Eating Disorder Talk

When I came across this article, I knew I’d be sharing it with you. Seems that October 11th will see the largest eating disorder awareness event Canada’s seen, Until Your Heart’s Content at the Boulevard Casino in Coquitlam.

The event will be hosted by Shelley’s Angels Society, a non-profit committed to providing funding to those afflicted with eating disorders who cannot afford private counseling via bursaries. World-known speakers include Dr. Anita Johnston, Lori Henry, Susan Kern, Karen Cook and more. Also on the bill are musician and dancers, such as Evelyn Yngveson and Divirani Naidoo.

Two days later, Dr. Johnston will be running the Soul Hunger Workshop, a day-long event with a view of challenging and questioning the feminine ideals and habits.

Sadly, I won’t be able to attend either of the events, but I recommend it to anyone who can - the ticket prices of $50 and %150 could well be worth it, to be surrounded by those recovered and positively stationed in life. IF anyone is planning on attending and would like to share their experiences, interpretation or even just some photos, please get in touch with me via email.

soul hunger workshop, eating disorder awareness, eating disorder events, until your heart’s content, shelley’s angels society, eating disorder recovery funding

I feel like I’ve been a fake, so I’d rather get my big (and exciting to me) epiphany out in the open. I blogged about it on my personal site, too - along with some other inspiring life stuff (that was sarcasm). So, to quote myself:

“…in three parts.

one was that i took some pictures of my form after seeing my doctor and finding out i’d lost more weight, unintentionally. i was awestruck and where did all of these ribs came from?

secondly, i was honest with someone i’ve been romantically involved with in the past about my weight. i’ve rarely to never been honest about it and you can guess, if you’re a man i’ve slept with and you ask me how much i weigh when i’m losing weight, i’ll lie. i’ll add 10 or 5 or 6.5 pounds to the actual number because i can’t stand to see the look that is a mixture of incredulity at the mere number and that they would still want to see me naked at that number. i have seen boys go from horny toads to pensive psychologists in the blink of an eye and it’s not pretty (for my self esteem).

thirdly, i got the usual questions which used to annoy me but now i find comforting from one of the longest best friends, stargirl. stargirl amazes me at most moments and there’s been more times than i’d like to remember than me losing weight has lead to a tear-filled conversation. not about her, unlike a lot of the people i’ve interacted with. anyways, she asked the usual questions and she believed me when i said that i thought i was too thin and needed a few pounds, say 5-10. sure, it’s still underweight, but it’s the opposite of being anorexic, so whatevs. and then we discussed my eating habits and it occurred that i’m not intentionally restricting and i’m not purging and i’m not eating diet foods (except skim milk in my starbucks white mochas) or exercising for exercising’s sake. basically, i’m not working to lose weight, it’s falling off cuz i forget to eat and get distracted and am doing one of the million things on my plate, etc. you know that to be the truth when you watch me when zoë’s eating. i will eat anything she does and often finish her leftovers.

so, point: i’m not relapsing, i’ve just not been paying enough attention to terra.”

I feel as if I’ve been lying to all of you readers. And for that and my dramatic hypochondria, I apologize. I also apologize for the near future, when I completely doubt this whole “not relapsing” thought and reverse course, yet again.

If I had $300, I’d hire a maid service to come into my home, clean everything from top to bottom and then prepare everything that I was planning on selling on craigslist so that I could declutter my life and feel like I’d actually caught up on some of the 2,000 items on my to do list!

What would you do with $300 extra smackaroonies? Or even $200 or $100? Now is the time to find out!

451press.com, the largest blog network worldwide, is having a reader contest during the month of August. Go to their site and check out their feed aggregator. Alternatively, check out the blog channels on the left of the page, by subject matter. Then, leave comments on any 451Press sites and you could go shopping! Three random comments will be chosen for a cash prize of $300, $200 or $100. More comments=more entries. So visit their site, bookmark your favourites, leave your comments. Then repeat.

Good luck!

If you’d like your story written about on Eating Disorder Talk, please email me, including information such as whether you’d prefer to remain anonymous to our readers. Please ensure that you’ve included a valid email address where I can respond to you, as well as your own web site, if applicable. Pictures are also welcome!

If you’re interested in participating in a survey on eating disorders - causes, media involvement and relationships, please email me to let me know an appropriate way to contact you.

The Eating Disorder Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is starting a new outpatient treatment program after opening it’s office and receiving government funding in St. John’s. So they’re reaching out in an effort to educate and provide support to those suffering from eating disorders via a public meeting, to be held on June 20, 2007.

Leaders of the meeting include the Chairperson of the foundation’s Board of Directors, Vince Withers and it’s West Coast representative, Stephanie Kendall. Both Withers and Kendall have experience with the illness: Withers started the foundation shortly after the eating disorder-caused death of his daughter in 2005; Kendall is survivor.

From the Western Star:

“The biggest thing is to actually create awareness and increase support on the west coast because we are getting so much feedback (from here),” says Kendall.

“I’ve gotten calls from schools, from teachers, families, people who are inquiring ‘what can I do’, ‘are these signs and symptoms of eating disorders.”

…

She says it will be of benefit to anyone affected by an eating disorder and informational for health professions who may have questions at to where they can refer their patients.