For me, stress is the number one reason I feel overwhelmed, foggy and in a state of “funk”. Not only does it hold me back from being creative, it also causes a lot of anxiety and panic on bad days. If you have ever struggled with anxiety before, you know that stress can trigger anxiety episodes big time. I can see my anxiety from miles away: My mind starts spinning and I feel as if I am unable to stop thinking the same thoughts over an over and over again. It can be crippling. Over[...]
Browse the Tag
eating disorder recovery
Have you ever woken up and immediately felt icky in your skin? You felt just fine the day before, but today you feel bloated, puffy and generally “off”. Looking in the mirror becomes a pain and you just want to put your pajamas back on and crawl under the covers. Been there? I sure have. I used to have these kinds of days all the time. The funny part is that I had them even more so when I was about 40 pounds lighter than I am now. Coincidence? I don’t think so. 2 years ago,[...]
Sometimes I wonder… what came first for me? Was it my anxiety or my eating disorder? I dove deep into researching the connection between mental health and disordered eating behaviors and it brought me a lot of clarity. I want to pass my knowledge on to you, so you can understand: How my anxiety caused me to self-sabotage with food as a coping mechanism Why certain coping mechanisms can help us survive How to cope with mental health concerns in recovery[...]
Binge eating (or extreme hunger in response to food deprivation) is one of the most isolating behaviors, because of the shame and guilt we experience afterwards. The most memorable experience for me was a Wednesday-evening in October 2016. It was about a month after my wedding – for which I had dieted harder than ever - and my husband was supposed to be gone for work. However, he came home early to surprise me and walked in on me sitting on the kitchen floor, surrounded by candy wrappe[...]
If you are anything like me, you are overwhelmed with all the nutrition- and health information that is accessible. There are countless articles, websites and social media accounts that put out information on how to eat healthy and live a healthy life. Most of them are contradicting each other. I would change my opinion on “the perfect diet” on a weekly basis. There is just too much information to navigate. Every day, I would come across suggestions like: “How to eat Keto for optim[...]
Out of sheer curiosity, I googled the title of my article before publishing it. All that came up was "how to stop counting calories and still lose weight". The intention of weight loss is the whole problem our society is so obsessed with calories and macronutrients. It is weight loss or an innocent "healthy eating journey" that usually gets us into this mess. The recipe for a food and body obsession The recipe for this obsession is this. Take a society that is obsessed with small bodies, t[...]
People always ask me how I stopped binge eating. It is one of the most vulnerable things to admit for me, but for years I struggled with binge eating in secret. I remember my first binge like it was yesterday. For about one year, I followed a strict diet of mostly plant-based foods and cold-pressed juices. I was exercising for up to 3 hours, 4-5 days per week and was in a big caloric deficit. One morning, I woke up and felt a very primal sense of hunger. Not only was my tummy rumbling, I[...]
Is it allowed to set health goals while trying to recover from an eating disorder, disordered eating and/or chronic dieting? How do you know if your goal setting is coming from a place of self-care and self-acceptance? How do you know it isn’t the old eating disorder voice, telling you to shrink yourself in the name of health? It truly is a fine line to balance out health and well-being and to separate goal setting from rigid rules, developing compulsive behaviours or damaging our ment[...]
[Disclaimer: The content of this article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, health care or eating disorder treatment.] Our bodies fluctuate throughout our lifetime. We will probably not be the same size forever and that is completely normal. However, if we put ourselves through a period of excessive dieting, restricting food, binge eating, emotional eating or excessive exercise, the fluctuation will be much more[...]
Out of sheer curiosity, I googled the title of my article before publishing it. All that came up was "how to stop counting calories and still lose weight". The intention of weight loss is the whole problem our society is so obsessed with calories and macronutrients. It is weight loss or an innocent "healthy eating journey" that usually gets us into this mess. The recipe for a food and body obsession The recipe for this obsession is this. Take a society that is obsessed with small bodies, throw i[...]