What Parents of Teens with Eating Disorders Need to Understand About Diet Culture

What Parents Need to Know About Diet Culture [Image description: a larger woman smashing a scale] Represents a potential parent of a teen receiving eating disorder counseling in Los Angeles, California

Parents and Diet Culture Many parents experience guilt when their teen is diagnosed with an eating disorder. Nearly every parent can point to a time they themselves dieted, opted not to have a dessert they really wanted, expressed a preference toward thinness, or discouraged their child from keeping eating. You may have done things to …

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Parents, Don’t Let Your Kids Diet!

Just say no to kids' diets in Los Angeles, California [Image description: purple scrabble tiles spelling "Just say no to kids diets']

Updated July 2023. Previously published in 2019 as a response to the Weight Watchers Kurbo app for kids. In January 2023, the American Academy of Pediatrics released guidelines for treating children and teens in larger bodies with “intensive health behavior and lifestyle treatment”–what I call a diet. In case you are tempted to go down …

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Sweatin’ for the Wedding: Say, “I don’t.”

Sweating for the Wedding? Say: I Don’t. Image description: photo of the ankles and feet of a bride in a white gown with white shows and a groom with black pants and black shoes] Represents a potential person in Los Angeles, California preparing for a wedding.

by Carolyn Comas, LCSW, CEDS-S Wedding Diet? Just say No! In November 2018, my boyfriend proposed to me. It was one of the most exciting days of my life thus far. With a proposal comes the next exciting chapter: wedding planning. For many brides-to-be, this entails finding that perfect gown. Sadly, although not surprising, once …

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Say Cheese! How to Be in And Celebrate Photos

Body Avoidance and Photos in eating disorder recovery in California [Image description: photo of 4 diverse people in "volunteer" shirts taking a selfie] represents a potential client with an eating disorder in Los Angeles, California staying in the photo

Body Avoidance and Photos In today’s digital age, photos of ourselves are everywhere. For many people with eating disorders and body image issues, photos can be a source of distress. Do you normally avoid photos? Do you refuse to let people take or post photos of you? Do you hide in the back when asked …

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Breaking The Myth: Men and Eating Disorders

They myth of male eating disorders [Image description: drawing of a male baseball player wearing a purple shirt and white pants] Represents a potential male client with an eating disorder in Los Angeles, California or in Sacramento, Bakersfield, or San Diego

by Carolyn Comas, LCSW, CEDS-S, Clinical Supervisor at EDTLA In the spring of 2018 major league baseball player, Mike Marjama abruptly retired from the sport to focus on being an ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association. He struggled with an eating disorder growing up and his move to working with NEDA was only to …

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Fat Positive Photography

Fat Positive Photography in Eating Disorder Recovery in Los Angeles, California [Image description: photo of a larger bodied woman in a swim suit doing a yoga pose on the beach] Represents diverse images for people in eating disorder recovery

I’ve recently returned from the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) Conference and I’m reflecting on all I’ve learned. I’ve wanted to share and further explore Substantia Jones’ keynote, “Fat Visibility Through Photography: the Who, the How, and the Hell Yeah.” Jones is a photographer, a “Fat Acceptance Photo-Activist,” and the proprietor of the …

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On Buying Bigger Clothes: The Tale of Nana and Her New Shoes

buying bigger clothes in eating disorder recovery [Image description: photo of the author's 103 year old grandmother walking with her walker

Nana’s New Shoes–And the Metaphor of Buying Bigger Clothes Recently, I went to visit my grandmother, who is almost 103 years old.  She was complaining of leg pain. She asked me to help her put on her shoes.  I tried really hard.  But in her sweltering apartment (she can’t stand any temperature below 80), I …

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Don’t Diet! 10 Alternative New Year’s Resolutions

Alternative New Years Resolutions to dieting in 2024 from Eating Disorder Therapy LA in California [Image descripton: gold leaf background with the #2024 in gold]

I am skeptical of New Year’s Resolutions in general because I think they promote all-or-nothing thinking (I also don’t like to categorize entire years as being bad or good for this reason). I don’t feel that one needs to wait for the year to reset to make changes in one’s life. As an anti-diet eating …

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