|
If you’re here, it’s
probably because you or someone you care about has become
distracted, frustrated, even consumed by unhealthy eating patterns
and weight obsession. If so, that’s just fine – it’s exactly why
we’re here too.
I’d like to tell you a
little of my story. After putting on the “Freshman 15” during my
first semester in college, I spent more than a decade struggling
with various types of disordered eating. After brief stints with
anorexia, bulimia and laxative abuse, I spent most of seven years
trapped in cycles of binge eating and chronic dieting. During these
years my weight fluctuated a lot, taking my naturally thin
pre-college figure up several clothing sizes, and then back down
again. Eventually I wasn’t happy unless I was wearing sizes that
were really too small for someone of my height and frame.
For most of this
period, I was not extreme in my disordered eating – at least not by
today’s American standards. Oh sure, I was very conscious of
everything I ate, right down to how much fat was in one little
creamer, or how many calories were in a breath mint, but all of this
obsessing seemed a small price to pay to achieve the ultra-thin
standard so prominently displayed in our media driven culture.
Eventually, however, I
began to recognize that my obsession WAS a problem. As I began to
seek help, I was disheartened to discover that few professionals
seemed concerned about my ‘type’ of eating disorder. I wasn’t
grossly underweight. I wasn’t missing periods. I wasn’t eating a
lettuce leaf and a few raisins for dinner. I wasn’t throwing up. I
had a happy marriage and a successful marketing career, and wore a
size that is socially acceptable in our thin-is-in culture. Their
puzzled looks seemed to communicate, “So you think about food and
eating all the time – doesn’t everyone???”
The truth is, Yes, most
everyone I know IS worried about weight. But that doesn’t mean we
have to live our lives enslaved to strict diets and exercise
regimes. Being a disordered eater requires much of us – our time,
our money, our joy, our ability to have relationships, our health…
and the list goes on. It’s time to recognize that no matter how we
address eating and weight in our own lives, if it is something that
requires more than 10% of our brain power and energy, we are truly
sacrificing more important things.
What are the sacrifices
you’re making? Are you skipping social events because you feel fat?
Are you so exhausted from your workout regimen that you don’t have
time for relationships? Are you worried about your own weight to the
point that you’re inadvertently (or even purposely) influencing your
children, your husband, or your friends to be weight obsessed too?
How ‘bout this
question… Are you ever truly happy?
When I wrote my first
book to help bring more attention to the problem of chronic dieting,
I called it “Life Inside the Thin Cage” because after all those
years of disordered eating and weight obsession, I finally began to
see that my obsessive pursuit of thinness had become a cage around
me. This cage stood between me and relationships. It prevented me
from enjoying a ‘normal’ meal without guilt. It kept me from being
able to embrace the flaws and imperfections that come with being
human. And it kept me distracted from fully experiencing God’s
fullest for my life.
For those of you who
share in this struggle, it’s time to admit we’re captive, and to
find the keys to unlocking our cages, that we might experience a
life of freedom on the other side.
As you peruse the
information and resources we’ve provided here, I hope you’ll find
hope for your own journey to freedom. Please feel free to let us
know if we can help along the way.
Kindest regards,
Constance Rhodes
Founder & Executive
Director, FINDINGbalance.com
Author, Life Inside the
Thin Cage
Email Constance
|
