HEALTH & FITNESS
Eating Disorder Warning Signs
Preoccupation with food, weight, body image, count-
ing calories and cooking for others
Experiences an irregular menstrual cycle
Is overly self-deprecating and unable to accept
compliments
Has difficulty eating in public
Feels guilty about eating habits and ashamed or
tormented by body
Displays signs of depression, such as irritability or
mood swings
Gives the impression of withdrawing from relation-
ships
Believes he or she will be happier if she he/she
reaches desired weight goal
Gains or loses an excessive amount of weight dur-
ing a short time period
How You Can Help
DO express concern in a loving and nonjudgmental
way.
DON'T ignore the problem. Eating disorders can
lead to severe illness and death.
DO be prepared for a denial of the problem. It is
often difficult for those suffering with an eating dis-
order to acknowledge that they are ill.
DON'T try to force your loved one to eat or insist
that they gain/lose weight.
DO encourage counseling together as a family for
support to the individual who is ill and to address the
specific needs of the family as a whole.
DON'T make comments about appearance and
behaviors such as calorie counting or dieting. This
can be misinterpreted by the individual and used to
reinforce the eating disorder.
DO be aware of your own bias regarding eating
habits, food and body image.
DON'T agree to keep the eating disorder a secret.
Discreetly seek help for the individual.
-Jewish Family Concerns, Union for Reform Judaism Web site
Disorders from page A33
Food learn that it isn't shameful to seek help and that
speaking your truth makes it easier to let go!'
Her truth goes back to fifth grade, when she began plan-
ning healthy food diets for people. "In eighth grade, we
started with the weight thing!'
But Price, a swimmer at Oak Park High School, was fore-
stalled from dieting by her swim coach as she struggled to
avoid 10-pound weight swings. "If I hear about you dieting,
no more swim team," she was told.
So it was as an undergraduate at Michigan State
University that what she calls her "anorexic-like tendencies"
manifested. Later, "I learned not so great bulimic-type ways
to keep my weight in check." And, after graduating as a
registered dietitian, she traded in both behaviors for binge
eating.
Coming To Grips
As she pursued a master's degree in exercise physiology
from Wayne State University in Detroit, "those 10 pounds
would come and go, with a balanced exercise program
keeping me in check': Price says.
She compensated "by overdoing just about everything
A34
May 29 . 2008
Beverly Price uses yoga to help clients confront their feelings about food.
— from studying, working, partying. The bottom line,
though, is that I didn't feel very good about myself.
"Finding my soul mate, getting married, having a baby
was very grounding:' says Price, whose husband, David, is
a social worker and licensed professional counselor with
a subspecialty in addiction counseling. He is her business
manager and they have a daughter, Elana, 13.
"But my eating disorder still wasn't eradicated, as many
who struggle believe when they get the food piece straight-
ened out," Price says.
Enter Yoga
It wasn't until she studied yoga and meditation, then
completed teacher training at Jonny Kesfs Center for Yoga
in Birmingham that she made peace with the underlying
reasons.
Then, "taking my yoga 'off the mat' and working with
Kabbalah teacher Karen Greenberg of Ann Arbor helped
me put a lot of the pieces of my puzzle together to create
awareness and healing of the soul, which is so important in
recovery.
"We can restore somebody's weight, but not necessarily
what's underneath;' Price says.
She sees people who complete inpatient or outpatient
treatment "get re-fed and weight restored without any
awareness of what their eating disorder is all about on a
spiritual lever
Conversation can sometimes cover true feeling, she
has learned. "It's not just about food. Yoga is a tool to help
people peel away layers so participants can go deeper. We
experience and begin to feel, which moves us out of our
victim story!'
Innovative Therapy
Bloomfield Hills psychotherapist Renee Hinkins calls
Price's work "quite unique. Traditional nutritional therapy is
just centered on food!'
Hinkins, who specializes in treating eating disorders,
says they strike people with the "kind of high achievement
and perfectionism that I see in young Jewish girls."
That was echoed by Julie Kaufman, whose 25-year-old
daughter has battled bulimia for 10 years.
"I think children today think they have to be perfect;'
Kaufman, an elementary school teacher, says. "In Jewish
families, every kid is the perfect kid. Everybody's always
bragging.
"I'm tired of it [eating disorders] being under the table
says Kaufman, who lives in Farmington Hills`. "Your hair
falls out, your teeth turn yellow, your bones get fragile. It's
not just an eating disorder. Its a serious medical problem
that this country has not addressed."
What Price is doing is revolutionary, Kaufman believes.
"She addresses all of it — spiritual, diet, exercise — and
makes sure to get them psychological help."
Lesli Cohen also supports Price's "unique approach to
treating and healing eating disorders." Her healing and
wellness foundation, Living Free, funded Price's initial eat-
ing-disorder programs at Beth Shalom.
"The eating disorder element had been in and around
me throughout my life, spanning four generations;' says
Cohen, of Birmingham.
Finding Support
Frances, who asked that her last name be withheld, has
battled her eating disorder for 40 years. As the daughter
of Holocaust survivors, she remembers their tremendous
emphasis on food.
"look what you have; we had nothing," she recalls them
saying. "They worked so hard. For me, the guilt set in!'
The St. Clair Shores wife and mother of two adult chil-
dren has been part of Price's support groups since 2002.
"When you're in the group, you feel safe; you get input
from the other women; you're not as crazy as you think you
are.
"I wish there were more Jewish-oriented groups out
there Frances says.
❑
The next Reconnect with Food five-week series begins July 9. The
next weekend workshop is Sept. 19-21. Call (248) 390-4150 for
more information.