Holistic Health & Weight Management

edh-logo-1Blog contributed by: Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC.

Eating Disorder Hope is pleased to announce the launch of a new segment of our online community dedicated to Holistic Health and Weight Management. This portion of our site will provide quality information, resources, treatment referrals and foster a sense of community around this important issue.

We Provide Support For All Types of Eating Disorders

Over the years, we have received many requests for help from individuals suffering from morbid obesity, compulsive overeating and unhealthy lifetime weight fluctuations. This has caused us to conclude that this issue is another important component of the spectrum of disordered eating.

We are concerned that many individuals are desperate for help, and often turn to unhealthy measures to try to deal with these challenges. Some of the ways individuals struggling with overeating and weight try to address their problem include:

  • Short term diets
  • Extreme exercise routines
  • Overly restrictive eating plans
  • Fasting
  • Cleanses

However, they often end up only increasing their obsession with food and weight while simultaneously slowing down their metabolism.

At Eating Disorder Hope, we realize that disordered eating is fueled by multiple contributing factors such as:

  • Genetics
  • Biology
  • Environmental factors
  • More..

For most, moderate and balanced diet and exercise alone, are not enough to combat the many issues contributing to disordered eating. These individuals need psychological, physiological, and spiritual support to make sustaining life changes.

Connecting Individuals to the Right Organizations

  1. We support organizations trying to reach out to this group and inspire in them a desire to live a fuller life where they are no longer a victim of their disordered eating habits and weight challenges.
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  3. We support organizations that encourage self-acceptance, body acceptance and body image enhancement while also encouraging a healthy lifestyle of balanced and nutritious diet with enjoyable and moderate exercise.
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  5. We also support those organizations that encourage counseling and support groups to help individuals find insight and encouragement to forge new ways of coping with life that are healthier and replace prior patterns of overeating and stationary lifestyle.

Finding Worth and Value as a Person

As always, we want to continue to encourage all individuals to find their worth and value in their unique gifts, talents and identity, separate from their weight or appearance. Yet, we also want to encourage individuals to pursue health and vitality, and to not settle into unhealthy eating and non exercise patterns that can steal years from their lives.

We believe that psychological, physical and spiritual health are truly interconnected, and that disordered eating and weight concerns are best addressed holistically.