My body is not me

The title of this post may be a bit misleading, but I am going to explain why I chose it:

While my body is mine and in this moment, I am content with my shape, it is not who I am. I am a person not a body. My body shape does not tell the world that I am a sister, a girlfriend, a best friend, a mentor, a shoulder to cry on, or a person with a very big heart and passion for helping others. My body shape does not tell the world that I am a woman that has a love for teaching and strives to be a positive role model. My body shape does not tell the world that I am out to change the world!

Challenge yourself to see yourself as a person and not a body. The person is within and cannot be represented by our appearance. The mirror can never give us an accurate image of who we are as people and who you are as a person is what matters most in this world.

Stay strong and beautiful! <3

Picking up the pieces

I used to be so good at posting on regular basis, but lately I have been bad! My passion for advocacy and change remains as strong as ever. In fact, it has multiplied. I recently lost a friend due to a very tragic accident. Knowing her was truly a gift and I have no doubt that her role in my life saved me from continuing down my dark path. Before her passing, she was advocating for education in the school system about eating disorders. I am so proud of her for that. The truth about ED is ugly, I have shared some of the ugly truths on here, but the fight should not me a lonely one. The more educated parents are about ED, the sooner they can get help for their child and be as supportive as possible. Something else that needs to change is the insurance coverage of treatment. For many suffering, treatment is a long term thing and not one bit of it is affordable! Inpatient care costs tens of thousands of dollars. Then there are the outpatient costs that you need to take care of if you want the progress made in inpatient to last and mean anything. I know that I can't fix all of those problems, but I hope that by spreading awareness I can help save lives of those that I encounter.

Here is a video I found from Project HEAL on facebook. A very inspiring song by Sara Bareilles. I challenge everyone to be brave and say what you feel is important. You never know who is listening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwTr_CRw3GY

Stay Strong and Beautiful <3

Never Stop Fighting

This June will celebrate my fourth year in recovery. Day one I thought that at this point I would be "cured," but I am still a work in progress. I have said before that I was extremely fortunate enough to have insurance coverage for my treatment. There are people that I met that either had limited insurance coverage or no coverage at all and were not able to receive the appropriate amount of treatment necessary for a successful recovery. It is not fair. Eating disorders are as deadly as cancer. Like cancer there are different levels of severity, early treatment has the highest recovery rates, relapses are unpredictable, and the person with the disease did not ask for it, nor do they want it! I have tried to make the comparison before, but this article I read today really does a great job at painting the picture. Eating disorders may not be able to be seen through x-rays, body scans, or even with the naked eye, but their danger is extremely real. If you are or someone you know is having trouble paying for ED treatment, this article gives some tips for getting more insurance coverage. Also there is a wonderful organization called Project HEAL that helps people that cannot afford their treatment. No matter what tries to stop you from beating ED, keep fighting. Recovery is worth everything!

Article:

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/how-to-fight-for-coverage-of-eating-disorder-treatment-cm204789#.UOt9jm9fC8B

Project HEAL:
http://theprojectheal.org/

Stay Strong and Beautiful! <3

New Year, New Start

A lot of people think that the start of a new year will make things all better. The truth is, New Years is not magic. All of the problems you had last week will still be there, they don't magically disappear at the end of the year. However, the new year is an opportunity to change your attitude and start fresh. Truthfully, you could really do this any day of the year, but on New Year's Eve everyone tends to reflect on the past year and wish for better things in the new year. Like others I too reflected on the past year. There certainly were some challenging times, but I wouldn't expect any year to be challenge free. Usually I don't make resolutions, but this year I thought of a few things I want to work on that will make me happier.

1. Be a better girlfriend- I am currently a pretty kick ass girlfriend, but I would like to be more trusting.

2. Hang out with friends more- I have a tendency to let school consume me and leave no time for fun. This year I want to make more time to be a 21 year old and go out with friends and have fun. This will also help with my intense social anxiety!!

3. Watch more tv- Again, I spend so much time on school work that I rarely sit back to just watch some tv. This one might be hard to do!

4. Quit biting my fingers- My worst habit!! Going to be tough to quit!

5. Reduce/stop fat talk- I want to accept myself more as I am. If I have a negative thought I want to just let it go and accept myself in the moment.

Those are the improvements I have decided to work on for 2013!! Happy New Year!

Stay Strong and Beautiful! <3