WritingRecovery175

When Talk Runs Dry: Recovering Your Secret Garden

After a busy holiday season of cooking, eating and football at my in-laws, I spent ten minutes writing about my victories/successes of the past year.  I felt ecstatic to pause and look at my accomplishments, a topic that certainly never…
FoodFinances175

Food, Finances & Eating Disorders

Do you overspend and overeat? Deprive yourself of possessions as well as of meals?   If so, there may be a connection between how you spend money and what’s going on with food.  Many behaviors with food and finances are strategies…
JoannaKay NEDA175

How Social Media Led Me to Recovery

 The Internet has played a complicated role in my battle against an eating disorder.In the depths of my illness, I used to scour the web to learn how to become a “better” anorexic. I was a slave to it. With every year that I lived with…
gratitude175

Gratitude: A Gift to Yourself

Our country has set aside holidays for giving thanks, exchanging gifts, bringing light to a dark time of year. I cherish these ideals. But the actual experiences of the winter holidays often revolve more around food and complicated relationships,…
TG175

Thanksgiving Goodness Without the Guilt

Last week, my Pinterest account beckoned me with an alluring collection of pins under the heading, “Thanksgiving goodness without the guilt.” Featured were holiday “clean plates,” a virtual smorgasbord of vegan, raw, and gluten-free…
Halloween_Cover

5 Tips for a Happy Halloween!

1. Costumes aren’t such a big dealHalloween can get stressful trying to figure out what to wear. Focus less on how you look and more about enjoying the festivities! If you don’t like dressing up DON’T! Wear what is going to be comfortable…
jenni_passingrecoverybaton_blog

Jenni Schaefer: Passing the Recovery Baton

Family members play an integral role in supporting their love one's recovery. During the Friends & Family Kick-Off Dinner to open the NEDA Conference last week in San Antonio, TX, this idea was thoroughly explored through a "Friends &…
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An Anonymous Thank You Note…

I recently received the following e-mail of thanks from a father who contacted NEDA for resources and references to help his daughter. This letter was so moving and inspirational that we wanted to share it with all of you, because it is supporters…
WritingRecovery175

Writing About a Significant Relationship Can Lead to Writing in Circles (But a List of Steppingstones can Straighten Things Out)

In my monthly writing group (we call ourselves the Journalistas), I led three other writers and myself to list the Steppingstones of our marriages.  I think of Steppingstones as milestones.  I've heard Kathleen Adams, author of Journal…
WritingRecovery175

Looking Back at my Entire Life Bogs me Down (But Recapturing One Period of Your Life can Bring it in to Light)

It was a time when courage was essential.  It was a time when tears, shock, rage and grief were unleashed as if I'd pried open a Pandora's Box.  It was a time when innumerable doors began to swing open, new connections form and my…