Eating And Your Energy Levels

Disordered patterns of eating play a central role in the maintenance of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and other specified feeding and eating disorders (OSFED). For this reason, psychoeducation regarding the content and consequences of ‘normal’ versus ‘abnormal’ patterns of eating are an important aspect of treatment. The transdiagnostic model of eating disorders identifies several processes which contribute to disordered eating across diagnostic groups (Fairburn et al., 2003). These include:

• Overvalued beliefs about shape, weight, eating, and control. People with eating disorders base much of their self-worth on their ability to control their shape, weight, and eating. Other features of eating disorders are believed to stem from this ‘core psychopathology’, including extreme weight control behaviors (e.g., self-induced vomiting, driven exercise), body-shape checking and avoidance, and preoccupation with weight and appearance (Cooper & Dalle Grave, 2017).
• Dietary restraint. Overvalued beliefs about shape, weight, and eating lead individuals to establish strict

The way we eat has a big impact on our energy levels as we go through the day. This handout shows how different patterns of eating can affect people’s energy levels. Would you be willing to explore this with me?

• Can you relate to any of the eating patterns described in the handout?
• Look at energy graph linked to that pattern of eating. What do you notice about it?
• Can you relate to the symptoms that come with having energy levels that look like that?
• If you were to keep your energy levels stable and in the middle of the graph throughout the day, how might that help you?
• How would you need to eat in order to keep your energy levels stable?
• Would you be willing to eat more regularly so you can find out if it’s helpful?

• Cooper, Z., & Dalle Grave, R. (2017). Eating disorders: Transdiagnostic theory and treatment. In: S. G. Hoffman & G. J. G. Asmundsun (Eds.), The science of cognitive behavioral therapy (pp.337-357). Academic Press.
• Fairburn, C. G., Cooper, Z., & Shafran, R. (2003). Cognitive behaviour therapy for eating disorders: A “transdiagnostic” theory and treatment. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 509-528.
• Keys, A., Brozek, J., Henschel, A., Mickelsen, O., & Taylor, H. L. (1950). The biology of human starvation. University of Minnesota Press.
• Waller, G., Cordery, H., Corstorphine, E., Hinrichsen, H., Lawson, R., Mountford, V., & Russell, K. (2007). Cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders: A comprehensive treatment guide. Cambridge University Press.