online conference transcript

Jane Latimer, our guest, author and therapist, struggled with eating disorders and binge eating during twenty long years. What did she learn that helped her recover?

David Roberts is the HealthyPlace.com moderator.

The people in blue are audience members.

David: Good Evening. I'm David Roberts, the moderator for tonight's conference. I want to welcome everyone to HealthyPlace.com.

Our topic tonight is "Binge Eating and Self-Esteem". Our guest is Jane Latimer. Ms. Latimer holds a masters degree in psychology and is a therapist, coach and mentor. She is CEO of The Aliveness Project, a mentoring program for women with food and weight issues. And Ms. Latimer is author of several books including "Living Binge Free" and "Beyond the Food Game." For twenty years, she suffered with various eating disorders, including binge eating. She says it's been eighteen years since she broke free from the pain of those eating disorders.

Good evening, Jane, and welcome to HealthyPlace.com. Thank you for being our guest tonight. The first thing, I'm sure, that everyone would like to know is: How did you do it? What were the keys to your recovery from eating disorders?

Jane Latimer: A lot of things. I believed I could fully recover because I didn't believe that I was being my real self. Then, I got into a food plan, which enabled me to start feeling things. The food plan provided space for me to get in touch with myself.

The spiritual part of my recovery from eating disorders was so very important, because I knew that I was first and foremost, a beautiful being who was loved by my Higher Power. The eating disorder wasn't me. I learned that I wasn't really all those horrible feelings I had. And I learned to use the feelings to discover my truth, my authentic self which is in alignment with the FLOW, or with Higher Power. I also began to really trust myself. That took awhile, but I had to learn to trust ME, not be what I thought others wanted me to be.

David: What is the difference between binge eating, overeating, or being a compulsive overeater?

Jane Latimer: I like to think of binge-eating as a feeling of being out-of-control. While overeating is more eating when you are not hungry.

David: What causes someone to binge eat?

Jane Latimer: That's very complex. I like to follow 3-tracks.

• Track 1 is looking at the biochemistry.
• Track 2 is looking at the underlying emotional issues.
• Track 3 would be the relationship to food itself.

Usually, when I ask people not to binge-eat when they want to, they describe the feeling as being out-of-control. The word I use for that feeling is fragmented. A person feels panicky, scattered, disoriented and food helps them get grounded and numb out.

David: I'm assuming that since you were involved with eating disorders for twenty years, separating yourself from food issues is a very complicated process. Am I right about that?

Jane Latimer: It's very scary. There are so many scary feelings that a person doesn't know how to deal with. They can't make sense of it. It's very overwhelming. So, it's easier just to go back to the food. I always suggest that people work with safety. It is very important to build safety resources, both internal and external, so that giving up their reliance on food becomes easier. They, then, have other things they can rely on.

David: We have some audience questions, Jane, and then we'll continue:

Becky1154: Have you used other ways to cope with the stressors that used to make you binge?

Jane Latimer: Absolutely, I use many things. I've grown to rely on my ability to process my feelings, if not with another person, then in my journal. I journal daily and I also meditate daily. I exercise quite a bit, because that keeps me feeling good. I also have really worked on shifting my "negative mind" so that I don't let it ramble on for days on end anymore. I think that everything that is happening is always for my best. That's what has gotten me through.

David: Going through your site, you talk a lot about what I like to call "alternative" healing methods vs. strict therapy for eating disorders. Can you expand on that for us here and tell us what role that played in your healing and continues to play today?

Jane Latimer: Actually, I recovered before there was therapy for eating disorders, so I used all alternative healing methods. As I mentioned, my recovery process was mainly through my spiritual practice. I learned how to work with my feelings spiritually. I used Overeaters Anonymous (OA) for the first three years, as I was recovering, because I needed the support of the group and my food sponsor. But then, I broke away because I didn't believe, as they did, that I'd always be a compulsive overeater. I, then, began testing different foods and teaching myself how to eat them. I would say that the biggest help to me was learning how to love myself and that I got through my spiritual program. I literally learned to love myself through everything. I'd meditate and think of surrounding myself in loving light. I'd love myself when I binged. I practiced sending loving thoughts to my body (which I hated by the way.) Soon the love words, and the light, and the meditations just began having their effect.

I also would experience some spontaneous regressions during my meditations in which I felt myself very young in darkness and void, very empty, very despaired, but I always brought light into those dark spaces. It was the creation of the Sacred Healing Space that created a container for my healing. So while I was despairing, and feeling shame and stupid, I was also in a "Sacred Space" that I had created for myself through my spiritual teachings. I felt like I was actually transforming my past. I wasn't just venting or reliving the pain, I was transforming it.