Health is Wealth

I'm blessed to say that my work has been published by NEDIC once again! This is a piece I wrote about Christmas and how the holidays are truly enjoyable, yet the focus around food and weight can be difficult for those with ED. It is one of my favourite pieces because it really expresses how frustrating this season can become for people who struggle with these issues, yet it also provides hope and tips on how to deal with this stress. Please take a look and it! And I am wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! http://www.nedic.ca/blog/

I just got back from a wonderful vacation at Antigua with my family. First, I want to say Merry Christmas to everyone! May this time of year give you peace, joy, and hope. Next, I want to say thank you to all my readers and followers. You all are so great! This blog would not be possible without you! A little bit about my trip.... It was fun! For the first time in my history of vacations, I didn't have to worry about the food. I had planned my meals earlier and so I just used the clock to know when I had to eat. My family was so supportive and we enjoyed our time. It was VERY relieving to not have any anxiety around mealtimes or open buffets. This made us all relaxed. For once, I did not feel dread before we all ate, and I didn't need to think of ways to avoid eating. It felt as though a big burden was taken off my chest. We had a great time swimming, touring the grounds, reading, playing board games, watching TV, etc. it was a much-needed break. I was exhausted after exams...

Recently, there has been talk in Australia that a child's weight should be listen on their report card. Read about it here: http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/12/07/3649748.htm By now, you should all know what I think about this. But, I'm going to say it anyway. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?! The argument of these people is that putting the weight on report cards will make parents aware if their child is obese or overweight. It is thought that this will stop or help to reduce obesity. And I can see why they think this: parents will get to know their child's weight because they will see it three times a year on the kid's report card. But I also think that the harm that this will do is greater than the benefits. First, how humiliating is it if teachers have to weight each kid in order to report it? That is not the school's job. It is a medical issue and can be dealt with in the context of a doctor's visit. And what about the comparing that will occur? K...

I don't know if you have ever seen the show 'The Biggest Loser'. If you have, you know that this show is about overweight people who compete to see who can lose the most weight. It is basically for adults to get 'healthier' but to 'win' a show at the same time. Sounds harmless, right? Well, it WAS. Until the show recently (about a week ago) announced that they would now be putting children on the show. DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THE PROBLEM HERE?! It is one thing to use people's weight to entertain others....and it is another totally different thing to be putting children on a show where they are forced to lose weight as a competition with others. You can visit this site for more info, or simply type 'the biggest loser kids' in google to know what I am talking about. http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2012/12/03/15648420-biggest-loser-returns-with-kid-contestants-two-night-season-premiere?lite What is this telling kids? That they should be force...

I've been asked many times if I consider myself recovered. The short answer is, no. I do not think that I am fully recovered. However, I am IN recovery. It does not sound like there is big difference between the two. But there is... Saying that I am recovered is like saying that this is all over. That ED is completely gone, and that I am like a 'normal' person who has never ever had anorexia. But that is not the case. I still have thoughts that try to sway me over to restrict, to hate myself, or to not eat. I still have moments when my self-esteem is very low and where I wish that I could be as thin as I used to be. That is why I am IN recovery. To me, recovery is not as desintation. It is more of a lifelong adventure. It is not somwhere that I will arrive and then 'be done with it'. It is something that I need to work on for the rest of my life. I do not starve myself or restrict food, but I still do not feel hungry. I still do not really enjoy eating lik...

Stop what you are doing. NOW. And think about this: right now, there is a person around the world thinking of how they hate themselves. Have you felt like this before? Have you had the feeling that you are just irritated with who you are? You know...as if you are frustrated with your life. And so you start to think about what is bad about you and what you would change if you could. I'm like this a lot. Well, I don't think about what I'd change, but I do think about what I don't like about me. I start thinking about how I don't feel as beautiful as others. How I feel worthless and useless and lazy. How I'm tired of people bring rude and mean to me. How frustrated I am because I feel as though I'm not successful or special. Much of this is because of ED - he likes to make me think this way because it makes him feel good. It gives him the chance to get me down, hoping that I will hate myself so much that I'll return to him. We all feel this way someti...

I thought that once I recovered from ED, life would be so much easier. I thought that everything would be perfect and happy. That nothing would go wrong. But I was wrong. Don't misunderstand me, recovering from ED was the most important thing that I did. It gave me back my personality, my health, and my life. But that does not mean that life is 'peachy-key'. Life is still full of it's wild and crazy rides. I'm busy with school, I'm studying for exams, I'm trying to stay on track with recovery, I'm balancing my social obligations, etc. But what really gets me is that I still struggle a lot. I'm pretty sensitive to things that happen around me - for example, I want everything to be happy all the time. I try to avoid any argumenets because I just want everything to be okay. It feels like since ED is not here anymore, nothing should go wrong or give me a hard time. I know that this is impossible. Recovering from ED is great - but that does not me...