The Eating Disorder Therapist 20 Disordered Eating Habits Normalised in 2026
Food Freedom App - https://studio.com/apps/harriet/freedomfood
The pursuit of thinness and body perfection is raging as strongly as ever. With popular podcasts, YouTube, and TikTok influencers delivering extreme food regimes daily; countless people using the skinny jab; AI making online beauty standards even more unachievable; it’s no wonder that the average human spends many minutes of each day obsessing over food choices and body proportions.
You may not have a full-blown eating disorder fitting neatly into a diagnostic box. But, if you are experiencing high levels of body distress and intense preoccupation around food, then this needs to be taken seriously, as it will be impacting your mood, body image and life.
Here are 20 disordered eating behaviours that have become normalised in 2026 daily living.
1. Preoccupation with food and body
2. Anxiety about eating the right foods
3. Always being on and off a regime
4. Intense emotion around food
5. Obsessing about weight, leanness, muscularity,
6. Over-exercising
7. Temptation towards more destructive behaviours
8. Filling up on low calorie foods, Pepsi-max, coffee
9. Googling private skinny jab stores at midnight
10. Obsessing over someone else’s food intake
11. Having a whole language around food which is detrimental
12. Thinking that a completely flat stomach is normal
13. Zooming in on other’s people eating and weight loss
14. Watching What I Eat in Day as normal entertainment
15. 1200 kcal meal plans
16. Feeling obsessed with sugar due to restriction
17. Not knowing hunger signals anymore
18. Being starving or overly full
19. Feeling cold, tired, weary, sub-optimal
20. Fantasising about weight loss and the dream life it will create What would you add to the list?
Find out more about my work: -
Food Freedom App - https://studio.com/apps/harriet/freedomfood
Fitness Lovers Guide to Food Freedom - https://food-freedom-coach.teachable.com/p/radical-self-care-and-building-your-thriving-eating-disorder-therapy-practice
Breaking Free From Bulimia Online Course - https://food-freedom coach.teachable.com/p/intuitive-eating-beginners-course4
Eating Disorders Training for Professionals - https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html
Body Image Training for Professionals - https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/body-image-training-with-harriet-frew.html
My website - https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk
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