SPOKANE, Wash. – February is National Eating Disorder Awareness Month, and a Spokane program is encouraging those with eating disorders to seek help.
"The Emily Program" aims to help both adults and children suffering from eating disorders.
It is a one stop shop to help anyone who feels they may have an eating disorder. The organization has physicians, psychiatrists, and nutritionists all in one place.
KREM 2 News first brought you this story in January, and now two people that have benefited from it are speaking with KREM 2 News to share their stories.
Both said they hope to inspire anyone with similar problems to use what is available.
Breanna Boyd said she could not find any other place in the country with the resources to care for her habit of under-eating.
"I got a booklet, and I called every treatment facility in the country, and nowhere would take any form of state insurance," Boyd said.
"So that was very frustrating, even places in Washington."
Boyd started calorie counting as early as six-years-old. That led to an entire childhood of excessively monitoring her fat intake.
Under eating, over exercising, and purging almost to the point of fainting. Boyd said it became such a huge problem, that at one point it even threatened the life of her unborn baby.
Boyd said she was afraid the stigma behind getting help, but after reaching out to The Emily Program, she has good news.
"I ended up having her," Boyd said.
"She was like a pound and a half more than what they thought she would be. She was completely healthy, she's still healthy," she continues, "that was very relieving."
Boyd said The Emily Program has also been helping with her own nutritional program, providing therapy and personalized meal plans.
Eating disorders are not just restricted to women. Men struggle with it as well.
Timothy Ward said it was hard to deal with the stigma of eating disorders and finding the right resources.
Ward said being a man made it that much harder to find help.
"The Emily Program has been awesome," Ward said. "Not many men actually admit to having an eating disorder. It's pretty common knowledge that they think it is a woman's issue."
Ward said he has had weight problems since he was a kid. He said along with that came anxiety and depression – things he treated with medication and therapy.
Ward said he never got to the root of the problem – binge eating. He said he turned to food like some people turn to alcohol and drugs.
"Some don't think binge eating is an eating disorder, but anyone who feels out of control when it comes to food, this is a great place to come to," he said.
Ward said it got to a point where his problem was so out of control, he wasn't even embarrassed. Ward said he doesn't mind being the only man in the group, because they're all fighting the same issues.
Ward said he's been coming to The Emily Program since November and that he has made much needed progress in the program and even outside of it.
"It's made me a better person, a better man, a better father," Ward said.
"I have a ten-year-old son, Nolan. I worry about him. I don't want him to go through what I went through," he said. "Lot of eating disorders happen to kids, and I hope that doesn't happen to him."
Ward said he is proud of the progress he's made in just over three months. Right now, he said he's focused on moving forward and maintaining a healthy relationship with food – seeing it as fuel instead of medication.
