Yes, our society is obsessed with looks! That doesn't mean you have to buy into it. You decide what's beautiful! I truly believe that there are all kinds of beauty. I see it every day on the street.
What's the point of feeling beautiful on the outside if there's no substance inside? I wonder which comes first, self-esteem or beauty.
Please read on to learn more about body image. I challenge you this week to find one or two things that you like about your looks. Try to stop mirror checking. You look just fine. Maybe when you do look in the mirror you might practice saying, not bad...
Ilissa
Our society is obsessed with looks and weight, but that does not mean we have to passively accept the negative messages we receive about our bodies. In addition to the important tips listed in the book, here are other ways to empower yourself:
Experiment with what weight feels comfortable to you, rather than trying primarily to be thin. Find your “set point,” a weight where your body feels comfortable and will fight to remain. Accept weight variations throughout the life cycle.
Most of us judge each of our body parts individually -- my thighs are too fat, my breasts too droopy, my lips too thick. Try experiencing your body as a whole, rather than as separate parts that need improvement. Read more>>>
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Recovering from an Eating Disorder
Who will I be if I give up my eating disorder? What will my identity be? Sound familiar? Too familiar?? I know who you'll be. You'll be the best of you. The parts that remained undeveloped because of some sort of trauma or emotional neglect.
Find your passion and create a new identity, one that is engaged in life. I don't mean to make it seem easy, it's not! But, if you work with a professional and perhaps join a support group as well; you may find the knowledge and safety you need to become the person that you were meant to be.
The Road to Recovery - Healing from your Eating Disorder
Becoming connected and comfortable with your body, yourself, and your decisions.
The immense journey.
Are you at a point in your life where you really want to be free of your eating disorder? Perhaps it still is a friend to you but your family or friends are insisting that you get help. Whether you have been restricting, bulimic, or compulsively eating, your personal stories have a striking similarity in the real emotional pain you feel. I understand your pain and how difficult it may be to trust that there is a way out. After all, you struggle with trusting your own body so how could you trust others or believe in possibilities? Perhaps you spend so much time trying to be perfect in every way that you are left feeling exhausted. But of course you can’t quite be perfect enough to satisfy that hungry inner critic that constantly tells you that you are not good enough. So you may be left feeling empty inside. Do you have an over active mind that constantly is analyzing you and your life? Do you believe that people would not like you if they really knew you? Perhaps life seems like an endless struggle that you have been caught up in for so long, you really do not know who you are anymore. So how could you possibly feel happy when you are so afraid of becoming “fat?” Read More>>>
Find your passion and create a new identity, one that is engaged in life. I don't mean to make it seem easy, it's not! But, if you work with a professional and perhaps join a support group as well; you may find the knowledge and safety you need to become the person that you were meant to be.
The Road to Recovery - Healing from your Eating Disorder
Becoming connected and comfortable with your body, yourself, and your decisions.
The immense journey.
Are you at a point in your life where you really want to be free of your eating disorder? Perhaps it still is a friend to you but your family or friends are insisting that you get help. Whether you have been restricting, bulimic, or compulsively eating, your personal stories have a striking similarity in the real emotional pain you feel. I understand your pain and how difficult it may be to trust that there is a way out. After all, you struggle with trusting your own body so how could you trust others or believe in possibilities? Perhaps you spend so much time trying to be perfect in every way that you are left feeling exhausted. But of course you can’t quite be perfect enough to satisfy that hungry inner critic that constantly tells you that you are not good enough. So you may be left feeling empty inside. Do you have an over active mind that constantly is analyzing you and your life? Do you believe that people would not like you if they really knew you? Perhaps life seems like an endless struggle that you have been caught up in for so long, you really do not know who you are anymore. So how could you possibly feel happy when you are so afraid of becoming “fat?” Read More>>>
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Biological Causes of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa
Yes, it's true that eating disorders may develop from environmental influences. However, there are biological predispositions to having an eating disorder. For those individuals who are hard on themselves (all of you!) about having an eating disorder; this article will help you to understand the biochemical influences that predispose you to this kind of condition. Put that together with a dysfunctional family environment and you have a breeding ground for an eating disorder to develop. Information can be very freeing. Read on...
Ilissa
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa affect millions of people each year in the United States (1). Popular thought holds that these disorders are caused by women trying to fulfill a culturally imposed ideal body image which stresses thinness. As anorexia and bulimia have proven difficult to treat solely with a psychological-based treatment plan it is likely that there are many factors contributing to these disorders. Research has shown, however, that there is a significant biological component which leads to a manifestation of these disorders (2). Current ideas on the biological origins of anorexia and bulimia will be explored in this paper. These include areas ranging from genetic factors to neurotransmitter and hormone imbalances. Genetics appears to play a significant role in predisposing a person to developing an eating disorder. Abnormal neurotransmitter levels have been shown to exist in people with both bulimia and anorexia. Hormone functioning and levels are also atypical in people with eating disorders. While most studies focus on one area, and usually on just one neurotransmitter or hormone, the different biological causes of eating disorders seem to be related to one another. How these possible biological causes influences the I-function (which is the term for the components of the nervous system which give a sense of being oneself) will be examined as well in this paper. Anorexia nervosa is described as a disorder in which women and men intentionally starve themselves, losing at least fifteen percent of their normal body weight. This self imposed emaciation usually begins during puberty and is most common among middle to upper class Caucasian women, affecting one percent of the US population (1). Amenorrhea, the cessation of the normal menstrual cycle is a common occurrence among anorexic women. There is a tremendous discord between actual weight and perceived body weight. While the woman may feel fat she is actually excessively underweight. "When she came in for consultation she looked like a walking skeleton. Alma insisted that she looked fine and that there was nothing wrong with her being so skinny. 'I enjoy having this disease and I want it. I cannot convince myself that I am sick and that there is anything from which I have to recover." (3)
Bulimia nervosa is a related disorder which... Read More>>>
Ilissa
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa affect millions of people each year in the United States (1). Popular thought holds that these disorders are caused by women trying to fulfill a culturally imposed ideal body image which stresses thinness. As anorexia and bulimia have proven difficult to treat solely with a psychological-based treatment plan it is likely that there are many factors contributing to these disorders. Research has shown, however, that there is a significant biological component which leads to a manifestation of these disorders (2). Current ideas on the biological origins of anorexia and bulimia will be explored in this paper. These include areas ranging from genetic factors to neurotransmitter and hormone imbalances. Genetics appears to play a significant role in predisposing a person to developing an eating disorder. Abnormal neurotransmitter levels have been shown to exist in people with both bulimia and anorexia. Hormone functioning and levels are also atypical in people with eating disorders. While most studies focus on one area, and usually on just one neurotransmitter or hormone, the different biological causes of eating disorders seem to be related to one another. How these possible biological causes influences the I-function (which is the term for the components of the nervous system which give a sense of being oneself) will be examined as well in this paper. Anorexia nervosa is described as a disorder in which women and men intentionally starve themselves, losing at least fifteen percent of their normal body weight. This self imposed emaciation usually begins during puberty and is most common among middle to upper class Caucasian women, affecting one percent of the US population (1). Amenorrhea, the cessation of the normal menstrual cycle is a common occurrence among anorexic women. There is a tremendous discord between actual weight and perceived body weight. While the woman may feel fat she is actually excessively underweight. "When she came in for consultation she looked like a walking skeleton. Alma insisted that she looked fine and that there was nothing wrong with her being so skinny. 'I enjoy having this disease and I want it. I cannot convince myself that I am sick and that there is anything from which I have to recover." (3)
Bulimia nervosa is a related disorder which... Read More>>>
Monday, February 8, 2010
Eating Disorders - What's Your Inner Child's Story - Choose to Be a Hero, Heroine
Writing holds great power in any situation. Documenting your life is a good way to think back, understand past experiences better, and hopefully help to put the puzzle pieces of your life together.
I always have my clients tell me their life story. Processing past experiences can be very healing and allows you to write the rest of your story going forward with awareness of your history. Get your pad and paper out, set a time each day and start writing! Start your story at the beginning when you were first born. Once upon a time there was a beautiful little girl/boy...
Ilissa
There is power in writing and telling your story because it helps you discover and begin healing your inner child. This can then lead to healing your eating disorder or other painful behaviors. What are you going to choose, victim consciousness or hero/heroine?
I was lost in the freezing cold -I couldn't breathe- I was underwater -thrashing. This image haunted me in a way that I could never understand. I only feared men and any anger they displayed in the slightest twitch of their lips or jaw. In my subconscious, unknown to me, this memory ruled every interaction I ever had with men.
In my early 40's I did intuitive drawings that revealed an image of a toddler drowning underwater. Trekking deeper into my past, as I wrote my story I found this; the memory of my father who was an alcoholic still in the backwoods of the Olympic Rainforest bordering the Puget Sound Bay. He had been drinking and had taken my older brother and myself in a small rowboat to fish. I had said something that angered him and he hit the side of my head tumbling me into the frigid cold northwest waters. Read More>>>
I always have my clients tell me their life story. Processing past experiences can be very healing and allows you to write the rest of your story going forward with awareness of your history. Get your pad and paper out, set a time each day and start writing! Start your story at the beginning when you were first born. Once upon a time there was a beautiful little girl/boy...
Ilissa
There is power in writing and telling your story because it helps you discover and begin healing your inner child. This can then lead to healing your eating disorder or other painful behaviors. What are you going to choose, victim consciousness or hero/heroine?
I was lost in the freezing cold -I couldn't breathe- I was underwater -thrashing. This image haunted me in a way that I could never understand. I only feared men and any anger they displayed in the slightest twitch of their lips or jaw. In my subconscious, unknown to me, this memory ruled every interaction I ever had with men.
In my early 40's I did intuitive drawings that revealed an image of a toddler drowning underwater. Trekking deeper into my past, as I wrote my story I found this; the memory of my father who was an alcoholic still in the backwoods of the Olympic Rainforest bordering the Puget Sound Bay. He had been drinking and had taken my older brother and myself in a small rowboat to fish. I had said something that angered him and he hit the side of my head tumbling me into the frigid cold northwest waters. Read More>>>
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