A Disease of Self Hatred

"Retreat" by Joslyn Smith

Eating disorder activist Joslyn Smith has written a very personal and raw rebuke of the American Medical Association’s decision to classify obesity as a disease at the We Are The Real Deal blog.

In “A Disease of Self Hatred,” Joslyn remembers three interactions with health-care professionals – two doctors and a nurse practitioner – over a 15-year period that were infuriating, frustrating and, ultimately, enlightening.

Among her recent conclusions:

Joslyn Smith

"The past fourteen years of struggling with an eating disorder that has come frighteningly close to taking my life more than once have taught me much. They have taught me that there are health-care providers who understand the mechanisms of bodies and metabolism – my metabolism – and do not subscribe to the idea that my body is diseased because it is large. They have taught me that when one finds those health-care providers, they are not to be taken for granted, because they are few and far between (which is the main reason I left my job in D.C. and moved to upstate New York). And most of all, they have taught me that the most important thing I can do to take care of my health is to know my body and to speak my truth."

To read all of Joslyn’s powerful message, go here.

Thanks for reading.

Story suggests five ways to end emotional eating

Cynthia Sass

Registered dietitian and best-selling author Cynthia Sass has an intriguing new story on our relationship with food on foxnews.com.
In "5 ways to shut down emotional eating," Cynthia points to a new study from Germany that indicates that when you're feeling down, you may keep eating fatty foods because you're less likely to taste the fat in the foods. Her conclusion: "emotions impact our sensory perceptions of food."
Cynthia offers five strategies to break the pattern:

• Let it out: Find healthy ways to release your emotions.
• Don't multi-soothe: Eat without distractions.
• Distance yourself: Stash those fatty foods in hard-to-reach places.
• Prevent the spiral: Don't let a "bad" meal become a "bad" day.
• Structure your time: Plan your weekends so you have less unstructured time, when the risk of emotional eating seems to be greater.

Be sure to read the story for more details from Cynthia.

Thanks for reading!

Our outpatients have many treatment options

The Nutrition Clinic, the nationally recognized outpatient treatment program at Upstate New York Eating Disorder Service in Elmira, has been growing rapidly in recent years and now offers a range of services in offices across the Southern Tier and Central New York.

We have been treating eating disorder patients since 1990.

Most treatment centers don’t offer the scope of outpatient programs we offer, said Carolyn Hodges Chaffee, the owner and CEO of Upstate New York Eating Disorder Service.

“It’s very seldom that you find a full multidisciplinary program,” she said. “You typically find people working in an outpatient setting and they might have relationships with other clinicians, but it is seldom under one roof, with physician supervision, as it is here.”

Eating disorder services: We treat those struggling with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, EDNOS, binge eating disorder, compulsive eating and compulsive exercise.

Nutrition services: We provide nutrition counseling for weight loss, special diet instructions, unintentional weight loss, nutritional support and bariatric patients.

Medical services: Medical monitoring is provided by our physician.

Here are some of the benefits you’ll find in working with the staff at The Nutrition Clinic:

■ We have outpatient services at four locations:

Elmira, 1003 Walnut St.

Ithaca, 208 E. State St., Studio 5B.

Syracuse, Ophelia’s Place, 407 Tulip St., Liverpool.

Vestal, 503 Plaza Drive.

■ Our IOPs offer flexible treatment schedules across upstate: This provides us the ability to transition patients from our partial hospitalization program as well as individuals from other treatment programs.  It can also be a treatment option for those needing more support than outpatient treatment to avoid going to a higher level of care.

Treatment outcomes are much better when the patient can transition gradually from hospitalization to outpatient. It is very difficult to go from being in a supportive environment 24/7 to one hour a week in outpatient.

The intensive outpatient program is three hours, three days a week. 

■ We see outpatients more frequently than other programs: We see patients weekly initially, tailoring their treatment program based on their individual needs, Carolyn said. “With eating disorder patients, we know we are looking at long-term care. The average length of treatment can range from 6 months to 2-3 years.”

■ Our free case management service: We help all eating disorder patients receive the care that they need, regardless of whether they are referred to the Nutrition Clinic, Sol Stone Center or to another program.  Our case manager, Charlie Jenkins has helped link patients to treatment all over the world.

■ Our cutting-edge testing provides an accurate picture of a patient’s condition: Metabolic testing and body composition analysis are used to initially assess every patient. Ongoing reassessments with these tests guide treatment recommendations.

Metabolic testing accurately assesses the nutritional status of a patient.

Body composition analysis measures the body’s lean mass and muscle mass and the results help show the impact of malnutrition on the body.

“We are able to identify nutritional problems much sooner because of our testing, and that allows us to plan the treatment based on each patient’s specific needs,” Carolyn said.

Outpatient treatment is critical to recovery. Full recovery is possible, but it is more than simply weight restoration. It is a gradual process that occurs as life outside of the eating disorder becomes much more important than the eating disorder. 

Outpatient treatment is where most of the recovery occurs. 

This article was featured in the spring edition of Food for Thought, the free quarterly newsletter from Upstate New York Eating Disorder Service. To see the rest of the spring edition, send an email to enc1003@aol.com and ask them to put you on the mailing list!