How to Use Nutritional Counseling to Treat Bulimia

Locating a registered dietitian or nutritional counselor who has been trained in eating disorders may be an effective option to treat bulimia, also known as "binging and purging." Nutritional counseling involves both intervention and education about eating disorders and a counseling program in conjunction with proper medical and psychological supervision. This makes it an extremely practical solution.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Medical supervision from a doctor or psychiatrist
• Registered dietitian or nutritional counselor

Use Nutritional Counseling to Treat Bulimia

1. Submit to both a physical exam from a doctor and a psychological evaluation from a psychiatric team before you treat bulimia with nutritional counseling. Since eating disorders have a psychological basis, not addressing these issues with a qualified team will significantly undermine the efforts of the nutritional counselor.
2. Have your health care team assist in referring you to the proper dietitian or nutritional counselor who has been properly trained in eating disorders. It is important to find a counselor who is not only knowledgeable about the causes and motivations of bulimia, but also understands and respects the boundaries of the rest of your health care team.
3. Find a nutritional counselor who understands cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and uses these concepts to educate and inform patients about eating disorders. CBT is one of the most effective ways to treat bulimia, since it seeks to isolate the unacceptable behaviors from the thoughts and emotions causing those behaviors. By using behavior modification techniques, nutritional counseling can redefine attitudes and beliefs toward eating.
4. Adhere to a strict eating schedule when you use nutritional counseling to treat bulimia. Bulimia nervosa is often characterized by chaotic eating patterns, which may cause the induced vomiting behaviors to occur. By restricting yourself to three meals a day, plus one snack, you decrease the chances of lapsing into undesirable eating behaviors.
5. Educate yourself about fluid retention while changing your eating patterns. People with bulimia can easily become dehydrated due to the vomiting behaviors, which can lead to many severe and potentially life-threatening conditions. Knowing the importance of drinking fluids every day is a big step in understanding the disorder.
6. Wean yourself away from laxatives if you use them as part of your binging behaviors. A high-fiber diet may help your digestive system to make a more gradual transition into normal eating patterns.

Tips & Warnings

• Bulimia is harder to diagnose than anorexia, since sufferers of bulimia often appear to be perfectly healthy and at an ideal weight for their body types. Bulimia may be present in 2 to 5 percent of the population.