Stereotype

I was reading an article in the Sunday Times magazine yesterday

It was an exert from a book called The time in between: A memoir of hunger and hope

Written by Nancy Tucker

Who developed anorexia when she was a teenager

The pieces started off with Nancy talking about her need or desire to be perfect

In school

Her work

Her appearance

Her body

I guess the stereotype for an anorectic is a middle class white girl

Privileged 

Prone to perfectionism

A good girl

Although that's not entirely true

The stereotype persists

Nancy developed anorexia at the tender age of twelve

And was locked in a battle of wills either parents for the next few years

She was hospitalised

Dropped out of school

Her whole world became about avoiding eating

She just wanted to be thin

But of course anorexia becomes something else entirely

A prison 

A locked box that is nigh impossible to break out of

When Nancy was 15

She stopped eating completely

A single morsel didn't pass her lips for 93 days

She came to the realisation that she was going to die if something didn't change

She wanted to recover like 'the homeless want three inches of snow'

But she she knew she needed to

If she wanted to live

Slowly Nancy began to recover

She regained weight

And got her life back

She describes recovery as 'an up and down, hop-skip-jump progression and once you reach the finish line the referee will inform you that in fact - surprise! There is no finish. There is only a bumbling, stumbling, getting back up and crumbling now. There is only today'.

This article was a fascinating read

I could identify with some parts

Some parts I couldn't 

I don't fit neatly in to the diagnosis of anorexia

I was never the 'good girl'

The high achiever

The perfectionist

I was always pushing the boundaries

Seeing how far I could go

I guess in the early years of my illness

I was strictly anorectic 

But even then it wasn't straight forward

I was addicted to drugs

And so wasn't aware of my ED for the first few years

And over time

I developed bulimia alongside it

Complicating things further

Bulimia is the antithesis of anorexia

As I always say

If anorexia is cold and silent and aloof

The bulimia is loud and brash and on your face

Anorexia is all about denial 

Restriction 

Punishment

Bulimia is all about indulging

Over indulging

Trying to flip that hole in the soul

Then purging the body of the excess

They are opposites

But on the same spectrum

Both serve the same purpose

To numb

To escape 

To hurt

And they do that job well

I guess I am a mixture of anorexia and bulimia

I swing between the two

And could display behaviours of either on a given day 

Take yesterday

I didn't eat anything for about 20 hours

But this morning

It's only 11am

And I've already eaten crisps and chocolate 

Like I say

It's one extreme or the other

Recovery is a tentative word at the moment

I'm as well as I can be

I haven't used in two weeks 

But my meds are still a bit all over the place

This week I am thinking of giving my meds to a family member to dole out to me every day

Just while I get back on track

As for my ED

As I said 

I think this is as good as it gets for me right now

My weight is stable

But the purging persists

Some days I might purge once

Some days it could be five times

But this is a vast improvement 

I think back to 18 months ago

I was out of control

Smoking 30 cigarettes a day

And spending €100 euro on them

That left me with about €90 for the week

And that went on binge food

This is also part of the reason I used to shoplift

Some thing I haven't done in a long time now thankfully

I spent my days binging and purging

I had a path worn from my kitchen to my bathroom

Endlessly marching the March of an active bulimic

Ovet working the toilet

To the point of breaking it on two occasions 

I was a mess

I am now just a year in to my recovery

My mood has improved dramatically

My anxiety is under control for the most part

My health is infinitely better

Both mentally and physically

My quality of life is so much better

And now my addiction recovery has started

It's sad that it took a relapse for me to finally see I needed help

But

It takes what it takes

Now I feel like I am on the right path

I feel motivated and positive and hopeful

I feel like I have a shot at having a good life

A sober life

Today is Day 3 of my challenge 

I'm hoping to get to a meeting tonight

And I'm feeling nervous already 

All I can go is my best 

That is enough

I say my doctor this morning

He drug tested me

And my urine is now negative for everything

That feels good 

Now I know the drugs have left my body

And I can concentrate on getting on with the rest of my life

I was wondering about you

Do you fit the stereotype for anorexia or bulimia?

What do you identify as ED wise?

Do you think the stereotype for anorexia is accurate?

I'd love to know what you think......

Day 2

So it's Day 2

And I still feel excited about the 90 day challenge 

I woke early

Determined again to stay busy again so the committee it my head wouldn't talk me out of going

Physically I'm not feeling great

As I have my period

I had to drag my weary body out of bed this morning

But I'm so glad I did

I had to leave my sister at the bus stop

As she is going away for a few days

Then walked Honey and Lea

Came home

Quick cuppa

Got changed

And set off to collect Marie

We arrived at the venue

I had butterflies in my tummy

I hadn't been to this meeting in years

And was nervous to say the least

We went in and took our seats

I watched the people coming in

Some I recognised 

Some I didn't 

I had already decided that I wasn't going to speak

I just didn't have the courage or confidence

For those of you that don't know

It goes like this

Someone opens the meeting

And reads the preamble 

And the steps

Then someone else does 'The top table'

Which means they share their story of addiction and recovery

It's always great to listen to these speakers

It was just what I needed to hear today

One by one

Everyone spoke

Until it was just me left 

I was so nervous

But somehow I got the words out

My name is Ruby 

And I'm an addict

I haven't said those words in such a long time

But they are so true

I am an addict

A recovering addict

I spoke briefly about how I had just returned to meetings after a relapse

And that I was very grateful to have made it back in to the rooms

Relatively unscathed

When I had finished speaking

The woman next to me 

Reached over and took my hand

I was really touched

All in all

The meeting lasted two hours

Which is unusually long

But it did the trick

As it always does

And reminded me why I need the rooms

And the people in them

Tomorrow will be my first evening meeting

Which will be harder to get to I think

As I will have all day to deal with my crazy head

And the argument back and forth of whether I should or shouldn't go

But

I'll deal with that tomorrow

For now

I'm going for another walk in the sunshine

And enjoy the rest of my day

Below is my calendar for keeping track of my days

A doggy one of course

2 down

88 to go

Anorexia picture

I was browsing the internet yesterday

Looking at this and that

There was a particular picture I wanted to find

It's a picture of a girl

With a skinny little body wrapped around her

I think it's a great image to describe what it is like to live with an eating disorder

It's almost like having another entity surround you

It takes you over

Like it's in control of you

In charge of your thoughts and actions

Anyway

I was looking for this picture

And I typed 'Anorexia photo' in to Google
I was scrolling down
Skimming the images
When towards the end of the page
I found myself looking at a familiar face
I know that person I thought
I recognised what they were wearing
The mirror the photo was taken facing
And the room
I looked closer
And suddenly realised that it was me!
I did a double take and checked again and again
But it was in fact me
A very recent photo of me in my new stripey dress

I know that I put images of myself and my blog
And I write every day
So my pictures and words fall in to the abyss that is the internet
And I guess when you do that
You give that information away
It's not your own anymore
However
It was still a shock to see it

Then this morning
I decided to check again
To see if I was imagining things yesterday
But the photo had vanished
In fact it seemed to be an entirely different set of images
So I am wondering if that photo of me was there because I used my own phone
And I look at my blog here every day
Or was it just a fluke?
It makes me realise that I need to be very careful what I post on the Internet
As once it's put out there
It's not your own anymore

So I'm wondering
Has this ever happened to you?
Have you ever come across a photo of yourself on the Internet in an unusual place?
Do you post photos of yourself on the Internet?
If not why not?
I'd love to know.......

Day 1

So today was my first meeting

Of the 90 in 90 days that I am doing

Well

Kind of

I woke early 

Collected my meds

Went for a walk with my Mum and dogs

Did the food shopping

And texted my friend Marie to see if she was still up for going to the meeting

She was

And I arranged to meet her at her house at 11 30am

I got home 

Had a quick cuppa 

And headed out

I deliberately kept busy in the morning

So I wouldn't have time to talk myself out of not going

I really wanted to go

And to say that is huge

That I actually want to go to a meeting 

For me

Not because I think it's what I should go

Not to appease my family

Not to meet other addicts

But for me

For my recovery

For my sanity

For my peace of mind

For my own crazy head

I arrived at Marie's on time

The meeting was about half an hour away

And we picked up another girl on the way

This was a bit of a big deal for me too

As meeting someone new is not something I do a lot of

But we had a great chat in the car on the way

And arrived just before 12 30pm

The time we thought the meetibg started

Just then we saw a member coming out of a shop

We rolled down the window and asked her what time the meeting was at

She said it was already over

That it had in fact started at 11am

This was pretty unusual

As meetings during the day usually start at 1pm

However it was over 

There was nothing we could do about it

We met up with another member

And decided to go for coffee

In the end

We had a lovely time 

Almost like our own little meeting

I wasn't going to count today as day 1

But my friends suggested that I do

As my intention was there

And we kind of did have a meeting

So I am going to count it

One down 

89 to go

There were times today 

When I felt really awkward

Like I had nothing worthwhile to say or contribute

Like I was a boring person with nothing interesting to say for myself 

Like I wasn't pretty enough

Thin enough

Good enough

I must make it clear that my friends didn't make me feel this way

Not at all

This all comes from my low self esteem

And non existent confidence 

But even though I had these feelings

I still did it

I left my house 

I tried to get to a meeting

I met new people

I tried my best to be myself

To get on with others

And you know what?

I really enjoyed it

I had a great time

I chatted

I listened 

I spoke a little bit

I was open

I laughed

It felt good to step outside my comfort zone

And do something new

I'm now back home

And I feel like I am on cloud nine

I feel positive

Hopeful

I feel pumped for these 90 days

I feel it's one of the best ideas I've had in a long time

I don't doubt that it will be hard 

But then nothing worth doing ever is

I owe it to myself and my family to give this a chance

I really feel like it is the right thing to do

I told Marie what I was planning on doing

She thought it was a great idea

And made the point that even if I don't  get to a meeting every single day

At least I will be on the right path

All it takes is everything I've got

I only have to change one thing

Everything

So tomorrow is Day 2

I am to go to a lunch time meeting locally

And am picking up Marie on the way

I've decided to use Em's suggestion

And mark off the days on a calendar

To keep track of my progress

I feel so excited to do this

So full of hope

I know it's the right thing to do

I can just feel it

90 Days

When someone comes out of treatment
Or is just starting to recover
It is often suggested that the person do 90 meeting in 90 days
At least one meeting a day
To get a good start
A solid foundation on which to build on
To get used to meetings
To get some discipline back in their life
Correct me if I am wrong
But I think this tradition started in the US
When someone was in court for offences relating to alcohol abuse
Instead of sending the person to jail
They were told to do 90 meetings in 90 days
AA then borrowed this idea

So I am thinking of doing this
Of really giving it a shot
Throwing myself in to meetings
It can only be a good thing
I was going to start on Monday
But my friend texted me to ask if I wanted to go to a meeting today
So am going to start today
I have worked it out
And there is a meeting within 30 minutes of my house every day
So it really is possible
If I put my mind to it
My heart and soul in to it
I have nothing to lose
And every thing to gain

It's two weeks now since I last used
I've finally wrapped my head about the fact that I can't use
Anything
It's all or nothing
Sobriety or oblivion
I think I am doing ok considering where I was this time two weeks ago
I am doing my best to live in reality
And not try to run away from myself and my life
I talked it over with my sister about doing the 90 meetings
I think it would be a good challenge for me
Something to focus on
A reason to get up in the morning
A purpose
I'm always complaining that I am bored
This would give me something to do every day
The more I think about it
The more I like the idea

I expressed concern to my sister that I might not complete the 90 days
But she made the point there is nothing wrong with trying
She is dead right
All I can do is my best
So I am going to try
I'm doing this for me
For my recovery
My sanity
My peace of mind
And of course everyone around me will benefit too

I know some of you out there go to meetings
Has anyone ever done 90 meetings in 90 days?

Walk

I was doing my usual walk down at my local beach this morning

When I came across this 

It made my day
And the Hunster decided to photobomb.....

Self harm, selfies and the wanderers return

I want to thank all of you who commented on my last post

For those of you that don't know

I posted some photos of myself in some new clothes that I bought

And I got quite a nasty comment

Anonymous of course

I wouldn't expect anything more

But you all  jumped to my defence 

And told anonymous where to go 

So thank you for that

So the wanderers have returned

As in my mum and my sister are back from Prague

Myself and Honey and Lea we're delighted to see them

The dogs were so excited they had a fit

A good time was had by all

And it was great that I could tell them that my few days went well too

No hiccups 

No disasters

No lying 

I kept my head up

And my bun down

And stayed well out of trouble

I watched a documentary a couple of nights ago

Called My self harm nightmare

It told the  story of 3 girls 

Who used to use self harm and pro ana websites

One of the girls used to have a pro ana blog

She has 10, 000 followers 

And she was extremely unwell

And posted many photos of herself in various states of undress

With pointy bones and sharp edges

Another girl really struggled with self harm

She said she did it because it was the only thing in her life that she could control

She had been hospitalised many times after cutting herself

Her arms were covered in long deep scars

I have never really struggled with self harm

Of course I experimented when I was a teenager

And I have tried it

But it did little or nothing for me

So I didn't continue

But I know that some of you struggle greatly with this

I guess we all have different coping mechanisms

Mine was drugs and food

Or lack of food

Some body else's might be gambling or sex or self harm

 There all forms of self abuse

The documentary talked a bit about Pro-ana websites

And the girls on these websites encourage each other to lose weight

Posting photo after photo of emaciated malnourished girls

Making YouTube videos of how miserable they are

I have to admit 

I haven't come across that many Pro-ana sites

I mean the hardcore ones

Apart from anas challenge

Who stalked all our blogs for a while

But myself and Bella came to the conclusion that he was a dirty old man trying to get pictures of young girls

But I guess I haven't really gone looking for these sites

As I am sure they are there

I know that the public are campaigning to get these sites criminalised

The parents on the documentary said that if their daughters hadn't had access to these sites

Then things wouldn't have got so bad

I guess we are still in the infancy of the Internet

And things like pharmaceuticals, synthetics and drugs are easy to buy

And these sites are not monitored 

I'm sure in time there will be stricter laws as to what you can and can't do on the Internet

I see blogger is removing any offensive content now from blogs

I'm almost tempted to go looking for these so called Pro-ana blogs

Just out of curiosity 

I'm presuming that these sites are run by maudlin teenagers 

I hope that anyone older than that would know better

Maybe I'm wrong

I don't know 

I guess there are a lot of sick and twisted people in the  world

To think that someone would encourage you to starve or purge or self harm

Is a scary thought

I deliberately don't comment on people's weight here on blogger

I don't condone or congratulate weight loss

It's not something that is healthy to endorse

Unless the person needs to lose weight

And is doing it in a healthy and careful way

My point of view on what constitutes  beautiful has changed in the last year

I used to crave extreme thinness

Protruding collar bones

Pointy hip bones

This was perfection to me

But now my perception has changed

I no longer crave that look

Now I want to be fit and strong

Healthy even 

What a revelation!

I was wondering about you

Have you ever used Pro-and sites?

What is your view on them?

Do you think they should be banned?

I'd love to know...