Opting Out of the Holidays with Family
RecoveryMany people look forward to the winter holiday season for time off to relax and be with loved ones. For others, this time of year brings an influx of complicated feelings. For those of us struggling with body image and an unhealthy relationship…
Healthily Ever After: Planning a Wedding in Eating Disorder Recovery
RecoveryPlanning a wedding can be stressful at times—says every person I’ve ever met. The details, the pressure to please everyone, and the expectations we create are things that cause us to stress out at moments. Yet, for me, planning a wedding…
Claiming My Piece of Recovery Pie
RecoveryThe holiday season is my favorite time of year. I know I’m not alone in that. Who wouldn’t love home, hearth, and family all bundled together in a peppermint-scented haze of love and gratitude?But ever since I was diagnosed with anorexia,…
Scenes from a Military Marriage: Our Journey with Binge Eating Disorder and Bulimia
Binge Eating Disorder, Bulimia, RecoveryMelinda developed an eating disorder while she served in the military from 2003-2008. When she met her husband Jim several years later, she was still battling binge eating disorder and bulimia. They’ve coped as a couple as Melinda began her…
I Am Not Enough: The Power of Community in Recovery
RecoveryI am enough. These three words appear in memes and on social media. We fling them around in the recovery community and silk screen them onto shirts. While in treatment, therapists repeated them and encouraged me to apply them to myself. With…
The Incredible Power of Sharing Our Recovery Stories
Bulimia, RecoveryMore often than not these days, my eating disorder feels like a distant memory. I have to think really hard to put myself back in my own shoes. It was only five years ago that my entire life revolved around bingeing and purging and starving…
Uncovering the Real Me in Recovery Through Art
RecoveryBefore I sat down to write this blog for NEDA (a dream come true), I wrote down a grocery list with all my favorites foods. This is a normal part of life for some, but it was just a couple years ago when I would have severe panic attacks when…
Don’t Go the Journey Alone: This is How You Can Develop the Ultimate Support System in Recovery
RecoveryLife is not meant to be lived alone. We are here to empower one another and to be there for one another through the different positive or negative journeys we face. I have begun to realize that more and more. Indeed, it is the people who are…
I Am an Active Woman—At Any Weight
Athletes, RecoveryHGTV hummed in the background and a stack of gossip magazines were lazily stacked on the table next to me. My hands rested on my lap, tightly woven together. Thumbs anxiously pressed against each other, I hummed to myself. A combination of Beyoncé…
7 Tips for Getting Through Thanksgiving in Eating Disorder Recovery
RecoverySurviving the holidays when you have an eating disorder is not always easy. If you are like many of my clients, you are so not looking forward to the holiday parties, events, dinners, and plans.For most, this is overwhelming because you know…