Inspirational Recovery Quotes: Fear

Fear: False Evidence Appearing Real.
Unknown

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
FDR

Fear sometimes stops you from doing stupid things. But it can also stop you from doing creative or exciting or experimental things. It can cloud your judgment of others, and lead to all kinds of evil. The control and understanding of our personal fears is one of the most important undertakings in our life.
Helen Mirren

Fear is a darkroom where negatives develop.
Usman B. Asif

There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.
Andre Gide

Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves - regret for the past and fear of the future.
Fulton Oursler

Fear has a large shadow, but he himself is small.
Ruth Gendler

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.
Dale Carnegie

Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself.
Samuel Butler

Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.
Theodore Roosevelt

Fear cannot take what you do not give it.
Christopher Coan

There are four ways you can handle fear. You can go over it, under it, or around it. But if you are ever to put fear behind you, you must walk straight through it. Once you put fear behind you, leave it there.
Donna A. Favors

There is a time to take counsel of your fears, and there is a time to never listen to any fear.
George S. Patton

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson

Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.
Japanese Proverb

To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.
Katherine Paterson

Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.
Brendan Francis

The thing you fear most has no power. Your fear of it is what has the power. Facing the truth really will set you free.
Oprah Winfrey

Fear is the highest fence.
Dudley Nichols

The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.
Buddha

You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.
Mary Manin Morrissey

Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is freedom.
Marilyn Ferguson

Fearlessness requires attention and receptivity--it takes focus to stand in the still eye of a tornado and not be swept away by it.
Susan Piver

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
Marcus Aurelius

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.
Earl Nightingale

The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.
Gandhi

Fear is a habit; so is self-pity, defeat, anxiety, despair, hopelessness and resignation. You can eliminate all of these negative habits with two simple resolves: I can!! and I will!
Unknown

Obstacles are like wild animals. They are cowards but they will bluff you if they can. If they see you are afraid of them... they are liable to spring upon you; but if you look them squarely in the eye, they will slink out of sight.
Orison Swett Marden

The key to change... is to let go of fear.
Rosanne Cash

Fear can't hurt you any more than a dream.
William Golding

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
George S. Patton

You can't stop being afraid just by pretending everything that scares you isn't there.
Michael Marshall

Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.
Karl Augustus Menninger

The greatest mistake we make is living in constant fear that we will make one.
John C. Maxwell

Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something.
Frederick Smith

"Fearless" is living in spite of those things that scare you to death.
Taylor Swift

Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.
Hāfez

Thinking will not overcome fear but action will.
W. Clement Stone

Courage is fear that has said its prayers.
Dorothy Bernard

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.
Marie Curie

When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.
Jim Morrison

Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.
Benjamin Franklin

It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.
Herodotus

I believe that every single event in life happens in an opportunity to choose love over fear.
Oprah Winfrey

The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.
Frank Sinatra

Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt.
George Sewell

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.
Bertrand Russell

Fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow.
Unknown

Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence.
Pope John Paul II

The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.
Brian Tracy

Action conquers fear.
Nivio Zarlenga

I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.
William Allen White

Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.
German Proverb

Do the thing we fear, and death of fear is certain.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

For me it's important to be in balance. To not let fear get in the way of things, to not worry so much about protecting yourself all the time.
John Frusciante

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Frank Herbert

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

What are fears but voices airy?
Whispering harm where harm is not.
And deluding the unwary
Till the fatal bolt is shot!
Wordsworth

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
Eric Hoffer

Courage is not the lack of fear but the ability to face it.
Lt. John B. Putnam Jr.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
Nelson Mandela

Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater.
George Washington Carver

Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake.
Edgar Wallace

Even the fear of death is nothing compared to the fear of not having lived authentically and fully.
Frances Moore Lappe

Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile... initially scared me to death.
Betty Bender

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
Bill Cosby

The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.
Joseph Cambell

Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

What we fear comes to pass more speedily than what we hope.
Publilius Syrus

Excessive fear is always powerless.
Aeschylus

Things done well and with a care, exempt themselves from fear.
William Shakespeare

Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
John F. Kennedy

I more fear what is within me than what comes from without.
Martin Luther

Fear has its use but cowardice has none.
Gandhi

He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living.
Seneca

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark… professionals built the Titanic.
Unknown

To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path, and don't worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest.
Napoleon Hill


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This Week's R.I.S.E: 10 Ways To Love Yourself Better This Valentine's Day

It's true, loving yourself more does improve your life. How well can things go if you're worst enemy is yourself? How good can you feel if you're always concentrating on perceived flaws, past mistakes, and shortcomings?

This week's R.I.S.E. (recovery inspiration strength exercise) is to love yourself better. When we truly love ourselves the world responds to our positivity... and so do we. 

10 Ways To Love Yourself Better

1. Put down the mirror. Without taking your appearance into consideration, make a list of all the wonderful things that make you special.

2. Dump the negativity. We all have flaws. There is no such thing as a perfect human being. Stop negative self-talk in it's tracks and replace those thoughts with positive, loving statements. Say them aloud. Say them with meaning.

3. Help someone in need. Lend a shoulder, and ear, a hug of support, volunteer at a soup kitchen, visit with the elderly... do something that makes the life of another happier, easier, and more enjoyable. Helping others, helps ourselves.

4. Smile. The act of smiling actually makes you feel better. There's a chemical reaction that occurs when we smile which makes us feel happy, lowers our blood pressure, lowers our stress levels, and adds years to our life. Smiling at a stranger affects their day, too, so be generous and give some smiles away.

5. Be grateful. No matter what is going on in your life there is always something to be grateful for. Start giving thanks before your feet even hit the floor in the morning. Being grateful in the midst of difficult times shifts our focus and allows us to get some perspective.

6. Take a time out. Our days can get hectic. Take the time to slow down, pause, take a few deep breaths, and re-balance yourself. A few moments can make a big difference in how you feel.

7. Mix it up. Do something out of the ordinary, something different from the usual scheduled routine of your day. Leave for work early and take a different route. Walk to an appointment instead of driving or taking the bus. Meet up with a friend for lunch, a movie, or simply for coffee and catching up.

8. Change your environment. Add elements that will treat your senses and lift your spirits. Scented candles, a great painting or photograph, play your favorite music, add a jar with a collection of things that you've collected while walking on the beach... the choices are endless.

9. Get out. Don't isolate. Interact with others in person.

10. Laugh. Watch a funny movie, get together with funny friends, tell a few corny jokes. In a pinch, fake it. Even fake laughing will make you feel better. Like smiling, laughing causes a chemical reaction that benefits us in many ways.

If we really love ourselves, everything in our life works.
Louise L. Hay


Happy Valentine's Day!

©Weighing The Facts


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Eating Disorders News and Views: February 7, 2012

Integrative Medicine to Treat Eating Disorders
By Carolyn Coker Ross, MD
psychcentral.com

Integrative medicine can be defined as “a healing-oriented discipline that takes into account the whole person — body, mind and spirit — including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of both conventional and alternative therapies.”
Complementary and alternative therapies used in integrative medicine can include acupuncture, chiropractic, herbal medicine, dietary supplements and others that give the clinician a wide array of treatments for difficult conditions. This is particularly true in the integrative medicine approach to eating disorders.
Read Integrated Medicine in full


Council ‘Pleased’ at Action Against Bullying Teacher
 hestar.co.uk

 A COUNCIL has said it is ‘pleased’ action was taken in a case of a teacher found to have bullied a bulimic colleague who later died at school.
Moira Ogilvie, former acting deputy headteacher at Rotherham’s High Greave Junior School, was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and sanctioned by the General Teaching Council this week.
The committee found she had ‘bullied, intimidated, undermined and victimised’ Britt Pilton, who collapsed and died at the school, aged 29, in February 2009.
Her inquest ruled her stress and bulimia had been worsened by issues at work.
Read Bullying Teacher in full


Vancouver Media Maven Ralks About Her Eating Disorder
 vancourier.com

Rachel McHollister has suffered from anorexia since she was 14 years old. Now an owner of a boutique public relations firm, she first started restricting what she ate. As she got older, she binged and purged. She’s been fighting the disease for 13 years and continues to wage war against it on a daily basis.

McHollister recently participated in a UBC panel discussion on body image and related issues such as self-esteem, social pressure, and media messages that can contribute to eating disorders to raise awareness of the issue.
Read Media Maven in full


La Scala Fires Ballerina Over Frank Talk of Anorexia 
 latimes.com

An act of whistle blowing has landed a ballerina at La Scala in Milan, Italy, in big trouble. The famed company has reportedly told her to hand in her pink tutu in exchange for a pink slip.
Mariafrancesca Garritano, who has danced with the company for about 17 years, has  been fired following an interview with a British weekly in which she said that one in five dancers at La Scala Theatre Ballet suffers from anorexia. The interview, which ran in Britain's Observer, contains an unflattering account of how the company pressures its dancers to lose weight.
Read La Scala Fire Ballerina in full


Children Under 10 in Northern Ireland Treated for Eating Disorders
 bbc.co.uk

 A number of children under 10 have been treated in hospitals in Northern Ireland for eating disorders.

The Department of Health has not published the exact number, but up to 12 children were hospitalised in the three years between 2007 and 2010.
Nearly 80 teenagers have received hospital treatment for conditions such as anorexia in the past five years.
It is understood up to £4m is spent each year on adults and teenagers who travel to England for treatment.
Ann McCann from the Eating Disorders Association said the organisation had dealt with a girl as young as eight, who had been bullied for being a "little bit overweight".
She said the numbers of children affected are growing - the vast majority are girls, but one in ten are boys.
 Read Children Under 10 in full


Openness About Eating Disorders Overdue
 therepublic.com

 Although we don’t exactly shout it from the rooftop, my family never has hidden the experience of our middle daughter’s struggle with anorexia nervosa, the eating disorder that leads some people — and especially smart and pretty young women — to starve themselves.
Very often, the conversation produces a flash of understanding.
There was the baseball executive. The City Council member back in Wisconsin. The fellow parishioner. The neighbor. The casual professional acquaintance.
All had firsthand experiences with eating disorders.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be.After all, the theme of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, to be held Feb. 26 to March 3, is “Everybody Knows Somebody.”
Read Openness in full


The Realities of Living With Eating Disorders
With support and therapy, sufferers can still live a fulfilling, normal life
Sally Chaster / timescolonist.com

am in my early 50s, and I have struggled with a severe and debilitating eating disorder since I was six.
I suffer from anorexia, but there are many other serious, debilitating eating disorders, including bulimia, binge eating and others.
People with these disorder may be underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese, and may die at any size from any of the disorders. They can be young or old, male or female, any colour, nationality or religion.
How can people help? The answer to that is "nothing" and "everything."
Eating disorders are mental illnesses which often result in medical problems. There is increasing evidence of a genetic predisposition to eating disorders, and the trigger for activating a disorder may be any number of things.
Read The Realities in full 


Crystal Renn Reveals The Truth About Her Recent Weight Loss 
 huffingtonpost.com

With her background in plus-size modeling, Crystal Renn always finds herself on the hot seat about her weight. Is she gaining? Losing? What size is she? It's all a bit ridic, if you ask us.

But Renn herself has been vocal about her struggles with anorexia -- she once confessed to surviving on Diet Coke and sugar-free Jello -- and in a new interview with "Entertainment Tonight," she rebuts rumors that she's recently slipped back into unhealthy eating habits.

The model defended her weight loss back in February 2011, saying:
Read Crystal Renn in full 


EveryBODY’s Beautiful Shines the Light on Eating Disorders
 kingstonthisweek.com

When you look in the mirror what do you see? Do you see someone confident staring back, who looks great, flaws and all? Or do you see someone who never quite looks good enough?

In today’s world, where society is inundated with images of what is deemed to be perfection, many people are often plagued with feelings of doubt when it comes to their own body and body image. And sometimes those doubts can lead to more serious issues, including eating disorders.
“These are issues that directly or indirectly affects everybody,” says Pam Fountas, founder and host of EveryBODY’s Beautiful, a fundraising event Friday, Feb. 10, in support of local eating disorder clinics.
“I’d argue that 99.9 per cent of the population knows what it’s like to not feel comfortable in their own skin at one point or another in their lives.
Read Shines in full

This Week's R.I.S.E. :What Would You Say To A Friend?

This week's R.I.S.E. (Recovery Inspiration Strength Exercise) is What would you say to a friend?

Have you ever noticed that when someone you care about is hurting that you're able to give support, comfort, and advice from a place of love that seems reserved just for them? Do you ever hear what you're saying and think, "why can I say this to someone else and not to myself?"

For many of us, we see other people's problems and solutions much clearer than we see our own. Sometimes the solution seems so obvious and uncomplicated. Even complicated solutions still seem doable. Why is that? The reasons range from complicated to down right simple.

We're just too close to the problem.

Everything seems harder to accomplish when it's personal. It gets bogged down in the muck of our personal "stuff."

We're dealing with things like:

• Our past experiences/history
• How we feel about ourselves
• Fear of change 
• Fear of failure
• Feeling undeserving

.... and the list could go on and on.

So this week take a problem you're dealing with and pretend you're advising, comforting, and supporting a friend. Writing it down in letter form will help you reach your true "friend" voice (Dear insert your name here ). Don't read it when you're done writing it. Put it away for a day... or three. When you have a few moments to be all alone, grab yourself a cup of warm tea, settle into a comfy spot, and read it, slowly. Then read it again, out loud.

Now, follow your own advice.

You are deserving, and worthy of it.

©Weighing The Facts



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Eating Disorders News and Views: January 10, 2012

Binge Eating Disorder May Be Added to DSM-5

The DSM-5 Feeding and Eating Disorders Work Group is proposing a number of diagnostic changes. Here’s an overview.
Criteria for “binge eating disorder,” the fruit of an explosion of research on the subject since publication of DSM-IV, are being proposed for inclusion in DSM-5. The addition of the disorder, defined as recurrent eating of “an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances,” is among the major changes proposed for the chapter on feeding and eating disorders. Virtually identical criteria for binge eating disorder were listed in the appendix to the chapter in DSM-IV but it was not included as an official diagnosis.
Read Binge Eating Disorder DSM-5 in full.


Women with Anorexia May Have Categorical Learning Deficiencies

Recent research has focused on examining the cognitive abilities of people with eating issues and in particular, of women with anorexia nervosa (AN). “These studies are important for a better understanding of AN given the possibility that cognitive deficits may (a) contribute to the development and persistence of AN, (b) result from neurological changes associated with the disease, or (c) influence the choice of treatment approaches,” said Megan E. Shott of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado. More recent studies have discovered that although individuals with AN may have deficits in cognitive functioning, many of them also have very high IQs.
Read Categorical Learning Disabilities in full.


When Eating Healthy Turns Obsessive

In a vegan café in New York City, Nisha Moodley pushes a glass crusted with the remnants of a berry-açai-almond milk smoothie across the table and begins listing the foods she excised from her diet six years ago.

"Factory-farmed meats; hormone-laden dairy; conventional non-organic fruits and vegetables; anything hydrogenated; anything microwaved," the slender 32-year-old health coach says. "I would not eat irradiated food; charred or blackened foods; artificial coloring, flavoring, or sweetener; MSG; white rice; sugar; table salt; or anything canned.

Back then, a typical breakfast for Moodley consisted of buckwheat mixed with seaweed, raw cacao powder, flax oil, and flax seeds. Lunch was usually homemade brown rice with lentils, fresh vegetables, and kale, followed by a mid-afternoon snack of homemade flax-seed-and-buckwheat crackers. And for dinner, a salad with garbanzo beans, avocado, carrots, beets, and mushrooms.

Moodley initially adopted this diet to address recurring bad digestion. But her commitment to healthy eating -- something to be commended, ordinarily -- turned into an obsession that took over her life. "I was terrified of food that didn't fit within my idea of what was healthy," Moodley says. "I was terrified of cancer, of dying."
Read Healthy Turns Obsessive in full


Is Binge Eating a Mental Disorder?

According to the latest draft of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM) in the American Psychiatric Association (APA), binge eating is a mental disorder.

Health professionals refer to this document to conclude whether an individual is suffering from a mental disorder or not. In the manual, binge eating shares place with grave medical conditions such as substance-related disorders, sleep disorders and anxiety disorders. But does this mean that if you chug cheese burgers, you are suffering from a clinical eating disorder? Let's find out...

Binge eating depicts a lack of control over one's eating habits, a feeling where one has no control over how much or how many times one is eating.

The top characteristics which distinguish binge eating from normal eating are:
- Eating food much more quickly than normal.
- Eating food until feeling awkwardly full.
- Consuming large amounts of food when not feeling hungry.
- Consuming food in a separate room, or in isolation so as not to feel embarrassed by the quantity or style of eating.
- A binge eater tends to feel very appalled with oneself. A deep feeling of depression or guilt lingers on after the completion of an eating spree.

Here are a few tried and tested ways to avoid binge eating:
- Distract yourself from the food and indulge in an activity you love. Rush for a warm water bath when you think food is overpowering you. Go for a nice chocolate pedicure session or may be light some nice scented candles in your room and play some light music rather than eating.
- In other times, you might find this a tad bit boring, but sip small amounts of water whenever you feel you are in the mood to indulge.
Read Binge Eating/Mental Disorder in full



Emirati Woman Recounts How She Chose Life Over Anorexia

Sitting in the lounge of a Dubai hotel, Samira Murshid Al Romaithi could be any other 28-year-old woman. Clear-skinned and bright-eyed, she smiles as she greets me, exposing a set of pearly white teeth and a long mane of dark hair that falls over a pretty, sensitive face.

Confident without being overbearing, articulate and charming, this is a woman who holds a senior position with the Government in Abu Dhabi; who is the vice president of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu committee and a blue-belt competitor; who is about to launch her own business selling health food snacks; and who not only has a BA and a master's but also is halfway through another master's, in diplomacy and international relations. Her zest for life is obvious.

It's almost impossible to imagine she once suffered from anorexia.

Anorexia - a word that conjures up images of skeletal-like young women and that many presume is vanity in the extreme, an attempt to achieve the perfect body gone terribly wrong and an example of just how askew our priorities have become in the complicated modern world.

But there is, of course, more to this insidious disease that (along with other eating disorders such as bulimia) is still a taboo subject in many parts of the world and especially so in the UAE.
Read Emirati Woman in full


People With Eating Disorders Still suffering on Sidelines

BY THE time she was finally admitted to hospital, Noelle Graham's heart was on the point of giving out. Years of extreme dieting, purging and vomiting had ravaged the very substance of her body, leaving her blood so low in potassium it could no longer sustain a regular pulse.

That four-month admission, in 2009, was the culmination of nearly a decade of disordered eating that began when Ms Graham was only 12 - starting benignly enough as a decision to become a vegan and escalating through compulsive exercise, deliberate vomiting and long periods of starvation.

Still battling not to relapse, Ms Graham sees a psychiatrist and has had to return many times to hospital, where she said doctors typically, ''stick me on a drip and rehydrate me, then send me home''.
Read People With Eating Disorders in full



New Approach to Diagnosing Anorexia Nervosa
January 9, 2012
A new approach for diagnosing patients with anorexia nervosa has been developed at the University of Sydney. The approach could have a significant impact on the treatment and recovery of sufferers, as well as reducing the strain on public health.

As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, Professor Stephen Touyz, of the University of Sydney's Centre for Eating and Dieting Disorders, advocates a move to diagnosing anorexia nervosa in stages of severity, similar to the method used for diagnosing cancer.

"At the moment, you can only diagnose anorexia nervosa if you have the illness quite severely already," says Professor Touyz.

"By the time you have anorexia nervosa, and people can see that you've got it, you're an extremely ill person. This is an illness where 20 percent of people who are diagnosed could potentially die."

Professor Touyz's proposed system of stages would introduce the diagnosis of stage one anorexia nervosa for patients who clearly already suffer from the illness but do not yet meet its official diagnostic criteria.

Read New Approach in full

15 Quotes For Recovery In This Brand New Year

Celebrate what you want to see more of.
Tom Peters

A new year is unfolding ... like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within.
Anonymous

For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice.
T.S. Eliot

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.
Edith Lovejoy Pierce

We spend January (1) walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives, not looking for flaws but for potential.""
Ellen Goodman

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
Einstein

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.
Hal Borland

Why shed tears on failures long forgotten when hope looms on the horizon?
Charles Casha

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, but never in want.
Irish saying

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
Oprah Winfrey

The old year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!
Edward Payson Powell

I don’t really have a New Year’s resolution to go on a diet or anything like that. I am who I am, and I don’t want to be somebody else.
Karolina Kurkova

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.
John Burroughs


If it didn’t Bring you Joy,
Just Leave it Behind.

Let’s Ring in the New Year
With Good Things in Mind.

Let Every Bad Memory Go
That Brought Heartache and Pain.

And let’s Turn a New Leaf
With the Smell of New Rain.

Let’s Forget Past Mistakes
Making Amends for This Year.

Sending You These Greetings
To Bring you Hope and Cheer

Happy New Year!
Unknown


See also 10 Self-Nurturing New Year's Resolutions

See sidebar for more Recovery Quotes

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This Week's R.I.S.E. :Self-Love Jar

This week's R.I.S.E. (Recovery Inspiration Strength Exercise) is to start a Self-Love Jar. 

Materials Needed:
*empty jar
*slips of paper (be creative or simply grab a piece of scrap paper)
*pen, pencil, or colored markers


Each day, grab a slip of paper and take a moment to:
*write one positive thing about yourself
*or words of encouragement 
*place it in the jar
Keep it positive. No negativity allowed.

Consider the jar your personal bank of self-love and encouragement. You make deposits into it that you later can withdraw as needed.

Feeling down, struggling, or using negative self-talk? Take a slip of paper out of the jar and read it. Take another. Dump it upside down on your bed, get comfy and read them all. Whatever you need, whenever you need it. 

 See sidebar menu for more R.I.S.E. from previous weeks.

©Weighing The Facts

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Happy Thanksgiving! 2011

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
Ralph Waldo Emerson


I hope your day is filled with love, support, family, and friends.
 Happy Thanksgiving! 



If you find yourself struggling today, these links may help:

• Surviving Thanksgiving when you have an eating disorder
• Eating Disorders Hotlines, Websites, Orgs
• Giving Thanks
• Relapse Prevention
• Thanksgiving Survival Guide (Proud 2B Me)
• 10 Tips To Help You Enjoy The Holiday (Sheppard Pratt)
• 5 Tips for Thanksgiving When an Eating Disorder Is at the Table
• Holiday Survival (Something Fishy)
• Eating Disorder: Thanksgiving Tips & Tools To Help You Succeed and Survive!
• Twelve Ideas to Help Women with Eating Disorders Negotiate Thanksgiving and Christmas

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This Week's R.I.S.E. :Plant Seeds Of Recovery

This week's R.I.S.E. (recovery inspiration strength exercise) is to Plant Seeds Of Recovery.

Imagine yourself standing in a garden. It's bare. The soil has been turned, amended, and fertilized, waiting to be seeded. This is your recovery garden. What grows here will depend on the seeds you choose to plant in it, and the care you give it.

Each thought is like a seed and so it's important that we are careful about the seeds we allow to take root. Simply put, we reap what we sow.

Visualize yourself:

• with a handful of big, healthy, seeds. Each one labeled with a word of your choosing
• on your knees, the sun shining down, birds singing, a warm breeze
• taking your time to plant each seed carefully
• watering it lovingly
• watching it grow

Tend to your garden every day so it will thrive. Don't view it as a chore. Have fun with it. See it as relaxing, self-healing, and fruitful. Keep it positive.

 Even when we're good at staying positive, negative thoughts are bound to creep in now and again, but we don't have to water them, fertilize them, and help them grow.  Consider them a weed and start weeding!

See sidebar menu for more R.I.S.E.

©Weighing The Facts


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Eating Disorders News and Views: November 15, 2011

Warning: Some articles may be triggering


Anorexia and Cheerleading: A Dangerous Combination
By Samantha Van Vleet

Anorexia, a very serious and life-threatening eating disorder, appears to occur more commonly among the aesthetic sports, such as figure skating, gymnastics and cheerleading.

A growing concern regarding anorexia has become evident in the cheerleading realm. In fact, Gymnastics Australia has banned cheerleaders from wearing uniforms that expose their stomach. This decision may have been led to by research conducted that suggested cheerleaders who bared their stomachs in uniform were at a greater risk for developing eating disorders.

What is anorexia?

Anorexia is commonly used to describe the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, characterized by excessive dieting and calorie restriction to the point of emaciation. Anorexia, although it prevents physical symptoms, is thought of as a psychological disorder as the underlying cause is usually emotional.

What are the symptoms of anorexia?

Cheerleaders suffering from anorexia are likely to exhibit incredibly odd eating habits and behaviors. A cheerleader may have lost substantial amounts of weight in a relatively short period of time and may over-exercise. Cheerleaders suffering from anorexia are also likely to suffer from hair, skin and nail issues, such as dry, flaky skin, discolored skin, hair loss and brittle purple fingernail beds. Additionally, a cheerleader may exhibit the signs and symptoms of depression and may seem preoccupied with her weight and size.
Read Cheerleading ED in full here.


Images of airbrushed fashion models should come with 'cigarette-packet' warning, says Norwegian minister
By Ian Sparks
Mail Online

Images of airbrushed fashion models should come with a ‘cigarette-packet’ style health warning in a bid to tackle eating disorders in teenage girls, a government minister in Norway has declared.

Advertisements of super-skinny models are causing young women to starve themselves to obtain ‘unobtainable ideal bodies’, equalities minister Audun Lysbakken said.

He has called for stark warnings on all posters and press adverts when a photo has been digitally altered.

One suggested text for the warning reads: 'This advertisement has been altered and presents an inaccurate image of how this model really looks.'

We have to reduce the pressure the beauty ideal generates.' The call comes after countries including Spain, Italy and Brazil have all clamped down on skinny models at catwalk shows.
Read Warning Label in full here.


My five-year bulimia nightmare, by Diane Keaton
Mail Online

Diane Keaton has spoken for the first time about her 'awful' five-year battle with bulimia.

The actress revealed that she used to gorge herself on huge tubs of ice cream before making herself sick.

She said she was a struggling actress when she was ordered to lose 10lb for a part in the original Broadway production of Hair in 1968. It was the beginning of her bulimia nightmare.

Miss Keaton, now 65, said that she did not think her condition was called bulimia at the time, but it was real for her. 'It was just this trick you could do,' she added. 'It's a horrible problem. Ugly and awful.'

After undergoing psychotherapy – what she called the 'talking cure' – she one day realized that she did not want to binge any more.

Miss Keaton – who dated a string of Hollywood stars including Woody Allen, Warren Beatty and Al Pacino but never married – claimed that she was not beautiful, even when she was younger.

'I was friendly looking, no Candy Bergen,' she said. 'The smile, maybe, was all I had.'

Her disclosures may surprise many as she is known for shunning the spotlight – Vanity Fair magazine once described her as 'the most reclusive star since Garbo'. But now she has written a memoir, Then Again, due out next week.
Read Keaton in full here.


Vail health: Bulimia and the brain
Adolescent anorexia stems from both nurture and nature
Randy Wyrick

VAIL — Don't put your kid on a diet, because diets don't work, says Dr. Kenneth Weiner, an expert in eating disorders and brain development.

Within three years, 90 percent of people weigh more than they did before the diet. The other 10 percent have built lifestyle changes into their lives, Weiner said.

Weiner is co-founder, CEO and chief medical officer of the Eating Recovery Center in Denver and has been treating eating disorders for more than 25 years. He talked to Colorado School Counselors Association's annual conference at the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa on Friday.

To help adolescents avoid eating disorders, concentrate on who they are and not what they are, what's on the inside rather than what's on the outside, he said.

“We live in an obese society and childhood obesity is going to break the healthcare bank. My patients are the collateral damage,” Weiner said.

Nurture vs. nature
Eating disorders stem from nurture more than nature, he said, and so many things can feed that beast: Trauma, certain interests and hobbies, modeling, dancing, swimming, violence, culture, media.

“For many people with an eating disorder, it's preceded by some sort of trauma,” Weiner said.

Still, genetics play a role.

Between 40 to 50 percent of the risk is genetic. Fifty to 60 percent is psychosocial. If her mother has it, a girl is 12 times more likely.

It's as inheritable as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, Weiner said, and it's treatable.
Read Vail in full here.


10% OF GIRLS ARE FANS OF PRO-ANOREXIA WEBSITES
By Lucy Johnston and Chloe Randall
Express UK

ALARMING numbers of teenagers are using a network of underground “pro-anorexia” websites that glamorise and promote the life-threatening eating disorder.

New research reveals that more than 10 per cent of schoolgirls aged 13 to 17 have used a pro-anorexia site, and almost six per cent of boys, despite high-profile search engines blocking them after media outrage.

A Sunday Express investigation has discovered that many sites have gone underground, allowing access only to those who know a password.

Tips and tricks to reach a “goal weight” include eating cotton wool, inflicting pain to inhibit cravings and viewing pictures of skinny models, celebrities and other site users to boost motivation.

There are also suggestions on how to dupe family and friends that a meal has been eaten.

Websites may have trademark emblems with which followers ­demonstrate their dedication to an anorexic lifestyle, such as a red bracelet, worn by celebrity Nicole Richie and actress Lindsay Lohan in the past. Mary George, of eating disorder charity Beat, said: “These sites should act responsibly. Anorexia and bulimia are dangerous activities and people can be encouraged to copy them.”
Read 10% in full here.


Former child star to host eating disorders TV series

Former child star Tracey Gold is to share her experiences with anorexia as the host of a new U.S. reality show about eating disorders.

The actress, who battled the illness while starring in hit sitcom Growing Pains, will be seen working with patients undergoing intensive treatment for anorexia or bulimia as part of U.S. series Starving Secrets.

Gold admits shooting the show was an emotional rollercoaster, but she hopes it will give audiences an insight into the participants’ fear of gaining weight.

She tells The Daily Beast, “It’s not an easy show to watch, but it’s riveting and it really lets you know what it’s like. When we first started, every story tore me apart. I had such a close relationship to the subjects. As we got further along, I was able to get some distance.”
Read ED TV series in full here.


Anorexic Mum Fits into Seven-year-old Daughter’s Clothes
by Savitha.C.Muppala

A 26-year-old mum and her seven year old daughter look pretty much the same as the mother can easily fit into the daughter’s clothes.

Rebecca is extremely proud of the fact that she weighs just five stone and easily fits into the clothes meant for seven or eight year olds.
Rebecca has been a victim of anorexia for most part of her life. She recalls that it all began after she started putting on weight at the age of 13 following her parents’ divorce.
Read Anorexic Mum in full here.


How do lesbians' and gay women experience anorexia and bulimia?
Health Canal

A psychology PhD student at UWE Bristol (University of the West of England) is researching lesbians' experiences of anorexia and bulimia and how these experiences may be similar to and different from those of heterosexual women.

The research involves in-depth interviews with self-identified lesbian women who are experiencing anorexia and/or bulimia.

Researcher Rebecca Jones said, “This new research will build on the pilot study I did at UWE Bristol as an undergraduate, which has just been published by the online journal Psychology and Sexuality.

“My motivations stem from having past experience of an eating disorder and self-identifying as a lesbian. When I started University I became interested in lesbians' eating disordered experiences from a research perspective which prompted me to explore the literature further in my undergraduate research project.”

According to Rebecca, there is now a considerable body of research exploring how our culture's norms and ideas about gender impact upon girls' and women's experiences of anorexia and bulimia and heterosexual girls' and women's experiences of anorexia and bulimia.

“However,” she says, “much less is known about lesbian experiences of anorexia and bulimia. The article I have just published explores some of the similarities and differences between lesbian and heterosexual women's experiences of anorexia and/or bulimia. Analysing interviews with a small number of self-identified lesbian women with a history of anorexia and/or bulimia indicates that many of the ways in which these women described their eating disorders were similar to those identified in research with girls and women assumed to be heterosexual – such as a search for identity, an exertion of self-control, and a pursuit of feminine beauty.
Read Experience Anorexia and Bulimia in full here.


Teens who eat with parents less likely to be depressed
By Simon Collins

Kiwi teenagers who eat meals with Mum and Dad are less likely to be depressed and much less likely to be suicidal, a new study has found.

Teenagers who eat with their families frequently are also less likely to binge drink, smoke cigarettes or cannabis or use inconsistent contraception.

They are more likely to eat fruit and vegetables and less likely to eat fast food. But, apparently because of other lifestyle factors, they are just as likely to be overweight.

The study, published today by the Families Commission, is based on Auckland University's Youth 2007 survey of 9100 New Zealand high school students. Previous reports have shown that the teens were happier, less likely to be depressed, had better nutrition and were more physically active than in a similar survey in 2001.

The first survey did not ask about family meals, but the latest one found that 24 per cent of teens ate meals with all or most of their family less than three times in the previous week.

The other three-quarters ate meals with the family three to six times a week (41 per cent) or at least seven times a week (35 per cent).
Read Eat With Parents in full here.

This Week's R.I.S.E. : Daily "Me Time"

This week's R.I.S.E. (Recovery Inspiration Strength Exercise) is to give yourself some "Me Time" every day.

Life is hectic. It keeps us running. As we tend to our many obligations, we often put ourselves on the back burner ... quickly slipping lower and lower on our own priority list. It doesn't take long to find ourselves overwhelmed, tired, and even disheartened.

Everyone needs to recharge. Add recovery efforts to the mix and recharging takes on yet another layer of importance. We cannot be any good to anyone (including ourselves) if we're worn out and discouraged. Taking "me time" is healthy for our spirits, minds, bodies, and our recovery. It's even beneficial for those who share our daily lives.

Where can you find the time to devote to yourself when your days are already filled to the brim?

Taking time for yourself doesn't have to be an hour long obligation (but if you've got an hour, take it!).

Me time can be as simple as taking 15 (more is better) minutes to:

• sip a cup of your favorite tea, undisturbed, feet up, relaxing. 
• read a few pages of a delicious book while waiting for your child to get out of (drama, band, sports) practice. 
• grab some headphones and listen to your favorite music or relaxation cd while walking the dog (as long as you enjoy walking the dog).

 .... you get the idea.

Do not feel guilty for giving this to yourself. It's not selfish to take care of yourself. It's necessary. Like the saying goes, it's time to put yourself at the top of your own priority list. 

So, just some simple ground rules:

• during me time you must let go of all the things your mind is juggling or worrying about.
• you cannot devote this time to a chore, task, or phone call that's waiting for your attention. 
• let it be known to those who share your home that this time is sacred and you're not to be disturbed. They'll catch on after a few times (if you have little ones, let another adult be in charge while you are taking care of you).
• Be alone during this time. It's too easy to be distracted if you're not. 
• Do this EVERY day (more than once if you can).
• Enjoy your time! 

Don't worry if it doesn't go well at first. Don't give up. You'll feel more comfortable as you go along.

You are going to be amazed at what a difference letting go of your obligations, and giving yourself a little much need attention for a few minutes, can make in how you feel and function.


Have fun with it!


See sidebar menu for more R.I.S.E.

©Weighing The Facts



picsource:http://www.flickr.com/photos/meddygarnet/3392686660/in/photostream/

This Week's R.I.S.E. : Start A Gratitude Journal

This week's R.I.S.E. (Recovery Inspiration Strength Exercise) is to start a Gratitude Journal.

Let's focus on the good in our lives by recognizing and giving thanks for the many things we're grateful for.

1). At the end of each day, reflect on what you are grateful for.
     No matter what is going on in our lives, there is always something 
      to be grateful for. What our bodies do for us, the support we 
      receive, getting through a difficult day, recovery, being 
      alive... big or small, it all matters.

2). Choose at least one thing you are grateful for. Write it down.
       It can be one word or a more in depth entry. Whatever 
       works for you.
         If you do not have a journal, don't wait to get one. 
        Use any paper you have and keep your entries together in one place. 
    
3). Read your entry aloud. Do this a few times. Let it sink in.

4). Lastly, give thanks for what you are grateful for.


 Keeping a Gratitude Journal is an exercise in positivity. It reminds us that no matter how difficult our lives may be, there is also good in our lives, too. Your journal will be there to reread when you need a reminder or to lift your spirits.


*See sidebar for more R.I.S.E.

©Weighing The Facts

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The Emotional & Physical Benefits Of Smiling

Did you know that smiling has both emotional and physical health benefits? It does! 


We are blessed from from the moment we are born. We come equipped with the ability to smile at birth. It's true, we are all born already knowing how to smile.


When the zygomaticus major muscles in our cheeks contract, the corners of the mouth are drawn up into a smile. But what else is happening when we smile?


Better Than Chocolate

Researchers at The British Dental Health Foundation revealed that after participants were shown pictures of smiling people, their brain and heart activity was equivalent to being given the stimulation of 2,000 Chocolate bars.


Ups Your Serotonin

Serotonin is a vital component of the regulation of mood, sleep, appetite, and sexuality. The biological connection to elements of happiness in the production of Serotonin is evident. It's a two way street... good sleep, good mood, good food, and good sex will up your Serotonin production.


Smiling is a Natural Drug

Studies show that endorphins, natural painkillers, and serotonin are released when we smile. Together these make us feel good. Just like how exercise releases endorphins, smiling does, too. Try smiling 50 times right in row for a good boost.


Lowers Blood Pressure

Studies confirm that when you smile, your blood pressure is reduced. Smiling and laughing regularly can make a measurable difference.


Helps To Relieve Stress

Stress causes many physical reactions including an increase in blood sugar levels, disturbs the natural function of the digestive system, pulse rate increases substantially, breathing becomes faster and our breaths are more shallow.

Smiling and slowing your breathing can keep the stress from increasing and help reduce it. It's those glorious endorphins again... the feel good neurotransmitters.


Changes Our Mood & Increases Our Happiness
 
The British Dental Health Foundation conducted a study that showed the act of smiling dramatically improved mood. It increases happiness not only in ourselves but in those around us. Endorphins come into play here, too. Smiling tricks your mood into being more positive (faking does this, too) because the muscles we use to smile ties into how the how the brain assesses mood.

There's a theory called Facial Feedback Hypothesis that suggests that our expressions can actually intensify our feelings.


Increases Longevity

While happiness comes at every age, the smiles of our golden years can actually improve longevity. A study, published in General Psychiatry, consisting of participants over the age of 65,  concluded that those optimists were 71% less likely to die from certain causes, in contrast to pessimists.


Smiles Are Contagious

Really! Scientific studies have shown that people have a difficult time maintaining a frown when those around them were smiling. Their bodies react, their facial muscles twitching into smiles of their own. It actually takes more effort and muscles to frown.


We Are Drawn To Those That Smile
 
There's an attraction that happens when we see a smiling, happy, face. The smile draws us in. We want to get to know the smiler. We want share in the good feelings they possess.


A Smile Is The Best Makeup

A research study by Orbit Complete discovered that a whopping 69% of people find a makeup-free, smiling face more attractive than a makeup-wearing, non-smiling one. Another benefit of smiling is that it exercises the face, using between 5 and 53 facial muscles, helping to prevent sagging, droopy skin.


Smiling Changes Our Tone Of Voice

When we smile we project a more welcoming, warmer tone to those that are listening. Our voices convey that feeling, even if the person we're talking to cannot see us. Smiling while talking on the phone ensures a more positive and happier conversation.


We Even Benefit From A Stranger's Smile

That warm and contagious smile someone bestowed upon us actually carries over into our daily interactions with others. How's that for powerful, positive interaction?


Smiling Can Help You In Court

Smiling certainly isn't always appropriate in a courtroom setting, but when it is you may end up with lighter penalties. It's a phenomenon known as The Smile-Leniency Effect and it has shown that judges have given lighter punishments to smilers. Several court studies have revealed that it truly happens... even if you're guilty.


Universally Recognized

Anthropologists, biologists and psychologists agree that smiles are globally recognized. It's the real, teeth baring, lifted cheek inducing, squinting eye reaction that's globally recognized as a reaction to happiness.


Size Matters 
 
The size of your smile increases the pleasure you feel. Smiling wider than a grin reaps the most physical and emotional health benefits.

Smiling is infectious,

You can catch it like the flu.

Someone smiled at me today,

And I started smiling too.

~Unknown

So.. what are you waiting for? SMILE!!! It's good for you. It's good for your physical and emotional health... and so, in turn, it's good for your recovery.

Share the cheer and good health with friends, family, coworkers, and even strangers.

Everyone benefits when we smile. 

©Weighing The Facts




picsource:http://www.flickr.com/photos/eflon/4246570737/in/photostream/
compiled from: http://www.organicnutrition.co.uk/articles/immune.htm
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/15-fascinating-facts-about-smiling/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/18859-health-benefits-smiling/

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/benefits-of-smiling.htm

http://web.psych.ualberta.ca/~varn/bc/Kleinke.htm

http://odyb.net/discoveries/little-known-reasons-and-benefits-of-smiling/

This Week's R.I.S.E.: Make A Feel Good Image File

This Week's R.I.S.E. (Recovery Inspiration Strength Exercise) is to create a file of Feel Good Images.

1.) Collect images that:
*lift your spirits
*give you a warm, comforting feeling
*make you smile
*make you laugh
*inspire you
*relax you

2.) Place them in a file on your computer or a file folder at home.

3.) View them several times a day.

4.) Choose a favorite or two to carry with you.

5.) Hang one on your computer at your desk at work or at home (or make a collage).

6.) Enjoy them, absorb the good feelings your images give you.

 Choose images that do not relate to personal appearance, weight or body size.

You can find images online, magazines, your own personal photos, or doodle/draw your own

*There are many images that are available for download that are free for personal, noncommercial use. Please comply with copyright laws when collecting your images.

 Click the sidebar icon for more R.I.S.E.

©Weighing The Facts



picsourcehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/kratz/3903400295/in/photostream/

Recovery Quote Of The Week: October 25, 2011

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. .... Beautiful people don't just happen.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross


picsourcehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/uajith_set1/4264930783/

Dove Self-Esteem Weekend 2011

Self-Esteem:  
noun

a realistic respect for or favorable impression of oneself; self-respect.

dictionary.com


Positive Self-Esteem is essential to a happy, healthy life. It gives us the ability to adapt, grow, cope, and survive. It allows us to successfully navigate the frustrations, difficulties, and problems that we will inevitably be faced with along the way.

Parents are crucial to a child’s positive sense of self. A parent’s role is to provide stability, security, and love so children will flourish and grow to be self-confident, responsible, and capable. It is of great importance that parents are role models who display a positive view of self so the child will learn by example.

Self-esteem isn’t arrogant, self absorbed, or narcissistic. It’s a healthy understanding of who you are. It is liking yourself for who you are.

When a child (or adult) has a positive self-concept they are empowered, and protected. Understanding yourself, your beliefs, strengths, and even weaknesses, strengthens a child’s ability to understand, withstand, cope, and handle difficult situations and decisions...
Fostering Positive Self-Esteem In Children

Dove:

Share who inspired you and why.

Check out Dove's Toolkits and Resources:

1 on 1 Activities for Girls Aged 8-12 and 13-18

A Girl’s Guide to the Digital World—How to Log Off of Digital Drama!

Self-Esteem Guide for Moms of Girls, Ages 8–11

Self-Esteem Guide for Moms of Girls, Ages 11–16

True You! Workbook for Girls 8–12

Find a meet-up group in your area






















Weighing The Facts:

Tests: How is your self-esteem?

Related Posts:
Building Self-Esteem
Self Empowerment: Inspirational Recovery Quotes
Body Image and Self-Esteem

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