Beating Your Eating Disorder- Lesson 2 By Dr Irina Webster

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Dear Readers!

Please find below lesson 2 in how to recover from your Eating Disorder. This is a fantastic article by brilliant Dr Irina Webster. I really like her tips on how one can influence their mind to stop the vicious cycle of binging and purging. One of the most viewed topic of my Blog is How to Stop Binging and Purging. This has made me realize that binging and purging is a serious issue and one that needs to be highlighted more often. I pray and hope that you will find this article useful and Inshallah it will prove useful in your healing and recovery from your Eating Disorder.

How Neuroplasticity can Help You?

Neuroplasticity will help you when you realize that each of us as individuals have changing brains over the course of our lives. Your brain, if we were to remap it three weeks from now would be different than it is today.

And this difference to your brain’s map is going to be determined by what you do on a day to day basis.

Basic neuroplastic change (restructure of the brain) occurs approximately around 3 weeks from the start.

Of course, stubborn habits and bad disorders will take longer than 3 weeks to change but the foundations with have started. Also there are structural brain changes that can occur faster than 3 weeks.

These kinds of changes are usually influenced by extremely strong emotions like fear, anger, and bereavement or involved emotional trauma (or a nervous breakdown).

For example, look at the picture on the right. This is the kind of brain structure you may have now. Let’s assume that these connections of brain cells are responsible for your binging–purging or starving yourself episodes.

You see how the endings of the neurons are connected to each  other. Than after three weeks of trying to stop the binging‐purging episodes replacing them with other behaviours (like listening to a nice music when the binging urges strike, watching a movie instead of binging, going out to a club, painting or playing piano, doing a course and learning something instead of spending your time binging, etc.)

You see, the area in the brain which was responsible for the binging‐purging starving behaviour becomes more saturated with brain cell connections.

This is because your brain has formed other neuronal connection on the top of old ones.

Now, if you continue to perform your new constructive behaviour, the neuronal connections responsible for this behaviour will grow more and more, eventually replacing the old negative behaviour pathways.

But if you choose to perform the old bad behaviours instead: like binging or purging the old negative pathways take over and the new positive pathways will fade away.

Conclusion:

Neuroplasticity will help you to get better and even become cured from your eating disorder if you:

a. Make positive changes to your behaviour and do it for at least 3 weeks.

b. Develop new constructive behaviours to substitute for the negative ones.

You should continue to do it for at least 3 weeks to get the cells started.

c. Continue to learn more about neuroplasticity and the structure and function of your brain.

Do it regularly (preferably everyday) for at least 3 weeks.

d. Keep yourself busy with useful and constructive things.

Avoid boredom.

Do it for at least  3 weeks.

P.S. Important: after the first 3 weeks of doing things correctly you should still continue to do things correctly and not slip back to your  old eating habits.

BUT, the good news is that after 3 weeks of doing things correctly it will be much easier for you to continue doing it.

Some people may find that they continue to do the right things automatically by developing good habits in those first 3 weeks.

Otherwise, if you don’t do the correct thing for the next 3 weeks, and do the other bad habits you have in the past instead  ‐ you will change your brain’s map anyway in those 3 weeks only for the worst not the better.

BUT remember that your brain’s maps are going to be determined by what you do on a day to day basis anyway, they will change regardless of your wishes.

So why not make positive changes to your behaviour and change your brain’s map for the better.

If you continue what you are doing now or act on more negative behaviour: you will simply imbed the negative brain structures deeper and deeper, making it harder and longer to change in the future. In my new book “Cure Your Eating Disorder: 5 Step Program to Change Your Brain. Neuroplasticity Approach.” I described everything I know about neuroplasticity and eating disorders and how exactly you can help yourself using neuroplasticity.

You can get the book in CO-Op Book Store in Australia.

Or on

http://www.eating-disorders-books.com

Lesson Three will come soon

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About Author

Islam and Eating Disorders founded in 2012 – run by Maha Khan, the blog creates awareness of Eating Disorders in the Muslim world, offers information and support for sufferers and their loved ones.

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