Nutritional Pathways: Wellness Journeys
The North and South of things.
Problem:
Corinne has an eating disorder. She frequently binges on pizza and soft drinks. To compensate for these binges she doesn't eat for a few days. When she doesn't eat, she doesn't go out. She stays at home alone, and sleeps the day away. Recently the binges are closer together with the compensation of sleeping and not going out. Her family is alarmed by this behavior and has taken her to a doctor who diagnosed her as bi-polar. She did not disclose to her family or her physician that she has a binge eating disorder. Her up and down behavior was the obvious symptom.
Discussion:
The bi-polar diagnosis is a way to describe a condition where one sees opposite behavior occurring in the same person at seemingly the same time. High and low, happy and sad, depression and anxiety are examples of these oppositional states of being. Just like the North and South poles are at opposite ends of the world, the person who deals with this feels pulled by an unseen magnet. Corrine has an added component to her emotional swings, and that is a binge eating disorder. Her particular food of choice is pizza and sugarfied soft drinks.
With the intake of large amounts of carbohydrates at one time, she is loading her metabolism with blood sugar. One of two things will happen. She will either get a blood sugar high or she will have extreme fatigue. Usually, she does both many times within a day. This explains in part her opposite emotional swings.
Plan:
The first thing is the hardest. This is to tell her doctor or her parents about her binges. We have implemented a complementary eating strategy during this time of transition. She will keep a food diary which she will present to me on our regularly scheduled visits. She has a set plan for her daily activities, which includes when she gets up, meals and exercise. Included in her daily plan is avoidance of both kinds of soft drinks (diet and regular) and fast food. She will be drinking lots of water.
Follow up:
Corrine was very enthused in the beginning. She could see her energy levels even out, her life became more purposeful and she started going out again. She began to see her weight decrease. By the way she carried herself, it was obvious that she was improving. She relapsed into the old behavior due to the stress of finding a suitable job. Her money management issues were just as unstable as her eating behavior. One issue fueled the other. We make progress for a couple of weeks, then there is a relapse. Our task is to be non judgmental, continue to meet and to be willing to begin again.
If you have a similar issue, please give me a call to schedule your nutritional consultation and evaluation. Most people who have this issue find the nutritional solution a welcome addition to their other therapies.
602 228 9820, hours by appointment.
| 
