Tag: Increasing your understanding

What is eatonomy?

eatonomy: the ability to make decisions about what, when and how much to eat based on personal instincts and preferences, independent from external influence, direction or control.
~ Julie de Rohan ~ 19 Comments

I started turning to food when I was around 12 years old. My emotional attachment to it had begun before that but I was about 12 when I started to binge habitually, in secret, to the point that I felt sick. As a result, I began to put on weight.

At 19, I did what we’re told to do if you want to lose weight – I started dieting. The restriction of dieting only served to ramp up my binge eating. With every diet, I’d lose weight and put it back on, and a bit more besides. As my weight increased further, my self-esteem, which had always been really low, plummeted even further. Continue reading “What is eatonomy?” →

How Does Writing Help Us Heal?

~ Julie de Rohan ~ 29 Comments

Does it sometimes feel as though your thoughts are like a thousand out-of-control driverless express trains simultaneously zipping through a labyrinth of tiny tunnels in your mind?

If so, you’re not alone.

People whose eating is emotion-driven often describe themselves as “overthinkers” – they’re so consumed by their thoughts that eating is the only way they find respite from the turmoil in their heads (that and going to sleep).

But how do you start making sense of your thoughts when they’re whizzing by so fast you can’t grab hold of any of them? Where do you even begin?

In my experience, the best way is to get a paper and a pen and start writing.

Continue reading “How Does Writing Help Us Heal?” →

What Did You Learn About Food Growing Up?

~ Julie de Rohan ~ 39 Comments

Lunchtime had ended at my primary school. I sat alone in the dining hall, apart from two teachers who stood over me.  They stared resolutely at me, while I stared forlornly at a plate of cold cottage pie. Everyone else had gone out to play and I could hear the familiar noises of the playground in the distance.

I was told I couldn’t leave until I’d finished my lunch.

At 10 years old, I truly loathed cottage pie. It was My Completely and Utterly Absolutely Worst Food in the World Ever, apart from my Mum’s curried egg (sorry, Mum).

Continue reading “What Did You Learn About Food Growing Up?” →