Advertise With UsReprinted from Eating Disorders Review
May/June 2010 Volume 21, Number 3
©2010 Gürze Books
At the iaedp meeting in Orlando in March, Page Love, MS, RD, LD, of Nutrifit, Sport, Therapy, Inc., Atlanta, offered the following checklist she provides to eating disorders patients with body image, nutrition, and exercise problems.
Potential Problem
Extreme dietary practices
Suggested Tactics
Low-carbohydrate eating
Allow a fiber source at every meal
Low-fat eating
Allow a vegetable fat source (e.g., nuts)
Vegetarian eating style
Try a new vegetarian protein source
Avoiding entire food group
Allow alternative food (e.g., soymilk)
Meal skipping
Skip one less meal per day
Avoiding snacks
Try a single “safe” food for a snack (e.g., pretzels, energy bar, banana)
Appetite-suppressing practices
Excessive caffeine
Alternate decaf beverage options
Excessive gum chewing
Chew 1–2 less pieces/day
Excessive water intake
Limit fluid intake to 2 cups per meal
High consumption of “air” foods
Choose nutritionally dense foods (e.g., yogurt, peanut butter, hummus)
Other food rituals
Only eating one food at a time
Allow a mixed food (e.g., peanut butter crackers)
Stopping eating by a rigid
Allow a single food after dinner time of day
Fat-free meals
Allow at least a light condiment
Not mixing food groups/nutrients
Allow a carbohydrate and protein together (e.g., cereal and milk, sandwich)
Frequent weighing/measuring
Body weights
Weigh one less time/day or week
Foods
Weigh one less food per day
Numbers over-focus
Calorie counting
Count other things
Carbohydrate counting
Count to meet a minimum carbohydrate goal
Fat gram counting
Count to meet a minimum fat goal
Label reading
Focus on other nutrients you need more of versus less of (e.g., protein, calcium)
Body checking
Count how many times in typical day and step down frequency with alternative behaviors
Negative body statements
Come up with a counter statement (e.g., “I like my ______”)
Over-exercise patterns
More than coach’s guidelines
Adhere to professional guidelines
No rest days
Allow one to two rest days per week
Exercising when injured
Adhere to trainer/physical therapist recommendations
Same training daily
Alternative movement (e.g., yoga)