What do I say to my friend or family member with an eating disorder? How can I help? Is it possible for me to fix it? As a survivor of anorexia and an advocate for body acceptance, I get asked these questions all the time. This makes me sick, since it reminds me that if …
Continue reading What Do I Say To Someone With An Eating Disorder?
The holidays are here, and for those who struggle with eating disorders or negative self-image this time of year can get pretty real. Some of my worst memories of anorexia involve the holidays, and so my recovery present to you (and me!) is an advent calendar to tell eating disorder culture to back off. December …
Continue reading An Advent Calendar To Get Eating Disorder Culture Out Of Your Holidays
Here’s a horrible idea that promotes disordered eating: Researchers in the United Kingdom have suggested labels that list the amount of exercise required to burn the amount of calories in a food. As someone who nearly died of anorexia, I know that displaying this information in this manner — on literally all packaged foods — …
Continue reading Treating Food And Exercise Like A Zero-Sum Game Is Peak Eating Disorder Culture
I did not set out to develop an eating disorder. I wanted to get in shape. I started running. I started eating ‘healthy’ snacks. I started dieting. I lost control. I almost died. I would never be able to run marathons today if I was still playing around with that bullshit. Through multiple humiliating rounds …
Continue reading I Would Never Be Able To Run Marathons If I Still Had An Eating Disorder
Somewhere, tonight, someone is hurting. I know because I have been her. I have been the girl who will not answer the telephone, who walks through rooms without speaking. I have met insomnia and the noises night can make. I understand going for late night drives and lights shining on grass, the crippling fear of …
Continue reading Why Do I Talk About An Eating Disorder I Don’t Have Anymore?
Each Wednesday, my daughter and I put on our swimsuits and walk into the community pool until the water gets so deep I bend down and carry her. It is a long ramp into the deep end. Packed benches and risers span the perimeter and they are crowded with parents and siblings. It is quite …
Continue reading Body Hatred, Raising A Daughter, And Real Recovery From An Eating Disorder
Yesterday, I was checking out at the vet when the receptionist smiled. “I shouldn’t ask this,” she said, looking at what I thought was my wallet. “Is that a baby bump?” “No,” I said. Where is my dog? Bring back my dog. It’s time to get out of here. The dog came back. I played it …
Continue reading When Someone Asks If You’re Pregnant … And You’re Not
Twenty years ago, on Easter, I was losing my mind. I was basically dead. The worst picture that exists of me was taken that morning. You would cry if I shared it. I never will, because people with anorexia would use it to justify hurting themselves. I rose each time we were supposed to in …
I’m not pregnant. My stomach sticks out. This is my body. I have survived anorexia and now, your question. A few years ago I was asked if I was pregnant when I wasn’t, and I cried. I am open about my recovery from eating disorders, and while most of the time I can smile and …
Continue reading PSA: I’m Not Pregnant — My Stomach Sticks Out
I barricaded the bedroom door with a chair and a rattan chest full of sweaters. He continued slamming and yelling in the kitchen. I hunched over hyperventilating, shaking and waiting for his next move. Maybe he would come in. Maybe making the door hard to open made me less safe, not more. Surviving abuse is not …
Continue reading Learning From Abusive Relationships About Donald Trump
Erin Matson 