A reporter, doing a story on eating disorders, recently asked me about my three best tips related to eating disorder recovery. And I'd like to share my answer with you today.
1) Your Personal Support Team:
I could not have recovered without the help and support from others. I was close to giving up the fight many times, and my support team was there for me and believed in me, no matter what. And whenever I fell, they helped me get back up again to continue on with my recovery and healing journ…
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Added by Andrea Roe on November 25, 2009 at 12:50pm —
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During and before my struggles with eating disorders, I never felt good enough. I didn't feel worthy. Like everybody else was better than me. Like my opinion didn't matter as much as others' did.
If you feel the same, I'd like you to know that you are worthy! You are special! And you can learn to love yourself! It's just a matter of working on your self-esteem. Here are some exercises that helped me during my recovery.
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Stop thinking negative thoughts about yourself. Of course, that's…
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Added by Andrea Roe on October 28, 2009 at 1:00pm —
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During my recovery from eating disorders I had setbacks - A LOT of setbacks. And whenever I fell, I had to learn not to beat myself up but be kind and patient with myself. It was often very hard to get back up again and continue on with my recovery and healing journey. Sometimes I was able to get back up again by myself… I'd spend some time in my misery and with my eating disorder but eventually got tired of feeling this way and somehow found the strength to pull myself back up again.
And somet…
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Added by Andrea Roe on September 29, 2009 at 12:56pm —
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I always hated when someone told me that recovery means taking baby steps. I didn't want to take baby steps. I wanted to take big huge steps and be done with my eating disorder and get on with my life. But unfortunately, this is not how it works...we have to learn to be patient, we have to learn to be kind to ourselves. And these are all important lessons that recovery teaches us.
Recovery is a process. It takes time. Recovery does not happen overnight. Your eating disorder started years before…
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Added by Andrea Roe on August 26, 2009 at 2:36pm —
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I'd like to share with you something I recently read in a newsletter. It's something that touched me and I hope it does the same for you...
A motivational speaker liked to begin his presentation by holding up a $20 bill and asking, “Who in this room would like this crisp, new $20 bill?”
Of course, every hand in the room would shoot up. Then the speaker would crumple the bill, throw it on the floor, and step on it. Then he would ask, “Now who still wants it?”
All the hands would naturally stay…
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Added by Andrea Roe on July 29, 2009 at 1:01am —
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Earlier this month, my husband and I were at a friend’s wedding in the interior of BC, Canada (and it is gorgeous there!!). I did not know anyone there, except for my friend, who is actually more my husband’s friend. BUT, I was looking forward to our trip and the wedding celebration.
During my eating disorder struggles, an event like this would have stressed me out w-e-e-k-s in advance. I would have restricted my food intake to make sure I fit into my tiniest clothes and “look good.” I would ha…
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Added by Andrea Roe on July 2, 2009 at 4:59pm —
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For the longest time I actually thought that my problems were about food and weight -- I really thought that was the real issue. It didn't occur to me that there were other things going on deep inside of me and the eating disorder was the sympton of these things. It took a while for me to really understand (and feel) that my eating disorder was not simply about food and weight but an attempt to use food and weight to deal with internal struggles and ultimately life.
Once I really got that my ea…
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Added by Andrea Roe on May 29, 2009 at 1:18pm —
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Recently, I was invited to share my story with an eating disorder support group... Now that I am recovered, it is my passion to spread the word of recovery and give others hope and support.
One of the girls of the support group said that years ago her therapist told her that she would always have her eating disorder. She was told that she would never be able to get rid of it.
Now, years later, her situation has not improved -- it has actually gotten worse. Why? Because she lost hope. She has g…
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Added by Andrea Roe on April 30, 2009 at 1:12am —
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Hi everyone!
I am excited to be a part of this wonderful community and am looking forward to getting to know you. I'd also like to share with you my experiences with eating disorders, body image issues and depression – and most importantly, my
recovery!
I hated myself and my life for years. I cried almost every day. My body was in pain. My mind was in pain. I was a sad and lonely girl—constantly abusing my body, destroying my self-respect. Depression and self-hatred were a regula…
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Added by Andrea Roe on April 21, 2009 at 1:35pm —
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