This week is eating disorders awareness week which was established to raise awareness in America about eating disorders and body image issues. The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) heads up national initiatives. If you want to check out the projects they have been working on and those who are having events in support of NEDAW around the US, you can go to their website by clicking here. 

There is a chapter of the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals in Fort Wayne, Indiana in combination with IPFW and Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne who will be holding free events on 2/24/10 and 3/2/10. The 2/24 event is called: It's Time to Talk, and the 3/2 event is called: Your Body Your Life and How to Love It. The events will have presentations by professionals in this field as well as testimonials and expressive arts. Come out and learn more and connect with others who are concerned about these issues. You can call Judy Tillapaugh at 260-481-6647 or go to www.ipfw.edu/health to get more information. 

An article published today on statenews.com out of Michigan State University discusses negative body image and how it impacts the lives of men and women sometimes even to the point of contributing to eating disorders. The article is written by a student who has observed friends and family members become so obsessed with perfection in their bodies that they can't seem to accept who they are and to enjoy the good they do have in their bodies and their lives. It is a good reminder to really enjoy what we have and not be perfectionistic.

Here is an excerpt: "I feel that people are becoming so preoccupied with dieting and exercise that they are looking past the great features their bodies already have. When I look at the people mentioned above, I see three beautiful people. However, I know that when they see themselves, they see a need for improvement. Someone once told me to never tell yourself something you would not say to another person."

Click here to open another window to the article.

If you have a friend who is dealing with negative body image or eating disorder bahaviors, it is often difficult to know how to approach the issue. People often avoid it because they have no idea what to do.

The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) works to provide information and tips to help people with eating disorders and those who love them understand and address it. They publish numerous educational pieces on various issues around eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, body image, exercise addiction, purging, binge eating disorder, ED NOS, eating disorder treatment and much more.

Click here to go to a NEDA's information sheet called How to "Help a Friend with Eating and Body Image Issues".

"I just wanted to say HELLO....and say how thankful I am again to you and Selah House!!!!

The holidays especially make me realize it...because I don't dread them anymore! I'm not afraid of the food! I was thinking the other day, journaling about life without ed (eating disorder) and areas I've really grown and areas I can still grow in...and I realized I honesty and genuinely have not counted a calorie since commencing from Selah House a YEAR AND A HALF AGO!!! That is AMAZING!!! I counted calories since I was in third or fourth grade, ya know? and now, as a junior in college I don't think twice about labels and calorie content. I can drink with my friends and enjoy it because I know things other than water won't make me fat. And I actually love life rather than hoping to die in my sleep. Thank you doesn't even suffice, Chaia.

Also...I'm looking at an AMAZING opportunity for the summer. I might work for a nonprofit as a PARTY PLANNER and spend time in Thailand! I'd be working for an organization called Women at Risk International-it supports victims of sex trafficking. I'd get to work with women searching for freedom (in a different sense, of course)....and this is another reason I'm so thankful for Selah. I wouldn't have the confidence to ever apply for a position like this with ed. I'd think I was too fat to get a job or be useful. And I actually lived to be 20, rather than let my heart stop from ed or kill myself.

THANK YOU, and merry Christmas. Much love,
Mindy"