by Admin | Jun 25, 2019 | Eating Disorder Recovery
Your Go-to Resource for all Things Eating Disorders As Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitians, we wanted to provide you with a go-to resource for the 3 common eating disorders we work with in our office every single day to help clients and families on the road to recovery. Anorexia Nervosa Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is characterized by failure to maintain an adequate body weight, body image disturbance, and excessive dietary restriction. There is also the purging type or use of other self-destructive methods to keep weight off. Anorexia nervosa involves self-starvation. The body is denied the essential nutrients it needs to function normally. So, it is forced to slow down all of its processes to conserve energy. Signs & Symptoms Anorexia Nervosa Intense fear of gaining weight Low self-esteem related to body image Preoccupation with weight, food, calories, and dieting Refusal to eat certain foods, progressing to restriction against whole categories of foods Denial of hunger Development of food rituals (eating food in certain orders, excessive chewing, rearranging food on a plate) Health Consequences of Anorexia Nervosa Abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure Reduction of bone density Muscle loss and weakness Severe dehydration Hair loss and dry skin Feeling cold all the time Lack of or irregular menses Bulimia Nervosa Bulimia Nervosa is characterized by binge eating (consuming large amounts of food while feeling out of control) accompanied by compensatory behaviors, such as self-induced vomiting to prevent weight gain, and body image disturbances. Signs & Symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa A feeling of being out of control during binge-eating episodes Poor self-esteem related to body image There may... 
by Admin | Apr 30, 2019 | Eating Disorder Recovery
Dorm Room Snacks Many people have said “college will be the best time of your life.” And I would probably have to agree with them. College is a great place for you to get to know yourself better, expand your horizons, meet new people and of course have fun! Although college comes with amazing experiences, transitioning to college can also be difficult, especially if you are in the midst of recovery from your eating disorder. From a nutrition standpoint, it is important to have a food plan in place so you are able to progress through your recovery. One thing I would recommend to you is to be sure to have snacks in your dorm room to set yourself up for success. Here are my top 10 tips for healthy snacks in a dorm room! 1. Buy extra food at the school cafeteria: When I went to Maryland (Go Terps!), I would always buy some extra food to make sure I had enough for a snack later in the day or for breakfast the next morning. This is especially important if you have a busy day filled with class, work or studying. Some ideas of food to pack with you include, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, fruit and cottage cheese/yogurt, chips and salsa, pita chips and hummus, cookies, or cheese or tuna salad and crackers. 2. Take advantage of the mini fridge: Having a mini fridge in your dorm room is just another way to set yourself up for success! You open your world to many more snack options. Yogurt, hard boiled eggs, leftovers, deli meat, cheese, fruit,... 
by Admin | Nov 27, 2018 | Eating Disorder Recovery
Support Her Clients in Eating Disorder Recovery I have had the honor of watching our empowered eating dietitians blossom into an amazing nutrition professional. She started with our practice over ten years ago while she was a dietetics student at the University of Maryland. She had already been in recovery from her own eating disorder for about five years and was ready to help others begin their journey of treatment of their own eating disorder. We bring an enormous amount of knowledge, compassion and empathy into her work with clients each day. She brings enormous passion and dedication to help her clients heal from eating disorders and also helps them discover tools to help clients live a rich and meaningful life as they separate themselves from their eating disorders. How can we help? As our team helps clients face their food fears, she will help clients manage their anxiety around food and will even share meals and snacks with her clients as they learn to push past their fears and nourish themselves. She has an incredible ability to meet clients where they are and to nudge them to go outside of their comfort zone and take the next right step toward recovery, she brings such genuine caring and kindness to each session, her clients are able to tolerate and eventually even enjoy food again. Our clients LOVE our dietitians! How do we support you? If you are working with us, we are available on a daily basis using a special phone/tablet app call Recovery Record. You will be able to communicate your thoughts, feelings and beliefs around... 
by Rebecca Bitzer | Sep 18, 2018 | Eating Disorder Recovery
I love her quote “A Dietitian does not help you DIET”. This delightful Empowered Eating Client shares her nutrition journey to inspire you to get the help that you desire. Get an inside view into how working with a Registered Dietitian helped her change her relationship with food. Also take a look at the wonderful foods that she is now preparing and enjoying. 1. What would you consider to be your main food struggles before coming to Empowered Eating? Binging and Purging- I never knew what was the right portion to eat. I over-exaggerated my dieting, forbidding myself to certain ‘bad’ foods. This would cause me to binge and stuff my feelings by eating everything in sight. I was fearful of gaining weight and not being able to maintain my slim figure, so I would purge to control my weight. 2. What strategies have helped you the most that you learned and worked on in your sessions with your dietitian? Mindful eating- listening to my body. Eating when I’m hungry, and allowing myself to eat what my body is asking for. Also taking care of ME. Its fun to take care of yourself and to allow ME time…. going to get my nails done, getting a massage or facial, or creating my ‘vision board’ of all my dreams and aspirations. I learned that I have a creative side. There are other more productive things that I can do with my life other than focusing on food 24/7. It was not the foot that was the enemy, it was my emotions and not knowing how to deal with them properly!... 
by Admin | Sep 14, 2018 | Eating Disorder Recovery
Recovery is a difficult, on-going, process. However, with a treatment team and a treatment plan in place, it is absolutely possible. Our goal at Empowered Eating is to help those suffering from an eating disorder recover and develop an enjoyable,sustainable, and empowered relationship with food. Our team of dietitians: Alex and Bobbi have over a decade of combined experience. Here are the pieces of recovery advice they have found to resonate the most with clients and offer the most support during the complicated process of recovery. Eating Disorder Dietitian Advice for Recovery Food is your medicine for healing from an eating disorder. You may not feel like eating, and you still need to take your medicine. Throw away the scale – recovery is not about weight, it’s about regaining health and your life. You can’t compare your plate to others around you. Your body image distortion will likely be the last thing to get better, and you still need to eat. Stop reading nutrition fact labels and online articles about nutrition. If you have questions about nutrition, talk to your dietitian. Download the app, Recovery Record, which will let you keep a food diary on your phone. No numbers, no calories, no grams of fat or carbs. Get rid of any calorie counting apps, fitbits, etc. Use this app if you find it to be helpful. ED will lie. And give you a bunch of food rules about eating. And you need to fight those lies and food rules to beat ED. Focus on your positive traits,favorite things about yourself, and what you’re passionate about (i.e. “I’m a good... 
by Admin | Jun 1, 2018 | Eating Disorder Recovery
I don’t remember a ton from middle school aside from not liking math class and going to Starbucks after school on Fridays. But one of my clear memories from 13 is from the doctor’s office. The nurse weighing me made a comment about making sure to not gain to much weight during puberty. It was a little comment. But it felt so negative. And to this day I still remember how uncomfortable it made me. I don’t know a single person who has felt 100% positive about their body image 100% of the time. Body image is a complicated, ongoing, personal experience. It is further complicated by the fact that we are constantly bombarded with messages of an unrealistic view of what “attractive” looks like. This post focuses on messages that tend to focused on young women. However, we absolutely acknowledge that young men are exposed to plenty of harmful messages as well. While body image is complicated for everyone, women in their pre-teens and teens are targeted especially heavily with SO many problematic, degrading, and unrealistic messages about body image. The language you use when talking to young women at a time when they are forming their ideas about the world, about beauty, and about themselves resonates more than you think. What might seem like a little comment about how your “new diet” is making you feel great about your legs or an opinion on how good someone looks after they’ve lost/gained weight contributes to forming ideas that there is *a way* to look attractive, which there absolutely is not. It reinforces the idea that our bodies...