Welcome to the blog space of the Looking Glass community, where we post our own and others’ reflections and perspectives on eating disorder issues, journeys of recovery, and other helpful tips and tools.
If This is an Eating Disorder, Doesn’t Everyone Have One?
I recall being in the fifth grade and wondering why I didn’t resemble the other girls in my class. I did, I was just under the impression that I didn’t. Who I was in my mirror and who I was in photos was not the same entity.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with my relationship with my body. For the past 23 years, I’ve been actively recovering from an eating disorder. In the past 5 years, I’ve finally felt like I was in a place where recovery wasn’t an active struggle. It isn’t that time finally caught up and I stopped caring about food or my body, or that the eating disorder magically disappeared. What happened is that I started running.
As we enter a new year, I breathe a sigh of relief and release. Last year I was saying “bring on 2017! I can’t wait for this year to be over”... Both 2016 and 2017 made me face many hard truths – truths about my relationship with my mind, my body and my relationships with others...
The holidays, while a beautiful time for many, can be a really big challenge for individuals who struggle with an eating disorder. Not only is food a part of just about every event that takes place but it seems to creep into our regular day to day in ways that aren’t typical...
The first time I read something by Roxane Gay, it was (like many people) her best-selling essay collection, Bad Feminist. ... But now what Roxane Gay brings us is Hunger, a memoir so beautifully written that you won’t want to put it down, but so raw and painful that you’ll have to.
I want you to know that recovery is, and always will be, worth it. You don’t have to be haunted by food and calorie counting but rather can experience true joy, love and happiness in life. If you, or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, there is hope. Reach out for help and begin your journey to wellness today.
When I think back to my first few months in eating disorder recovery at Woodstone Residence (now the Looking Glass Residence), I recall being overwhelmed by the intensity and unfamiliarity of my new routine. Stepping into treatment felt like I was an unarmed and untrained soldier being going into battle for the first time.
Do you ever look back on situations, experiences or memories, and feel like you were completely checked out?
Sometimes I wake up and think; have I been asleep for the last 6 months? What have I missed?
Q: If I don’t step on the scale, how am I supposed to know how I feel?
A: I am so grateful I got asked this question because it raises a very important issue and one that I feel deserves to be written about.
When I first went into recovery, I knew that it was going to be a learning curve, but one of the hardest lessons I had to learn was to do with exercise. There had been so much focus on my weight and eating habits in the early stages of my recovery that exercise was anything but in the forefront. It wasn’t until about a year into my recovery that I was faced with a difficult truth: exercise isn’t always healthy.
Looking Glass Foundation respectfully acknowledges that our work takes place on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
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