ED-Free Life

Real tips & strategies for a full recovery.

[edfreelife]

LIFE = INSANITY (sometimes!)

Hello dearest readers!

😁 I completely realize that I have vanished (almost) without a trace for a good few months now and I feel terrible about BUT there are a few not so tiny reasons for it:

💔 I ended a 3+ year relationship with my fiancee about 5 months ago and moved out into a new place with my brother and his girlfriend. This has been quite the wild ride and definitely something I was sure would be the end of the world for me BUT what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger and I’ll write a whole post just on this later (if any of you are interested to find out how that all went down and how I dealt with the fallout without snapping or falling apart.)

🎊 I got promoted twice at work which meant - you guessed it - TWICE the work! So ramping up with that (and it’s a pseudo-management role) has definitely taken it’s mental toll on me and tossed my sleep schedules way off whack. Lack of sleep = lack of motivation and energy for extracurricular things (like blogging) so thus the dry spell (pardon my French!)

🍎 I came to the realization that I’m actually in what ‘they’ (whoever THEY are) call “partial-recovery” and this is something I seriously needed to come to terms with in order to continue helping you lovely folks and giving advice that I myself was 100% taking. This is one that I’m STILL working through and I’ll write an in-depth post on Partial Recovery and where I’m at with that, what it means and how I’m re-planning my approach to not only my own recovery but to supporting all you warriors that brave struggles of your own every day.

Hopefully, given that those are some pretty solid reasons for taking a brief (OK - not so brief) hiatus, you can forgive my lack of motivating posts and rest articles but I pledge to from this day forth (or the wrath of *insert worst super villain here* shall be bestowed upon me) that I will commit to not only answering your guys’ recovery questions once again but I’ll be following this posting schedule and coming out with new recovery articles weekly!

🖊 MY NEW POSTING SCHEDULE 🖊 

1 New Article / week: Posted to your delicious feeds (no pun intended) every Sunday at 9:30pm EST.

1 New Inspiring Quote / week: Tossed atcha every Wednesday evening at 9:30pm EST

1 Weekly photo-feed: Where I’ll share some fav snaps of my life / recovery practices etc every Saturday at 9:30 pm EST.

I’m setting ⏰ 27 reminders ⏰ as we speak and I won’t disappear on you guys again! Anyways, hopefully you’re all doing amazingly great and practiced self-love and mindfulness over the holidays because that’s SO important. I know ED doesn’t make the holiday season easy so I hope you guys were able to make the best of it and get that annoying little voice to shut up for at least a ew minutes every day as you celebrated whatever it is that your family celebrates around this time of year. :)

Cheers, happy weekend and hugs to all you guys!

💋 XOX 💋

K

[edfreelife]

[edfreelife]

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[edfreelife]

Your ED is great at making you feel like you’re under a microscope when you’re out and about. You think that others are watching what you’re doing / eating / not eating etc. But GUESS WHAT? 

No one is watching you - everyone has their own lives, errands they’re running, people they’re meeting etc.

No one (but you) cares about what you eat or don’t eat; how fast you eat it or where you eat it. Everyone is busy being concerned with themselves, their children, spouses, pets or whoever else.

When someone looks over at you, all they’re doing is just that - briefly looking over because that’s what people do - they glance around all day, every day - they’re not looking over to keep tabs on how you’re doing with your meal.

When someone walked by you and is laughing - they’re not laughing at you, trust me. As much as your ED would like you to think that your eating or lack-of is of utmost importance to everyone around you - that’s just absolutely NOT the case.

You’re nourishing OR starving your body for YOU and YOU alone. YOU have everything at stake while others have nothing and live their own lives. Don’t make choices for anyone but yourself because that’t the ONLY person who will live the consequences and really care down the line.

[edfreelife]

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Want to stay motivated? | Click Here |

[edfreelife]

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[edfreelife]

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[edfreelife]

Questions to ask yourself this morning:

Did yesterday bring me closer to where I want to be in the future?

What worked for me yesterday and what didn’t? What did I learn?

What can I do differently today that will bring me closer to the life I want?

If things aren’t going the way you want them to, don’t give up and hide from the world. You’re not doomed to “be this way” forever! 

Today is a new day full of new chances, opportunities and choices. If yesterday wasn’t all that amazing, learn from those experiences and feelings, forgive, forget and move on! Staying stuck in the past is a surefire way to stay stuck period. Don’t stay stuck - get up, get ready and try again! 

Even one tiny change can make a huge difference to not only your day but your life.

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[edfreelife]

Weekend Survival Guide

When you have an ED pecking away at your mind, weekends - something most people await with knee-trembling impatience, to you become a free roaming, untamed beast ready to swallow you alive. As if it’s not bad enough that having an eating disorder sucks in general but when something that is supposed to bring you joy and fill you with anticipation instead incites panic and fear, that’s just a cruel joke, right!?

Eating disorders take the idea of “the weekend” and completely distort your perspective causing you to instead see weekends as basically mine fields of unstructured time, 48 hours full of nothing but sitting with your urges, thoughts, loneliness and with your most depressing playlist shuffled on repeat while “everyone you know” is basking in the warm April sunshine without a care. Does this sound like something you might have gone through / are going through? I know I’ve been there and it completely blows! Since the weekend is just a few hours away, how about a survival guide? Without further babble, these 2 coping strategies worked wonders for me:

1. Take the “Un” out of “Unstructured”

How do we make unstructured time less scary? We structure it! Oh, that’s common sense you say? Yes it is but very few of us actually put in the effort in taking steps to avoid unstructured time during your days off. What you need to do is, on whatever day is your last working / school day, sit down and break each day of your weekend down into planned-out chunks that leave no room for sitting with your skewed ED thoughts. Try to be as specific as possible and account for every minute of your day if you must. Avoid ambiguous activities like “Do something until 1pm” because guess what that “something” will turn into? Nothing pleasant, that’s for sure!

Example)

8 am - Wake up, make coffee and read 10 pages of my new book.

8:45 am - Jump in the shower and get ready/dressed for the day.

9:30 am - Make and eat breakfast according to my MP.

10:15 am - Call grandma and chat for a while - I’ve been putting it off.

and so on…

Might seem micro-managey BUT trust me, if weekends always sneak up on you and toss you out of the recovery wagon out of nowhere, micromanaging your time will do wonders in preventing that from happening this weekend too!

2. Sabotage your ED!

Your eating disorder is not your friend. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of a friend - it’s the most evil and abusive asshole in your life at the moment (hopefully the only one!) So why grant ED the power to ruin a perfectly good weekend (again) by giving him what he needs to make you miserable? What the hell am I talking about!? Well…you might be giving your ED several weapons that he WILL use against you come Saturday:

You might be buying foods you KNOW you binge on during your grocery run.

You might be scouting a new workout outfit that shows off your emaciated body because you have a 5-hour date with the Gym planned.

You might be telling a friend that’s inviting you to hang out this weekend that you’re “sooo… busy” knowing full well you’re not.

Catch my drift?

The thing is, though, you actually have the power to say “You know what ED? No! You don’t get to destroy yet another weekend!” You have the power to let those urges and thoughts pass through your mind without tossing the keys to your future in their grimy, misery-toting invisible fingers by giving them your time of day. It won’t be easy because you’re used to stepping down and complying with the voices in your head and you WILL have to force yourself to go against them at first which WILL take effort and emotional energy on your part BUT guess what, as difficult as that will be - think of HOW difficult it will be to pick yourself up after you fall off that wagon again?

Think of how miserable you will inevitably feel after you do what the voices in your mind tell you and everything hurts and you’re crying yourself to sleep at night yet again. I guarantee you that the latter will be MUCH harder on you.

Luckily it’s completely up to you in this moment to make the decision to go one way or the other and I am confident that you CAN choose the still difficult but later rewarding path!

In summary:

Micromanage the hell out of your weekend by planning it out in as much detail as possible before Saturday morning rolls around.

Force yourself to go against the voices in your head that are telling you to “buy this gallon of ice cream because ‘this time will be different!’” and other things you KNOW for a fact are a recipe for nothing but disaster.

Do these two things and your body, mind and spirit will thank you for it come Monday. You will also feel super proud of yourself and stand tall like a champion rather than slouch like a wilted flower because ED has beaten you down again. If I could do it when I was in your shoes, you can do it too!

[edfreelife]

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[edfreelife]

MUST READ❣

If you have not already~ check out my blog’s ❣ MUST READ ❣ page. Its packed with: 

Recovery articles answering your guys’ most frequently asked questions.

Recovery articles covering some major recovery issues / topics

Articles packed with tips, strategies etc. for an easier recovery

ツ  Subtle humor and sarcasm  ツ 

[edfreelife]

Why should I bother with recovery if I am overweight? They'll just want to make me fatter. Either that or they won't care. TBH it seems like a waste of my time and life.

Well, actually, true recovery (Meal Plan and all...) has been known to make those that have gained excessive weight due to their EDs, lose that weight as their bodies return to their normal, happy medium. ED is a waste of your time, life and energy. Recovery is something that changes your quality of life for the better, for the long term and is worth the energy you put into it. XoX

[edfreelife]

Hey. I wanted to ask you, if white flour really makes you gain weight and does harm to your body? I`m battling orthorexy and anorexy and I am getting panic attacks whenever I MUST face white foods (white flour, rice...). Sometimes they are so severe, I think I`ll pass out. I really want to get healthy and recovered and I hope you will have time to answer me. Thank you so much.

Hey anon,

First of all, “white flour” does not make you gain weight. No food out there can be labeled as something that deliberately MAKES you gain weight. It’s quantity that makes you gain - not the product itself. 

Your fear of “white products” is not an uncommon on amongst those with ED and is an issue that will need to be worked out with a psychologist for best results BUT what I can tell you (for a fact) is that if you eat ALL foods in moderation, your body knows how to handle everything and you won’t suddenly balloon up from it. 

I eat absolutely everything now minus a few foods that my body literally cannot handle for medical reasons but I’ll happily eat a bowl of cereal and go to bed (like last night), or ice cream etc... I used to have the same fears as you, but in taking that leap of faith that my body would know how to handle all foods, I discovered for myself that my fears were completely false and irrational. 

Don’t go opening the floodgates on the foods you fear, take baby steps. A 1/4 slice of white bread today, 1/2 tomorrow and so on... You’re stronger than the voices poisoning your mind and there is a different way to live that’s waiting for you on the other side of your fear. Trust me - as someone who’s now experienced both ends of the spectrum and can speak from experience. 

:-* XoX

[edfreelife]

“...but over time (and I promise you this) - this “comfort” will take on an uglier and uglier shape until you’ve slowly driven yourself mad and to the point of no return. There is nothing “comfortable” about bingeing and purging in isolation for decades, while everyone you know is experiencing all aspects of life all around you as you stagnate because change scares you.”

Full article here ✒ Click to Read!

Want an ED-free life? ❥ Click Here

[edfreelife]

Full article here ✒ Click to Read!

Want an ED-free life? ❥ Click Here