Health is Wealth

What a wonderful birthday gift from NEDIC! My blog has once again been published on NEDIC. This post is about ten things that I want patients, parents, and everyone to know about ED. I think it is a helpful post because it really summarizes many key aspects or facts about ED. Again, I would like to thank everyone for their support, love, and good wishes. I am really blessed to have the chance to raise awareness for this terrible and sad illness. I am so glad that it is helping people learn about ED and get the help they need. At the same time, I think many of my blog posts and publications (including this one about 10 Things) can apply to many people's lives. If you are struggling with any addiction (alochol, drugs, whatever) this all applies to you too! If you know someone who needs help, maybe you can refer them to this blog - and I pray that they benefit from it. Or, if you just enjoy reading some interesting and fun stuff, continue to come read my blog (I'm not bragging...

I want to start by thanking everyone who wished me a happy birthday - those who commented and those who prayed for me. I really had an awesome time! I did not do anything 'extra special' but it was nonetheless amaszing. My sister, mom, and dad went to great lengths to make me smile, laugh, and be surprised. My dad bought me flowers, my mom got a balloon, and my sister decorated the entire house with banners and birthday confetti. Apart from that, my family and friends did little things that made a BIG difference. My friends were texting me, counting down until my birthday (and they were good! One of my friends was counting to the minute!). My family sent me TONS of cute greeting cards. They set up candles for me to blow out. They bought me so many wonderful gifts. All in all, it was a GREAT day. I really enjoyed it. It felt really good to not have to worry about ED or the food. My family is so understanding about ED that food is no longer an issue - I eat when I need to e...

It happens to be my birthday next week. I'm turning 20...and I feel so old! I know, I know. I'm not old. 20 is just starting life. But it feels so strange... I think having ED makes me feel this way. I don't feel as though I really had much of a teen life. I can trace ED back to when I was 13, but it was very weak then. Nevertheless, ED has been on board for a while. So turning 20 is like I'm leaving all my teen years behind...and they weren't without their problems - thanks to ED. As a teen, I always felt fat. I was the biggest girl in elementary school, and people always made fun of me for it. Then, when ED came along, I felt good. I was losing weight. Good! Things were going to get better... But they didn't. They got worse. Weight loss became an addiction. I couldn't stop losing weight because I might get fat again. I had to eat less and less each day just to lose more weight. I had to fake eating at home and at school. I had to convince myself that I ...

It is funny how we often get so caught up in our daily lives that we forget how blessed we are. Sometimes, we (I'm definitely on the top of this list) forget all fo the postiives in our lives and focus on the negatives. But taking the time to see the great things about life is one of the most humbling experiences I have had. Among all the crazy work that I have to do, I was blessed to have an amazing weekend with my family. We did not go anywhere or do anything special...but I still felt how blessed and lucky I am. First, I am lucky to be alive. I am proof that people can recover from ED and live a healthy and happy life afterwards. Next, I am lucky to have a school and an education. I am blessed that God has given me the ability to learn, to see, to hear, to taste, to speak, etc. I am living my life once again, free from ED. This is a milestone that I can never forget. Then, I have so many people who love and support me. I have an awesome family who takes extra special care ...

Have you heard of the term 'portion distortion' before? It is often used to describe the 'fact' that many people do not know how to eat appropriate portions; mainly, that they eat too much because they do not know how much food is 'enough'. But recent studies are showing that the TRUE portion distortion occurs in people with ED. (See http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666312005120 for details) Basically, this study compared anorexic patients with those who did not have any ED. The results are pretty consistent: people with ED (specifically anorexia) are more likely to overestimate food amounts. For example, take a person with anorexia and a person without anorexia. Now give them a plate with one cup of pasta, a piece of chicken, and a cup of vegetables. The person with anorexia is much more likely to estimate that the plate has (for example) double the portion it really has; the other person without ED is more likely to estimate the food c...

Continuing on my soap box about how we need to increase ED awareness, I want to spend a bit of time on this post talking about nutrition and health education in schools. When I was young, we never got taught about ED. In fact, all we learned about was how too much junk food would make us fat and obese. We also learned how important it was to have a diet that did not have 'junk food' in it. But we never talked about the other end of the spectrum - the ED part. The part about the victims who never eat because of their mental illness. Who can die because they cannot eat. I think schools need to start educate children and teens about this. Teaching them that overweight is needed, but we also need a balance to include what happens when you don't eat enough. Many people fall into ED and they don't know how this illness can kill them. Others have ED and they constantly hear messages in their schools saying that certain foods should not be eaten. It would me helpful to teach ...

I realize that obesity is a problem - children younger and younger are experiencing problems with their weight. Obesity is a major issue, as there are serious health complications that can occur )hypertension, heart attacks, reproductive issues, joint problems, etc). But would it not be interesting to see an article or news story about how eating disorders are also on the rise? The past few days have been full of news stories about obesity and how it is constantly increasing, as well as the burden on the healthcare system, the health problems associated with overweight, etc. And it IS a problem. As a nurse, I see many people who are struggling with excess weight. And they need help - even medical attention. They have the right to get treatment or help as they require it. I just wish people were more aware about EDs as well. EDs, like obesity, have serious health implications as well. Osteoporosis, heart attacks, fainting attacks, decreased immunity, and even death. But we do not se...

Do you have ED? An eating disorder? Maybe not. Some people have an ED that is diagnosed and on their medical record. Others have an ED but they have not been diagnosed with it - this was me for about five years of my life. I was losimg weight, restricting, and severly ill. But no doctors actually gave me the diagnosis 'anorexia' until I walked into the emergency room. My point? There are many people with eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating) that may go by unrecognized because they have not seen a doctor, or their doctor is unaware of the signs of ED. Then there are people with EDNOS, which is harder to diagnose. Many doctors are not aware that EDNOS even exists, so patients might not be diagnosed. Then there are people with disordered eating (DE). Many people fall into this category...and I am sorry to say that even YOU may fall here. DE is a term used to describe any eating that is not, well, ordered. This includes eating once a day, not eating full meal...

I could not believe my eyes when I received the email saying that my blog - this website - has been nomiated for a Blog Award (2013) under the 3 categories of Activism/Social Justice, Life, and Health/Wellness. (See http://www.ninjamatics.com/canadian-weblog-awards  for details) WOW! I am so blessed. This is such a HUGE acheivement - I love writing on my blog and I feel tears many days as I read the love, support, and encouargment of all my wonderful readers and their comments. I started this blog a little less than a year ago after experiencing a life-chaning experience from my illness - anorexia nervosa. I never thought that one day, it would be featured on international organizations such as FEAST amd NEDIC - and now it is nominated for an award! At this point, I am just thrilled. Winning would mean so much to me, but just being nominated is an amazing achievement. I am - for once - speechless. The awards will be announced in December, and it not a 'voting' award - the...