Are You Looking to Be Full or Fulfilled?

When yearning for fulfilment, It’s not by chance that disregulated eaters fill themselves with food—and with people, activities, and material goods as they seek satisfaction, contentment, connection, and meaning. Sadly, they rarely get what they’re looking for because full and fulfilled are as different as apples and oranges. Many disregulated eaters yearn for more out of and a deeper engagement with life. They talk about feeling empty as if they could ingest something which would stay there and keep them feeling full up. The problem with using food—or success, applause or achievement to do this—is that you keep having to go back for more and more and more. The applause dies down or your success happened a while ago and you begin to feel depleted. So you think, Ah, that worked before, so I’ll just go out and find some more of it and I’ll be fine. And, that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call compulsion. One of my clients described the difference for her between feeling full and fulfilled. Full meant busy with chores or tasks, things that others could do for her—cut the grass, cook, clean out her files, pay bills—as distinct from activities that uniquely melded her interests and talents such as reading poetry, taking ballet lessons, playing tennis, and being a therapist, all of which made her feel fulfilled. Things that were fulfilling were highly pleasurable and often fun. They were activities no one could do for her. Obsessing about eating and weig...
Source: Normal Eating - Category: Eating Disorders Authors: Source Type: blogs