Prosperity Eating Disorders and Wellness Center

11/26/2025

A reminder for Thanksgiving tomorrow 💜

Just because something is common in our culture does not mean it has to be your norm. We can teach ourselves and our kids to name diet culture and call it out when it shows up.

A few years ago our team at Prosperity Eating Disorders and Wellness created these bingo cards filled with recovery tools and reframes to support our community during the holiday season. As we bring them back this year and play bingo together, our goal is to normalize gratitude, connection, memory-making, and the enjoyment of food while calling out the food and body shaming that tends to increase this time of year.

By playing bingo together while apart, we hope our community feels less alone as they swim upstream. Whether comments come from friends, family, or the media, these cards remind us that what we hear has nothing to do with our worth or our bodies. They are predictable, culturally reinforced, and often rooted in projected insecurities.

We may not be able to silence the noise entirely, but we can choose how we respond to it, how we care for ourselves, and whether or not we engage with it.

A few reminders for tomorrow:
✅ Help quiet the noise by avoiding comments on body size or changes.
✅ Even if others skip breakfast, your body still deserves to be nourished.
✅ No one has to “trot” to earn their food. Movement is for joy, not punishment.
✅ Everyone’s needs are different. Focus on your own plate and avoid commenting on others’ portions, including kids’. Trust their bodies, even if all they want is buttered rolls.
✅ Cherish the people at your table, even if their comments fill up your bingo card. Food is more than nutrition. It is connection, culture, memory-making, and sometimes simply joy.

11/26/2025

Check out this helpful resource from MEDA (Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association) for anyone navigating eating disorder recovery or working on their relationship with food and body image this Thanksgiving. 🦃🧡

11/26/2025

Prosperity Norfolk’s annual Mock Thanksgiving Dinner was a success! 🦃

Each year, our nutrition team and clients work together to recreate a traditional Thanksgiving meal as a way to prepare and plan for a recovery-oriented holiday. This gives our folks on their recovery journey an opportunity to practice for the real deal, as we know that the upcoming food-centric holiday may present a challenge for someone with an eating disorder.

To make the exposure as true to the spirit of Thanksgiving as possible, we invite our whole team to gather around the table with the clients, simulating a larger family gathering. We set the mood by dressing up our space with fall décor, including fresh flower centerpieces, and wrapping the table in brown paper to allow for some fun doodles (throwing it back to elementary school with several hand-traced turkeys).

A wonderful suggestion made by a client was to incorporate one of their own family traditions. Each person at the table wrote down things they were thankful for onto slips of paper that we shared with each other before the meal. We fashioned a paper chain out of our thankful thoughts and placed it on display at the entrance to the office. There were several mentions of family, pets, and friends in our paper chain, but it was truly touching to see several mentions of Prosperity and recovery as well.

Happy Thanksgiving from Prosperity Norfolk! We are grateful for our community, our clients, and our staff. An extra special shoutout to Chef Savannah Dyer for making this event possible.

💜 Written by Norfolk Dietitian, Rachel Howell, RDN

11/25/2025

🍁 November Recovery Reminders 🍁

November brings a season of gathering, gratitude, and slower days, but it can also bring unique challenges around food, routines, and expectations. This month is a good time to return to compassion, grounding, and gentle reminders that support your recovery.

Here are a few reminders to carry with you this month!

If you’re ready for support this season, we’re here to walk beside you.

💜 Prosperity offers in-person PHP & IOP programs at our Reston and Norfolk, VA locations.

📞 Call (703) 466-5150 or visit prosperityedwell.com for a free treatment assessment!

11/18/2025

A friendly reminder: Eating disorders are not “a diet gone wrong.” They are serious, complex mental health conditions that can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, background, or body size.

Too often, eating disorders are misunderstood as choices or phases, when in reality they stem from biological, psychological, and environmental factors that require specialized treatment and support.

If you or someone you love is struggling, compassionate, evidence-based care is available. You deserve understanding, guidance, and a clear path toward recovery.

Prosperity provides comprehensive, individualized treatment for children, teens, and adults across Virginia in a safe, validating environment where recovery is always possible.

Contact us today to learn more about our levels of care.
🌐 www.prosperityedwell.com
📧 information@prosperityedwell.com
📞 (703) 466-5150

11/14/2025

This is a major win for prevention, early intervention, and the millions impacted by eating disorders nationwide. Expanding education in schools helps reduce stigma, support early identification, and ensure students and families receive accurate information.

At Prosperity, we’re proud to support advocacy efforts that help ensure every community has the education and resources needed to better understand eating disorders and connect individuals to the care and recovery support they deserve.

BREAKING: Congress just passed Eating Disorders Coalition's report language into law! Schools are now requested to include eating disorders education in local wellness policies. USDA must report on progress within 120 days. A huge step forward for prevention and education.

11/14/2025

Contrary to a common misconception, eating disorders are not just a 'female thing.' Any person, regardless of gender, age, or background, can experience an eating disorder.

💡 Did you know?
An estimated 10 million males in the United States will experience an eating disorder in their lifetime. Studies indicate that males represent about one-third of all people diagnosed with an eating disorder.

Awareness matters. Eating disorders do not discriminate, and recovery is possible for everyone.

11/13/2025

Orthorexia is more than just eating 'healthy.' It's an obsession that can take a toll on both your mind and body.

This fixation on 'pure' foods can dominate your thoughts and behaviors, affecting your social life, relationships, and overall quality of life. Anxiety and guilt often arise when deviating from strict dietary rules.

Treatment for orthorexia usually involves nutritional counseling, psychotherapy (like cognitive-behavioral therapy), and sometimes medication for co-occurring conditions such as anxiety or depression.

If you're struggling with orthorexia, it's crucial to seek help from healthcare professionals who can guide you towards a balanced approach to eating and overall health.

At Prosperity, we are committed to guiding you, your loved ones, or your clients toward full recovery! Our specialized treatment programs and support groups are here to help you rebuild a healthy relationship with food and reclaim your life.

Contact us today to learn more about the levels of care we offer!
🌐 www.prosperityedwell.com
📧 information@prosperityedwell.com
📞 (703) 466-5150

11/11/2025

For many who have served, the transition from military to civilian life brings invisible wounds. Among them, eating disorders often remain overlooked, hidden beneath resilience, discipline, and the drive to stay in control.

At Prosperity Eating Disorders & Wellness Center, we believe that honoring our veterans also means acknowledging the unique mental health challenges they face, including those related to food, body image, and trauma.

Military service fosters structure, performance demands, and high standards. While these traits can support success in uniform, they can also contribute to disordered eating when combined with trauma, transition stress, or rigid body-image expectations.

Recent research shows:
👉 Between 2016 and 2021, approximately 0.24% of U.S. service members were diagnosed with an eating disorder — about one in every 400 service members (American Journal of Epidemiology, 2024).
👉 Binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa were the most commonly diagnosed specific conditions.
👉 Veterans with PTSD, depression, or anxiety are significantly more likely to experience disordered eating behaviors.
👉 Experts believe the actual number is higher due to underreporting and stigma around seeking help (NCEED, 2022).

A 2023 report by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division (AFHSD) covering active component service members from 2017 to 2021 found an overall incidence rate of 3.6 cases of any eating disorder per 10,000 person-years.

The breakdown included:
👉 Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED): 1.4 per 10,000 person-years
👉 Bulimia Nervosa: 1.1 per 10,000 person-years
👉 Binge Eating Disorder (BED): 0.7 per 10,000 person-years
👉 Anorexia Nervosa: 0.4 per 10,000 person-years

Together, these three conditions (OSFED, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder) accounted for nearly 89% of total diagnosed cases.

For many veterans, food and body-image struggles can develop as coping mechanisms for intrusive memories, hyperarousal, or emotional numbness related to trauma. Others may carry military weight and fitness expectations long after leaving active duty, struggling to reconcile identity and self-image outside of service.

Recovery is possible. It begins with understanding that eating disorders are not a sign of weakness, but a complex response to stress and trauma.

At Prosperity, we provide evidence-based, trauma-informed care that helps individuals rebuild trust in their bodies and rediscover balance in their lives. Our programs serve the whole person, including veterans, military families, and civilians, with an emphasis on compassion, community, and individualized healing.

🇺🇸 This Veterans Day and every day, we honor those who have served not only by recognizing their courage in uniform, but by supporting their courage in recovery.

If you or someone you love is struggling with disordered eating or body-image concerns, you are not alone. Healing is possible, and help is available.

💜 Learn more at prosperityedwell.com

11/10/2025

Your eating disorder may be loud. These truths are louder! 📢

👉 Your identity is not your eating disorder.
👉 Your worth isn’t measured by numbers.
👉 “Good” and “bad” foods don’t exist.
👉 Recovery isn’t linear, but it’s worth it.
👉 Food freedom is possible.
👉 You deserve peace with your body.

Healing takes time, but you don’t have to do it alone. 💜 At Prosperity, we walk beside you every step of the way with compassionate, evidence-based care.

Because recovery isn’t just possible, it’s waiting for you!

11/07/2025

At Prosperity Eating Disorders & Wellness Center, we’re proud to serve individuals and families across Virginia with evidence-based, personalized, and compassionate eating disorder care.

Our Norfolk and Reston centers provide PHP and IOP levels of care for children, teens, and adults, supporting lasting recovery close to home. 🏡💜

Learn more about our programs and how we can help at www.prosperityedwell.com

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