Destructively Fit®

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Every fitness professional knows that a healthy mental approach is the key to physical results. This can be a tricky thing to navigate for those with eating disorders. Destructively Fit was created to provide fitness professionals a resource that demystifies the world of eating disorders and provides the understanding necessary to better serve this community for healthy exercise outcomes.     

Exercise is defined as activity requiring physical effort, carried out especially to sustain or improve health and fitness.   

Excessive exercise is classified as a behavior that significantly interferes with important activities, occurs at inappropriate times or in inappropriate settings, or when the individual continues to exercise despite injury or other medical complications. It may also be used as a means of managing emotional distress where exercise is relied upon to regulate mood, reduce anxiety, or cope with difficult feelings, sometimes to the point that it becomes rigid, compulsive, or difficult to reduce despite negative consequences.

Eating Disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, even depression!  

An estimated 90-95% of college students diagnosed with an eating disorder (both men AND women) are members of fitness centers.  

A 2008 study of fitness professionals revealed that 100% of the participants believed they would benefit from further education and guidelines for identifying and addressing eating disorders.   It is essential that fitness facilities and their professionals feel equipped and confident in their abilities to address concerns with their members and clients.   

It is possible to address this issue sensitively and effectively!

Pioneered by Jodi Rubin, ACSW, LCSW, CEDS, the Destructively Fit® training makes this possible.

What is an eating disorder?

Eating disorders are a complex mental illness. They are serious and potentially life-threatening disorders that can have devastating effects on emotional health, physical health and relationships. Eating disorders are not a fad or a lifestyle and, contrary to popular belief, they are not about food, weight and shape. Eating disorders are a destructive coping skill used to temper distress, to numb out and to manage what one allows in and out, e.g.: people, emotions, experiences, and metaphorically, food.         

Anorexia Nervosa

• Refusal to maintain a minimal body weight appropriate for age & height
• Intense fear of gaining weight    
• Severe body image distortion    
• Self evaluation is strongly influenced by body weight, shape and size 
• Amenorrhea (in women)        

Bulimia Nervosa

• Recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by purging (e.g.: vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, enemas, excessive exercise, fasting)
• Self evaluation is strongly influenced by body weight, shape and size        

Binge-Eating Disorder

• Frequent consumption of an unusually large amount of food in a discrete period of time
• Eating when not physically hungry and until uncomfortably full
• Feeling of being out of control during binge episode followed by guilt and shame      

ARFID 

• Persistent restriction or avoidance of food intake resulting in failure to meet appropriate nutritional and/or energy needs
• Significant weight loss, nutritional deficiency, or dependence on oral supplements or enteral feeding, or marked interference with psychosocial functioning
• Food avoidance not driven by concerns about body weight or shape, but instead related to sensory sensitivities, lack of interest in eating, or fear of aversive consequences (e.g., choking, vomiting)

Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder 

• Disordered eating behaviors and/or patterns that do not meet diagnostic criteria for the above mentioned eating disorder diagnoses
• This includes atypical or subclinical anorexia, bulimia + binge-eating disorder (e.g.: someone may meet all of the diagnostic criteria for anorexia except that their weight is in a healthier range) 

• Exercise is an amazing way to boost mental and physical health but for some it is a dark abyss of obsessiveness. While overtraining and eating disorders do not always go hand in hand, for some exercise can be a form of purging.      
• Those using exercise as a way of purging, e.g.: kcal in/kcal out, may experience intense anxiety, depression and/or distress if unable to exercise, discomfort with rest or inactivity, feeling not good enough, not fast enough or not pushing themselves hard enough during a period of exercise.      
• Americans spend over $40 billion on dieting and diet-related products each year.     
• The average woman is 5’4” and weighs 165 pounds. The average model is 5’11” and weighs 117 pounds.      
• Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women.      
• If mannequins were women, they would be too thin to bear children.      
• 67% of women 15-64 withdraw from life-engaging activities, like giving an opinion and going to the doctor, because they feel badly about their looks.      
• 35% – 40% of dieters will develop an eating disorder.      
• Eating disorders are an adaptive and effective attempt to cope, numb out, comfort, distract and express feelings.      
• They are used as a way to manage what one takes in and what one keeps out, e.g.: food, people, emotions, etc.      
• Of all psychiatric disorders, eating disorders hold the highest mortality rate due to natural and unnatural causes.      
• 25 million American women suffer.      
• 25% of all reported cases are male (7 million).      
• 60% of those who obtain specialized treatment for an eating disorder become fully well.
• 25 million American women are struggling with eating disorders
• 7 million American men are struggling with eating disorders 
• 81% of 10 year old girls are afraid of being fat 
• 51% of 9-10 year old girls feel better about themselves when they are dieting
• 45% of boys are unhappy with their bodies
• 67% of women 15-64 withdraw from life-engaging activities, like giving an opinion and going to the doctor, because they feel badly about their looks
• An estimated 90-95% of college students diagnosed with an eating disorder are members of fitness centers 

Eating disorders have been a central focus of my clinical work since I began practicing over 25 years ago. Over that time, I have had the privilege of directing an eating disorders program and teaching a curriculum I developed on eating disorders at NYU’s Graduate School of Social Work. This work has deepened both my commitment to the field and my understanding of the complex ways in which eating disorders intersect with identity, self-worth, and daily life.

Alongside this clinical and academic work, I have long held a parallel passion for health, movement, and honoring the body. Yet I have often found it challenging to fully bridge this passion with my specialization in eating disorders, particularly within fitness environments where these issues are frequently present but not always recognized or addressed.

Time and again, I have observed the profound role that exercise environments can play in the development or reinforcement of disordered eating and compulsive exercise patterns. I have seen individuals spending excessive hours on treadmills or in the gym, and heard many describe a deep sense of anxiety, guilt, or diminished self-worth when they are unable to meet rigid exercise expectations. Research and clinical experience alike suggest that the presence of eating and exercise-related concerns within fitness settings is both widespread and complex, yet it remains an area that receives limited focused attention. In many cases, this gap is not due to lack of care, but rather a lack of education, training, and practical tools to confidently identify and respond to these concerns.

To better understand this gap, I spoke directly with fitness professionals about their experiences with eating disorders in the industry. What I found was not indifference, but genuine concern and a strong desire for guidance. Many expressed feeling unprepared, yet deeply interested in learning how to recognize warning signs and respond in a supportive and informed way.

These conversations led to the creation of Destructively Fit, a three-hour training designed to educate fitness professionals on the fundamentals of eating disorders and provide practical guidance for supporting individuals who may be struggling. The program has since been endorsed for continuing education by both the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and the American Council on Exercise (ACE), and has been welcomed by a range of fitness organizations seeking to better support the well-being of their members.

I am grateful for your time and interest in this critical issue. If you are interested in learning more about the courses, both live and online, you can find more information here.