Super-size Vs Super-skinny: A Buddhist perspective on eating disorders

Recently, whilst pondering what to watch on my laptop I happened across an advert for the TV show, "Supersize Vs. Super-skinny", which no doubt some of you in the UK will be aware of. For those of you less familiar with the format, it is essentially a very popular diet swap show in which renowned dietician Dr Christian Jessen attempts to highlight to people with eating disorders the effects of their actions on their bodies, as well as providing them with expert support in their efforts to cultivate better eating habits, live a little longer and hopefully look an awful lot more attractive in lycra. Interestingly, it got me thinking about eating disorders and their treatment in relation to the teachings of the historical Buddha.

This show in question does much good in the world, and although there will always be a small insensitive percentage of viewers who tune in to watch emotional unstable people reduced to blubbery or skeletal tears, mercifully the majority of viewers are far more compassionate. Certainly, the production team grant us a fascinating insight into both ends of the eating-dissorder spectrum, and no-one who appears on the show is stripped of either their dignity or their humanity, so I figured "hey, why not?". Besides which, no matter how much potential a show has for splendid facial hair, I found myself unable to face another hour of eccentric British archeologists shuffling through the dirt and drizzle in 'Time-Team', another guilty pleasure of mine. What follows is a series of reflections following a few (15-20) subsequent episodes. This show, much like Buddhism, is concerned with empowering people to affect lasting change and complete inner transformation, hence my interest. I urge you to watch it, as I find it inspiring and shocking in equal measure. If nothing else, it makes me want to be a better, healthier, happier person.

Very quickly I noticed that the show and the treatment of eating disorders employs Buddhist teachings (not explicity, of course), and that these teachings of Self-Metta, Karma-Vipaka and Mindfulness are used to try and inspire and prompt a sincere desire to change in the viewer too. Within each episode, a simple Buddhist principle runs throughout the show: 'Dependant Origination' or in Sanskritt, Pratitya Samutpada. Another popular translation renders it "Conditioned Co-Production", but either way 'C.C.P' can be said to be the lynchpin upon which the entire Buddhist doctrine pivots, and that which sets Buddhism apart from any theistic religions or other unsubstantiated beliefs such as fate or guardian angels etc. Dependant Origination, put simply, is the principle whereby everything that occurs, arises, exists or originates does so in dependance upon other factors and conditions. Naturally, those pre-existing factors are themselves dictated by another billion or so unique variables in the past. As the supporting factors change, so does the phenomena, and when they pass away, so does that which they support. A common succinct formulation of this from the Buddha's time and ever since is "this being, that becomes, and from the arising of this, that arises." In effect, everything is interlinked through a vast chain of cause and effect, of influence and habit, stretching back into immeasurable time. Thus what we are today is totally dependant on who we were yesterday. Moreover, today we plant the seeds of tomorrow, and the fruit it bears blossoms from our current state. This is what 'karma' really means: Our actions (Karma) in this very moment have consequences (Vipaka) which define all following moments thereafter. 

For example: When I give in to a craving for sugary tea, I build up plaque in my mouth, which rots my teeth, makes my breath smell, and lavishes my vital organs with a few more surplus fat cells. In addition to this, my blood sugar rises and falls meteorically during the day, leading to drowsiness, requiring further doses of caffeinated edification. Ever-onwards the cycle plays out. Eventually, an addiction to caffeine can lead to heart disease, and an unhealthy relationship with sugar, either as a substitute for a balanced diet or as an emotional crutch will eventually lead to mood swings, weight gain, osteoporosis and diabetes. Quite literally, trouble is brewing. Diabetes, unbeknownst to most, can often lead to the amputation of limbs. Even death, by chocolate, if you will. It's food for thought, but so it goes as our bodies pay testament to the simple fact of actions indeed having consequences, or 'Karma-Vipaka', in more traditional Buddhist terminology. You are what you eat, and if your diet is crap, you will look and smell like crap. Life will feel crap, and it will all just get worse over time. It really is that simple.

Think of anything, anything at all, and within a few seconds you can see that it is entirely dependant on other factors. When we consider, even briefly, the vastness of this net of influence, it's easy to see that we are actually all a lot more interconnected than first appearances suggest. At a second glance, considerably more so and after months or even years of reflection, the notion of people as separate, isolated and uninfluenced by external factors is utterly laughable. The more we think about life as a stunningly complex tapestry of richly interwoven and interconnecting factors and people, the more likely we are to feel a deep and meaningful connection with others, even if it only starts with the thought "Well, all life is dependant on the presence of solid earth beneath its feet." Seriously, without tera firma and gravity, without heat, air and sunlight, where would we be? Would we be? Clearly not.

Our minds themselves are generally quite lazy, and lead us into bad habits, of which most people have a few. We all then rationalise them (this is something I appear to be rather gifted at, I confess) and justify that which we know full well will lead to states of future suffering. We buy the new widescreen TV fully aware that we can't really afford it unless we cut back in other areas, but then are bitter and frustrated when we have to deal with the practicalities of the extra financial strain. Actions DO have both causes and consequences, which go on to set up further causes and effects in a 'knock-on' chain of dependance. The show embodies this truth through exploring diet. The human body is made up from and reliant on all the organs. Our diet is the single biggest factor in the state of our bodies that we have control over, and when our organs no longer function, our bodies start to shut down, eventually resulting in death. How we treat the body now affects the future of both the organs and the mind, creating habits and patterns of behaviour. Over time these calcify into our personality, our perspectives and subversively dictates our self esteem. This was a story I heard over and over again on the show, and explains why childhood trauma can later on send people into either anorexic/bulimic tails-spins or compulsively waddling over to the snacks cupboard (formerly known as 'the fruit bowl') for the umpteenth time that day. It's all interconnected. All phenomena have causes, as does their cessation, and we owe it to ourselves to just ponder this if we find ourselves unhappy with our weight, one way or another. Why do we struggle to follow our rational minds? How much of our decision making process is based upon how we feel about certain things, such as our bodies rather than rational assessment, the heart leading the mind astray? 

 I believe that in the context of trying to change habitual patterns of behaviours, the one of the main problems in Westernised culture is a sense of isolation and that lots of people don't feel empowered or in any way in control of their lives. It is far to easy to feel dissatisfied these days, which I find tragically ironic given that never before in Mankind's history have we had so much. The more we have, the more impoverished we feel. This dissatisfaction then leads quite readily to addictive and compulsive behaviours, especially within the realm of sensory gratification (taste, touch, sight etc). I believe that people's craving for control ultimately stemming from a fear of death, a certainty well beyond the influence of man, however much we might like to think otherwise. In times of the universal acceptance of Christianity in the West, people could reasonably justify or relinquish responsibility for, well, just about everything and anything they wanted. When you believe that you are the beneficiary of cosmologically preferential treatment, any favourable fortunes will be as the result of God's will and will affirm your faith and self-esteem. Any unfavourable conditions are Gods will too. The shape of your body? Same again. "It's the way God made me" is a common 'rationale' for habitual over or under-eating.

Another hedonistic exhortation (read: 'excuse') is "you only live once" or "life's too short to worry - eat, drink and be merry!" Surely though the purpose of our existence cannot merely be to cram as much pleasure as possible into our years, via our genitals and faces? The other end of the spectrum is the ascetic, typically-Catholic line of thinking, which runs thus; "We are not put us here for pleasure and enjoyment, I am a bad person and by controlling the flesh I control my life." Either way, a lot of people in this country were brought up with some kind of formal religious education or awareness, and perhaps the problem of a culture of absolving ourselves of responsibility stems from our post-Victorian heritage? With the social changes including the "Death of God" and the Existentialist movements in the mid-20th Century, coupled with the Americanisation and increased commercialisation of the world, it appears that we have gotten rid of God, but kept the denial, guilt and disempowered attitudes, and ordered extra cheese fries with it all, just to cheer us up. It seems counterintuitive to me that we appear to have thrown out the key ethical message of the Bible (that which would almost certainly lead to a happier existence for most people) but kept in our lives the same disempowering absolution of ultimate responsibility which any theism demands. It would have been far better had we done it the other way around; as children, brought up to take full responsibility for our actions but still seeing the needs of others to be as valid as our own. We are creating societies with unprecedented and terminal levels of self-obsession, and I for one was dumbfounded to read that a teenager in the UK hung himself recently after taking 200 "selfies"in one day, and not being happy with them. When we face outwards, our problems have greater context, but I get the feeling that the advertising industry may have other ideas, don't you?

An increasing percentage of society is finally now willing to accept responsibility or credit for some of their actions (usually related to materialism, a successful career etc) but what I perceive to be an unwillingness to assume FULL responsibility for our ethical and emotional agency I fear is just as prevalent now as ever it was, eve in the days of the Buddha. Blame immigrants, blame the government, blame society, blame your conditioning even, but heaven forbid we acknowledge ourselves as responsible for our poor decisions and current ill-fortune. If we do, it is often extreme, with self-flagelation and undue reproach, which gets us nowhere fast. Where's the measured, balanced, kindly self-compassion? Alternatively, we turn our problems into narratives of epic proportions, for which we are solely to blame, and place ourselves once more as the lead role in the centre of our own personal psycho-dramas. Sometimes I can catch myself over-identifying with my problems and tribulation to the point that I can't envisage the problem going away and myself remaining. We become the problem, we embody it, usually perpetuating it, and on a subconscious level define ourselves by it. This is as true for eating disorders as it is for financial or social problems we face. "Oh, I'm just crap with money, it's who I am" we shrug, and then order another takeaway chinese meal or buy another pair of shoes. Over the last few months, I've had to be very aware of this subversive trap, careful and mindful not to become "the guy with the bad back" or "the guy who's sister is dying/died recently." We can begrudgingly admit that things aren't ideal, but we are even better at rationalising our destructive behaviours, aren't we? Admitting that we need to change is the first step on any road to recovery or inner transformation. Whether it is compulsive overeating, alcohol addiction or persistently low self-esteem, having to admit that our habitual ways of being are detrimental to ourselves and others is the most painful part of it all. Only marginally less painful, but less thought-of is the notion that we in fact over-identify and define ourselves by our perceived failings - "If I feel like, I might as well look like it too..."

It's amazing the sense of perspective we gain from being taken out of our normal environment, which is why patients on the show spend the week away from loved ones in a 'feeding clinic'. In this section of the show, ostensibly happy people have a mirror held up to themselves, both psychologically and literally. Chronic over and under-indulgers are presented with a nightmarish vision of their respective futures. For the overtly rotund, often it is with the aid of a visit to a morbidly obese American counterpart - Maurice, a 26 year old haulage driver from Stoke-on-Trent is sent to Turkey-Balls Falls, Missouri to spend a week watching ex-cab driver Bubba struggle to get on and off sofas, being winched into his pickup truck and sleeping with a respirator supplying oxygen to his collapsing lungs. Meanwhile, a catheter drains excess fluid from his rapidly failing renal system. "The doctors say if I don't stop wrapping my sausage in bacon and frying it in chocolate I'll be dead in five years." mumbles Bubba through a burger the size of a child's skull. Gooey cheese, a shade of yellow unknown to nature dribbles onto his chin and oozes through his fingers. Maurice pauses between bites, a tendril of saliva suspended from his fork. Bubba's neck is essentially an internal organ by this late stage in his life. "How old are you?" the unfailingly polite British doctor enquires... The answer always makes both me and Maurice very, very sad.

Our self-esteem is directly dependant on our perception of ourselves. This in turn is based upon our actions of past, present and future, and they of coarse arise in dependance on our volitions, wills and choices. So what produces our perceptions, habitual drives or ways of being? Our conditioning! It is our conditioning that really is key to all of this, to personal growth and to living a live which is vibrant and emotionally positive. Our habits are rooted in our past experiences, and it is no surprise that most people on the show are able to eventually trace their dysfunctional relationship with food back to past trauma. Whether it is the breakup of a relationship, the death of a relative or some form of emotional abuse either at home or in school, what I found quite starling to reflect on is how tightly we hold onto the bad times, and how ready we are to identify with negative thoughts and low opinion of ourselves. It's not uncommon to meet people who over identify with the good times, with their relative successes and victories, although sometime it can feel like people (certainly in the UK) will go out of their way to avoid feeling self-concious or are scared of being labelled egotistical or vain should they do so. The middle way, advocated by the Buddha, is surely the best way to mediate between paralysing self-consciousness and mindless egotism. By dysfunctional behaviours, I mean anything which will ultimately lead to suffering for ourselves and others. In body, speech and mind, we emote and act out our warped, unrefined, distorted inner narratives. The way we see the world defines how we relate to it, and we all know a positive, robust can-do will take us further in life than victim-mentality passivity. We simply must get our heads around the idea of doing things in the present moment that our future selves will be thankful for. Positive reinforcement is key with major life changes. It will be worth it, it's just a little scary, that's all.

I believe the teachings of Buddhism to be the key to taking increased responsibility for my current conditioning, and for contextualising my habits and perceptions before moving past them into a brighter, liberated tomorrow. For many people on the show there is a 'road to Damascus'-style revelation whereby they finally realise and make to connection between being bullied at school, or a traumatic upbringing, and how this has influenced their development ever since. It's usually quite moving, and suggests to me that a big step, other than admitting the need for change, is making peace with your past in the sense of becoming more realistic and honest about our conditioning. Lots of the people on the show are young mothers bored at home during the day who turn to comfort eating, or alternatively people with such hectic lives that they simply "don't have time to eat properly". Whatever it is that has lead us to this point, be it with regards to changing anger issues, dysfunctional eating habits or smoking, if we can first admit to the need for change, take increased responsibility and are determined to better ourselves then we can ensure that the only growth from this point on is healthy and supportive of a calm, happy state of mind. Self-Metta, committing to acts of kindness towards our future-self, must by definition be the way forward. We need to engage both the heart and the mind if we are to harness the full restorative potential of self-love.

The global statistics and trends are terrifying. It is predicted that by 2050 over half the UK population will be obese. Currently, over 75% of American are chomping their way to an early grave. Something, other than belt-buckles, has to give. As a people, as a species, we are eating, binging, purging and starving ourselves to death. In the US, up to 14m people face a daily struggle with anorexia or bulimia as societal pressures to remain thin become more rampant and explicit. That's more people than the combined populations of Norway and Sweden. And that's just in the United States too. Globally, the World Health Organisation fears that up to 70m people are suffering from an eating disorder. If ever there was a time for us as individuals to lead by example, now would be it.

It stands to reason that if we want to change something about our minds or our bodies, we first need to employ our reason and intelligence to determine the factors which support our efforts and identify the factors which will create the conditions for happier future states to arise. When we make changes and stick to them, we engage our emotional core too, as well as the rational mind. For the chronically over-weight, something as simple as gradually getting used to eating smaller portions and taking the stairs whenever possible can result in marked improvements in health, and chances are that as a person sees through their own direct experience the benefits of those changes, they will accumulate into even bigger changes, such as swimming at the weekend or being more active with the children. Alternatively, someone chronically under-weight and used to skipping meals needs a week or so of disciplined, concerted effort to make time for a healthier, more varied diet, and both groups of people are invariably gobsmacked at how much more energy they have, how much better they feel about themselves and actually, how easy it was. On the show, at the final weigh-in the vast majority of participants are elated to find significant changes, and seem determined not to keep it up as their old selves, but to allow the new 'them' to emerge as a long term commitment to a healthier, happier life beckons.

Participants are shown how absurd and profoundly damaging their diets are, and then made to swap. Seeing is believing, as they say, and here these people are shown a weeks worth of food, according to their respective diets.

This TV show is really about inner transformation manifesting itself externally, not about merely superficially swapping diets. It cuts to the heart of the path of spiritual transformation. I urge you to watch it on 4OD. People have an assumption that those who struggle to change are weak-willed, and there is a further assumption that those unable to change even in the face of overwhelming medical reasoning to do so are not only weak, but stupid too. "Waste of space", "dumb-fuck" and "stupid fat losers" were all names my work colleagues fell back on with easy laughter when describing participants, although safeguarding your future health and wellbeing is by no means a competition. In an effort not to judge these less-than-sympathetic types, I have to remind myself that to point a finger always requires the other three fingers to be pointing back at you, and to project superiority over those living with eating disorders says more about the ignorance of such people. Such an attitude gets us no-where and just creates more stress in the world.

It's interesting that stress is defined as the perceived gap between what we think we are capable of and what we think is being asked of us. It's all a matter of perception. Someone asked me recently if anyone can meditate, as he felt he didn't have it in him, but was curious nonetheless. This man is a physical trainer part time, and a full time international jet-setting go-getting entrepreneur. He felt, genuinely, that he could spare the time to write a seminar program for a conference, but assumed that he lacked the innate capacity to set aside 10 minutes a day and still the mind or generate kindness in his heart. The point of a regular meditation practice is NOT the practice itself, but the latent knock-on effects of it. If we set aside a mere 10 minutes every morning to 'tune in' to ourselves, we can observe our various fears, compulsions and neurosis that sometimes lead to compulsive snacking, avoiding food and if unchecked, full blown eating disorders. We watch them coming and going, and realise that they are no more real than a McSalad is healthy! There's more sugar and fat in one of those bad boys than some of the burgers! Don't believe the hype people, especially not when society tells you what you should look like! If in doubt, or if you have concerns about your weight or diet, PLEASE consult a medical professional. I am not a medical professional. Unlike Gene Simmons, I'm not even a doctor of Love, although I'm up for the physical examination...

Just who do you think you are...?

We need to grow up, not outwards. We must purge ourselves of our corrosive compulsions and negativity, not our breakfast. A healthy body will allow a healthy mindset to emerge, and a healthy mindset will leave us feeling better about our bodies, enabling us to hopefully set up conditions and habit that will support us for the rest of our days. It's taken me over two years to go from smoking VERY heavily to being ably to go days without a cigarette. It's work in progress, but just as a painting is created by a million tiny brush strokes, so it goes with the masterpieces of our lives. Changing one's conditioning is all about little steps in the right direction. It's takes a week or two before we feel the benefit of abstaining from alcohol or a healthy diet, but when we see the results, we can't help but feel good about ourselves. There is no other time to change. If not now, when?

It breaks my heart to see people struggle so with eating disorders. Believe it or not, I have always struggled with body dysmorphia, feeling like I was too skinny and less of a 'real man' than other guys on the street (or worse still, on the telly). I spent my teenage years in the gym, and put on a lot of bulk, but in my heart I still wasn't happy. In my 20's I turned to sex, drugs and alcohol to cheer me up and give me something to be good at (which I was, exceptionally so, on all three counts), but that only created a strain on my body and my mind over 15 years. It's only now, in my 30's, that I can see the benefit of the Middle Way. For a start, I no longer live on instant noodles and cider. At the weekend I might have a glass of wine with a meal, but drinking during the week is poor form, and leaves me tired and less able to help others. More immediately and practically, it leaves me with less energy to deal with my ongoing back problems, which are then subsequently more likely to leave me feeling overwhelmed. That feeling of being unable to cope makes me want to run, and traditionally I've always run to the bottle or the King-sized Rizla... And the cycle starts again! Well, now is the time for all of us to take a long hard look in the mirror, and remind the person stood there that you do give a shit about them, and that you won't let them down. If you don't care about yourself, why should anyone else? We can develop better eating habits, we can say 'no' to those biscuits, the extra sugar in our tea or that pack of crisps. We can learn to make time for breakfast, shop better, and as a natural result become healthier, happier people with more energy and a smile in our hearts. I can and will give up smoking, mid-week alcohol and make time for both breakfast and meditation. So long as I don't get into the habit of 'rewarding' myself for my newly found determination, then I should be ok. Let us allow the results of our experiments and endeavours to speak for themselves. I have a penchant for cheese and carbs, but we all know where that path leads, and I'm not up for a flight to Missouri...

Yours, with a sincere desire to stick around a bit longer,

The Dharma-Farmer xx

May any merit gained in my acting thus be dedicated to alleviating the suffering of all beings.
May any beings affected by this article seek professional medical help if they so require, and have access to it.
May all beings follow the Middle Way with regards to diet, corporeal and mental health.