A century ago, as magazines, movies, and television increasingly showcased thin women, no one was talking about eating disorders—let alone working with a Disordered Eating Nutritionist.
Society quickly began valuing smaller bodies over larger ones. Today, with constant exposure to idealized images online and on social media, you likely see countless curated versions of other people every day.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing your appearance to theirs, which can lead to a negative body image. While transforming how you see your body isn’t easy, a Nutritionist can guide you in shifting your mindset and breaking free from harmful disordered eating patterns.
How A Disordered Eating Nutritionist Can Help Change The Way You Feel About Your Body
Let’s connect the dots to understand exactly how a Nutritionist can guide you down the path of transforming your body image from negative to positive.
Defining Body Image
If you grew up seeing photos of smiling, thin women everywhere, it’s no surprise you may associate thinness with being good and healthy—and fatness with being bad and unhealthy. Even if it’s subconscious, this belief can still shape how you see your body.
At its core, body image is how you think and feel about your body. It’s completely subjective and can be either positive or negative.
People with a positive body image often don’t think much about their bodies. They usually have a healthy relationship with food too, since they aren’t driven by the need to change how they look.
If your body image is negative, you may spend a lot of time worrying about your appearance—and show signs of poor body image.
A negative relationship with body image can look like…
- Often thinking about or commenting on body size (yours and others)
- Frequently comparing your body to other people’s
- Covering up your body with excess clothes or accessories
- Either avoiding or constantly seeking out mirrors
- Frequently weighing yourself
If you have a negative body image, there’s a high chance it’s grown into a negative relationship with food and eating as well, as you attempt to lose or maintain a certain weight.
The Relationship BetweenYour Body Image and Eating Habits
The root cause of disordered eating habits is often negative body image. Negative body image pushes women to lose weight or maintain a certain weight in order to achieve an idealized, smaller body type. This creates disordered eating patterns.
It’s important to note that disordered eating and eating disorders aren’t necessarily the same thing. You can struggle with disordered eating without being diagnosed with an eating disorder. If you suffer from negative body image, it’s likely that you also suffer from disordered eating habits.
Signs of Disordered Eating
- Ignoring signs of hunger or fullness
- Calorie counting
- Frequent dieting
- Being consumed by thoughts of what and how much you eat
- Being extremely concerned with “healthiness”
- Having inflexible food rules
- Hiding your eating habits
- Avoiding social situations involving food
If any of these are true for you, a Disordered Eating Nutritionist can help you face and address what is likely the root cause of these behaviors – your body image.
Working with a Nutritionist Doesn’t Have to Feel Scary
Many women who struggle with their body image and disordered eating fear that turning to a Nutritionist will be scary, triggering, or uncomfortable.
While healing body image does involve gently nudging yourself out of your comfort zone, a good Disordered Eating Nutritionist will make sure you feel welcome and supported throughout the process of unraveling what brought you here, so that you can finally make peace with your body.
Here at Kate Brock Nutrition, we are a team of Licensed Dietitian-Nutritionists who hold ourselves to a high standard so that every woman feels safe and is equipped with all the tools you need to heal your relationship with food, eating, and your body.
A HAES-based Approach with Kate Brock Nutrition in Washington, D.C.
We proudly use a HAES (Health At Every Size)-based Approach. Meaning, we welcome women of all body types and sizes, and support our clients indiscriminately. We also do not require weigh-ins or base our Nutritional Counseling on weight-centered goals.
We also encourage eating for wellbeing, not weight loss. Our personalized nutrition and supplementation plans come with a goal of allowing you to feel your best and achieve food freedom. No food rules or restrictions; just focusing on nourishment and your overall well-being.
Here at KBN, we also recognize that your overall well-being includes not only how you feel physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Transforming body image relies not only on working together on a nutrition plan but on incorporating therapeutic techniques and self-care practices that will completely change your relationship with your body.
Ready to Work with a Disordered Eating Nutritionist in Washington, D.C.?
Body image is just one component of disordered eating, but it’s often the motivating factor. If you’ve been unhappy with your body, believing that restricting what you eat to lose weight is the only way to achieve peace, know that transforming body image is possible…with a little help.
If you’re interested in working with us you can follow this link to book a free call so we can discuss how we can support you.
Transforming body image will change your life for the better. Rediscover joy, food freedom, and heal your relationship with your body with a little help from a Nutritionist.
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