Eating Disorders

          Eating Disorders 

I think I am as normal as most women out there. I hate gaining even 1 lb. I don't like it when my clothes fit to tight ( even thought the dryer is my best friend lol ). I worry about staying in shape and I don't want to look older than I am. I have always believed if I ever stop concerning myself with all that I would give up on staying healthy, but there has to be a healthy balance in that thought process, if not, this can turn into an obsession and possible eating disorder.
Most girls struggle with the concept of what is "normal" at an early age because of T.V, radio, video's and of course from the girls at school.
I struggled always with my weight. My average weight from age 12 through my adulthood in my 40's has been the same. No matter how in shape  I was or what I ate I still seemed to carry this average. Until the last few years.
When I was in my teens and early 20's I was bulimic. My self image problem was my body weight and shape and worried about being or getting too big. Every time I felt full I panicked and felt I needed to purge. I assumed I would gain weight  every time I put food in my mouth. I wanted to make sure I didn't gain weight. I believe as girls and now as women we carry the same feelings of self image and the feeling of fitting in. Somehow never feeling good enough and that everyone else doesn't have to worry or struggle the same as ourselves. Being comfortable in our own skin seems to happen for some but not us all. When I started running and riding my bike and then going to the gym in my early teens I still managed to let that "normal look" effect me, even when I felt better after exercising.
Women of all ages want the same thing, I just believe we are looking at it all wrong. We need to focus on how we feel, not what we look like. We are all beautiful because of our uniqueness. I want all women to feel the way we all should, healthy and beautiful. Even though I have become a nutrition consultant, I still struggle and I still want better for my self, because I am not perfect.(actually never lol),  but what I will never do again is purge.  The only way I could stop myself from purging when I was young was to tell myself over and over again that what ever I put in my mouth I am responsible for , so I better start making better choices. From then on once making myself be accountable, I got through it and over it. My head was finally in a better place.
My story I briefly told in my profile about how tired I was of being told what to do, take or eat for my health and weight was another time I told myself I needed to be accountable for all that, not others. It was so confusing. I didn't want all my efforts of trying to be healthy wasted. When we are bombarded with information like fad diets, supplements  and beauty products etc. just like the so called perfect image society tries to portray. How do we know what to use, take or apply?. I just knew I needed to do more for myself, so I enrolled into school because this way I'd learn more about not only nutrition but how food processes in our bodies, about nutritional science like biochemistry and how to eat to prevent disease. For me once I got the picture on what goes on inside my body, I finally understood what I was doing wrong and right. Now I have always pretty much ate healthy or at times what I thought was healthy but now I feel the weight of if fall off my shoulders. I know what my body needs to survive and be healthy as well as how to make the changes I need to make when necessary. This is what I wish I knew when I was young.
In summary I just wanted to say, with poor self image, peer-pressure, society etc. makes us, especially girls feel the need to go to extreme methods to look the way others tell us to. Unfortunately eating disorders are a way we think we can make theses changes happen, but in fact the opposite. I know that when our minds are in the right place and we want to be healthy through proper nutrition and exercise it is all possible.. Not that it is as simple as that because it is not. I was just fortunate to be able do this on my own. I also know through good mental health and nutritional health we can't help but to feel optimal.  Here is a website I wanted to share that explains eating disorders.
www.eatingdisordersonline.com/explain/index.php
Remember to take care of yourself nutritionally and mindfully.
This goes for  men too, because there are some men who have eating disorders too, it's just not as common and/or talked about.
Happy, Healthy Eating and Self Image..