Making the comm safe(r) for people with eating disorders

[rydra_wong]

This was sparked by a conversation elsewhere. I know there are some people who are interested in paleo/primal eating, but who are in recovery from eating disorders and need to avoid stuff that's potentially triggering for them.

As a guideline, how about suggesting that discussions about weight, weight loss, and/or calories should go behind a cut?

That means that people who want to can discuss them, but others can avoid it if they need to.

I know that for some people weight loss is one goal of eating paleo/primal, but for others it isn't, and IMHO it'd be good if the comm could be inclusive in that respect; this is about health first and foremost, not a "diet" in the traditional sense.

(Tangentially, Melissa of HuntGatherLove has an interesting post on whether paleo can be integrated with a Health At Every Size (HAES) approach.)

Comments

[0jack]

That would be awesome for me. I'm in a weird half-state where I have an ED but I am working on losing weight in a healthy manner. It's really hard to balance that out--therapy helps on a personal level, but socially, it's like being between worlds.

[rydra_wong]

*nods*

I'm not trying to lose weight (in fact, it would be a bad thing if I did), but I'd like at least to keep my metabolism stable in the face of the meds I'm loading into it, and I'd like to improve my body composition (more muscle, less fat).

I'm also experimenting to see what works best for my climbing and my moods.

At the same time ... there is so much cultural toxicity about bodies and food and weight, and I don't want to get sucked into it or contribute to it. So, yeah.

[copperlion]

Sorry to get to this so late (your moddly mod is applying to Ph.D programs while still attempting to get actual sleep and is thus pretty much running behind on everything!) I think this is a good idea, and am going go add it to the rules/FAQ.

[rydra_wong]

Thanks, that's awesome! I got the idea from some other comms (e.g. lifting_heavy_things and exercise_every_day) -- it seems to work well as a general guideline.

ETA: Good luck with the PhD applications!