I’m honored to be over at Fathers for Good today sharing tips on how to reach out to a child who might be suffering from an eating disorder or poor body image. My insight is based on my own experience grappling with a clinical eating disorder and a negative body image. I hope it might be helpful to hurting families out there. See you over at Fathers for Good!
Kate,
I read your article. You are right, it’s not just about eating. For me, it was a way to be in control when I felt so much of my life was out of my control. It was also about equating thinness with worth. I am looking forward to reading your book. I have a lot of work to do toward healing. I am so thankful that I have a great husband and a couple of awesome girlfriends that I can trust with my baggage.
Kimberlie recently posted…Beauty and Body Image
Hi, Kimberlie. Thanks for writing. I had a tight word count over at Fathers for Good and could not delve into much of my history, but like you my eating disorder was about control and equating thinness with worth as well. I could not make people love me, but I could make myself thin. I could not control certain aspects of my life, but I did have an amazing power to control the number on the scale.
My relapse in college coincided with a terrible breakup. My life felt like it was spiraling out of control. I knew how to steady myself. Stop eating! Then everything would be better. Only it wasn’t.
Even now, as a mother, when I’m fighting so hard to control my children’s behavior (or my own maternal reactions), I’m tempted to turn to the scale. It really is a lifelong healing process.
When I wrote my book, I was at very healthy place but lately I’ve been struggling again and have had to turn to counseling and prayer. I’ve just now admitted the counseling bit here in this combox (I need to gather up enough courage to blog about it, too). I’ve been ashamed by my need to seek help, especially since I’ve written a book that’s supposed to help women overcome issues that I still occasionally struggle with. How can I be an “expert” on recovering from an eating disorder and/or poor body image if my old inner demons still come to haunt me from time to time?
But maybe that makes me more “qualified” to write about topics related to body image and eating (or not eating). I’m a broken person and the only place I really find comfort and healing is in God. Every day He’s asking me let go and let God. Stop trying to be in charge. Stop trying to be perfect. Stop trying to punish yourself for not being good enough because you are good enough simply because you are you. It’s our daily bread to choose to believe in God’s love and mercy, no?
Anyway, sorry for the lengthy comment. Thank you for your recent beauty and body image post. A lot of it resonated with me.
Let’s lift one another up in prayer!
Blessings,
Kate
I think the biggest problem is educating people. There are a lot of common myths and misconceptions around. I am starting a site to challenge and educate people and I have posted about eating disorder myths at http://mythinspirationblog.com
One day we will get there!
Holly x