Using “Mindful Distraction” to Help a Patient with an Eating Disorder
Posted by Evelyn Tribole MS RD at 7/19/2010 9:27 PM 
Categories: Intuitive Eating, Eating Disorders, Mindfulness, How I Practice
Tags: Tribole eating disorders mindful eating Newport Beach Dietitian nutrition therapist Intuitive Eating Professionals Intuitive eating
Categories: Intuitive Eating, Eating Disorders, Mindfulness, How I Practice
Tags: Tribole eating disorders mindful eating Newport Beach Dietitian nutrition therapist Intuitive Eating Professionals Intuitive eating
I get a lot of questions about counseling strategies I use to help my patients eat. Sometimes, I call what I do "upside-down nutrition"—because on the surface it doesn't seem to make sense. I use different technques to help a patient feel safe and move forward in recovery. One of these techniques is "mindful distraction"—here's a recent example.
Just the other day, I asked my patient, “What could you do to distract yourself while eating?” She looked at me with a wry smile and replied, “Evelyn , I just read an article, in which you were quoted as saying, how it is so important to eat without distraction.”
“You are correct, that is my general suggestion for people who want to become Intuitive Eaters —to eat without distraction, so they can connect with the nuances of eating—including hunger, fullness and satisfaction”.
What gives? In this situation, my patient is struggling with an eating disorder and undergoing very stressful therapy, which makes eating seem intolerable. (For those of you wondering, yes, I spoke with her therapist who validated her difficult therapy process.) My patient also has a general state of anxiety, which at best blunts her hunger cues, and at worse, results in nausea, which she is currently experiencing. Obviously, nausea and eating don’t go very well together. Yet she needs to eat—to nourish her body.
So, as a temporary measure, I encouraged my patient to create a mindful, soothing, distraction to enable her to eat. I realize this is an oxymoron—“mindful distraction”. My patient was willing and able to listen to relaxing music, via her mp3 player. This direct link of music-to-ears, seems to help drown out her anxious thoughts, while eating and prevents unnecessary distress. My patient gets lost in the lyrics, rather than difficulty of eating.
Once my patient gets through this tough patch in therapy, we’ll move to mindful breathing, before meals, to help engage the parasympathetic nervous system for a calming effect. But I can’t tell you when that will be—because the priority right now, is nourishing her body. And it’s okay—you don’t have to eat perfectly to make progress in recovering from an eating disorder !
Just the other day, I asked my patient, “What could you do to distract yourself while eating?” She looked at me with a wry smile and replied, “Evelyn , I just read an article, in which you were quoted as saying, how it is so important to eat without distraction.”
“You are correct, that is my general suggestion for people who want to become Intuitive Eaters —to eat without distraction, so they can connect with the nuances of eating—including hunger, fullness and satisfaction”.
What gives? In this situation, my patient is struggling with an eating disorder and undergoing very stressful therapy, which makes eating seem intolerable. (For those of you wondering, yes, I spoke with her therapist who validated her difficult therapy process.) My patient also has a general state of anxiety, which at best blunts her hunger cues, and at worse, results in nausea, which she is currently experiencing. Obviously, nausea and eating don’t go very well together. Yet she needs to eat—to nourish her body.
So, as a temporary measure, I encouraged my patient to create a mindful, soothing, distraction to enable her to eat. I realize this is an oxymoron—“mindful distraction”. My patient was willing and able to listen to relaxing music, via her mp3 player. This direct link of music-to-ears, seems to help drown out her anxious thoughts, while eating and prevents unnecessary distress. My patient gets lost in the lyrics, rather than difficulty of eating.
Once my patient gets through this tough patch in therapy, we’ll move to mindful breathing, before meals, to help engage the parasympathetic nervous system for a calming effect. But I can’t tell you when that will be—because the priority right now, is nourishing her body. And it’s okay—you don’t have to eat perfectly to make progress in recovering from an eating disorder !
Copyright © 2010 by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD Published at http://www.EvelynTribole.com
Rightsto Reproduce:As long as you leave it unchanged, you don’tcharge for it, and youinclude the entire copyright statement, you may reproduce this article.Please let us know you have used it by sending a website link or anelectronic copy to Etribole at gmail dot com.
DISCLAIMER:Theinformation is intended to inform readers and isnot intended toreplace specific advice from a health care professional. Copyright 2010Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD
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