The talking scale

Friday is food shopping day in my house

During the week we leave a note pad and pen on the table

So we can write down things that we need 

As you know 

I live with my mum and my sister 

And we all have different things that we like

So our shopping list can be quite eclectic 

We have a kitty

So each week we all contribute

Depending on our own budget

It works well for us 

I think I've said before 

That my sister is an amazing cook

So we've all been eating like queens since she came home last summer

And I have picked up a lot of handy tips from her too

In a Friday morning 

Two out of the the three of us usually go shopping

My sister is doing a cookery course today

So my mum and I went to do the food shopping

Lea and Honey always come too

And we bring them for a run on the beach first 

And then head to the shops

We go to two supermarkets

First we go to Lidl

Lidl is a German shop that sells food a lot cheaper

So we pick up bread and veg and such there

Then we head over to the second supermarket

Which is on the expensive side

But it has all our favourite brands so we always go there

So we were in Lidl this morning

Every week they have a special offer on

And today it seemed to be health products

So they had a blood pressure machine

Various exercise equipment 

Work out clothes

But one specific item caught my eye

A speaking scale no less

When I saw it 

I had to take a closer look

Were my eyes deceiving me?

No

It was in fact a talking scale

The horror of it all washed over me 

I don't think I've ever in all my years weighing seen a talking scale

I can't think of anything worse

Let me explain why

I don't know about you 

But for me

Weighing is a very private and personal thing

I do it only in the privacy of my own bedroom

With the door locked

Preferably in the morning 

When I know there's no one around

The only other people I have let weigh me were doctors and of course Mary

Oh yes

It's very few people that I let weigh me

That number is just so personal 

I know I give the number too much power

But I don't think it's an ED not to let people know your exact weight

I'd say most women

And a lot of men

Like to keep their weight to themselves 

So the thought of a speaking scale?

Oh my God

It doesn't bear thinking about 

A scale that says your weight out loud

For all and sundry to hear?

No thank you very much

It's safe to say that I won't be investing in one of these

While I was in the shop

I noticed quite a lot of interest in the scales

I guess maybe a lot of people hadn't seen one before 

But Jesus H Christ

It's hard enough having to look at the number

Never mind have the thing speak it to you

I can't think of any thing worse

Here it is...

I was wondering

Am I alone in this?

What do you think of the talking scale?

Yay or nay?

Eagles Rock

I live in a valley 

Between two mountains

It's really quite spectacular here

But I guess I am looking at it everyday

So I don't always appreciate it

There is part of the mountain near my house called Eagles Rock

Which is popular with hikers and climbers

On Sunday we went down to check it out

We weren't really prepared to do the full walk

So we just walked a little

And decided we would do it properly next week

When my brother and his girlfriend are here

And we can all do it together

So here are some photos

And by the way 

Please tell me if you think I am too tanned

My family tell me that I am

But I want to continue tanning

So I was wondering what you think

And be brutally honest

I'm a big girl 

I can handle it....

The beautiful ones

 Up until recently 

I was weighing every day

It was always the first thing I did in the morning

Pee

Strip

And stand on the scales 

Holding my breath as if the air in my lungs would effect the number 

I'd squeeze my eyes shut

And peep through my fingers to see my fate

I have numbers that are acceptable

Numbers that are unacceptable 

Safe numbers

Unsafe numbers

My weight tends to stay within the same five pounds

Tends to be lower in the middle of the month

And higher when I get my period

Just a quick note about periods

I didn't get mine for ten years when I was very ill

It's only in the last few months that my period has come back

Anyway

In recent weeks 

I have stopped weighing so much

As it just drives me nuts

The number on the scales dictates my mood for the whole day 

It really has the power to ruin my day

The number goes  up and I spiral in to black hole of depression

The number goes down and I sky rocket in to euphoria

But in reality

No matter what the number

My ED is never happy 

Never ever 

So I've decided to go by how I feel

And how I look

Rather than what the scale says

And I feel pretty ok

I feel steady and grounded and stable

For the most part

I feel ok in my body

Yes there are things that I would like to change

I would love to be more toned and fit

But being in my body is tolerable 

I can live with it

I've accepted that I will never be a supermodel 

Or one of the beautiful people

You know who they are

They're the ones with shiny silky hair

All tousled and messy like they've just got  out of bed

They have long, lean and tanned limbs

Perfect skin

Trendy clothes

And it all looks utterly effortless 

I on the other hand

Am not beautiful 

I'm average at best

My hair is frizzy

My skin is dry

I try to dress well

But it doesn't always work out the way I want it do

My body is flabby 

And it was even worse before I had a tan

I guess I could be improved 

By a team of stylists and make up artists

Maybe then I could be something approaching pretty

But I don't have the energy, inclination or money to do that

So I just try and make the best of what I have got 

I think the most attractive quality in someone is  confidence

You can have a beautiful face

High fashion clothes 

An expensive hair cut 

But it all means nothing 

If confidence is absent 

I don't have a whole lot of confidence 

In fact 

It's pretty non existent 

I guess I am faking it until I make it

I was wondering about you

How is your confidence? 

Does confidence come easy to you?

Or are you like me and struggle a lot?

What has helped build your confidence?

Tuesday

I saw Breda this morning 

I was dreading having to tell her about what I did last Thursday

I was not looking forward to admitting what I had done

And in the end

I didn't 

I didn't tell her 

I just couldn't find the words

Couldn't stand another person knowing what I have done 

I think I've told enough people

I've spoken about it at meetings

Spoken to friends about it 

My sister 

I really don't think in need to tell everyone  I meet

I will speak to Mary when I see her on Thursday 

As she knows about my shoplifting past

And I won't have to do a whole load of explaining

At first

I thought I would have to hide at home

And avoid going in to town

To avoid the shop where it happened 

And the shop I was caught outside of

And anywhere else where people might know

But I decided against it

And have been going about my business as usual 

I've past the shop itself numerous times

I'm just doing what I usually do

If people know they know

There is nothing I can do about that now

I am undecided about whether to post the letter I wrote

I still have it 

But my gut instinct is not to send it

So I'm not going to

For the moment anyway

Last Thursday really shook me

I've been reliving it ever since

Beating myself up

Putting myself down

Trying to find a way to go back in time and undo it

But of course I can't 

I chose to steal from that shop

So now I have to deal with the consequences

I do acknowledge that it could have been a whole lot worse

I could be sitting in a jail cell right now 

Could have been reported in the local paper

I am eternally grateful to that girl for not calling the cops 

I don't know why she didn't 

But I am so glad she didn't 

As I write last week

All I can do is learn from this

And move on 

I have to let it go

Before I drive myself insane

I have to forgive myself 

And use this as ammunition never to do that again

If nothing but that happens 

At least something came out of all of this

I spoke to Breda about other things 

She asked me if my methadone has been reduced recently

I told her it had been

About a month ago 

She wondered if it will be reduced again soon

I wasn't sure

But to be honest 

I hope not

The less I am on

The more of reality I have to deal with

And I don't want to deal with it

It doesn't make sense really

My reality is not that bad

I live in a nice house 

With nice people

I have an amazingly strong and supportive family around me

I have a small but close circle of friends

I have Honey and Lea who mean so much to me

I have you lovely ladies 

A roof over my head

Food in my fridge

Clothes in my wardrobe

I have a lot more than some people

Abd yet

I still want to escape

Switch off

Opt out

Check off the planet 

And I do so every chance I get

I don't understand it at all

I know that I don't deal with my feelings very well 

And my head isn't always a nice place to be

I think my base level mood 

Is lower than most people

In that my usual mood tends to be on the low side 

I have a perpensity to be negative

My thoughts race

I would never speak to another person the way I talk to myself 

I am horrible to myself

My thoughts run around my head on a loop

And I go from zero to suicidal in seconds 

So the temptation to medicate myself and my feelings is strong 

I know I need to sort out my meds before it is reduced even more

I need to get stable

And to do that I need to cooperate with my doctor and Breda 

It's just so hard to tell them

But I know I have to

I feel like I have made a real mess of things recently

I need to get back on track

Before it all falls down around me 

Because I don't know how much more I can take 

Before I snap 

Tell me why I don't like Mondays

Title taken from the popular Boom Town Rats song

In fact I do like Mondays 

It may even be my favourite day of the week

Let me explain

As you know

Monday is doctor day

Which means I've had no meds since Saturday 

As greedy guts addict over here overused on a couple of occasions

Sunday is a long day with no meds

No little sleeps to break up the day

No chance to opt out 

Or check off the planet for a while

By Monday morning

I can feel the withdrawal setting in

I can feel it in my bones

The yawning starts 

Why it always starts with yawning I do not know

There must be a reason 

But I don't know what it is

Then my nose and eyes start to run 

Usually I have my meds before it gets any worse

God forbid would it get any worse

So I made my way in the my doctor today

My usual doctor is away for a couple of weeks

So I got to see Nice Woman Doctor

Who I really like

She calls me in to her room

Big smile on her face

I settle on the seat

She tells me I look well

I balk at hearing this

As I always do

But manners prevail 

And I smile and thank her

She asks me how life is

The first thing that pops in to my head is the incident last Thursday

But I decide that she doesn't need to know that

And I tell her life is good

That I am starting a course in september

She asks me if its good to have my sister home

She knows my sister as she sees her too

I tell her it is 

Which is true

She also asks me if I am still blogging

I tell her I am 

Touched that she remembered 

She carefully writes my scripts

I thank her 

And leave

I go and collect my meds

Then go to meet my mum who is walking the dogs

I get to my car

And take my daily dose

Determined to get back on track

And take them properly

I know I need to get this under control

I have spoken to Mary about it in the past

And she has told my doctor

Who then put me on daily dispensing

That works 

As I have no temptation in the house

So when I have a weak moment

There are no meds to take

But he usually only leaves me on DD for a couple of weeks

And then it's back to normal

Getting weekly dispensing

I know I need to get this under control

Especially if I want to start my course

And stay clean and sober

As right now

I don't really think I can claim I am clean and sober 

Being clean sober means not using mind altering substances 

Living in reality

Living life on life's terms

Not using meds or dugs to escape feelings 

Being compos  mentis 

And I am definitely not doing that

In my defence 

These meds are prescribed

And I am supposed to take them

But in reality I am not supposed to take a double or triple dose

Hell even a single dose is too much sometimes 

It does not a clean and sober life make

I've stopped telling the professionals that I abuse my meds

I don't really see the point anymore

I talk about it at meetings from time to time

But in reality

I don't know if I want to stop

Despite being ok with the way things are

I have taken steps to help myself

Last week I called in to my local dog kennels and groomers

To see if they had any work going for the summer

Disappointingly they couldn't take me on due to high insurance costs

So I tried the pizzeria I used to work in

He said he would ring me if anything came up

And he seemed glad that I called in

So hopefully that will work out

I  think having a bit more structure in my day will help with the addiction side of things

At least I hope it will

Time is going so fast at the moment

The weeks just seem to fly by

As does my life 

If I am not careful 

I will wake up an old woman

And my life will be over 

I guess I need to find a passion

Outside of writing and blogging

I don't have a lot of hobbies

But I am so grateful to have blogging in my life

Three years later and I enjoy it more than ever 

I write every day

It may not always be riveting stuff

But it's part of my daily routine

Blogging has saved my life 

And my sanity over and over again

It's been such a force for good in my life 

I don't know where I would be without it

and you special ladies

So thank you for that

I was wondering about you

How long have you been blogging?

Why did you start?

How does it benefit you?

Serenity

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Every time I begin to lose my head

Every time I think I am going to crack up

Everytime I think I can't stand being in my own head

Or my own body

I stop

Deep breathes

Gather my thoughts 

And say this prayer

It gives me a couple of seconds to regroup

To collect my thoughts 

And remind myself of these words

I don't know where I would be without my supports 

My family 

My friends 

My meetings 

My higher power 

My dogs 

Mary

My doctor

Breda

You lovely ladies

It's a collective effort

Everyone does their bit to help

I know that I can't do this alone

What helps you get through the day?

The ugly truth

I tried writing a post about something else earlier

But 

In truth 

My thoughts are still consumed with what happened on Thursday 

I still can't quite believe that it happened 

And how close I came to really getting in to trouble with the law

It still feels like a bad dream

Like I'm going to wake up any minute now

But unfortunately 

It did happen

And there's nothing I can do to change that

I had been in hiding since Thursday

Only venturing out to go to my meetings

But today

I decided to bite the bullet

And head in to the town where it happened 

I shit you not

I was so nervous

Every person I passed

I wondered if they knew what I had done 

I was paranoid to the hilt 

Thinking I could hear whispers of 

There she is 

That's her 

That's the girl that was caught shoplifting

But I really wanted to face my demons

And I brought my dogs for their usual hour long walk

I even went in to the shop where the shop owner stopped me

No comments were passed 

But then it was weekend staff that were on

And the only thing the shop assistant said to me was asking me if I'd been away as I had a great colour

I left the shop

And decided to go to the leisure centre to use the sun bed

That meant that I had to walk through the hotel that was right beside the shop where it happened 

I walked quickly

Wanting to get in and out as fast as possible

My heart started to thump when I saw a girl with blonde hair exit the hotel

For a second I was sure it was her

But when I looked closer 

It wasn't her

I breathed a sigh of relief

And continued in to the hotel 

It sucks that I can't go in to that shop anymore

As it was my favourite shop

And I buy things in there quite often

But now I am effectively barred

And that is not a nice feeling

As I wrote yesterday

I had written the shop owner a letter

I haven't sent it in to the shop yet

As I think I am going to re write it

To explain in a bit more detail

As you know 

I have struggled massively with shoplifting over the years

It's tied up in my ED 

First it was food

Then clothes and other items 

In all the years I was doing it

I was never once caught

Up until now that is

I remember being in treatment

And other girls talking about their shoplifting 

I was so glad that I wasn't the only one

As I had come to the conclusion that I was a bad person

Who did bad things

I also remember being at a meeting a long time ago

A woman shared that she had been caught shoplifting the previous day

And was feeling really ashamed

The girl who shared after her told her that it was a blessing in disguise

Because now she would never do that again

It's a lesson hard learned 

I have well and truly learned my lesson

I was shopping today

And sometimes I would skip something in to my bag

Well not today

And never again

I will never forget that feeling of someone tipping me on the back and saying 'Excuse me, did you take something?'

I never want to go through that again

I still don't know the damage I've done

I don't know how many people that girl has told 

I don't know how blackened my name is

I guess time will tell

Even though I feel huge shame about what I did

There was never a question in my mind that I would share this experience with my readers

My blog is all about telling the ugly truth of what it's like to live with an ED and addiction

And everything that goes with that

It was easy writing that post on Thursday

I mean who wants to admit that they were caught stealing?

I didn't go it so it would make for interesting reading 

I didn't do it because I have no money

I did it because part of me is still very unwell

Because my thinking and behaviours can still be very disordered 

I know I have a long way to go

And a lot of work still to do 

I am a flawed individual

Very flawed 

I make mistakes on a daily basis 

I fuck up regularly 

But I know that

Deep down

In my heart

And in my soul 

That I am not a bad person 

And it's not my intention to hurt anyone

I would much rather hurt myself that anyone else

I try to be a good person 

I really do

I love my family and friends to pieces

Am fiercely loyal

And would do anything for them

However sometimes

Against my better judgement 

I do stupid things

Really stupid things

I guess the trick is to learn from these mistakes

Move on

And not spend the rest of my natural life beating myself up

Easier said than done

But it must be done

Or else guilt and shame will fester and eat me up

So that's what I will do 

I will take the learning

And never repeat that mistake again

In fact

It is much easier to be honest

To live an honest life

Being untrue or deceitful is hard work

And you're always looking over your shoulder

Hoping and praying you won't be caught

It's no life really

As I am shown time and time again

I have the most amazing people around me

My family 

My friends

My dogs

And all my beautiful ladies here

Who never fail to rally around when times aw tough

Thank you for that

It means more than you will ever know

Thank you

All my love,

Ruby x