As a recovered bulimic, I am deeply fascinated by the psychology of this eating disorder.

The interest goes way beyond the surface symptoms and food focus.

Although I stopped binge eating and purging over twenty years ago, it has been an ongoing healing journey to work on the deeper psychology which plays out in relationships, self-worth and emotional regulation.

As eating disorder recovery is a holistic healing process. It’s not just about food.

Symptom removal is an invaluable step in the right direction, but true healing runs far deeper.

When I think about bulimic behaviours, these are not only restricted to people who binge and purge through vomiting.

The following patterns are also relevant:

Normal eating and purging.

Chewing and spitting.

Binge eating and over-exercising.

Binge eating and restriction.

Any pattern is relevant that follows the ingestion and expulsion cycle.

If you are neurodiverse, particularly if you have ADHD, you may find that the themes I talk about are even more amplified for you.

Before, I dive in, as always, I am generalising here, and your experience may not fit neatly into my observations. Always value your own truth and take what is helpful and ignore that which does not resonate with you).

I hope that you find it helpful.

Harriet Frew's current offers: -

Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating Course https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/online-courses.html

Online Breaking Free from Bulimia

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/bulimia-nervosa-online-course.html

Eating Disorders Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html

Body Image Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/body-image-training-with-harriet-frew.html

How do you know if you have a healthy relationship with food and your body?

This is an acutely challenging question to answer, as the culture normalises extreme eating practices and body image preoccupation as the norm.

Maybe you feel that you don’t have a full-blown eating disorder or you’re not thin enough to properly struggle with food?

I would argue that is your eating is causing you distress, it may be worth taking a closer look at it.

In this podcast, I’m going to explore different disordered eating behaviours and then suggest some thoughts about what a healthy relationship with food might look like. I hope that you find it helpful.

Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist

Harriet Frew's current offers: -

Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating Course https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/online-courses.html

Online Breaking Free from Bulimia

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/bulimia-nervosa-online-course.html

Eating Disorders Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html

Body Image Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/body-image-training-with-harriet-frew.html

This is a bonus episode where Dr. Marianne Miller is guesting to talk all about ARFID. I hope that you find it helpful.

Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist

Harriet Frew's current offers: -

Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating Course https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/online-courses.html

Online Breaking Free from Bulimia

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/bulimia-nervosa-online-course.html

Eating Disorders Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html

Body Image Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/body-image-training-with-harriet-frew.html

Intermittent fasting (IF) is wellness cool again.

Its benefits are celebrated widely on many a credible health podcast and it consistently trends on social media, described as an elixir to youth and offering benefits such as improved memory, blood sugar control, cardiovascular health, fat loss and autophagy. What’s not to love?

IF involves eating during specific time windows and there are various ways to practice this. The less-intense approach involves a 12-hour fast and 12-hour eating window, whereas, more hardened fasters might restrict their eating, to only 8, 6 or even 4 hours.

Alternatively, you may also have heard of the 5:2 diet, popularised by the late Dr. Michael Mosley, where fasters eat ‘normally’ for five days of the week, whilst fasting on the remaining two (limiting calories to less than 800 on the fasting days).

Like most wellness practices, fasting is a tool. For some people it is life enhancing and for others not so.

In this episode, I explore IF as a tool and how it can interlink with eating disorders and disordered eating. I hope that you find it helpful.

Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist

Harriet Frew's current offers: -

Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating Course https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/online-courses.html

Online Breaking Free from Bulimia

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/bulimia-nervosa-online-course.html

Eating Disorders Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html

Body Image Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/body-image-training-with-harriet-frew.html

It can be a very lonely experience suffering from an eating disorder. In this episode, I explore common themes that I experience daily inside the therapy room. It will help you feel less alone. I hope that you find it helpful.

Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist

Harriet Frew's current offers: -

Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating Course https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/online-courses.html

Online Breaking Free from Bulimia

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/bulimia-nervosa-online-course.html

Eating Disorders Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html

Body Image Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/body-image-training-with-harriet-frew.html

In this episode, I explore the difference between orthorexia and healthy eating, this sparked by Gwyneth's recent sharing on her goop podcast about relaxing some of her food rules. I hope that you find it helpful.

Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist

Harriet Frew's current offers: -

Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating Course https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/online-courses.html

Online Breaking Free from Bulimia

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/bulimia-nervosa-online-course.html

Eating Disorders Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html

Body Image Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/body-image-training-with-harriet-frew.html

In this episode, I explore the challenges and benefits I have encountered in overcoming people pleasing. I hope that you find it helpful.

Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist

Harriet Frew's current offers: -

Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating Course https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/online-courses.html

Online Breaking Free from Bulimia

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/bulimia-nervosa-online-course.html

Eating Disorders Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html

Body Image Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/body-image-training-with-harriet-frew.html

In this episode, I explore navigating weight change in recovery and addressing fears around this. I hope that you find it helpful.

Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist

Harriet Frew's current offers: -

Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating Course https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/online-courses.html

Online Breaking Free from Bulimia

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/bulimia-nervosa-online-course.html

Eating Disorders Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html

Body Image Training for Professionals

https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/body-image-training-with-harriet-frew.html