Eating too much, eating too little, constantly preoccupied with food or new diets: more and more people are struggling with it. From those few stubborn pounds that just won't go away, to serious and sometimes life-threatening problems like anorexia and obesity – food has captivated almost all of us.

Despite the fact that struggling with food is common, the shame associated with it is great. Especially when it comes to being overweight, which is so visible, there is a constant feeling of guilt, and shame plays a huge role under all the disapproving looks and comments.

Also, people who vomit or eat far too little usually keep that anxiously hidden from the outside world.

All types of eating problems have something in common: namely, the feeling that you have 'no choice'. If you suffer from anorexia, you feel no choice between eating or not eating. With bulimia, you feel no choice to eat normal portions or not to purge (vomit by inducing it yourself). With binge eating, you experience no choice to just eat less, and all those people who eat just a little too much also don't experience that it is an option to change structurally.

Only with a lot of willpower can you temporarily control your eating behavior or
'lifestyle'. But willpower is finite, whether that is after an hour or after 2 years, and then the old behavior returns. After all, the underlying cause has not been removed. As long as you have no contact with your underlying feelings, your eating behavior will continue to feel unfree, forced, without real choice.

Anorexia is not about being thin and looking like a model, or about control and passive manipulation. Anorexia is about not wanting to feel any need.
If you suffer from anorexia, you have an intense fear of eating. You prefer not to eat at all anymore, food has become your enemy. Eating feels like a directly life-threatening activity.

If you suffer from bulimia, you often eat too much in order to then forcibly remove it from the body, usually by vomiting or taking a large dose of laxatives.

The urge to eat far too much is uncontrollable, but the fear of gaining weight is just as great. That leads to a hell of binges and then the compulsion to get rid of the food.

Eating just a little too much too often is a daily problem for many people. You dish up just a little too often, snack just a little too much, or you can't manage to leave that bowl of chips alone when you're sitting in front of the TV.

Binge eating means eating a lot very quickly, with the feeling of having no control over what, how much and how long you eat. In addition, you have no feeling of being full, not necessarily hungry, you often eat alone and after the eating binge you are disgusted with yourself or there is shame, depression or guilt.

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