Holidays are a time to be thankful for what you have and giving to others – but they are also a time of abundant food-oriented activities spent with friends and family. This time can be anxiety-provoking, triggering and distressing for someone recovering from an eating disorder. As the holidays come to a close, we are faced with the upcoming New Year. In our culture, New Years is idealized as a time for major change and reinvention. Every year, many of us make New Year’s resolutions – these resolutions invite us to think about our selves and how we’d like to be. Although this can be a time of healthy reflection - for some, it can also be a time when disordered thinking emerges. A time that triggers uncontrollable urges to make rigorous rules regarding eating, dieting and exercising. New Years resolutions can stir strict, critical and perfectionist thoughts and lure some off the track of recovery. 

One of my aspirations is to do my part in undoing the feelings of insecurity and incompleteness people feel in trying to measure up to society's "ideal" beauty standards.

One reason why eating disorders are so difficult to treat is because, in addition to addressing symptoms, you must first convince the patient that he or she is actually sick.

She might deny that she has any problem whatsoever with her eating habits and other behaviors. Or, even if she admits to struggling, she might insist that she is nowhere near as sick (i.e., as thin) as other patients.

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY FROM THE NATIONAL EATING DISORDER INFORMATION CENTRE!

The staff, students, and volunteers here at the National Eating Disorder Information Centre want to wish you a very happy International Women’s Day. Today, we are highlighting the work of a Rhiannon Flatman, a blogger in Australia, whose writing focuses on her journey to recovery – a journey that many women can relate to. We hope that you’ll join us in celebrating our natural sizes not just today, but all year long.

The Road to Recovery – You Can Do It!