles, crocheting. I've never crochet, but
I know that that's huge for some people. What these
things do is they keep our body body busy. It
(09:57):
keeps our mind focused. Projects are a huge source of joy,
especially if they turn out as you planned and you
finished something like you started and it looked one way
and then whailah, like I love the way I feel
when I complete a puzzle. So find something that you
enjoy like that, and go to it when you're feeling
stressed or worried or sad. And those are just five
(10:20):
things that you can do to care for yourself and
your mental health. And I just want to say too
quickly before I wrap, if you're here because you're curious
about whether or not you have an eating disorder or
disordered eating behaviors, Mental Health America has a needing disorder
test that's up on their website. I'll put the link
in the show notes as well. But this test isn't
(10:42):
not something I want to be clear, it's not something
that can diagnose in eating disorder, but it can help
you understand where you are. So I think that looking
into where you fall with this screening tool could be very,
very helpful. And my hope is that during Need a week,
more people are just exposed to reas sources that can
help them, and that we continue the conversation because it
(11:03):
can be hard to know where to start if you're
a loved one has an eating disorder or they're showing
symptoms or signs, but starting the conversation is key. And
I just want to send encouragement to any family and
friends out there, because you're vital to the recovery journey,
so just keep that in mind and know that there
are resources out there for you too. It's not just
(11:25):
for the people that have the eating disorder, so I'm
sending hugs to everyone listening. You are not alone, and
I hope you get the support you need.
I won't let my body out outweigh everything that I'm made,
DOT won't spend my life trying to change. I'm learning
a love who I am again. I'm strong, I feel free,
I know who every part of me. It's beautiful and
then will always outway if you feel it with your
(00:24):
hands in the are, she'll love to the boom. I
am the let's say good day at time did you
and die out? Happy Saturday? Outweigh Amy here and it's
need a week National eating disorder Awareness. And it's crazy
that it's estimated that over thirty million Americans will have
(00:47):
a needing disorder in their lifetime. That number just seems
incredibly high. But I'm one of those millions and millions
of Americans. And as I always like to say, especially
for new people listening, i am not here as an expert.
I am only here to share my experience, to share
resources and maybe even just help one person not feel
(01:09):
alone in their journey. Because a life without disordered eating
outweighs everything. That's why this podcast is called Outweigh and
NITA weeks often I'm pretty sure always maybe the last
week of February. So this year twenty twenty three It's
starting on Monday, February twenty seven and ending on Sunday,
(01:31):
March fifth, And I love NITA, I love their resources.
It's a great organization. They're going to be spending the
week focusing on all kinds of things, experiences of people
eating disorders, educating people about all the things, and I
encourage you to check out their website for info, for tools,
(01:52):
for support, for helplines. Their website is National Eating Disorders
dot org. I'll link it in the show notes. And thankfully,
I've been a recovery for three years now, but it's
an ongoing process and some of you may not be
there yet, but you're curious, you're you're trying to figure
it out, or maybe you're listening right now because you
(02:13):
have a loved one that has an eating disorder and
you don't know what to do to support them. And
something that you may not be aware of, which is
another crazy stat is that in the United States, eating
disorders are the second most fatal mental illness, surpassed only
by opioid use disorder. And this is why educating ourselves
(02:37):
and others about the dangers and the causes of eating
disorders are imperative. I mean, it just is. It's it's
imperative for us to have this info. And the most
important thing I want you to know right now is
that recovery is possible, and it's possible at any age.
(02:57):
I was around thirteen or fourteen my disorder started, and
it took me until about thirty eight thirty nine years
old to finally get into full recovery. And some people
recover early in their disorder, others it may take decades
and decades and decades. I get emails to our Outweigh
podcast email from teenagers. I get them from moms who
(03:21):
are worried about their teenager. I get them from people
in their thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies. I've heard from
so many people that have been dealing with a needing disorder,
whether it's themselves or a loved one. So anyway, recovery
(03:41):
is possible. But have compassion for yourself or for your
loved one that you know is struggling. Everyone is doing
the best that they can, and recovery takes time. Now,
if you're a loved one and you're experiencing anger or
any other big feelings or emotions, because it's frustrating at times.
(04:06):
That is totally understandable. I know that my loved ones
experienced all kinds of feelings during my eating disorder. However,
I would say sharing this with your loved one could
impact their recovery. So find some outlets for your big feelings.
Talk to close friends, maybe even join a support group
(04:26):
or talking to a therapist is always a good idea
no matter who you are in this eating disorder equation.
If you have access to therapy, do it. Start researching
therapists that specialize in eating disorder recovery today, because therapy
takes time. I mean something may not even click for
you for a couple of months, Like say you go
(04:47):
every week for you know, six to eight weeks, it
might finally start to get somewhere. So it takes time
that therapy definitely can help, so don't put it off
if if you have access. I remember having such mental
distress during my eating disorder, and like I said, I
know I caused so much stress for those around me.
(05:10):
So self help is crucial for everyone involved. And I'm
going to share a handful of mental health self help
ideas for you to keep in your back pocket. The
first one would be mindfulness if you're wondering how to
deal with triggers. Mindfulness is something that has definitely helped me,
and that's, you know, as simple as me going on
(05:31):
a walk, leaving my environment, getting outside, leaving a building
where I might be having a thought, leaving my home
and going outside and looking at things, touching things, smelling things,
hearing things, tapping into all of my senses and then
doing some breathwork at the same time, and then noticing
how my body is responding. So really stepping away, putting
(05:53):
yourself in a different environment can help switch that and
then you can go into mindfulness from there, notice the
beauty around you, which leads me to the next thing
is keeping a gratitude journal. It's sometimes hard to notice
all the beautiful things around us or the things we
have to be thankful for, when we're focused on our
(06:16):
eating disorder, which honestly can occupy a lot of your
brain space. Don't feel shame in that. I've been there.
Everyone's been there. It takes space, but gratitude can help
dig you out of some of those thoughts. A gratitude
journal can help remind you of what's in your life
right now and find it in the small things, maybe
a pretty sunrise or sunset that can help you find
(06:38):
the joy. My twelve year old son is so good
at that. He loves sunsets, he loves taking pictures of them.
He notices every single one. He notices cool clouds, and
so I learned from him. I'm like, oh wow, he's yeah,
soaking up the little things. I guess we get used
to seeing clouds all the time, so we don't notice
when they look really cool. And your journal can also
(06:58):
help remind you of the good times when you're feeling low.
So that's why I think it's good to document things
write them down. I actually helped create a four Things
gratitude journal that we made through our Spua line, which
a Spua means hope in Haitian Creole. All proceeds go
to education in Haiti. It's where I adopted my kids from.
(07:18):
And it's an awesome tool. So if journaling is intimidating
for you and you want to guide and you know
you want it, you want to be reminded of a
way to do it. In four Things, it's not very
overwhelming at all. We even have fun stickers in the
back for the days you don't have words, so that
might be an option for you. Four things dot com,
or maybe you have an old journal sitting around that
you can open up and start practicing gratitude there. Start
(07:41):
with just one thing a day and build up to
two things, three things, four things. I'm focused on sleep.
A good night's rest is closely tied to a good
mood the next day. Sleep is so important. I prioritize
sleep more than anything in the world right now. I
used to prioritize working out and eating clean all the time,
whatever claim means. Like in my disordered days, it's just
(08:04):
that's all I cared about. And now I can go
to bed and sleep totally fine if I you know
ate who knows? I ate whatever foods and I didn't
work out at all because I know how important sleep is.
And also my mind is at peace with certain things.
I don't have to stress my body out anymore. And
(08:26):
try to set your room up for success. I now
try to keep my room really dark. I try to
not look at screens an hour before bed. I got
these special light bulbs that are amber colored that I
can turn on my light, my nightlight or what is
it called my lamp on my bedside table so that
I can have a light on and I can do
things in my room to get ready for bed. But
(08:48):
I have you know I'm protected. I'm setting my brain
up for success and helping with melatonin production. See how
you can set your room up for success and that
way you can get better sleep. Soak up uncomplicated relationships.
This is another way to care for yourself. And for example,
(09:12):
my relationship with my cat is very uncomplicated, like I
don't have to talk to my cat. I can just
cuddle with her, and same goes from my dog. They
have unconditional love, they have acceptance. And spending time with
pets if you have them, it is a great idea
because it lowers stress, it brings us joy and caring
for a pet is another way to give you a
goal that you can complete each day, which some people
(09:35):
definitely find helpful in eating disorder, recovery is caring for things,
having goals, taking the focus off yourself. Also, enabling your
creativity is a great way to care for your mental health.
Activities like drawing, painting, puzzles, crocheting. I've never crochet, but
I know that that's huge for some people. What these
things do is they keep our body body busy. It
(09:57):
keeps our mind focused. Projects are a huge source of joy,
especially if they turn out as you planned and you
finished something like you started and it looked one way
and then whailah, like I love the way I feel
when I complete a puzzle. So find something that you
enjoy like that, and go to it when you're feeling
stressed or worried or sad. And those are just five
(10:20):
things that you can do to care for yourself and
your mental health. And I just want to say too
quickly before I wrap, if you're here because you're curious
about whether or not you have an eating disorder or
disordered eating behaviors, Mental Health America has a needing disorder
test that's up on their website. I'll put the link
in the show notes as well. But this test isn't
(10:42):
not something I want to be clear, it's not something
that can diagnose in eating disorder, but it can help
you understand where you are. So I think that looking
into where you fall with this screening tool could be very,
very helpful. And my hope is that during Need a week,
more people are just exposed to reas sources that can
help them, and that we continue the conversation because it
(11:03):
can be hard to know where to start if you're
a loved one has an eating disorder or they're showing
symptoms or signs, but starting the conversation is key. And
I just want to send encouragement to any family and
friends out there, because you're vital to the recovery journey,
so just keep that in mind and know that there
are resources out there for you too. It's not just
(11:25):
for the people that have the eating disorder, so I'm
sending hugs to everyone listening. You are not alone, and
I hope you get the support you need.
Feeling Things with Amy & Kat News
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Amy Brown
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