Billy Jean King is 80 years old and continues to manage an eating disorder.

Tara Strong, a voiceover artist, admits to a struggle with food.

Jane Fonda, Dennis Quaid, Sharon Osbourne, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Elton John, Princess Diana ……. and, and, and …..

Besides Ozempic, people are taking another type 2 diabetes medication known as Mounjaro, (Zebound) for weight loss?? yet when you listen to various people talk about it, they want to be able to eat the foods they enjoy without the consequences of putting on weight.

Eat without the consequence of gaining weight

I’ve heard this plenty of times from friends, family and co-workers.

Having lived with an unhealthy relationship with food since my late teens, my biggest battle wasn’t the starvation phase, the bulimic stage or the crazed restrictions that I was proud of. No. The hardest thing for me was the fight within me wishing it would stop.

I suffered with disordered eating in silence, never seeking help. I felt shame over not being able to control myself. The tidy perfectionist was a disheveled mess behind closed doors.

I was heavily teased as a child for being a bigger girl. When I dove into swimming, my time was preoccupied with training and competing, so I ate. God knows I had an excellent appetite BUT to my delight, my body began taking on an entirely different shape.

We were always a physically active family from the time I was in early elementary school. Dad believed he was Jack LaLanne and would have my sisters and I stand in the doorways to our bedrooms as he led us in calisthenics from the end of the hall. As an exercise enthusiast, he swam regularly at the Y and frequently invited me along.

Clearly, I wasn’t sedentary and yet, weighed 87 pounds at the tender age of 8.

If being teased for being chubby wasn’t bad enough, I was labeled gifted. What kid doesn’t like hanging out with their friends? I know I did, so when pulled out of my regular classes and placed into the exceptional program, something inside of me snapped.

Eight-year-old children have no idea what exceptional means. Their minds swim in distress, wondering Why? and What did I do wrong?. One moment their having a good time with friends, the next they’re in a separate world.

I visibly carried this emotional weight for the next 7 to 8 years. And then like magic, it melted away. People commented and attributed it to the swimming. Without missing a beat, I agreed. Looking back, it’s evident it wasn’t physical activity. I was in my element … a pool of people!

It took decades before reflecting on this symbolic pool. Until then, I was at war with food.

Again, not entering a treatment program or even working with a counselor, I kept the hostilities inside as I began studying nutrition in the early 1990’s. Honestly, I had no idea what I was looking for … food haunted me … not unlike the oils … and my way is to understand or at the very least try.

Called to know, I attended various programs while studying psychology. Even though essential oils were a part of my life, they remained off to the side. Stepping away from them was a piece of cake. I didn’t really need them (little did I know….)

But food? I couldn’t divorce … and I can’t live without for very long

So do people recover from eating disorders?

Jane Fonda says she did …

And then I discovered a psychologist that says she still struggles with it after 30 years …

Now I do realize the statistics and deaths (men more often than women) that come about with disordered eating. In no way do I mean to negate the severity of the problem. On the contrary, the intention here is to shed light on the inner world so that we can prevent the tragedies!

I feel blessed to have felt the call. More importantly, I’m glad I listened. Not that it was easy to apply.

There are many beliefs around certain foods or ingredients being a trigger. I have no doubt. Food affects the neurochemistry.

HOWEVER, each of us has the ability to regulate our neurochemistry.

For years, I had no idea I had any control over my body or mind for that matter. It seemed I lived inside this thing that had a mind of its own and I was simply along for the ride observing.

Essentially, I distanced myself from myself believing I had no control. I mean, who can blame me? For as long as I can remember, my life was directed and dictated by other people.

I know I’m not alone in this experience and believe many suffer for control ..

All of a sudden, people were appreciating the size of my body. I suddenly found myself surrounded by the popular crowd in school. I had been welcomed into the fold simply because my body appeared to fit the bill.

Drugs and alcohol entered my world and were used as a way to quiet my brain. They had nothing to do with socializing or fitting in. I had already figured out how to join the crowd, the next project was eliminating the noise in my head.

I had had my fair share of ridicule over the way people felt when I would talk about something. I cannot count the number of times I was told that I was inferring someone was stupid all in the way I spoke on something. Nothing could be further from the truth … I just enjoyed, and still do enjoy, sharing points and food for thought.

There’s that word again. Food…

What’s eating you?

Dis-ordered thinking.

This is not personal nor is it a judgment.

Dis-order = lack of order

Neuroplasticity happens from the time of conception and continues throughout your life. It is not a remedy to fix what ails you. It’s your brains reactions to stressors which is linked to emotional processing.

Autism, gifted, neurotypical, nerd … however you identify … everyone is intelligent. The differences are in the excitability in the brain.

Neuroplasticity happens AND it is directable.

Yes, there are environmental factors and chemicals involved in our mental and physical health, however, everyone has within them the ability to facilitate neuroplastic and bioplastic changes that improve the way you think, feel and INTERPRET life.

How you interpret every moment, person, place and thing is mirrored in the body. This is what determines the quality of your health.

People believing that I’m telling them they’re stupid represents dis-comfort within the individual. Yet, I took it on and started shutting myself down in order to be liked and accepted. This lack of self-acceptance and understanding of wisdom, led to disorganized thoughts.

I was scrambling to fit in while wishing I could be myself in a world that was and is doing the very same thing!

Egghead = intellectual

Culturally, we’re witnessing an incredible rise in mental health dis-orders. Women and men are speaking up about their issues with food. Some have received treatment, others try to control it with drugs.

Neuroplasticity is neuroplasticity. Neurochemistry is neurochemistry.

In my research on essential oil constituents and various health issues, from anxiety to arthritis to cancer, the neurochemistry involved is an inflammatory form of the very same neurotransmitters and hormones we equate to feeling content, happy, upbeat, connected and grounded.

It’s the neuroplasticity that alters the production of hormones from anti-inflammatory to pro-inflammatory. Getting a grip on your ability doesn’t require smarts … it takes Will

Sometimes it’s difficult to come by that Will. As I said, my biggest battle was within.

Do we ever recover from disordered eating patterns?

I don’t know.

I find self-acceptance, self-awareness and comfort within helps me savoring food more. It lessens my restrictions; my body responds better to the foods that I eat, and I no longer feel out of control. I’m able to notice my old ways and redirect it.

Anxious is on the opposite end of the spectrum from excited. It’s already been said that I have an excitable brain .. why not use this energy in a healthier way?

Found on PositivePsychology.com ‘The anxiety wiring is still there and waiting to be triggered. We need to create competitive wiring. We need to create specific wiring of what we want to achieve which is ‘competitive wiring’ to the problem.’

One way is to enjoy my body through movement. Besides enjoying the feeling of being alive, it prevents the energy from getting stuck in old patterns.

This isn’t to say, every day is perfect. There are moments where I feel myself spiraling for one reason or another and that’s when I grab a couple essential oils to intentionally redirect the neuroplastic responses … focusing on the ‘competitive wiring’, they reconnect me to All that I Am and enable the I Will.

• I Am able

• I Will excitement and ease

The beauty in oils is they directly support the neurohormonal system assisting your brain with self-regulation and homeostasis. (THIS is founded in science). NOW your weight and other health concerns begin to ease up.

Noteworthy point: what and how we consume every moment of life matters. The body follows the mind. The harder it is for you to wrap your head around something, digest and assimilate it adversely affects the way your body consumes, digests and assimilates the foods you eat. Your gut is the 3rd chakra … the energy center of the Will

dis-ease OR ease … you get to choose?

This is not the way of medications!

Dis-ordered thoughts and emotions also known as mood disorders are only considered a dis-eased state because the person is not feeling at ease.

Would you like to know how wise the body is? Consider addiction to substances for a moment:

• cocaine / caffeine influence the regulation of dopamine

• cigarettes influence the regulation of acetylcholine

• alcohol affects the regulation of GABA

• opioids affect the regulation of the endogenous opioids / endorphins

• cannabis affects the regulation of the endocannabinoids / anandamide

• stress / drama affect the regulation of cortisol which influences dopamine

There is a reason for the phrase: ‘drug of choice’. The truth is not everyone gets hooked on the same drug. A person does not wake up one day deciding to abuse cocaine. or drink to excess. Their drug of choice is a form of self-medication. An unconscious, yet natural, attempt to restore a sense of internal order.

The brain doesn’t know what it needs, it’s simply following orders from the DNA. When the substance satisfies a need, the brain responds by craving more shortly after the experience wears off.

Issues with food hit on all areas of the brain. Survival, security, rewards, soothing … this could include food cravings where restrictions are involved. Your body needs a full range of nutrients and when you refuse to give it what it needs because of things you’ve heard, fear or read, you will be informed via cravings.

In all honesty, this is only scratching the surface. The bottom line is your body is wiser than you might imagine. Unfortunately, distractions interfere with tuning into the wisdom or for that matter respecting it.

Perhaps, if we considered the possibility that dis-ordered thinking undermines our ability to live well and thrive in peace, we might not only see ourselves in others, but also realize a way out of the global dis-order and lead with that vision.

Realizing something is how you bring it into existence. It’s not enough to see the wounds that produced the dis-order, you and I must recognize the underlying Grace that brought us to our knees and evolve from there.

There is order within the perceived dis-order!