FLIRTING WITH ED
Sunday, January 22, 2012 - Comments 0
By Valerie Cunningham
In the past couple of months, I have hit a glitch in my 5+ years of recovery from my Eating Disorder. What was moving along quite seamlessly, with only a few minor bumps along the way, was now in jeopardy. If immediate change didn’t take place, my “textbook” (as my dietician called it) recovery was heading toward the danger zone with the potential for relapse. I like to call this chapter of my recovery “Flirting with ED”. (ED is simply an abbreviation for Eating Disorder. I prefer to think of my Eating Disorder as another person, and naming it helps to put a face, if you will, to this very real disease.)
When I went into treatment five years and eight and a half months ago, the thought of ever running back into the arms of ED was the farthest thing from my mind. It simply wasn’t an option. I had divorced ED and never wanted to see his face again. But in recent months, the temptation to rekindle my love affair with ED has been strong.
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LESSONS FROM LUCY
Monday, November 14, 2011 - Comments 1
By Valerie Cunningham
I’m not a big TV lover, but I do appreciate some of the classics of yesteryear. Lately, one of my guilty pleasures has been to tune in to re-runs of the ever-popular 1950’s sitcom, “I Love Lucy.” I remember watching it when I was a youngster home sick from school (or just playing hooky.) Recently I flipped upon it and it has become a semi-regular, 22-minute comical escape from the real world. Lucy, the fiery red head, and her blonde partner-in-crime, Ethel, always find themselves in a mess; yet creatively manage to wiggle their way out.
A couple of weeks ago, an episode caught my attention. It began with Ricky, Ethel, and Fred talking about how over the years they had put on a few pounds. Lucy denied that such a thing had happened to her, and demanded that a scale be brought out into the middle of the living room floor just to prove her point. Her husband and friends were happy to oblige, and much to her chagrin, Lucy had indeed gained some weight since her wedding day 10 years prior.
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WHAT’S A CALORIE?
Monday, October 17, 2011 - Comments 2
By Valerie Cunningham
There we were, standing in the checkout line at the grocery story, when my almost 9 year old daughter asked, “What’s a calorie?” Trying not to over-react, I calmly replied, “Excuse me, what did you say?” She then pointed out the bold advertisement on the seemingly innocent box of popscicles we were purchasing.
Despite my well meaning attempts to shelter and protect her from words like calorie, fat grams, and gluten, among others, inevitably the day would come when she would hear or read them. And in my opinion, that day came too soon. I’m hyper-vigiliant when it comes to anything related to eating and body image issues, most obviously because I was held captive to my Eating Disorder for more than two decades.
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