Posts Tagged ‘mental health’
Hanging up the bikini: why I quit fitness competitions
In October 2014, at age 31, I achieved the award that marked the pinnacle of my fitness competition career: the coveted Bikini Athlete Pro Card. Standing onstage in a Hertfordshire theatre, smiling for the winner’s photographs, I appeared the epitome..
How I found identity and freedom by feeding my soul
I am a survivor of childhood physical and emotional abuse, childhood emotional neglect, and anorexia/purging type (severe). I am also a beloved child of God that strayed off the path I believe He set before me. I am 56-years-old and..
June speaks with Dr. Cynthia M. Bulik – Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative
June was delighted to join Dr. Cynthia M. Bulik, principal investigator for the Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI), for a Facebook Live recently. June speaks about her story and experience of anorexia nervosa, and how diary writing can help people..
Mistakes are valuable lessons in eating disorder recovery
I became a champion mistake-maker when healing from my eating disorder (ED). This trial and error period occurred during a complete, internal makeover. I was exploring a new frontier, a whole new set of challenges that would lead me to..
How motherhood inspired this dancer to heal from her eating disorder
“I HAD an eating disorder.” This sentence has left my mouth frequently over the past two decades. I was 19-years-old when diagnosed with an eating disorder (ED). At the time, I had no idea that cutting out refined sugar and..
Is gaining weight the worst outcome for me during a global pandemic?
I have pondered this question repeatedly for the past few months. Sometimes it has kept me awake at night, because what if ‘it’ happens while I am not paying attention? What if the weight creeps in unannounced and I can’t..
Boomer blooms after beating bulimia
I was bulimic for 46 years. My eating disorder (ED) first came to court me in 1966 when I was an out-of-state transfer student 1000 miles from my mom and dad for the very first time. My high school boyfriend..
Swapping one obsession for another- the dangers of obsessive exercise in recovery
‘I swapped one form of control for another, exercise became my way to suppress emotions, to sculpt my body, it prevented me from reaching full recovery.’ If you scroll through social media, or read recovery stories about anorexia online, you..
Finding that one person: the key to hope and inspiration
You could call it a case of accidental fate! That’s the best way I can describe how I stumbled across the name ‘June Alexander’ in an online search in 2018. I was having just another average day, my mind filled..
Metamorphosis: the transformative work of therapy in eating disorder recovery
A counselor once shared with me, “What a caterpillar calls death, a wise man calls a butterfly.” Throughout my ongoing war against my eating disorder, therapy has been the catalyst that has pushed me into my own metamorphosis—a transformation that..