4 Tips for Managing Triggers During the Holidays
For many of us, the holidays can be a difficult time. Whether you are visiting your family for winter break or you live with your parents, the hyper-focus on food and body image during this time can be hard to navigate. We often receive mixed messages during the holidays. Food is central to family events, […]
Opting Out of the Holidays with Family
Many 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 with food, already aggravated by how central food becomes during the holidays, […]
Healthily Ever After: Planning a Wedding in Eating Disorder Recovery
Planning 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 brought along an entirely different set of worries on top of the common ones. […]
Caught Between Two Cultures: Developing a Positive Body Image as a Biracial Woman
Even if you haven’t read any of her novels, you’ve probably heard of Margaret Wolfe Hungerford’s most famous quote, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” It’s a very simple way of explaining aesthetic relativism after all. We see aesthetic relativism in modern society, like when a celebrity or classmate from high school is […]
Claiming My Piece of Recovery Pie
The 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, the beloved season has also become a huge challenge. Just a few years […]
Scenes from a Military Marriage: Our Journey with Binge Eating Disorder and Bulimia
Melinda 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 recovery for her eating disorder. Melinda’s Story I developed an eating disorder beginning in 2003, […]
Why the Phrase “Binge-Watching” is Triggering
Something that really bothers me is when people say, “I’m going to binge-watch this show all weekend.” Although the word binge means to indulge in an activity to excess, there is a significant difference between binge eating and watching an entire season of a new Netflix show in one sitting. As someone who has a […]
I Am Not Enough: The Power of Community in Recovery
I 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 a flip of a pronoun, they altered the phrase and turned it into […]
What Eating Disorders Activists Can Learn From TIME Magazine’s “Silence Breakers”
This morning, I checked my phone to find a flurry of excited Facebook posts about TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year, the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault. The magazine featured a group of women and men crucial to the movement, whom it dubbed “The Silence Breakers.” While many have pointed out that the […]
Why SNL’s “Welcome to Hell” Skit is So Important for People in Eating Disorder Recovery
This past Saturday, the women of SNL united for “Welcome to Hell,” a catchy, candy-colored music video that serves to remind everyone that sexual harassment and abusive behavior toward women has been going on for a very, very, very, long time. Together with host Saoirse Ronan, cast members Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong, and Kate McKinnon […]
