Eating Consciously To Help Prevent A Size Zero Eating Disorder

The most common types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, whereby the patient eats next to nothing and excessively losing weight, and bulimia, where the patient in this case goes binge-eating and forces the body the body to vomit all the food out after eating.

A catch-all category, EDNOS for eating disorders not otherwise specified, covers a host of deviant eating behaviours for which no specific names have been designated. Nonetheless, all of them have a common thread: an obsession with food and body shape. EDNOS thus includes over-exercising in fear of gaining weight, overly concerned with thinness, yo-yo dieting , over-emphasis on repeated cleansing.

An anorexic eating disorder results in becoming a size-zero beanpole. Zero represents the body part size of an extremely thin person. It is the dress size that anorexics aspire to have. It is generally known that in the fashion world, a thin appearance is prized as clothes supposedly hang better on a shape that is slim or thin. Unfortunately, some extremists take this to mean a size zero body.

If you suspect that you are having anorexia tendencies and want to prevent yourself gaining a size zero body shape, then it is important that you learn to regain conscious control of your body. You have to remember that extremes in weight, whether size zero or size one hundred, are unhealthy.

When you restore the act of eating food to the conscious level and focusing attention on the process, you can hope to break habits and unconscious thoughts that have been taking hold of you. How is how you can have conscious and purposeful eating:

* Choose a food item that provides you pleasure in its taste and appearance but which does not cause conflict of attitudes in any way. When you have it in front of you, do not think of anything else but allow the odours and looks of the food fill your senses.

* As you contemplate the food, focus on eating mindfully and take mental notes of any feedback from your senses as you eat, especially the first and the final bite. This may seem so simple, but it is not as easy as you may think.

* As you take your first bite, chew your food slowly and deliberately. Let your senses consciously experience the various sensations of taste, aroma, and texture. Pause and try to receive feedback from your senses.

* For the rest of the meal, proceed normally as you would with your meals. But do so in a slower pace. Then, as you prepare to take your last bite, repeat what you did at the beginning of the meal. Be fully attentive and be 100% conscious of every sensation.

Once you have finished eating, sit back a moment and reflect. Ask yourself what proportion of time you were conscious of your food, and what percentage you were thinking other thoughts.

Do this exercise once a day for seven days. You can vary the kind of food, but you must maintain your level of consciousness. When you find your attention to food returning, this is when you are in better control of your thoughts. It takes work to prevent a size zero eating disorder but you can find that with determination, your efforts will pay off!