As part of SMU Love Your Body Week, health care professionals spoke about eating disorder awareness, positive body image and proper nutrition at the Love Your Body Symposium in the Hughes-Trigg Forum Wednesday night.

Sponsored by SMU’s Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness, the Memorial Health Center, SMU Dining Services, SMU Fitness, the Women’s Center and
Tri Delta, the event featured presentations by Whitney Caston, a dietician from Walker Wellness Clinic, former Mr. Israel and nutritionist Sagi Kalev, wellness professor Kristen McAlexander and her sister Cheryl Picard.

The speakers emphasized the importance of healthy eating and taking care of one’s body to the largely female audience.

Caston, who works specifically with patients struggling with eating disorders, spoke primarily about body image and its complex definition.

“Body image does not refer to what you actually look like,” Caston said, citing a body image workbook she uses with her patients. “It refers to your personal relationship with your body, especially your beliefs, perceptions, thoughts, feelings and actions that pertain to your physical appearance.”

She explained to the audience how to go about attaining a positive body image in today’s “quick fix culture,” which advocates diet, exercise, cosmetics and surgery as means of building one’s self-esteem.

“The bottom line is I would encourage you guys to strive for an attitude adjustment versus an appearance adjustment,” Caston said. “What you look like is certainly one aspect of who you are, but so is your body image. Having difficulty accepting your looks makes it harder to accept yourself as a person.”

McAlexander and Picard learned that lesson the hard way. They both suffered from eating disorders as young adults.

Despite having “ideal” childhoods, the sisters attribute their struggles with self-image to an incident that took place when they were children — both were molested by a family member.

“I do believe that led to the association with food and bad feelings,” Picard, who suffered from bulimia nervosa, said. “Often things happen, particularly in childhood, that influence the way you see your body or the way you deal with emotions, and for our case, that was it,” McAlexander said.

McAlexander suffered from exercise bulimia, a type of eating disorder that is associated with compulsive exercising that goes beyond a healthy amount.

“I always had a distorted way of looking at myself,” she said. “No matter how I looked, no matter how many compliments I got, I was still miserable.”

It was three years after her last menstrual cycle, which stopped as the result of her unhealthy obsession with exercise, that McAlexander knew she needed to do something.

The first place she went to seek recovery was her university’s counseling services, a resource she says SMU students should take advantage of if they are ever in a similar situation.

Picard was ready for a change when she started experiencing dental problems due to her bulimia. She began her recovery at a treatment facility for women who struggle with eating disorders.

“I wanted the intrusive thoughts to go away,” she said. “I was just exhausted at that point.”

Kalev said he also caused damage to his body with over-dieting and overtraining.

“I always did what I did for someone else,” he said. “I was trying to pursue an image and a persona that would make other people happy.”

It wasn’t until recently that Kaley realized what’s truly important when it comes to body image.

“You only have one body, and you only have one life,” he said. “This is your temple, and if you don’t take care of it, nothing else matters.”

Kalev said figuring out what foods work best for you is the key to achieving a happy and healthy lifestyle.

“Every food will tell you something. If you start being aware of how food is talking to you, everything will change in your life,” he said. “If you eat a steak and want to fall asleep after, that means steak is not really working for you.”

Above all, he emphasized the importance of food to be alert and functional.

“I’ve never seen a Ferrari driving on empty gas,” he said. “If I don’t put in the right fuel, it’s not going to get that far.”

Caston agreed with Kalev. She said she has worked with patients who were unable to think clearly because they were so malnourished, thus further perpetuating their irrational perceptions of their bodies.

“Taking care of your body by honoring its energy needs leads to enhanced body image, self-esteem and overall self-acceptance,” she said.

Simply stated, “Stop fixing your body,” she said. “It was never broken to begin with.”

If you or someone you know may be suffering from an eating disorder, contact SMU Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) for information on how to seek help.