To rally your internal forces to keep you committed and motivated on your recovery path, please explore this checklist and compare the items with your life experience.

Your doctor, friends, family, nutritionist, and calorie tables may describe your eating as too much, too little, or strange. They may describe it as healthy and within reasonable limits. Only you know the details of your eating habits and the influence food has on your life.

Do any of these food-related statements describe your experience?

N never     R rarely     S sometimes     O often      M most of the time    A always

• I eat meal portions larger than necessary.
• I eat privately before eating publicly to disguise how much I eat.
• I'm a "grazer," eating throughout the day and evening.
• I eat alone after being with friends or coworkers.
• I crowd my mind with thoughts about food.
• I starve myself for hours or days to create guilt-free eating time.
• I binge. (Classically, binge eating involves massive eating in a short period of time. But while a quart of ice cream may be a binge to one person, a small dish may be a binge to another. If you think or feel you binge, that self-defined binge behavior is something to explore.)
• I vomit or use laxatives to clear my body of food I've eaten.
• I exercise regularly and specifically to burn up calories from what I think is too much food.

An S or two indicates a signal of what could be temporary stress.

Answering with O or M or A signals a problem that needs caring and expert attention.

The thread that runs through these behaviors is that you are eating for reasons other than food hunger. In addition, if eating ranks among the most satisfying emotional or stress-reducing experiences in your life, you may be living with too many unsatisfying relationships with people.

Why you live this way may be a secret even from you. Understanding the link between your undesirable eating habits and neglected aspects of your personal life can help free you from overeating.

Building a satisfying and fulfilling life is your key to achieving solid eating disorder recovery.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Written by Joanna Poppink, MFT. Joanna is a psychotherapist in private practice specializing in eating disorder recovery, stress, PTSD, and adult development.

She is licensed in CA, AZ, OR, FL, and UT. Author of the Book: Healing Your Hungry Heart: Recovering from Your Eating Disorder

Appointments are virtual.

For a free telephone consultation, e-mail her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.