Weighing The Facts

Recovery Quote Of The Week: April 16, 2012

Those who seek growth, embrace life and learn from the journey.
Unknown

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Eating Disorders Poetry: Untitled

I lie.
I lie about what I’m doing, where I’m going, and what I just ate.

I steal.
I steal food when I can’t starve myself any longer, the scale that I’m prohibited to use, and my mom’s trust, which she thinks is so strong.

I hide.
I hide my discoloring nails, my dirty deeds, and my shrinking body.

I believe.
I believe that I’m ugly, that I’m not skinny enough, and that everyone hates me.

I regret.
I regret that I’ve betrayed the ones who love me the most, that I’ve harmed my body in ways unimaginable, and that I’ve stopped caring about the most important things in life.

I’m trying.
I’m trying to get better, to resist temptation, and to learn to love myself.

by:Jasmine Pickering

Share your Eating Disorders/Body Image Poetry and Writings on Weighing The Facts

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Recovery Quote Of The Week: March 24, 2012

Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.
Gordon B. Hinckley

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Finding Support For Recovery From An Eating Disorder

From groups to one-on-one, there are free resources available for eating disorder recovery support both online and off.

Below you will find links to the resource pages, support group listings, and forums of the following sites and organizations:

Eating Disorders Anonymous

Food Addicts Anonymous

Overeaters Anonymous

Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous

Bulimia.com

The National Association of Males with Eating Disorders

Mentor Connect

National Eating Disorders Association

EDReferral.com

Eating Disorders Help: Hotlines, Websites, Organizations

Something Fishy

We Bite Back

Eating Disorder Hope: Support Groups By State

You can also contact these resources and inquire about support groups they may have or know of.

Several Eating Disorder Treatment Centers also offer support groups. Contact one in your area and inquire about them.

*If you know of any resources for Eating Disorder Recovery not listed above, please email me at mrsmenopausal@yahoo.com and let me know. I will add them to the list.
Thank you.

*

An Irish Blessing: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

An Old Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

The luck of the Irish to each and every one of you.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Mrs.M

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Progress: Eating Disorders Poetry

warning: Poem may be triggering

PROGRESS

Brain dying

Skin freezing

Lips lying

Heart seizing

Hair falling

Body aching

Ana calling

I’m breaking

Voice shrieking

Insides tearing

Tears streaking

Soul baring

Ana slowing

Intense grieving

People knowing

No deceiving

Brain healing

Smile forming

Heart feeling

Skin warming

Ana whining

Body loving

Hair shining

I’m recovering

Written by: Jessica of Periwinkle Paradise

*Check out Jessica's recovery / awareness jewelery, Periwinkle Paradise, on Etsy.

Jessica says: 10% of the purchase price of ALL Periwinkle AND Dragonfly items AND Art pieces will be donated to NEDA - the National Eating Disorders Association - the largest National non-profit for eating disorder awareness. I look forward to raising awareness about eating disorders and helping those in need through this line of Periwinkle/Dragonfly Pieces and Recovery Art and to sharing these and all of my other pieces of jewelry with you!

Please see sidebar menu for more eating disorders and body image poetry and writings.

Be featured on Weighing The Facts

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The Journey: Inspirational Recovery Quotes

The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place.
Barbara DeAngelis

One of the most important things that I have learned in my 57 years is that life is all about choices. On every journey you take, you face choices. At every fork in the road, you make a choice. And it is those decisions that shape our lives.
Mike DeWine

It's pretty hard to get what you want when you're busy doing and being what you don't want.
Cheryl Janecky

Life is what you make of it. Always has been, always will be.
Grandma Moses

Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.
George Whitefield

Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip.
Robert J. Hastings

I believe that life is a journey, often difficult and sometimes incredibly cruel, but we are well equipped for it if only we tap into our talents and gifts and allow them to blossom.
Les Brown

Rowing harder doesn't help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction.
Kenichi Ohmae

Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will-whatever we may think.
Lawrence Durrell

The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.
Don Williams

To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.
Chinese Proverb

We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.
Stephen Covey

Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be…Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar, and you’ll live as you’ve never lived before.
Erich Fromm

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

No one else can speak the words on your lips. Drench yourself in words unspoken. Live your life with arms wide open. Today is where your book begins. The rest is still unwritten.
Natasha Bedingfield

There are many paths but only one journey.
Naomi Judd

Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.
Oliver Goldsmith

Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time.
Lyndon B. Johnson

Too often we are so preoccupied with the destination, we forget the journey.
Unknown

Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.
Carol Pearson

Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility.
Oprah Winfrey

The benefits of the accomplished journey cannot be weighed in terms of perfect moments, but in terms of how this journey affects and changes our character.
Ella Maillart

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Lao Tzu

It may be when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.
Wendell Berry

Sometimes it is better to begin the journey, to get under way, then it is to sit back and wait until such time that you're convinced that all conditions are perfect and that there'll be no surprises along the route.
John Engler

The longest journey is the journey inwards. Of him who has chosen his destiny, Who has started upon his quest for the source of his being.
Dag Hammarskjold

Life's a journey, not a destination.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.
Kenji Miyazawa

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin-real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.
Alfred D’Souza

Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.
Meister Eckhart

Realize that from the start, every activity that comprises the journey has value and the ability to teach you something.
Bill Toomey

The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination.
Carl Rogers

An excuse becomes an obstacle in your journey to success when it is made in place of your best effort or when it is used as the object of the blame.
Bo Bennett

I think essentially the meaning of life is probably the journey and not really any one thing or an outcome or a result.
Charisma Carpenter

It's a life's journey of finding ourselves, finding our power, and living for yourself, not for everyone else.
Mariska Hargitay

If my ship sails from sight, it doesn't mean my journey ends, it simply means the river bends.
Enoch Powell

The journey is my home.
Muriel Rukeyser

Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.
Charles Dudley Warner

It has never been, and never will be easy work! But the road that is built in hope is more pleasant to the traveler than the road built in despair, even though they both lead to the same destination.
Marion Zimmer Bradley

Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You'll find what you need to furnish it - memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey.
Tad Williams

Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, ‘This is the real me,’ and when you have found that attitude, follow it.
William James

Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.
Greg Anderson

Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

So it's been kind of a long road, but it was a good journey altogether.
Sidney Poitier

It is always our own self that we find at the end of the journey. The sooner we face that self, the better.
Ella Maillart

A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.
Jean de la Fontaine

The process of letting go is like taking a journey to the center of your being.
Darren L. Johnson

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.
Ayn Rand

Thank God for the journey.
James Brown

It's not an easy journey, to get to a place where you forgive people. But it is such a powerful place, because it frees you.
Tyler Perry

Come dress yourself in love, let the journey begin.
Francesca da Rimini

Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it is of no use.
Carlos Castaneda

For me, exploration is about that journey to the interior, into your own heart. I'm always wondering, how will I act at my moment of truth? Will I rise up and do what's right, even if every fiber of my being is telling me otherwise?
Ann Bancroft

Each song is a lifetime, it begins and ends, and there's a journey taken within the songs.
Leif Garrett

It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.
Ursula K. Le Guin

We advance on our journey only when we face our goal, when we are confident and believe we are going to win out.
Orison Swett Marden

Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.
Arthur Ashe

At no time are we ever in such complete possession of a journey, down to its last nook and cranny, as when we are busy with preparations for it.
Yukio Mishima

The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.
Oprah Winfrey

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Lao Tzu

It's easy to say young people should believe in themselves, but the number one thing is recognizing that it's a journey, that you have to build confidence in yourself.
Andrew Shue

But even if I'm left high and dry at the end of this wild journey, just taking it is a great feeling.
Olivia Wilde

Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.
Matsuo Basho

If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all.
Dan Rather

We are at our very best, and we are happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey toward the goal we've established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile.
Earl Nightingale

I like someone who embraces life; who wants to be on a long journey but has no particular plan or destination in mind… an adventurous man, open to the concept of living life in the moment.
Jill Hennessy

It helps, I think, to consider ourselves on a very long journey: the main thing is to keep to the faith, to endure, to help each other when we stumble or tire, to weep and press on.
Mary Richards

When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you are only halfway there.
Japanese Proverb

Does the road wind up-hill all the way? Yes, to the very end. Will the day's journey take the whole long day? From morn to night, my friend.
Grantland Rice

It's a journey; it's a fight everyday.
Peter Hobson

The spiritual path - is simply the journey of living our lives. Everyone is on a spiritual path; most people just don't know it.
Marianne Williamson

Life to me is a journey - you never know what may be your next destination.
David Russell

We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
Marcel Proust

Every journey into the past is complicated by delusions, false memories, false namings of real events.
Adrienne Rich

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost

I think illness is a family journey, no matter what the outcome. Everybody has to be allowed to process it and mourn and deal with it in their own way.
Marcia Wallace

In that I found being able to talk to my family about my feelings, praying for strength and realizing that our lives have a deep purpose and the journey of our lives is to find out what that is and express it, was the only way I could have gotten through it.
Marlo Thomas

It requires greater courage to preserve inner freedom, to move on in one's inward journey into new realms, than to stand defiantly for outer freedom.
Rollo May

Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey.
Alex Noble

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Each one of us has a fire in our heart for something. It’s our goal in life to find it and keep it lit.
Mary Lou Retton

What I know for sure is that your life is a multipart series of all your experiences- and each experience is created by your thoughts, intentions, and actions to teach you what you need to know. Your life is a journey of learning to love yourself first and then extending that love to others in every encounter.
Oprah Winfrey

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Recovery Quote Of The Week: March 14, 2012

Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the road and accommodations.
Oliver Goldsmith

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Recovery: 5 Things You Can Do Right Now To Change Your Life

Forgive and Let Go of Past Hurts and Mistakes:

Everyone has a history. Some histories are better than others, but most all of us have events in our past that have caused us pain in some way.

When we allow these past events to remain a part of our current lives they affect our ability to move forward, live life in the present, and experience the love, joy, and fullness of life that we are entitled to.

Forgiveness is often necessary in letting go. Depending on what has occurred, we are either required to forgive ourselves, or forgive another. Forgiveness and letting go isn’t about forgetting or condoning. It involves a conscious decision to change our emotions about a certain event, learning from the experience, and stop allowing it be a negative influence on our present daily life.

Past hurts and mistakes are a heavy burden we need not carry the weight of. Whether the pain is due to something that happened to us, or happened because of us, we can learn to let it go and move into a happier and healthier stage of our lives.

We are not our past.

Believe in Yourself and Cultivate a Positive Attitude:

What we think and believe matters. Our attitude about life, and ourselves, influences not only how we feel about ourselves, but also how others feel about us.

Negativity is destructive and counter productive to living happily. There’s no better way to turn a possibility into an impossibility than negative thinking and lack of self-belief. It becomes the barrier that keeps us from being able to reach our full potential, our dreams, our aspirations, and the joy we all deserve in our lives.

Replace those negative and self-defeating thoughts with positive statements. Believe in yourself and your abilities. Learn to cultivate a positive attitude by stopping hurtful self-talk when it happens. Don’t spend one more minute selling yourself short and cheating yourself out of the life you deserve.

We become what we think and believe.

Do Something For Someone Else:

Causes, charities, and people … there are so many who can benefit from our efforts. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, take up all our free time, or be costly.

Even the smallest of gestures can make a big difference:

Helping an elderly neighbor by offering to pick up some things for them when we go grocery shopping.
Giving an understanding and reassuring hug to someone going through a difficult time.
Volunteering at the hospital, nursing home, school, etc.
Supporting our favorite cause or charity.

The possibilities are endless.

There’s so much reward in the giving of our selves for a good cause. Whether it’s for friends, family, or strangers, we never walk away without having been gifted in the process.

By helping others we help ourselves.

Be Yourself:

Sounds simple, right? Actually, with all the preconceived ideas of what we should be doing with our lives, how we should be dressing, what we should look like, what we should weigh, what’s acceptable and what’s not… it can be easy to lose confidence in who we are. Trying to meet the standards of others, or society, can chip away at how comfortable we are with who we are.

It’s important that we feel comfortable with ourselves so that we can be authentic without fear. It all starts with self-acceptance, and moves on to self-appreciation, and then into self-confidence. Start accepting yourself as you are and there’s a change reaction.

The world would be a very boring place if everyone looked the same, weighed the same, acted the same, did the same things, enjoyed the same things, and lived the same lives. We’re not meant to be copies of one another. We are meant to be our own, unique, and glorious selves. Learning to be ourselves, and to love ourselves, is essential to truly knowing joy and happiness. So, shrug off what the world tells you to be, and be true to yourself.

I am uniquely and wondrously made.

Relax, Renew, Revive:

Take time for yourself. No matter how busy our schedules are it is important that we give ourselves time to relax, renew, and revive. We are not put on this earth merely to work and meet the demands of our careers, families, and countless obligations. We are here to enjoy our lives. It is up to us how well we do just that.

Getting overwhelmed and over-scheduled is draining and, more often than not, leaves us feeling tired, cranky, and defeated. What good is that? There are, of course, things that we have to do but how many things are we doing that aren’t necessary? Go through your obligations and weed out the ones that either aren’t necessary or can be delegated to another for the day.

Scheduling time for ourselves should be a priority. If we don’t take care of ourselves we are less able to care for others. Even small breaks from the demands of our lives can be renewing:

A cup of tea in your favorite chair, on the porch, with a friend, or all alone in your bedroom (with a “do not disturb” understanding with your family or roommates).
A walk around the block, park, or along the beach.
A long soak in the tub with some scented candles and relaxing music.
Movie night with a friend or loved one.
Playing your favorite music while singing and dancing along.
Lay in the grass and stare up at the clouds (or stars), and listen to the world around you.

When we take care of ourselves we are better able to care for others.

©Weighing The Facts

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Recovery Quote Of The Week: March 5, 2012

Your greatness is revealed not by the lights that shine upon you, but by the light that shines within you.
Ray Davis

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Self-Confidence: Inspirational Recovery Quotes

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.
Norman Vincent Peale

When you develop yourself to the point where your belief in yourself is so strong that you know you can accomplish anything you put your mind to, your future will be unlimited.
Brian Tracy

Your greatness is revealed not by the lights that shine upon you, but by the light that shines within you.
Ray Davis

With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.
Dalai Lama

Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.
Samuel Johnson

Confidence is like a dragon where, for every head cut off, two more heads grow back.
Criss Jami

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot.
Eleanor Roosevelt

As is our confidence, so is our capacity.
Richard Bach

No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.
Ansel Adams

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience by which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Confidence is going after Moby Dick in a
rowboat and taking the tartar sauce with you.
Zig Ziglar

Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.
Malcolm S. Forbes

I cheated on my fears, broke up with my doubts, got engaged to my faith, and now I’m marrying my dreams.
Unknown

Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.
Mark Victor Hansen

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
Helen Keller

The tragedy is that so many people look for self-confidence and respect everywhere except within them, so they fail in their search.
Dr. Nathaniel Branden

Confidence... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart, and mind, confidence is the key to all the locks.
Joe Paterno

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.
Marianne Williamson

Who has confidence in himself will gain the confidence of others.
Leib Lazarow

Self-confidence gives you the freedom to make mistakes and cope with failure without feeling that your world has come to an end or that you are a worthless person.
Unkown

Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist.
Mary Kay Ash

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

If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started.
Marcus Garvey

Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but also the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.
Norman Vincent Peale

There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity.
Samuel Johnson

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.
Bruce Barto

Believe in yourself and there will come a day when others will have no choice but to believe with you.
Cynthia Kersey

Love me or hate me. I’m still gonna shine!
Unknown

Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.
Robert Collier

Whether you think you can or think you can’t – you are right.
Henry Ford

My theory was that if I behaved like a confident, cheerful person, eventually I would buy it myself, and become that. I always had traces of strength somewhere inside me, it wasn't fake, it was just a way of summoning my courage to the fore and not letting any creeping self-doubt hinder my adventures. This method worked then, and it works now. I tell myself that I am the sort of person who can open a one-woman play in the West End, so I do. I am the sort of person who has several companies, so I do. I am the sort of person WHO WRITES A BOOK! So I do. It's the process of having faith in the self you don't quite know you are yet, if you see what I mean. Believing that you will find the strength, the means somehow, and trusting in that, although your legs are like jelly. You can still walk on them and you will find the bones as you walk. Yes, that's it. The further I walk, the stronger I become.
Dawn French

If You believe in yourself you can reach everything you want.
Kees Broos

Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.
Peter T. Mcintyre

Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.
Golda Meir

The man of genius inspires us with a boundless confidence in our own powers.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.
Thomas Carlyle

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.
Lao Tzu

Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it.
Stan Smith

The secret of making dreams come true can be summarized in four C’s. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy; and the greatest of these is Confidence.
Walt Disney

Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.
Marcus Aurelius

The only power that exists is inside ourselves....
Anne Rice

What is it about wearing a tuxedo or that little black dress, that makes us feel confident, beautiful, splendid, even invincible? We put on formal wear and suddenly we become extraordinary.On the days when you feel low and invisible, why not try this on for size: imagine you are wearing a fantastic tailored tuxedo or a stunning formal gown. And then proceed with your day.”
Vera Nazarian

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.
Marie Curie

Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.
Vince Lombardi

Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy.
Lao Tzu

I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time.
Anna Freud

With confidence, you can reach truly amazing heights; without confidence, even the simplest accomplishments are beyond your grasp.
Jim Loehr

One's belief in one's ability to determine his own course; as long as one has that, he's got the universe in his pocket.
L. Ron Hubbard

Confidence, like art never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions.
Earl Grey Stevenson

Always Remember to take your Vitamins: Take your Vitamin A for ACTION, Vitamin B for Belief, Vitamin C for Confidence ,Vitamin D for Discipline, Vitamin E for Enthusiasm!!
Pablo

If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience.
Swami Vivekananda

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

Confidence is preparation. Everything else is beyond your control.
Richard Kline

Knock the 't' off the 'can't.
Samuel Johnson

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.
E. E. Cummings

You have to believe in yourself.
Sun Tzu

No name-calling truly bites deep unless, in some dark part of us, we believe it. If we are confident enough then it is just noise.
Laurell K. Hamilton

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be
done without hope and confidence.
Helen Keller

I do not care so much what I am to others as I care what I am to myself.
Michel de Montaigne

If you are prepared, then you are able to feel confident.
Robert J. Ringer

The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.
William Jennings Bryan

There can be no failure to a man who has not lost his courage, his character, his self-respect, or his self-confidence. He is still a King.
Orison Swett Marden

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self- confidence is preparation.
Arthur Ashe

Confidence is courage at ease.
Daniel Maher

Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself.
Anthony Trollope

They may try to stop you by their words and deeds, but like air you will rise above it all. You are unstoppable
Bernard Kelvin Clive

There is a difference between conceit and confidence. Conceit is bragging about yourself. Confidence means you believe you can get the job done.
Johnny Unitas

Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.
Peter T. Mcintyre

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.
Rosalynn Carter

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world we find
Success being with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are:
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.
Walter D. Wintle

*See sidebar menus for more Inspirational Recovery Quotes and Quotes of the Week

picsource:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsevilla/130987747/in/photostream/

Eating Disorders News and Views: March 3, 2012

Senate Recognizes National Eating Disorders Awareness Week
Surfky

FRANKFORT, KY (3/1/12) – The Kentucky State Senate has recognized that February 26 through March 3, 2012, as National Eating Disorders Week and honored the National Eating Disorders Association on the floor of the Kentucky State Senate.

“Eating disorders are a continually growing problem in Kentucky,” said Jerry P. Rhoads, D-Madisonville. “It is important to raise awareness about this issue so that our citizens will achieve a healthier lifestyle.”
Read Recognizes in full.

Anorexia on the Rise Among Kids and Anti-Obesity Campaigns Blamed
MedicalNet

According to Dr Jane Morris, chairwoman of the Scottish Eating Disorder Interest Group, healthy eating drives are causing anorexia in children. She said children were obsessing about their diet because of drives to combat obesity.

Last week reports of children as young as six were being treated for anorexia emerged, and figures showed medical treatments were on the rise. Dr Morris, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Royal Edinburgh hospital, said it was a ‘huge concern.’
Read On The Rise in full.

Anorexia Research Finds Government Intervention Justified
The Guardian

Governments are justified in using the law to prevent modelling agencies from using very skinny women on catwalks and stop magazines from printing adverts and photographs that suggest extreme thinness is attractive, according to research from the LSE.
The first-ever economic analysis of anorexia, studying nearly 3,000 young women in the UK and the rest of Europe, found that the social and cultural environment influences decisions by young women to starve themselves in search of what they perceive to be an ideal body shape.
Young women, who make up 90% of anorexia nervosa cases, are influenced by the size and weight of their peer group.
Anorexia, say the researchers, is a socially transmitted disease and appears to be more common in countries such as France, where women are thinner than the European average. It mostly affects girls and women between the ages of 15 and 34, they found, who were willing to trade off their health against self-image.
Read Justified in full.

Peer Pressure Drives Spread of Anorexia: Study
HealthNews

LONDON (Reuters) - Anorexia is a socially transmitted disorder and appears to be more prevalent in countries such as France where women are thinner than average, according to new research from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
The "economic analysis" of anorexia, using a sample of nearly 3,000 young women across Europe, concluded that peer group pressure is one of the most significant influences on self-image and the development of anorexia and appeared just as the autumn/winter season is winding up with Paris Fashion Week.
The research by LSE economist Dr Joan Costa-Font and Professor Mireia Jofre-Bonet of City University, showed that it is becoming increasingly apparent that standards of physical appearance are important and powerful motivators of human behavior, especially regarding health and food.
Read Peer Pressure in full.

Research Fail: New Anorexia Study Focuses On Weight, Not Behavior
Blisstree

Anorexia is widely seen as a disease of isolation and loneliness–but according to a new study, it could be a “socially transmitted disease,” passed from one skinny woman to another. Researchers in London have found that body image and weight are greatly impacted by the behaviors, attitudes, and even weights our peers, which is all well and good. Unfortunately, the study has one gigantic flaw that makes it difficult to take seriously: the definition for who is “anorexic” seems to be based solely on weight, not behavior. Which may be how they do it in the DSM, but that doesn’t mean it’s accurate.

Reuters reports that the researchers used a sampling of 2,871 women ranging in age from 15 to 34. The participants reported their age, gender (even though they were all female), marital status, weight, eating habits, political attitudes, education level, and body image perception.
Read Research Fail in full.

Binge Eating is Common Yet Misunderstood
NewsWorks

It's the most common eating disorder, but it often goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed. Participants in this week's Binge Eating Disorder conference in Philadelphia want to change that.

Binge eating disorder can easily look like obesity since people who have it tend to be overweight. But it goes far beyond food choices and exercise. Binge eating is triggered by deep psychological distress and eating offers relief -- albeit short-lived.

Chevese Turner said she felt extremely depressed and upset after an eating binge, yet felt unable to stop this behavior which started early on in her life.

Turner was an overweight child experiencing trauma at home and at school, and food became a momentary escape. She said she was able to break the vicious cycle and get better once she understood what she was dealing with, and found a therapist specializing in this disorder
Read Misunderstood in full.

Eating Disorders Quietly Plague Black Communities
The Grio

Although white women were once thought to be the sole group battling eating disorders, over the past few years, reports of eating disorders among minorities -- particularly African-Americans -- have increased.

Stephanie Covington Armstrong, an African-American woman, shares her struggles with bulimia with theGrio.

Raised in Brooklyn, NY, Covington said she grew up poor and dealt with a series of issues that impacted her childhood, including poor eating habits, low self-esteem, and rape. She believes these traumas led to her eating disorder.

"I started thinking that something was wrong with me... that I wasn't lovable... and that I was damaged," she said. "So the way that I was able to kind of calm those fears was with food. My eating would push down all of those fears, and my eating disorder pushed over the edge."

Covington emphasized that the eating disorder gradually took over her entire life.
Read Quietly Plague in full

Weight History May Be Vital to Bulimia Treatment
PsychCentral

In a new study, researchers discovered a majority of women with bulimia nervosa reach their highest-ever body weight after developing their eating disorder — even though bulimia is characterized overall by significant weight loss.

The study concludes that exploring a woman’s weight history and the course of the eating disorder will improve productive discussion of weight and weight history, and thus improve treatments.
Read May Be Vital in full.

Anorexia Loved Me: Victim of Officer's Sex Abuse
smh.com.au

"Anorexia became my friend, it loved me"
"I could not come to terms with what he did to me"
"I have learnt that no one is above the law"
"I now have the power and no one can take that away from me"

A young woman has spoken of her battle with anorexia and depression, which left her "an inch away from death" following the sexual abuse inflicted upon her as a child by a NSW police officer.

The woman fought back tears as she delivered an extended victim impact statement in the sentencing of former Senior Constable Gregory Ernest Urch, 61, who sexually assaulted her and another minor during the mid-1990s.
Read Loved Me in full.

Is Anorexia A Female Disease? Think Again
FairfieldMirror

What do Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan, Billy Bob Thorton and Elvis Presley have in common? They have all suffered from eating disorders.

While eating disorders in females are often identified, male celebrities are not publicized as much but they too have fallen victim to the same disease.

In 2008, a student was diagnosed with an eating disorder after witnessing many female schoolmates obsessing over how “fat” they were. Currently receiving treatment four years later at age 14, Avi Sinai is one of many males who have suffered from anorexia nervosa.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, anorexia nervosa is a “life-threatening eating disorder”, but sex or gender is not mentioned.

Compared to women, men tend to be more secretive about anorexia due to cultural and social expectations within their own society. Thinness amongst women is advertised within the media, allowing them to battle with weight issues without it being socially unacceptable.
Read Think Again in full.

Binge Eating: Patients Struggle to Break Free When Food Takes Control
USA Today

Peterson had been struggling with binge-eating disorder since the mid-'90s, from the time she was just 11. By late 2009, she carried more than 200 pounds on her 5-foot-2-inch frame.

"I was feeling miserable," said Peterson, who works in retail. "I couldn't walk across the parking lot, couldn't run, my back hurt. I felt like my customers thought I was stupid and were judging me."

But her vision kicked her into action, inspiring her to seek help to control her binges and lose weight.

"I lost it, because if I didn't, the binge-eating disorder would have killed me," said Peterson, 29, and more than 70 pounds lighter.
Read Struggle in full.

Anorexia Sees No Age, Color, or Gender
DailyRx

Many people believe that anorexia and bulimia are disorders most apparent amongst white teenage girls, yet a recent report demonstrates that they’re increasingly affecting minorities, children, and boys.

David Rosen, M.D, M.P.H. professor of pediatrics at University of Michigan Medical School, is the author of a new clinical report entitled "Identification and Management of Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents".

He explains, “the epidemiology of eating disorders has gradually changed.”

He calls upon his fellow pediatricians to “be familiar with early detection and appropriate management of these disorders.”
Read Anorexia Sees No in full.

Eating Disorders Consume the Lives of the Affected
Iowa State Daily

Most people are familiar with the two main types of eating disorders: anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia involves limiting the amount of food one eats while bulimia involves ridding oneself of the eaten food through purging or excessive exercise.

With this week being National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, it is the perfect time for people to become educated about what eating disorders are, who they affect and where to get help.

Eunice Bassler, senior lecturer of food science and human nutrition, explained a common misconception about eating disorders. “Eating disorders are disordered eating patterns with a psychological component.”

Bassler most often deals with disordered eating patterns, which are simply irregular eating patterns. These do not get classified as eating disorders until a psychological condition, such as a distorted view of the body or a fear of gaining weight, is identified along with the disordered eating pattern.
Read Consume in full.

Five Warning Signs of Eating Disorders in Your Teen
TimesUnion

To help attract attention to National Eating Disorders Week (February 26-March 3, 2012), eating disorders and food addictions expert Tennie McCarty offers tips to parents on how to spot eating disorders in their teen children.

“Over the years, most of the talk about eating disorders in teens has focused on anorexia and bulimia, typically blamed on unrealistic body images portrayed in the media. Increasingly however, the discussion has turned to the opposite end of the spectrum - compulsive overeating and food addiction. As the obesity rates in American children continue to skyrocket, teen overeating and addiction to food are becoming serious concerns to many parents,” said McCarty.
Read 5 Warning Signs in full.

Why You Should Care That New Eating Disorders Might Make The DSM-V
BlissTree

When most people hear ‘eating disorder,’ they think anorexia or bulimia. But there are lots of different types of disordered eating—binge eating, compulsive night eating, obsessively health-conscious eating—and psychiatrists may officially recognize several ‘new’ eating disorders in the upcoming Diagnostic and Statistic manual. The DSM guides the way psychiatrists diagnose and treat mental health patients, how insurance companies cover treatment, what researchers get grants for studying and the drugs pharmaceutical companies develop. I asked Dr. Janet Taylor, a clinical psychiatry instructor at Columbia University’s Harlem Hospital, about the DSM, new eating disorders and what these mean for mental health care.
What is the DSM-V?
Read Why You Should Care in full.

May Institute: What Women Over 40 Should Know About Eating Disorders
Wicked Local

It’s not just teenage girls who are willing to starve themselves or “binge and purge” in order to become as thin as the movie stars and fashion models they admire. Today, more and more women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are seeking help for eating disorders they have developed as they battle slowing metabolisms and thickening waistlines.

"A growing number of older women are developing eating disorders or have hidden them for years," confirms Lauren Solotar, Ph.D., ABPP, May Institute’s Chief Executive Officer and a clinical psychologist who has specialized in the treatment of eating and anxiety disorders.
Read Women Over 40 in full.

Drawing on Experience to Tell Their Eating Disorder Stories
Derby Telegraph

The idea was developed through users of the charity who found it difficult to express how they felt with words.
Lauren Hind, 20, has been using the First Steps programme for the past four years and now volunteers with the organisation.
Her creation involves a picture of her face and words, such as "fat" and "worthless", describing how she has felt.
She said: "When we first had the workshops, I got really angry because I couldn't draw.
"But then the teacher told me that art didn't have to be drawings, it could be words too. Then I came up with my piece. It doesn't have a name. It's all my thoughts and feelings that I've ever had but couldn't say."
Lauren, who lives in Sinfin, used to binge-eat and said she had avoided getting help sooner because she was afraid of being turned away.
Read Drawing On Experience in full.

Healthy Eating Campaigns ‘Causing Anorexia’
Deadline News

A SCOTS expert has said government healthy eating drives are causing anorexia in children.

Dr Jane Morris, chairwoman of the Scottish Eating Disorder Interest Group, said children were obsessing about their diet because of drives to combat obesity.
Last week reports of children as young as six were being treated for anorexia emerged, and figures showed medical treatments were on the rise.
Dr Morris, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Royal Edinburgh hospital, said it was a ‘huge concern.’
Read Causing Anorexia in full.

Anorexia and Aging: Is There a Silent Crisis of Eating Disorders in Older Women?
Family Goes Strong

Expert: "Eating disorders are the deadliest mental illnesses and premature death is very common."

It's National Eating Disorders Awareness Week from Feb. 26 – March 3. There is a lot of helpful information available on how younger and younger kids are struggling with eating disorders, how 5-year-old girls are complaining they are "fat," and how boys are now struggling in significant numbers with one of the deadliest mental illnesses there is.
Read Anorexia and Aging in full.

Eating Disorders Awareness: Pro-Recovery Project

Last week I had the pleasure of participating in a Pro-Recovery Project with 11 other bloggers to help raise awareness about Eating Disorders. Each blogger shared their views on, and reasons for, recovery.

Check out their inspiring posts:

Together We Can Recover

A Piece Of Me

Until Eating Disorders Are No More

Be Inspired

Life After Anorexia

Lost In Translation

Just As I Am

Fighting Anorexia

Actively Arielle: A Voice With A Commitment

A Pensive Insight

Creating A Path To Wellness

Weighing The Facts

Recovery Is Possible!

Recovery Quote Of The Week: February 27, 2012

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
Desiderata

See sidebar menu for more Recovery Quotes of the Week and Inspirational Recovery Quotes

picsource:http://www.flickr.com/photos/chiaralily/4974131300/in/photostream/

Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2012: Choosing Recovery

It's the first day of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, 2012.
Let's talk about RECOVERY...

What is an Eating Disorder?

eating disorder

Function: noun

: any of several psychological disorders (as anorexia nervosa or bulimia) characterized by serious disturbances of eating behavior

Eating disorders involve extreme behaviors, attitudes, and feelings surrounding food, weight, and body image which are harmful to a person's health and well-being.

Eating disorders are dangerous and can be fatal.

Though someone may be suffering from one eating disorder, they may also exhibit behaviors /traits of other eating disorders (or trade one eating disorder for another).
Eating Disorders Symptoms
Do I have an eating disorder? (self-assessment tests)

Is Recovery Possible?

Many, many people have recovered from their eating disorder and gone on to live healthily and happily. It takes time. It's a process. You can expect to experience ups and downs along the way but it is definitely possible.

What defines Recovery from an Eating Disorder?

Opinions vary, both medically and individually, but my favorite description of recovery is found in the book 8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder: Effective Strategies from Therapeutic Practice and Personal Experience by Carolyn Costin and Gwen Schubert Grabb. It says;

Being recovered is when the person can accept his or her natural body size and shape and no longer has a self-destructive relationship with food or exercise. When you are recovered, food and weight take a proper perspective in your life, and what you weigh is not more important than who you are; in fact, actual numbers are of little or no importance at all. When recovered, you will not compromise your health or betray your soul to look a certain way, wear a certain size, or reach a certain number on the scale. When you are recovered, you do not use eating disorder behaviors to deal with, distract from, or cope with other problems.

Why would I want to Recover? What are the benefits?

The benefits are too many to list in full. Here are just a few:

Increased Energy
A better sense of self
Self-respect
Self-acceptance
Self-confidence
Being more comfortable around others
Being more comfortable in your own body
Physical and emotional strength
Feeling more peaceful
Increased passion for life
A better appreciation for your body
A more comfortable relationship with food
Better relationships with family and friends
Better physical and emotional health
Healthier hair, skin, and nails
Longer life expectancy
A more loving relationship with yourself

...and the list goes on and on.

What steps do I need to take to Recover?

The first step is admitting that you have an eating disorder.
The second step is to decide that you want to recover.
Step three is to find professional eating disorder treatment.

There are several options available for professional help in recovering.

Here are a couple of resources to help you with deciding your plan of action for recovery:
Something Fishy
Help Guide. org

Check out the non-profit org, Mentor Connect for recovery mentoring. It's free.

Here is a list of more Eating Disorder Organizations and websites that you can contact for help and info.

What can I do, in addition to professional eating disorder treatment, to enhance my recovery efforts?
here are a few suggestions:

surround yourself with positive, loving, supportive people
journal
use positive affirmations each morning, at bedtime, and throughout the day.
join a support group
visit positive recovery forums and sites
take time for yourself
be forgiving, kind, and loving to yourself
be patient
take a step back, and rethink before reacting
make a relapse prevention plan
take care of yourself
nurture your mind, your body, and your spirit, daily
volunteer/help others

I asked readers three questions about recovery:

1.What has recovery meant for you?
2.What are the benefits of recovery?
3.How did you deal with your emotions when ED was speaking louder than your recovery?

Here are their amazing and insightful answers:

A said: Recovery for me has been an awakening of my real and authentic self. I lived for so long in the grips of ED and yearning for approval and acceptance from others. I was constantly looking outwards and thought that if I could fix the external aspects of myself, somehow I would be happy. Once I admitted to myself that I needed help and asked for it, I realized that the only way to happiness was to seek within first.

The days when ED yelled in my head and tried to break me down, I yelled back and constantly challenged my distorted thoughts. With the help of a wonderful therapist, family, and friends, I began to see that ED was very simple, black-and-white, and that I wasn't any of those things.

The benefits of recovery are that I actually accept and like myself just as I am. I am my own best friend instead of my own worst enemy. Most days I can see myself clearly and I am beautiful, inside and outside. Recovery for me is about choosing love and life, and I have never looked back.

S said: I want to be in healthy relationships with those close to me. I want companionship but I also want the capability to live alone. I want to use food as fuel not as an emotional crutch. I want to have a healthy body, regardless of its size. I want to be okay with the resulting size.

I want to sprint towards life, not away from death. I want to run a marathon and be healthy enough to do so. I want to compete in challenges regardless of fear of failure. I want to chase down every dream and capture them. I want to live.

L said: Recovery means peace and freedom to me. The benefits are wonderful - no more shouting in my head, able to work, smiling and laughing without the guilt, meeting friends for a cheeky drink or two etc.

When my ed spoke louder than my recovery I did my best to not respond. It was a struggle to get through the days without giving into it but I wanted to prove it wrong. So I did :)

B said: Recovery means to be me that i will be strong (mentally and physically) and healthy. Recovery will allow me to love myself and my body and accept that i can not be perfect because no one actually is. Recovery shows me everyday that i can do anything.

The benefit of recovery is that i will be happy and truly learn to love life and myself. I have learned that being a smaller size is not a good thing, and a healthy size is a good thing.

I've learned to say, "No, I'm not listening to you" or "You already said that." I deal with my emotions by repeating positive quotes or watching a pro-recovery video on youtube. I've found that writing down all the negative comments my ED makes and then counteracting them with positive ones is the best. But, above all, i refuse to restrict and let my ED win me over because I'm stronger than that.

K said: I am not in recovery yet, in all reality I think I'm relapsing, but I still have my hopes and dreams. Recovery means freedom and time. Freedom to think about things. Freedom to act with integrity to myself. Freedom to not hide myself. It will mean all the time I spend obsessing about my disordered behaviours can be spent on the life I want to live.

One day - this ED won't even be an option for me. I'll face stressful situations with a healthy set of coping skills. At the moment my flirtations with recovery, ED has still been an option. But I want to fight this, I need to fight this, so one day I'll look back at the journey I've taken and know I'll never go back.

Life with an ED is a half life, a life in the shadows. I want more. I will get there. There isn't an alternative.

Choose Recovery! When you have an eating disorder, recovery is the most important factor in being able to live a healthy, happier life... to living the life you deserve. Recovery will cause the world to open up wide so that you can experience it completely and enjoy the life you desire for yourself.

resources:

8 keys to recovery excerpt http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/2011/08/what-full-recovery-from-an-eating-disorder-means/