While the holiday season for so many is filled with delicious food, warmth of home and the joy and laughter of time with family, those struggling with eating disorders often face extreme anxiety around this time of year. Thanksgiving is an especially difficult holiday for those trying to drown out the voice of their eating disorder because the entire day is focused around their eating disorder's biggest enemy: food. This is a golden opportunity for the eating disorder to plant seeds of discontent and worry over the high-fat foods and the mass amounts of calories about to be consumed. And then there's always the issue of what will my family think of me? I know that coming from an Italian family, if you're not eating everything on your plate, grandma isn't going to be happy, and the idea of not going up for seconds....that's inexcusable! So, what do you do if you have an eating disorder and your family doesn't know and is pressuring you as you sit there feeling overwhelmed and sick to your stomach? What if your family does know about your eating disorder but thinks the more food they force you to eat, the faster you can overcome your eating disorder? These are valid questions and thankfully the National Eating Disorder Association issued a publication this week with some holiday coping tips that address questions such as these.Despite being symptom free for about 4 years now, the forces of my past eating disorder often continue to rear their ugly head, as they do for many in recovery, and it's usually around times like the holidays. However, I am committed to staying symptom free for another 4 years and beyond and I know I can't do it alone, so during this time I press into my support group more than ever and remember who I am apart from that number on the scale because above all, I am fearfully and wonderfully made by my creator.
Check out this link for the holiday coping tips I mentioned on pages 4-5 of the publication: http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/sites/default/files/MakingConnections/volume7issue4/index.html
Praying that you enjoy a blessed, stress-free, and joyous Thanksgiving with loved ones!
xoxo-
Bre
