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(Diet) Culture & Society

Understanding EDs

News & Research

Treatment & Recovery

Body Image

Food & Fitness

For a large portion of her illness, Equip Peer Mentor Stacy Jones blamed herself for her eating disorder. “I spent several years thinking I just had a problem with willpower,” Jones says. “I read so many books about developing willpower and became more and more discouraged—I figured I must've been the problem.”

Jones describes a feeling many people with eating disorders are familiar with—particularly those who struggle with 

 Despite the fact that BED is the most common eating disorder in the United States, it’s arguably one of most misunderstood and stigmatized. There's often a misrepresentation of binge eating disorder facts. 

The uncontrollable urge to eat large amounts of food (bingeing) characteristic of BED is often considered a personal failure in our 

-entrenched society, though we know it’s almost always a biological response to food deprivation. And because BED is more common among people in larger bodies, those with the disorder may feel even more exposed and vulnerable to 

People with BED might be used to hearing that binges — a symptom of their eating disorder — are the result of a lack of willpower. Not only is BED 

 an issue of willpower, but it’s a complex neurobiological mental illness, just like all eating disorders. The physiological, psychological, and emotional components of the disease are powerful and can’t be overlooked. Here’s what everyone should know about binge eating disorder facts.

Binge eating disorder facts: Why BED has nothing to do with willpower

: the most common eating disorder in the U.S., affecting about 2.8 million people; an illness that, unlike other EDs, affects males and females fairly equally; a 

 influenced by myriad genetic and environmental factors. Here’s what BED is 

: the manifestation of any sort of personal shortcoming.

“Let's remember that eating disorders provide a ‘false sense of control’ over our lives, starting with what we choose to eat or how our body looks,” Equip Dietician Gabriela Cohen says. “That ‘high’ or feeling of ‘pride’ from restricting gives a false sense of success. Ultimately, you are failing to actually take care of your body. Depriving the body of nourishment often leads to binge eating behaviors which are simply the response to that restriction.”

Cohen is describing one of many potential root causes at the heart of 

eating disorders: restriction. While food deprivation is considered one of the hallmark symptoms of anorexia, restriction is also a significant component of binge eating disorder because of something known as 

, most binges are preceded by a period of restriction, because the physical hunger and mental exhaustion of food deprivation is unsustainable. In BED, the never-ending list of food “rules” and attempts to “be good” (i.e. restrict) result in inevitable “slip-ups” (i.e. binges), leading to a frustrating and potentially dangerous cycle of restricting, bingeing, feeling shame, and restricting again.

“That idea that binges are due to a lack of willpower can cause feelings of guilt, defeat, and anxiety, which in turn trigger even 

 binge eating disorder behaviors and the continuation of the binge-restriction cycle” Cohen says.

Jones agrees that any form of restriction can contribute to the difficulties of BED. “Oftentimes people address physical restriction but not 

 restriction,” she says. “Labeling food as ‘good’ and ‘bad,’ avoiding ‘unhealthy’ foods, and other forms of mental restriction are also likely to increase binge urges.”

Equip Therapy Lead Brittney Lauro also says the willpower mindset goes against our primal human need for nourishment. “In truth, our brains haven’t evolved all that much,” she says. “So when we apply the willpower mindset to something like cutting out sugar or carbs, it activates the deprivation fear in our brain. We were designed to operate this way because it’s what helped us survive: we would increase our intake of food when resources were available so we could survive when resources weren’t, like in a harsh winter. Even when we can intellectually understand that food is available, this primal fear of deprivation gets activated, leading us to binge eat, or feel out of control with our eating.”

It’s also possible for BED to serve as a form of emotion regulation. “For some, it might be a form of grounding, for others it might serve as a way to check-out or desensitize ourselves when painful memories or experiences are prompted,” Lauro says. “For those who are neurodiverse, binge eating might be associated with ‘stimming,’ or self-regulating.”

“Diet culture loves to moralize foods, thoughts, and behaviors, such as how restricting ‘bad foods’ should be viewed as a sign of strength that one should be proud of,” says Equip Dietician Gabriela Cohen. “When you restrict your diet, the body craves an influx of food. Giving in to this natural response through 

 or binge eating, is then is looked at as ‘failure’ in the eyes of diet culture.’”

Because this diet culture mentality is woven in the fabric of our modern society, it plays an undeniable role in the shame spiral. “We live in a society where we are conditioned to believe that if we just work harder we can do anything, like losing weight,” says Lauro. “The reality is that life isn’t that simple. The myths around willpower generate billions of dollars in revenue to the diet industry.” When willpower is marketed as the solution to everything, those with BED can be consumed with shame that their eating disorder behaviors are the result of their own lack of discipline.

Lauro adds, “In nearly all instances where I have professionally treated BED, as well as when I worked in the fitness industry, I have seen folks come in with the idea that their willpower will change it all,” she says. “I can see so clearly how this idea is normalized. We see it in the media, written on the walls of workout centers, and we hear it from healthcare professionals, colleagues, friends, and family.”

How to overcome the “willpower” mindset and actually heal BED

Considering the diet culture we’re all immersed in, separating from this mindset might be difficult — but it’s possible. Accepting and understanding the need for self-compassion and actionable steps toward treatment will help ensure long-lasting recovery from any eating disorder.

“The good news is, nearly all effective strategies for coping with and treating binge eating don’t require or involve willpower,” Lauro says. “Moreover, they don’t involve removing certain food groups from your life or home—in fact, this is often a surefire way to increase the probability of binge eating in the future.”

Because the restrictive behaviors at the root of BED inevitably perpetuate the cycle of 

, experts say establishing or re-establishing consistent patterns around food is critical to recovery. “First and foremost, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of a regular pattern of eating,” Lauro says. “What that means is three meals and two to three snacks eaten at regular intervals of time throughout the day, making sure to never go more than three to four hours without an instance of eating.”

While the contents of those meals and snacks may differ from person to person, the goal is to adequately satiate the body and brain to prevent the fear of deprivation. “For some people, having consistent eating instances as well as dietary variety will resolve or quiet down the binge eating,” Lauro says.

Cohen agrees that the primary treatment strategy for BED must focus on building regular eating patterns with the support of a team. “Yes, you actually need to eat to overcome BED,” she says. “With the support of a team, you’ll also be challenged to break your food rules and restrictions, and eat your fear foods consistently, because if restriction persists, the binge-restrict cycle will continue.”

Working with a team using enhanced cognitive behavioral therapy

Another effective strategy experts used to treat BED in an evidence-based modality called 

 or CBT-E. This modality is a multi-stage, highly individualized approach that includes monitoring and noting thoughts, which is vastly different from a typical food log or what you might see in a fitness app says Lauro. Monitoring is designed to be completed in the moment, which in and of itself serves as a way to slow down, or disrupt, the process of binge eating. Oftentimes, folks describe feeling like they get into a ‘spiral’ during binge episodes that leads to feeling out of control. By utilizing an evidenced-based tool like a monitoring record, you can intervene with the spiral and create an ‘in the moment’ pause.”

Establishing distress tolerance techniques

While binges can often occur as a result of longtime restriction, there are other potential psychological and emotional factors at play that people should be aware of as they move toward recovery. “Many people end up binge eating as a way to avoid emotions—and this can even serve as a survival technique, like in cases of trauma,” Lauro says. “Healing from binge eating involves learning to sit with discomfort and tolerate distress. You can certainly practice this on your own if you feel it’s accessible and safe, but if you’d like more support, or binging is tied to more intense experiences, I highly recommend working with an eating disorder specialist to assist creating a strategic guide to building up distress tolerance.”

Jones says it’s imperative to explore the emotions that arise in the moments leading up to, during, and after a binge from a place of curiosity to help better understand the causes behind it. To truly work through the challenges of the illness, confronting and navigating the unpleasant feelings underlying the disorder is paramount. “One of the foundations for recovering from BED is working through shame and learning binge eating disorder facts,” she says. “If you experience shame, know that society has placed it on you and it’s not yours to carry. When we relate to binges from a place of compassion it holds less power. This creates space for healing and moving beyond BED.”

If you or someone you love might be struggling with binge eating disorder, know that there’s support available. 

 with our team to learn more about virtual eating disorder treatment at Equip.

Bray, Brenna, Chris Bray, et al. “Mental Health Aspects of Binge Eating Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Mixed-Methods Study of Binge Eating Disorder Experts’ Perspectives.” Frontiers in Psychiatry 13 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.953203.

CBT-E. Accessed October 24, 2023. https://www.cbte.co/.

Binge Eating Disorder Isn’t About Willpower. Here’s What It Is About.

Long before JD Ouellette became well-versed in eating disorders, she encountered a seemingly harmless parenting issue: her high schooler started a diet. “When my 17-year-old daughter and her friends went on a ’healthy eating makeover,’ it never occurred to me this would be anything other than a rite of passage in womanhood,” says Ouellette, now Equip’s Director of Lived Experience. “What I learned the hard way—and it's a devastating way to learn—is that in a genetically vulnerable person, 

 is triggered by burning more calories than you eat, and my daughter was one such person.”

Like many parents, Ouellette didn’t initially suspect any risk for disordered behavior when her daughter expressed interest in dieting. After all, our society associates many forms of 

 with “healthy” discipline (a false notion continuously reinforced by 

). “A common trap I see parents get caught in is thinking that a focus on being ‘healthy’ or wellness is a good thing—or at least not harmful,” says Equip Vice President of Program Development, Jessie Menzel, PhD. “Often, health and wellness is just a cover up for weight loss and extreme dietary changes. Don’t make the mistake of letting a new interest in ‘healthy eating’ go undiscussed.”

While her daughter has recovered in the decade-plus since her anorexia diagnosis, Ouellette can’t help but reflect on their family’s good fortune. “She is very well today, and not every story turns out this way,” she says. Indeed, 

 that dieting is associated with greater eating disorder risk and psychopathology, and so there’s reason to be concerned if your child has started changing their eating habits in order to lose weight. Luckily, there are ways to navigate the dieting conversation and protect your child from walking a dangerous path that could lead to a disorder. Here’s what every parent should know when it comes to dealing with kids and diets.

Although it’s a common belief that eating disorders and 

 concerns only affect teenage girls and young adult women, anyone of any age can struggle with food, weight, or exercise issues—including young kids. “Unfortunately, I don’t think young children being concerned about their bodies is anything new,” Menzel says. “There has been research for decades that body image concerns 

 as young as four or five years old, and that body dissatisfaction can be well established by eight years old. Messages about thinness, weight loss, and dieting have been pervasive in our culture for a long time.”

Ouellette believes that much of this messaging is rooted in the moralization and worship of certain body types. “Children have long known that ‘thin is good’ and ‘fat is bad,’” she says. “It's very telling to look at a selection of toddler/preschool/elementary school books on diversity and see the unwritten message: you can be any skin color, but your body must never be anything but thin.”

Eating and body concerns affect people of all genders as well. “Remember that body image and diet culture are not just concerns for young girls—they also impact boys,” Menzel says. “There has been a trend over the past few decades for 

 to feel more pressure to conform to societal appearance ideals and to use extreme dieting behaviors to manage their appearance.”

Complicating matters is the fact that social media has completely transformed the cultural landscape in the past few decades, leaving many parents bewildered about the messages their kids are absorbing. “Today it’s not just books or TV—it is everything, everywhere sending the message that being thin and ‘fit’ is the only option for being a ‘good’ human being,” Ouellette says. “This message comes from the media, from doctors, from schools, from diet culture, and from 

. It's inescapable; body size has become intertwined with morality.”

Menzel agrees, and notes that while body image concerns have long been prevalent in young children, online culture has certainly intensified the pressure to conform to a particular body type and weight loss-driven behavior. “I do think that the relatively recent increase of social media use among children and teens poses an insidious and unique new risk for the development of body image problems,” she says. “Social media gives kids unprecedented access to information on 

, fuels social comparison—which is a major risk factor for body image dissatisfaction—and allows for the very public criticism of people’s appearances.”

What to do if your child wants to lose weight

Navigating conversations about dieting and weight loss as a parent can be incredibly tricky and even intimidating, given the possible slippery slope that could end in an eating disorder. But with the right strategies, you can encourage constructive conversation, model healthy behavior, and help guide your child toward a positive relationship with food and their body.

1. Stay firm in your stance but discuss the 

“Explain that growing up means your body is in a constant state of growth and change, which requires a lot of food, and be clear that bodies come in all shapes and sizes,” Ouellette says. “Explore the why of wanting to lose weight; validate that it can be hard to not fit an unrealistic ideal and you will support them to process and deal with that—

 you have a responsibility to their physical and mental health to not let them do something damaging.”

“By asking questions first, you can get to the root of your child’s worries, connect with them, and then start to help shift their way of thinking,” Menzel says. “This can offer an important opportunity to correct misinformation from peers or social media and foster more helpful beliefs about weight and eating.”

Ouellette also recommends looking into messages they may be getting from their school that could promote harmful thinking about food and bodies (for instance, that certain foods are “good” and others “bad”).

“Never forget to model comfort with your own body, even if you have to fake it until you make it. There's a powerful short video called ‘

’ that can help with getting your message across,” Ouellette advises. The 

-themed video explains the lack of diversity in current weight and health research and the importance of taking individuality into account when considering these issues.

“Check your own thoughts and actions,” Menzel adds. “Parents are not immune to diet culture and we reinforce it at home in subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle ways. Try to catch yourself before you comment on your own weight or eating habits, take note of how often you compliment others on their appearance. Are you, yourself on a diet and how do you talk about or show that at home? Changing your own self-talk is important role modeling for your child.”

“Educate your children about the harmful messages and images that they see and hear,” Menzel says. “Make sure that children and teens know about how easy it is to manipulate images and that what they see often isn’t real. Call out misinformation about food, weight, and wellness. Talk about how 

 and can nourish our bodies—not to mention that food also makes us feel good and fuels connection. Discuss how weight gain is normal and healthy for a developing child.”

5. Help them feel prepared to confront diet culture in their social world

 that of all the sources of pressure to diet and lose weight, peers are often the most influential,” Menzel says. “Introduce them to body positive or anti-diet social media accounts. Help them figure how they will respond when their friends bring up dieting, disparage their own appearance, or comment on someone else’s. It can be hard to challenge this kind of conversation in the moment, and talking about it ahead of time can help your child feel confident navigating these conversations without sacrificing their friendships.”

Having frank and honest conversations with your child about the potential dangers of dieting is an important part of fending off 

, but in some cases, professional guidance and support is crucial.

“If you are validating your child and helping them to understand bodies come in all shapes and sizes and they’re still struggling with body image or trying to lose weight, seek professional support,” Ouellette says. “Interview prospective therapists about their views on bodies and weight and the treatment model they use. Ask them for literature that informs their treatment approach and what materials they’ll share with your child. If available, a therapist aligned with Health at Every Size is a good place to start.”

Ouellette also adds that it can be helpful to get an eating disorder screening for your child if you observe eating disorder signs, like:

Dramatic weight loss or gain in a short period of time

Other mental health concerns, like anxiety, depression and self-harm

According to Menzel, parents also should be aware of the following signs that their child’s body image issues might be cause for more concern:

Their body image worries take up an increasing amount of time and resources (i.e. they’re spending more time in their room getting ready, consuming more content on social media, or spending more money on products—especially at the expense of other activities or interests).

Their body starts to become a reason for them 

 to do certain things (i.e. they give up a sport they love or they avoid pool parties with their friends or they no longer wear clothes they used to love).

They have significant mental health shifts like increasing anxiety, depression, or loneliness. “All of these changes are signs that your child’s body image concerns might be a symptom of a bigger problem,” Menzel says.

If you’ve noticed these red flags or other troubling symptoms, it’s important to seek help for your child right away. “I usually recommend that parents start by talking to their pediatrician—however, be mindful that the pediatrician’s office can often be a source of weight loss and diet messages,” Menzel says. “An evaluation with a mental health professional who specializes in eating disorders is the best way to go.”

Reflecting on her own experience, Ouellette now sees the immense influence parents can have on their children’s relationships to their bodies. “Diet and wellness culture are everywhere and it can be very hard to know what is true and what is designed to make you feel bad about your body and sell you things,” she says. “We are never going to be able to avoid diet culture completely, but we can work on our relationship with our own bodies in order to model the self-acceptance and self-care we want to impart to our children. We can ‘just say no’ to our own and our children's participation in a toxic system that deprives people of true mental and physical well-being.”

If you’re concerned about your child’s eating habits, don’t ignore it. Some good first steps are to 

, talk with your doctor or a trusted mental health professional, or 

Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH. 2015. “Poodle Science.” YouTube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89QQfXtc-k

“Children, Teens, Media, and Body Image a Common Sense Media Research Brief Photo: Thiago Marques.” n.d. 

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/csm-body-image-report-012615-interactive.pdf

Fan, Jingchuan, Jason M Nagata, Kelly Cuccolo, and Kyle T Ganson. 2024. “Associations between Dieting Practices and Eating Disorder Attitudes and Behaviors: Results from the Canadian Study of Adolescent Health Behaviors.” Eating Behaviors 54 (August): 101886–86. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2024.101886

Miething, Alexander, Mikael Rostila, Christofer Edling, and Jens Rydgren. 2018. “The Peer Context of Dieting: The Relationship between Young Adults’ Dieting Frequency and Their Friends’ Weight-Related Characteristics.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15 (12): 2744. 

So Your Child Wants to Lose Weight? Here’s How to Handle It. 

Like many terms in the realm of eating, weight, and body image, “overeating” is one that’s often misunderstood. Similarly, the 

“I’m so OCD because I love organizing my closet!”

) has led many people to misinterpret the meaning of “compulsive.” When those terms are lumped together, it’s easy to see why a Google search for “compulsive overeating” produces about 16 million confusing and sometimes contradictory results. Some are focused on “

,” others offer tips to stop overeating, and many are dedicated to 

 So what, exactly, is compulsive overeating, and is it an eating disorder? Let’s unpack it.

While there’s no official clinical diagnosis for “compulsive overeating,” we can break down the definition from the meanings of the two words. “‘Compulsive’ describes behaviors that are repetitive. These behaviors can often be in response to an irresistible urge or an obsession,” says Equip dietitian Rui Tanimura, RD. ‘'‘

’ doesn't always have a very clear definition to it, since 

 has impacted how people define this as well.” In other words, because society tends to idealize thinness and food restriction, some people may eat a totally normal quantity of food and still feel like they “overate.” People with eating disorders also tend to have a distorted sense of how much food they have consumed.

As a registered dietitian working in the field of eating disorder treatment, Tanimura considers “overeating” to be an umbrella term for other behaviors, like 

 “the unstructured, repetitive eating of small amounts of food”). “For some people, overeating could be described as feeling like they have eaten past their own comfortable level of fullness,” Tanimura says. “I use the word ‘feeling,’ as these tend to be subjective and unique experiences per person. Sometimes clinicians describe symptoms as ‘subjective overeating,’ which means the client believes they are overeating, however, clinically, we wouldn't define it as that.”

Although the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) does not include an official definition for compulsive overeating, Tanimura says the closest would likely be the definition of a binge found in the description of 

 She explains that a binge is characterized by:

Eating in a discrete period of time an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances

The sense of lack of control over eating during the episode

For someone to be diagnosed with binge eating disorder, they need to meet other criteria, which includes the frequency of binges.

, people tend to believe that compulsive overeating is a result of not being disciplined enough. Not only is this untrue, but it also ignores the true root of all eating disorders (including those without clinical definitions): the 

 has shown that most binges (or incidences of “overeating”) are preceded by a period of 

. Because the negative physical and mental effects of food deprivation are unsustainable, people who chronically restrict eventually and inevitably have to listen to their hunger, and may eat more than usual when they do so—which then leads to shame and renewed restriction.

“Intentional restriction causes our body to be at an energy deficit,” Tanimura says. “Due to this deficit, psychological and hormonal changes occur that increase our drive to eat. We start to 

. We may notice excessive thoughts around food. This is because our body is trying to correct the imbalance from the energy deficit. When urges bubble over and become too intense, this can trigger overeating or binge eating.”

“It’s a normal and biological response for our body to be fixated on food if there is an energy deficit,” Tanimura says. “Discipline and willpower should not be a part of how we interact with food. Our relationship with food should feel natural, easy, and 

 rather than requiring so much focus and intensity.”

Beyond restriction, Tanimura says there are some other common triggers that may lead someone to restrict or binge, including difficult emotions, thoughts, or events. “Understanding the unique triggers of compulsive overeating is very important,” she says. “The negative emotions build over time, and one may not feel equipped to use any coping skills, so they’ll turn to eating in an attempt to manage negative emotions.”

It’s important to understand that occasionally eating “too much” (however that is defined) is generally not considered problematic. However, when the behavior becomes habitual, it can result in negative mental and physical effects. According to Tanimura, the risks associated with compulsive overeating include:

Excessive feelings of guilt, shame, disgust, or embarrassment which can trigger people to start dieting or restricting again, trapping themselves in the binge-restrict cycle

Negative impact on mood, social life, and energy levels

Negative impact on digestion (As Tanimura says: “our digestive system likes consistency and adequacy!”)

Compulsive overeating vs. binge eating disorder

While compulsive overeating and binge eating disorder are often conflated, the two are not necessarily the same. Because there’s no official definition for compulsive overeating, someone who self-identifies as a compulsive overeater may or may not have binge eating disorder. Binge eating disorder has specified diagnostic criteria, 

Eating much more food than other people might consider “normal” during a short amount of time

Eating large amounts of food despite not feeling physically hungry

Embarrassment over how much one is eating, which leads to eating alone

Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty after a binge

While many—if not most—people overeat occasionally, BED is characterized by distinct patterns of behavior that happen consistently and have a negative effect on a person’s mental and physical health. “Compulsive overeating can be a symptom of BED, however BED has five different criteria and a severity grading depending on how many binge eating episodes occur,” Tanimura says.

Treatment options for compulsive overeating

If you’re concerned that you or a loved one might be experiencing symptoms associated with BED, it’s important to seek out 

an assessment from an eating disorder professional

 and follow recommendations for appropriate treatment.

If you don’t meet the clinical criteria for BED but are still struggling with compulsive overeating, you also deserve support and care. This may include:

, therapist, and medical provider, all of whom have experience treating eating disorders

 that are effective and continuing to practice using them

Understanding if you’re in an energy deficit because of inconsistent or inadequate food intake

Recognizing what things trigger episodes of compulsive overeating

Practicing self compassion and patience learning to let go of disordered behaviors

Building a support system outside of treatment team, which might include family, friends, or other trusted people in your life

Regardless of whether you meet the clinical diagnosis for BED or 

 eating disorder, you deserve proper support and expert-led treatment. Eating disorders exist on a continuum, and if your relationship to food feels strained or unhealthy, it’s time to seek help—there’s no such thing as “not sick enough.” Talk to a trusted medical or mental health professional, or 

schedule a call with an Equip team member

Berkman, Nancy D., Kimberly A. Brownley, Christine M. Peat, Kathleen N. Lohr, Katherine E. Cullen, Laura C. Morgan, Carla M. Bann, Ina F. Wallace, and Cynthia M. Bulik. 2015. “Table 1, DSM-IV and DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria for Binge-Eating Disorder.” Www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. December 1, 2015. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK338301/table/introduction.t1/

Bray, Brenna, Adam Sadowski, Chris Bray, Ryan Bradley, and Heather Zwickey. 2023. “Clinical Aspects of Binge Eating Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Mixed-Methods Study of Binge Eating Disorder Experts’ Perspectives.” Frontiers in Psychiatry 13 (February). 

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1087165

Dorfner, Micah. 2016. “Obsessively Pursuing Correct Use of Term ‘OCD.’” Mayo Clinic News Network. February 11, 2016. 

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/obsessively-pursuing-the-correct-usage-of-the-term-ocd/

Heriseanu, Andreea I., Phillipa Hay, Laura Corbit, and Stephen Touyz. 2017. “Grazing in Adults with Obesity and Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review of Associated Clinical Features and Meta-Analysis of Prevalence.” Clinical Psychology Review 58 (December): 16–32. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.09.004

Is “Compulsive Overeating” an Eating Disorder?

If you've made it this far through the holidays, take a moment to celebrate. This time of year can be hard for anyone, and especially so for people navigating 

. But just as the major December festivities pass, it’s time to get ready for the bombardment of “new year, new you” messaging on TV, social media, subway ads, and more.

Although setting goals to improve yourself isn't a bad thing, per se, New Year's resolutions often have two problems: First, people don't tend to follow through on them. According to one recent study, about 

 of people abandon their commitments within a month—and failure to reach your resolution may make you feel worse about yourself. Second, the vast majority of year-end goals are centered around diets, weight loss, and fitness, which makes the whole resolution business particularly problematic for those in eating disorder recovery. If you or a loved one are working toward recovery (or in recovery), this might be triggering, or even cause a slide back into disordered eating and 