Beating My Eating Disorder

[lllouisa]

So I've had to deal with anorexia/bulimia/COE for four and a half years. I've fasted, restricted, purged, binged, everything and I'm tired of it. A lof of people go raw because they're animal lovers. Animals are great, but that's not why I want to go raw. I need to get out of the control of this eating disorder and be able to responsibly control what I eat. Therefore I want to fast for the next 10 days and then go raw for good. I do want to lose some weight (but healthily) as I've been overeating for the past few months and have gained almost 10 pounds.

Some statistics:
Age: 17. I know that seems young. I'm almost 18 and I've been through a lot. I'm a freshman at university in Boston, Mass.
Height: 5'6
Weight: 124. I know that's a "healthy" weight, but what I eat isn't healthy, which is why I'm going raw.
Favorite food: pears.
Favorite exercise: pilates.

[SmilingRawDancer]

Welcome!
I started Raw to overcome an eating disorder as well :)
<3

[trinity082482]

Welcome! It's great that you are trying to gain control of your life. Im a previous overeater gone almost 100% raw to cure some ailments and Ive been raw 9 days now.

Feel free to check out my journal :)

[Miranda]

i turned to raw for the same reasons.

welcome!!!

[adrienne]

Welcome to the boards lllouisa!
I am located in the Greater Boston area and there are some great pot lucks but none I know of in the city - there is one in Quincy and one in Waltham so if you have a car not so bad. Go to www.rawnewenglandcommunity.com for more info (go to newsletter archives or the current newsletter).
Let me know if you are looking for more support - it is great here at RFT and your questions always get answered.
Best of luck on your journey.
Adrienne

[Morn]

Good for you! Eating raw will help you overcome the addictions and help you have control over your eating again. I too have come here for the same reason. I have almost been raw for 3 months and have lost (32 pounds). You will get to your optimal weight pretty quick if all you want to lose is 10 lbs. Best Wishes to you!

[lllouisa]

Thanks Adrienne for letting me know about the pot lucks. That would definitely be useful, seeing as so far it's been hard for me to find good raw recipes.

And Morn, thanks for the 'inspiration', I guess you could call it. I'm glad this has helped you help you get over your eating disorder.

To everyone else, thanks. I'm glad that you, too, were able to improve your lives, whether it was getting over an eating disorder, or just becoming happier, healthier people!

[spicyfull]

I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW......Welcome to MY World.......

[Nenyath]

Go strong Illouisa! I really hope raw can help you to where you want to be, have a beuatiful journey!

Fly forever free..

[rawpriestess]

welcome to the board

[berrymarymac]

Welcome! There are quite a few people here with the same issues, you are not alone in this! Everyone here is super friendly ^_^

[cassidy]

I am anticipating going all raw soon for the same reasons.
Good luck, and keep us posted!

[mershwista]

Welcome to the board. I used to have similar issues, and I do find that raw helps a lot with the emotional eating, etc, IF YOU STICK 100% to it. I've settled into a pattern where I do mostly raw, but that is for practicality reasons, but in regularly having a bit of cooked food each week be it with friends or whoever, I can vouch for the fact that it's not something I any longer want to spend the rest of my life eating. Maybe eventually I'll go back to 100%, because that certainly did feel better.

Always set reasonable goals for yourself. If you are like me and find yourself always failing at extreme goals (such as fasts...I am UNABLE to fast), then ease into it a bit, and don't set goals you know you can't obtain.

Your stats are very similar to what mine were at your age. I was generally a healthy eater (always have been a health freak) but would do the emotional eating thing. And people don't realize how addictive that can become. Way more women than will admit it do it, even occasionally. So, I wouldn't give yourself the label "eating disorder," because I feel it is disempowering. "Disorder" sounds to me like something that cannot be overcome.

Since then I've learned to listen to my body and tell real hunger from just cravings. That is something I was generally unable to do eating cooked. Raw allows your body to communicate in a way you can understand. Sometimes it takes a bit of willpower to listen to it, though. I suggest undertaking any major changes with a friend or a buddy; it's much easier and then you have some support.

Good luck!

[eja]

Hi
I would like to try to eat raw food as well and I have eating disorder as well, for many years. I had long periods (even years) when I was relatively free of it. Slowly I was learning which food is good for me and which is not and also I've learnt about myself, my emotions, my needs, etc. Lately I've been in big trouble again, for 3 months now. I had very stressfull period at work and I haven't eaten healthy to get enough nutrients, but had lots of coffee, bread, pizzas and so on (which triggered my physical addiction), neglected excercises, haven't got enough sleep etc.
So, to put it short: I lost my balance completely and I've been desperately overeating. I became able to consumetons of food, just cant stop. I've tried to eat raw food 2 weeks ago and I succeeded to eat healthy for 8 days but at that time I consciously decided to have wine which was mistake because it ruined my fragile abstinence.
Do any of you have experience how to get back in track when your body
is totaly overload with food? I would love to fast on juices, but I won't succeed after heavily overating in past days. My poor stomack is so big now and it hurts. I really want to take good care for me and give the world my best. I sincerely want to live healthy but just can't.
Do you have any idea how to regain balance in these cirkumstances?

[mershwista]

eja, that was me, too. Like I said in the last post...the most important thing I have learned is not to set goals above what I can achieve. After trying to fast many times over, with water, with juice, etc etc etc, I failed every single time and would often end up worse than I was before. This became more of a problem for me than the original problem. I isolated myself and most of my friends had no clue what happened to me that summer.

What finally DID work for me was this: After maybe 4 or 5 years, I truly decided to accept myself for who I was and decided that my motivating factor should not be to change myself to something I could finally accept but to improve on the me that I already had. People work better when they're inspired, not when they're threatened.

I'm big on having a friend you can see regularly to help you out. When I first got on raw, I was totally alone. It was really difficult. I started out mostly raw but not 100%. I did end up meeting someone in person who was 100% raw, and this inspired me to go 100%. I was 100% for about 6 months...I've fallen back to "mostly", but now my reason is practicality and politeness.

I've done a lot of living just by myself, and I know that i do better when I have a housemate. I'm now living with a friend. I find I do much better with my diet when I have someone I'm either in close contact with or living with who understands why I eat the way I do and will help hold me to it. In turn I can help her to eat healthy and remember to exercise.

I don't know what your living situation is, but if you are living alone, get a housemate. I didn't realize how much I fell victim to my own bad habits when I was alone, because no one would ever know if I failed to do things correctly.

The thing I've found to work best when I've messed up? And yes, I mess up even now, but not as much. For the rest of the day, eat only if I am hungry. The next day, DO eat. Even if you think you're not hungry. If you're not hungry, obviously don't eat much, but have a few pieces of fruit, a salad, etc...something light and low calorie. The reason I do this is because it reduces the temptation to eat more bad food later on. If I try to just not eat, I always end up abandoning that to eat more bad food.

And exercise. If you're worried about doing something about it during the rest of the day where you messed up. the worst thing you can do is hang around an area with food in it...so stay away from the kitchen and the dining room. Get out and do something. Distract yourself. If you have the energy to do it, go walking or jogging. If not, call up a friend and go watch a movie with him/her. If you don't want to tell that person what's going on and why you're so tired, just say it was a bad day at work or you didn't get enough sleep.

The next day, if you STILL feel you have to compensate, walk a bit longer than you normally do, etc. But don't become an exercise-a-holic. There is such thing as obsessive/too much.

Things NOT to do, though:
-Don't try to fast, unless you are being supervised and being held accountable
-Don't allow yourself near food when you have just binged or if you feel you're craving it
-Don't eat after 3 hours before bed
-Don't eat breakfast right after getting up...wait until you feel real hunger.

I know that it's a lot easier to say this stuff than to put it into practice. I always hated it when people would make it seem so easy and get all preachy at me, so I'm trying not to do that to you. But, my biggest piece of advice is to get in-person support. If you can't do that, get online support. I know this board is full of people who could help you. Heck, I could help you. If you want to talk more about this, send me an email.