Concentric Counselling
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Posts in Intuitive Eating
Why Bingeing is Only Half the Story

When people come to Concentric Counselling with a history of bingeing, they are often surprised that one of the first things I ask them is how often they restrict their food intake. To them, they are coming because the issue is bingeing. But what continues to reveal itself in the therapy room is that for many people that struggle with bingeing these episodes punctuate long periods of restriction.

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Embracing a non-diet new year - setting body positive resolutions 

The relentless treadmill of diet resolutions is about to crank itself up again, at the start of the new year. After all the festive food adverts, Boxing Day onwards will see the focus shift instead to weight loss programmes, diet foods and new ‘healthy eating’ cookbooks, sold to you by slim people. It is a predictable, exhausting cycle, which perpetuates unhealthy ‘all or nothing’ thinking, and punishing and unsustainable restriction.

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A beginner’s guide to developing body acceptance

And so begins December, the month where dominant culture tends to deep-slide into a clarion call for ‘indulgence’ before, as regular as clockwork, the adverts and articles that promise ‘new year, new you’. Christmas is an exaggerated example of the pendulum swing that diet culture encourages; ricocheting between too much and not enough – all governed by a deep fear that we ourselves are not enough.

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When 'food freedom' sounds like a new fear

…have been sold the idea, and bought it, that a diet represents the magic key that will unlock all their potential - a fulfilling job, a satisfying relationship, an active social life, a life enjoying exercise, dancing around on sun-drenched jetties in a red dress.

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What recovery restores... satisfaction

In an experience of disordered eating or eating disorders, food gets reduced to the bare minumum of what it represents - energy units. Counting and controlling, we forget all the other reasons why we eat. Recovery restores to us all the potential of food - all its wonderful satisfaction and nourishment - yes, physically, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

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What recovery restores... connection

In a constant state of food obsession, your interactions with others can be affected - feeling more tense, strained and full of friction. When energy intake is restricted and controlled, our relationships can be tested - scarcity creates irritability and snappiness. As the eating disorder attempts to distort and disconnect you from your own body, your relationships can feel distorted and lack connection as well.

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What recovery restores... time

When I meet people struggling with a disordered relationship with food, whether or not they think are ‘sick enough’ to consider they have an eating disorder, one unifying issue is just how much time they have to devote to their relationship with food. Food obsession and intrusive, persistent thoughts can take up hours, days and months of life, until it becomes hard to focus on anything else…

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What recovery restores... core wisdom

Yesterday, I wrote about how recovery can help restore our sense of self, and today I want to talk about how recovery can restore… core wisdom…

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Supporting children in maintaining healthy relationships with food and body

Let’s extract health from weight focus, and look at some real things that parents can do to support their child in navigating our diet focused culture, and develop a healthy relationship with food and body.

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Holding space for bigger bodies in our practice rooms - reflections on inclusive practice for helping professionals

For Eating Disorder Awareness Week, with the themes 'come as you are' (US theme) and 'breaking down barriers' (UK theme), it's an opportunity for professionals to reflect on our practice, and ensure that they are really 'walking the walk'.

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Ban ‘she looks so anorexic’ from your vocab this Eating Disorder Awareness Week

When research shows that atypical anorexia is three times more prevalent than of sufferers have a higher BMI, we see that atypical anorexia is actually… typical.

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Pushing over the pedestal - bringing festive food down to earth

The concern in engaging with festive food is that we will become totally abandoned and we won’t know when or how to stop. Somewhere in the middle of that is a different way… permission to trust your body…

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Have a read of my Intuitive Eating guest article for Fatventure Mag!

I'm delighted to be a contributor to this ace new magazine, focusing on and featuring people of size who want to participate in an active lifestyle but don’t want to participate in restrictive and punitive ol’ diet culture!

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