Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Day Five

Happy Hump Day!

Last night I spent a good hour reading different articles on Thought Catalog (thanks a lot Jenna Deutsch) that people with eating disorders have written.

Like this one, or this one, or this one. Oh yeah and this one was pretty spot on. 

If you don't read any of the other articles I link to, thats fine. Please take the time to read these ones. 

I'm planning to write my own and submit it soon.
Anyway I spent awhile reading these articles and needless to say, it made me uber depressed. I don't mean to throw around the word "depressed" like it's nothing, but I think it's safe to say that that's the feeling that definitely stuck to me until I fell asleep.

If you read the articles, I think you'll know why. 

While I normally try to keep this blog upbeat and positive, which I honestly believe are two things that are entwined in my soul, I also think it's important to draw attention to just how much having an eating disorder sucks.

"Sucks," isn't the right word, but I can tell you that's exactly what having an eating disorder does to you - what it has literally done to me. So many days have been "sucked" away from me, lost now to anxiety about my weight. So many moments have been lost, "sucked" if you will, because it was more important to me to stay-in or exercise. I have missed so many opportunities because I didn't trust myself - didn't trust myself to handle food if it was part of what I was being presented.

Although this may have been something I've known all along, I'm not convinced that being "skinny" is the only thing I've looked to achieve through becoming bulimic. As I've heard from my therapist, from my parents, from friends, from random people - it's really about control. Food is just one thing I have found that I can control, when everything else feels just the opposite.

This quote was part of one of the articles I shared and well ... I don't think I've read anything more true in awhile. It was written by someone with anorexia, but it still applies. 

"So, if you’re starving yourself because you think it will make you beautiful, stop it. Or at least stop telling yourself that beauty is what you’re after."

So what am I after? ... What are you after?

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