Habits & Their Influence on Eating Disorders
Habits. Manifestations of our identity. The key to neural rewiring in eating disorder recovery. While eating disorders are so much more than simple ‘habits,’ they do have a huge influence in how they develop. The restrictive behaviors in which we partake in are a result of repetitive beliefs and actions, leading to neurons in the brain wiring together. Actually, all behaviors that become habitual, good or bad, are created when said neurons wire together.
I wanted to talk about habits in reference to the book, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. Clear does an excellent job in outlining how habits form, and I found it to be extremely applicable to the neural rewiring process in eating disorder recovery. Neural rewiring is of immense importance in eating disorder recovery. Without neural rewiring, we cannot recover. We must create new, healthy habits that promote freedom and life, not restriction and fear!
Behind every system of actions is a system of beliefs.
— James Clear, Atomic Habits
Through restriction and calorie counting, we are constantly reaffirming the belief that calories are significant. The belief that calories are to be feared. That calories hold some sort of power over us. Reality? They don't. When it comes to habit formation, repetition is an intrinsic piece. Because, if you repeat a behavior, it is going to stick. When we continue to count, track, measure, and restrict what we put into our bodies, we are also going to retain the caloric amounts within each "serving." This contributes to the fear of straying from our tracking apps and scales. We know what our eating disorder perceives to be "safe," and what our brains are used to.
Until you can make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.
— James Clear, Atomic Habits
Our habits directly influence our quality of life. If we are constantly repeating habits that prove detrimental to our wellbeing, our quality of life will reflect as such. This is why neural rewiring is key in eating disorder recovery. If you are not challenging these negative beliefs, they will still hold true, no matter how much you "weight restore."
Neurons that fire together, wire together.
— Hebbs Law
Our habits and beliefs embody our identities. This is why, in recovery, it is common to feel as though we are mourning the loss of a "friend." After all, everything we believed to be true about ourselves, the thoughts we gave all of our energy to, and how we've perceived our environment has been put in question. To change our habits, we must first change our beliefs. We must tell ourselves that all of what we fear, no matter how great said fear proves to be, is not true. We must begin to recognize what behaviors follow the beliefs in which we want to change. When it comes to restriction and calorie counting, this may look like;
- the measuring of food
- following "servings" indicated by labels, rather than our hunger levels and cravings
- meticulously weighing food
- automatically knowing the caloric contents of a food without reading the label
How can we begin to rewire this? This is the hard part. Because habits, whether they be good or bad, are automatic. It feels wrong to go against what our brain has learned to be part of our identity. We must be determined. We must go against everything our brain knows to be safe, as it is the only way to rewire it. To do this, we must oppose every behavior outlining restriction. So, this might look something more like this;
- Stopping the measuring of food
- Eating according to our hunger levels and cravings
- Stopping the weighing of food
- Knowing the caloric contents of a food, and eating it anyway
Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.
— James Clear, Atomic Habits
By practicing these behaviors while challenging our old beliefs, neural pathways will begin to rewire. These scary and unfamiliar beliefs will gradually replace the safe and familiar ones. We will become who, deep down, we know we want to become. We will be free.
You have the power to change your beliefs about yourself. your identity is not set in stone.
— James Clear, Atomic Habits
Healthy habits aren't restrictive. In fact, healthy habits are what will bring us freedom. It will take a lot of determination and unlearning of old habits, but it will change our lives for the better. We have the power to change our beliefs. We have the power to change our habits. Our identity is not concrete. While our habits and beliefs embody who we are, they do not have to be permanent. Neural rewiring is extremely challenging. I will not discredit its difficulty and the hardships in which it presents. But I know that we are much stronger. We are not our eating disorders. Recovery is waiting for us. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger. Roots entrench themselves and branches grow. The task of breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. And the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time.
— James Clear, Atomic Habits