Dianna Chillo, LCSW-R
Psychotherapist
“Mental Strength is not the ability to stay out of the darkness; it’s the ability to sit present in the darkness knowing that the light will shine again.”
National Eating Disorder Awareness Week
February 21 - March 1, 2020
For NEDA Week 2020 Dianna Chillo & Natasha Lavolpe partnered up to highlight this year’s theme Hindsight is 20/20. They cover issues including diet culture, the victories and setbacks that the road to eating disorder recovery presents and , those people in our lives that help support all of us through it. Through informative and inspirational stories, and quotes from those in recovery, we present NEDA WEEK 2020.
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This NEDA Week 2020 we are highlighting Diet Culture. *This video has a TRIGGER WARNING*
“Diet culture is a system of beliefs that: Worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue, which means you can spend your whole life thinking you're irreparably broken just because you don't look like the impossibly thin “ideal.””-Brenna O’Malley RD
Eating disorders don’t develop because of diets alone. But diets and diet culture certainly play a role in disordered eating , body image dissatisfaction and are ONE of the many contributing factors to developing an eating disorder. The messages we’ve heard from diet industries over the years impact how we view ourselves, food and our bodies. A diet didn’t cause my eating disorder but diet culture didn’t help and it certainly makes recovery that much harder for so many struggling . We need to start challenging these messages that normalize disordered views and behaviors around food and the way we see our bodies. JUST SAY NO TO DIET CULTURE!
National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) For NEDAwareness week, we are highlighting the negative effects of diet culture. You don’t need to necessarily “diet” in order to participate in diet culture. We need to start thinking about food and our bodies differently which does not involve the outdated BMI chart, idolizing thinness (or fitness), demonizing weight-gain, and moral labels on food (one answer is Health At Every Size® (HAES). I encourage you to monitor how often you use phrases that promote diet culture (i.g “I’m so bad for eating this!” or commenting on other people’s bodies). Just say no to diet culture!
Featuring Natasha LaVolpe
NEDA WEEK 2020 - The Recovery Journey is not only about those suffering with eating disorders but for those who support their loved ones through this challenging process. We asked several supports to reflect on what they found most helpful to their loved one during recovery and what was least helpful. We found similar trends among the responses and came up with a short video to help anyone who might be on this journey with someone who is struggling with an eating disorder.
NEDA Week 2020 Hindsight is 20/20
Recovery is a journey consisting of victories and setbacks both of which are part of the process. Recovery is not linear and reflection upon this often bumpy, windy, up and downhill road allows one to see those very milestones that demonstrate the very resilience one possess in their journey.