"My obsession with healing myself had nearly killed me"
Q & A with Terri Lynn of @therealterrilynn on the intersection of chronic illness and eating disorders
hey friends!
For this week’s newsletter, I chatted with the amazing Terri Lynn. She’s an eating disorder recovery and body image coach based in Canada and we talked about a topic I’ve been really curious about: how having a chronic illness can impact your relationship with your body and food. If you’re interested in connecting with Terri Lynn on social media (and you should be!), you can follow her on Instagram and TikTok.
On a personal note, I’ve temporarily paused all paid subscriptions and will be taking a short hiatus from writing this newsletter while I work on taking better care of my physical and mental health. (Practice what you preach, right?) If you have any questions about the pause on paid subscriptions, shoot me an email at juliegall95@gmail.com!
Take good care of yourself this week,
Julie
"My obsession with healing myself had nearly killed me"
Q & A with Terri Lynn of @therealterrilynn on the intersection of chronic illness and eating disorders
Julie Gallagher: Hi Terri Lynn! Tell us about yourself. What led you to your current career?
Terri Lynn: My journey towards my current career began as a young adult. I was experiencing health issues that landed me at the Mayo Clinic. If anybody has been to the Mayo Clinic before you know that you end up seeing quite a few different specialists in a relatively short amount of time. Several of these specialists advised different diets to me. One recommended the low-FODMAP diet, (with no plan of how to eventually come off this diet, which is SO dangerous!) and another recommended the Arbonne 30 Days to Healthy Living Plan.
I still remember sitting in my hotel room feeling 2 strong emotions:
1. Maybe I have control over my health. If some of these doctors have been recommending diets & lifestyle changes, maybe I can heal myself. (Spoiler alert: my health issues were all stemming from a genetic issues, no matter what diet or lifestyle change I would try, my genes were not changing!)
2. I researched and researched both of these diets and surprise, they conflicted one another. Now what? I began making lists on my phone for the FODMAP diet, what I could and couldn’t eat. And then for the Arbonne diet. Then I took the few foods that were allowed on both, and that was my list of “yes” foods. It was very, very small.
I came home with the seed planted that a huge focus on diet, exercise and what I thought was “health” would heal me. Over the years I saw more doctors who recommended more diets and before long, I had a full blown obsession with “health” unto the idea that I could heal myself or at least have a thriving life despite my health issues.
Soon enough my obsession with “health” turned into me wanting to make it my career. I got a job at a weight loss clinic as a health coach and then decided to go to college to study holistic nutrition.
During my final year of college I was diagnosed with Orthorexia. For those who don’t know, Orthorexia is an eating disorder that is defined by an obsession with health & healthful eating. It took me quite sometime to come to terms with my diagnoses. Essentially it felt like I was diagnosed with doing everything right. I did everything my doctor’s told me to do. The symptoms of my diagnosis were quite literally what my doctor’s had asked me to do. There was a lot of processing that had to happen there!
I began the journey of healing from my eating disorder while completing college. Once I graduated I began studying intuitive eating and became certified. I also completed RLC University’s coaching curriculum for food freedom, body image and eating disorder recovery.
And voila! Here I am today!
JG: You are really open about having a chronic illness on social media. I'm curious how having a chronic illness has impacted your relationship with your body, food and exercise?
TL: When you have a chronic illness you essentially feel like you are given a permission slip for disordered eating. “Ya, I’m not eating that because of my illness, I just can’t.” “Ya, I’m fasting because of my chronic illness.” “Oh I wish exercise was a choice for me! I have to exercise multiple times per day because of my illness.” “I’m not losing weight for me! I have to be as skinny as possible, because of my illness.”
What makes it even harder is when your medical providers applaud your intentional weight loss, your disordered eating and your obsessive exercising. At times, it’s even their idea.
JG: What challenges or obstacles, if any, did/do you face when finding peace with your body as someone with a chronic illness?
TL: An obstacle I really struggled with when I first began healing was measuring my expectations. I was still in the world of holistic health when I was diagnosed with my eating disorder and therefore surrounded by new ideas & thoughts on how nutrition or different “health hacking" could improve and/or heal someone like me. I had to come to the place of accepting that my obsession with healing myself had nearly killed me. That was a hard reality to accept!
JG: What special considerations do healthcare providers need to take when helping patients with chronic illnesses recover from eating disorders?
TL: Don’t applaud unhealthy habits just because someone has an illness! Even if you are convinced that restricting 20+ foods would greatly help their illness, remember to ask yourself how it may harm them. How stressed are they already around their health? If you are placing the responsibility on them to somewhat “heal” themselves, is that truly going to be helpful long term? Or would a focus on stress reduction when it comes to food & other lifestyle changes be more beneficial?
JG: What do you tell your clients who also struggle with both body image struggles or eating disorders and chronic illnesses?
TL: When I have a new client it’s always important to start where they are at. People who have chronic illness have been steeped in medical diet culture to an extent that most people don’t know! For most of my clients with chronic illness they want to see the science. They want to know that healing their relationship with food and their body actually makes scientific sense. They’ve been told for most of their lives that disordered eating is what is healthy for them. It takes time and proof to understand that that is not the case!
JG: What are some things you do when you're having a not-so-great day? How do you practice "self care?"
TL: I tend to have 2 different lists for self care. One list for “good” days and one list for “not so good” days. When I am having a not so good day some of my fav self cares activities include…
Watching comedy (I LOVE laughing when I’m not feeling well!)
Meditating (the Calm app is my fav!)
Reading Fiction (If you haven’t read Verity yet..)
Tracing my fingers & hand with my other hand (when you are in pain or having trouble feeling anything other then your symptoms focusing on something else can be very helpful!)
Smelling essential oils!
7/11 Breathing (breathe in for 7 counts and then out for 11)
JG: What is something you learned from openly talking about all of these things on social media?
TL: If people are not ready to hear how diet culture can affect us as people with chronic illness, it really pisses them off! People who are struggling with their health LOVE the thought of them regaining control over their lives. That their focus on diet, exercise etc can finally make them well. When you somewhat take that hope away from them, it can be extremely difficult!
I can tell you one thing, when my social media was all clean eating recipes, exercise motivation and weight loss tips, I rarely got nasty DM’s.
Now… it’s a different story!
It’s a confusing world we live in when the very medical providers who can help us in such a heroic way can also be the ones who are feeding disordered eating & a disordered lifestyle.
JG: What is something that has nourished you lately? (It could be physically, mentally, emotionally, etc.!)
TL: Oh I love this question! Me and my husband moved from a large prairie city to a tiny mountain town 2 years ago. I truly cannot get enough of nature! When life feels too much (physically, emotionally etc.) nature is the #1 thing that just grounds me. I can sit by the side of a lake, staring up at a mountain for hours. Nature is so satisfied with simply being. It helps me feel satisfied doing the same!
This is SOOOOO important!!!! I have Celiac and I was recently diagnosed with CSID as well. Then, we tested my kids and they have both conditions, too. We are working with an RD to make sure we do this as wisely as possible, and it’s SO scary.