Eating disorders must not control your life

Don't be your eating disorder, be your true self

An eating disorder can be a quick identity. You may feel it distinguishes you and makes you special. You may fear giving it up because you fear losing a part of yourself. Developing a healthy identity will aid you in your recovery and help you live a healthy, meaningful, and fulfilling life. Remember that your eating disorder is a conglomeration of maladaptive coping skills. To recover, you need not relinquish a part of yourself. Rather, you retain your full identity as you channel the energy that went into your eating disorder into healthy coping strategies. Accept yourself for who you truly are, independent of weight and body image. You are special and unique without your eating disorder. Have the courage to believe in yourself.

Triumph over eating disorders

Sometimes you will see or hear things that may cause you to want to engage in eating-disordered behaviors. It may be anything from seeing a magazine ad to hearing comments made by others. You will not be able to prevent all triggers. You can, however, choose how you respond. Recognize triggers for what they are. A trigger is anything that sparks an urge to engage in unhealthy behaviors. Challenge your thoughts. Find healthy ways to think about the trigger. Explore your deeper feelings. A trigger is not catastrophic and does not mean certain failure or symptoms. You still have choices.

Integrity and eating disorders

Integrity requires a full and fearless commitment to living according to your beliefs. It means accepting who you are and not expecting everyone to like you or approve of you all the time. It means doing what’s right even when what’s right isn’t popular. This is one of the most important skills in your recovery, for it is the antithesis of living in accordance with the dictates of an eating disorder. Through integrity, relationships can be rebuilt and your life can be made whole.

Be honest and don’t mislead. Take personal responsibility. Everyone makes mistakes – take responsibility for correcting yours. Don’t play games or manipulate. If you have made a mistake have the courage to admit it, correct it, and learn from it. Be accountable for your own actions. Be stronger than peer pressure and stress. Have the courage to be your true self.

Change is beautiful

From the day you are born you are changing. You learn to speak, learn to walk, and your interests change as you mature. You are never done growing. Life is a constant growth experience. And just as you are changing, so is the world around you. New opportunities arise that require leaps of faith and openness to new experiences. It is up to you to recognize these opportunities and take the chance. Allow yourself the gift of change. Recognize opportunity. Take risks and try new things. Live on life’s terms and grow – change is beautiful.

Empower yourself

You can be anything you choose. Your life can be anything you choose. You can be your greatest opponent or your greatest supporter. Only you can decide. Identify your choices and know what is in your control. Take charge of your life. Employ your skills to help you achieve your dreams. Believe in your own ability to change and grow and live the way you choose. Follow your dreams and live your one life with passion.

1. Eating disorders do not allow you to love your body
Normally, a teen's body changes in size, shape, structure, and chemistry. A girl shoots up. She rounds out, spreads, and softens. These physical changes do not occur al...

2. How to talk to teens with eating disorders
Teens often do not reason, and often, one cannot reason with them. In developmental terms, only the brightest adolescents are moving forward into "formal operational th...

3. Recover from an eating disorder by knowing your inner self
Eating disorders and your spiritual self The character of Harry Potter touches a cultural nerve. His story and all such fiction built around knights and wizards...

4. Girls mastering their environments beat eating disorders
In order for a girl to reach her potential, her developing self must know that it can master its environment outside the family. She has to feel that her options are ...

5. How eating disorders affect couples
Eating disorder and partnership Researchers are now looking more closely at the dynamics of couples in which one partner has an eating disorder, and this scruti...

6. Some girls with eating disorders see their partners as their parents
Partner as Pseudoparent If a woman is entering a relationship with a girl's sense of self, she is going to act like a girl in that relationship. For example, sh...

7. Bulimia may lead to infertility or even an unplanned pregnancy
Bulimia can also hinder a woman's chances at motherhood. As with women who have anorexia, women with bulimia often lose their periods completely or have erratic ones. R...

8. An eating disorder affects pregnancy in different ways
Most medical studies of pregnant women with eating disorders are chilling. Mothers-to-be who gain too much weight experience a higher risk of hypertension and gestation...

9. Osteoporosis is a complication of anorexia and bulimia
Whether an eating disorder is present or not, middle age in women marks a time of increased risk for osteoporosis due to menopause. For reasons only partly understood, ...