The inner fight with food

Eating disorders have a strong connection to sexual abuse in early childhood which allow the person to take back power of her body, until adulthood brings extra demands and suddenly old coping skills through food no longer work, and relationships to eating and society control every decision. Exercise is often viewed as a positive choice yet becomes obsessive when maintenance of regimen becomes another mental demand on the body and mind. The inner struggle with food is best described through polarized parts when one may want to binge and the other starve. That fight has been on-going since the first attempt to cope with a sexual breech or abusive incident was endured, and it manifested through controlling food because all other choice was revoked. The brain is powerful enough to create cycles of behavior through parts inside our psyche that fight each other in hopes to calm and protect the individual. Most eating disorder’s fight inside the internal system because exercise or other outside influences and behavior, deny the need to understand motives that battle within. The ramifications of controlling behavior will have one seek help from dieticians, trainers, coaches and therapists to help “fix” the unwanted cycles of eating, but the issue really is an internal one. Once the individual learns why each of the parts within are at battle, the fight ends and a relationship with SELF can temper the use of outside help because inner trust has been established. It is all about breaking down the layers of pain into bite-sized pieces so that the brain can acknowledge it, chew on it, and release it. One’s true strength can be found from the inside out and no longer controlled through food or exercise, once those parts feel understood.