After failing to become a hit Christian music artist, Constance Rhodes joined the 75 percent of women to struggle with eating issues. She tasted bits of all eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia, binge eating, etc.) before founding FINDINGbalance Inc. and becoming an author and advocate who endorses positive body images for all women and men.
Last Monday, Lipscomb women listened to her candid conversation that stripped to the bone the lies of eating disorders and body image during the first NAKED event. The NAKED series continues for the next two Mondays.
Rhodes set the stage for events to come when she spoke from her heart about her own experience and her personal mission to demystify and attack eating disorders.
Her non-profit, FINDINGbalance, is the first national organization for creating consumer awareness and understanding of Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS).
The mission is to remove the stigma of eating disorders and body image issues and to promote prevention while encouraging a path to freedom for those effected by EDNOS.
The Dallas native now lives in Franklin, Tenn., with her husband, AJ, and three kids. Rhodes moved to Music City as an aspiring Christian radio artist with sky-high aspirations.
“I dreamed of being the next Amy Grant,” Rhodes said. “But then I flopped.”
After her dreams of becoming a Christian music artist fell, Rhodes had what she referred to as a “story change.” She soon began climbing the corporate ladder in music business and worked for six years at EMI Christian Music, where she ended as marketing director.
At this point she recognized herself as being “a highly productive person [whose] life was falling apart on the inside.” She was struggling with eating issues and food consumed her mind.
It was time for a change.
After leaving the music industry she began FINDINGbalance. Her presentation to the Lipscomb women included breaking down some of the issues and underlying reasons for damaging eating and body image issues.
According to a 2008 study by Self magazine, 75 percent of women had some kind of eating issues; most of these issues are categorized as EDNOS, described by Rhodes as the wide spectrum that separates healthy eating and anorexia, bulimia and binge eating. Calorie prisoners, secret eaters, career dieters, purgers, food addicts and extreme exercisers all fall into the EDNOS category.
Rhodes surmises that such issues stem from the societal expectation of perfection. Her hypothesis is that body image issues stem from natural feelings of loneliness, fear, anxiety, sadness and depression, and because of our society’s obsession with perfection we feel the need to come up with ways to manage these problems.
The question then becomes what do we do to combat these feelings that lead to the wrong type of endings?
Rhodes focused on five ways to move beyond the feelings: First, realize that you are not alone in your struggle and feelings; second, get real; third, get mad; fourth, find balance; finally, risk community.
Monday night was the first event in the three-week series on body image and eating disorders.
This Monday, April 11, the event will begin at 7:30 p.m. in McQuiddy gymnasium. It will feature current Lipscomb students sharing their testimonies involving eating disorders.
The final week will feature a panel of health and counseling professionals who will answer questions about eating disorders and body image.
NAKED was an idea designed and developed by Lipscomb senior and Washington, D.C., native, Lexi Koczanski, to bring about the truth of body image issues facing women.