The danger here is that unlike photoshopped models, fitness stars tell you that what they have is real, and that you could—no, you should—achieve it, too I was always “the thin one.” I spent more than a decade wavering between being underweight and being anorexic. Naturally, people just assumed that my body type was slender and somewhat frail. “You look like a model,” people would tell me. More than once, a stranger approached me on the street or in a cafe to ask if I was a ballerina. (Perhaps it is only in New York City that someone would a) care if they...
This is Anorexia
Oh, celebrity anorexia rumors… they never stop. As I was researching the relationship between eating disorders and social media for a conference I’m presenting at in May, I stumbled upon a rather abhorrent story called “18 Anorexic THIN Celebrities That Need a Few Big Macs!” (For obvious reasons, I’m not linking to it. But the website is called Juicy Celeb, which pretty much tells you everything you need to know.) It’s so frighteningly off-base that it’s not worth the effort it would take to even begin correcting it. I only just had the energy to...
Read MoreNEDAwareness Week 2016
#NEDAwareness: National Eating Disorder Awareness Another NEDAwareness Week is drawing to a close. This year’s theme, “Three Minutes Can Save a Life: Get Screened, Get Help, Get Healthy,” focused on the importance of early detection and intervention. I can’t emphasize enough just how important it is to act as soon as possible if you suspect that you or others you love are struggling with eating-related issues. Catching an eating disorder or disordered eating in its earliest stages shortens the overall duration of the illness, decreases severity, and improves the...
Read MoreOral Roberts University Requires Fitbit for All Freshmen
Oral Roberts U requires students to track activity for a grade Oral Roberts University, a Christian college in Tulsa, Oklahoma, recently announced that it is requiring all freshmen to wear the popular fitness and activity tracker, Fitbit. The school will track each student’s activity level (and other health data) as part of a first-year course known as Health Fitness I. The Fitbit data will account for 20% of students’ grade. The move is a modern upgrade for a long-established fitness curriculum at Oral Roberts, which previously required students to “manually log aerobics points in a fitness...
Read MoreA Letter to “The View”: I Do Not Enjoy My Eating Disorder
To the hosts of ABC’s The View, On the Nov. 19 episode of The View, while discussing Donald Trump’s alleged weight loss, Joy Behar remarked that while backstage the hosts had debated whether it’s better to become anorexic or bulimic. Co-host Michelle Collins asked the crowd, “What do you girls think?” before promptly answering, “Definitely bulimic. You get to enjoy the meal.” An apology of sorts followed, with Candace Cameron Bure reassuring viewers that the discussion was meant in jest, and that she, as a recovered bulimic, was empathetic. “I think I can joke about it because I’ve been...
Read MoreNew York State Residents: We Need Your Help to Pass Anna’s Law!!
New York residents in Congressional District 27 — We need your help! I’ve been in Washington, DC for the last two days, lobbying for the Anna Westin Act with the Eating Disorders Coalition and participating in the #MarchAgainstED with countless eating disorder survivors, families, and advocates. I have a lot to say about my experience, and I will post more about it in the coming days. Right now, however, there is task we need your help with. The New York lobby team had many meetings yesterday, and we received a lot of positive feedback — except in one case. Representative Chris Collins...
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I'm a writer, a mental health activist, and a 20-something in recovery from an eating disorder. This blog chronicles my journey through the middle ground toward full recovery.
