A Look into Teenage Eating Disorders

Are you struggling with your self-esteem? Many times the pressures of being a “perfect” teenager can bring us down and begin a path of a negative relationship with food. As a teenager you may struggle with getting good grades, making friends, starting to date and pleasing your parents. When we allow these struggles to get the best of us we sometimes develop a low self esteem. A low self-esteem not only affects how we interact with other but how we interact with food. We may even begin to develop a teenage eating disorder.

Let's look at this example. You are having one of those days where nothing seems to be going right. You failed your geometry test. After class your boyfriend said that he wanted to just be friends. To top it off you get in trouble for having a messy room. This is the point where a teenage eating disorder can begin. Feeling hopeless and unlovable you turn to the one thing that you feel is always there for you, food. While eating a large amount of food you begin to feel a sense of relief.

What happens the next day? If you have a teenage eating disorder you may begin to feel ashamed about the negative relationship that you have with food. You may start to feel that your weight or your looks are causing you to be rejected by your peers or your family. You may even go into perfectionist mode and attempt an extreme diet. You may feel that this is the only way you can feel loved. You begin to develop negative thought patterns about becoming successful by losing weight. This may continue until the next time you feel beat down and again turn to food.

The cycle of binge eating and dieting is very common in teenage eating disorders. The teenage years can be a very tough time and you may base your self worth on the thoughts and actions of others. Teenage dieting can cause you to become obsessed with your weight and overall appearance. You begin to feel that you can only be successful if you are skinny and will go to extreme measures to ensure this happens. However, most diets fail! When this happens you may begin to develop negative thought patterns surrounding your abilities. If you have a teenage eating disorder can regain control over your life by not dieting.

The steps to regaining control of your life are simple. So if you have a teenage eating disorder how can you achieve a healthy relationship with food? Easy, stop dieting. We need to begin by looking at and transforming our negative thought patterns. We need to develop strategies such as hanging out with friends, listening to music and participating in other activities we enjoy when we are wanting to emotionally eat. Throughout these steps you will begin to learn to listen to your body. Your body will tell you when it is full,. Listen to it and allow it to be your guide to eating.

If you have a teenage eating disorder you can begin to develop a healthy relationship with food. The negative cycle can stop when you begin loving yourself and allow your family to help you through the process.