Today we have a bonus 6th house episode. After last week's podcast I realized how common it must be for eating disorders to develop, so I called in the professionals from Ebb and Flow Counseling in Cleveland, OH to get some insight. Rachel Waggoner, founder of Ebb and Flow and her colleague, Nicole Ryan, registered dietician, joined me and shared a wealth of information.

Turns out, I didn't know the difference between eating disorders and disordered eating and learned that we're (mostly females) conditioned to partake in disordered eating without even realizing we're doing it, ex: "I'm skipping lunch because I know I'm having a big dinner," "I'm not having toast with my eggs because I shouldn't eat carbs." We've gotten so deep into this that we don't understand what we're doing or why we're doing it. Sadly, a number of people will develop diagnosed eating disorders and it's not hard to understand why, or is it?

Rachel and Nicole explain how and why a disorder develops and how it's treated through work with a licensed counselor, dietician, and medical professional. Yes, there's a team of people involved because what you'll learn from this episode, is that you can't just tell a person they look great and shouldn't worry about food because that's not a cure, that can actually do more harm.

Speaking of which, Rachel and Nicole also explain how to get help or support a loved one going through this. I want to make a note here that Nicole says that just because we eat food does not make us experts in nutrition and she's exactly right. While we have the best intentions and don't want to see the people we love suffer, we could actually end up shaming them, which could make things worse.

*If you're in Ohio, please reach out to Ebb and Flow counseling or another professional counseling group to get help for yourself or a loved one.