Today, I’m pleased to share this guest post about how one blogger chose to seek recovery from her eating disorder. Jen struggled with anorexia throughout her teens and early 20s. Her recovery from an eating disorder and journey into a life as a well-rounded woman inspired her to write her own blog, MsMorphosis, ”Fearless Thinking For the Modern Miss,” which encourages young women to develop themselves as authentic individuals rather than relying on the status quo.

Remember that eating disorders are complicated and serious illnesses. People don’t choose to have an eating disorder any more than they choose to have cancer or epilepsy. But you can choose to seek recovery. Jen’s post speaks to making this choice and slowly working to chip away at the eating disorder thoughts and diet mentality. These often manifest into a fervent focus on food and weight and an obsession with perfection.

{via It Gets Better Project; helps to fund anti-bullying & suicide prevention efforts}

Today I’m pleased to present this guest post by writer Brittany Lyons. Below, Brittany sheds light on an important topic: the prevalence of body image issues and eating disorders in the gay community and what might be to blame.

Brittany aspires to be a psychology professor, but decided to take some time off from her PhD program to help people learn to navigate the academic lifestyle. She currently lives in Spokane, Washington, where she spends her time reading science fiction and walking her dog.

When people think about body image or eating disorders, they usually imagine young, impressionable girls who come to hate their own bodies because they don’t match unrealistic advertisements, TV shows and movies. And, in fact, most eating disorder awareness and assistance programs are aimed at women.

However, a 2007 study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health found that women aren’t the only ones who need such programs, as gay and bisexual men may be just as much at risk (or even higher risk) for poor body image and  eating disorders as women. Thus, instead of just focusing on women, it is imperative that eating disorder programs focus on all groups.

{image by Sui; check out more here!}

Today, I’m thrilled to publish a beautiful guest post by Sui from cynosure. On her blog, Sui writes about love, growth, presence, eating and body image. As she says, “I share my journey to help you on yours.”

What I love about her piece is that it has a very powerful and positive message. Very sadly, in our society, hunger is a dirty word or something to be feared. Hunger, we’re taught, is what sabotages dieting. It’s what keeps us from losing weight. It’s a slippery slope to excess pounds and deep dissatisfaction.

How many of us have wished that we didn’t get hungry, that we didn’t have (healthy) appetites?

Below, Sui explores hunger and eloquently explains why it’s actually a necessary, healthy and wonderful thing.

Today, I’m pleased to present a guest post by blogger Ariana Merritt about her body image battles and the importance of adjusting your perspective. Hope you enjoy it!

Don’t forget to comment on this post to be eligible to win a copy of Kim Brittingham’s Read My Hips: How I Learned to Love My Body, Ditch Dieting and Live Large.

Happy Friday!

{via pinterest}

That’s a question that Amy Pershing gets asked a lot! Clearly, it’s a testament to the insidious impact of the weight-loss and diet industries. Below Amy offers an eloquent answer.

If you remember, I recently interviewed Amy about binge eating disorder. Check out what she had to say about binge eating myths and challenges of recovery and her own struggles and recovery.

Amy is the executive director at PershingTurner Centers and clinical director for The Center for Eating Disorders in Ann Arbor, MI. She’s also an advocate of Health At Every Size.

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Today, I’m pleased to present a beautiful guest post by Beth Gager Green. Beth shares her story of pushing through obstacles and discovering her inner strength and ultimately finding herself and living life fully.

A bit more on Beth:

She lives and works in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her divorce in 2001 and several psychiatric hospitalizations changed the direction of her life in a profound way, from her life as a mother to her career path.  In 2010 Beth made a decision to let go of old ways that were holding her in the pain of the past and to really let herself live again. She got a new job and found her inner spark that had been shining all along. Now she lets people see it, including herself.

Today, I’m honored to present a guest post by Elizabeth P, an accomplished woman who’s recovered from anorexia. (See below for her bio.)

In this poignant post, Elizabeth discusses the difficulty of recovering in a weight- and appearance-centric society and the temptation she faces to get on the scale.

Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for your beautiful and honest post!

My Dilemma

Every time I go over to a friend’s apartment I am faced with a dilemma.

Inevitably, at some point in the evening, I have to excuse myself to use my friend’s restroom.  More often than not, upon opening the bathroom door, I find myself face to face with what for the recovering disordered eater constitutes nothing less than the barrel of a cocked gun: the bathroom scale.

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Today, I’m thrilled to present a beautifully written guest post by Joy Choquette, who writes the awesome blog 156 Things, where she takes on about three things each week that take her out of her comfort zone. I love Joy’s writing, and I’m honored to share the below post with you.

Joy is a Vermont-based professional writer. As she says,  among her many interests are psychology geekery, people-watching and interpreting and everything relationship oriented: from marriages to childhood patterns to habits involving food, money and faith. She’s also very much interested in intuitive eating (please read this amazing post about it on her blog).

Without further ado, here’s Joy’s post about food in today’s world.

I am sitting in a café, warm coffee-scented air hanging heavy. I type away on my laptop. Today, this café is a retreat from my real life, a place to focus entirely on my writing and block out the distractions that plague me at home.

At least, I try to block out the distractions. More than once I’m pulled into a conversation at a nearby table, ears perking as I stare into space waiting for the right order of words to come.

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Today, I’m pleased to present a guest post by freelance writer Maria Rainier, who offers valuable insight into raising healthy teenage girls.

In today’s society, with its pro-dieting and pro-thinness messages, parents definitely have their work cut out for them.

But there are many things parents can do to counteract these unhealthy messages and help their kids cultivate a positive body image and self-image.

Thanks so much, Maria, for your piece!

Today, I’m honored to present a guest post by author Nicole Johns. Below, she talks about the underlying issues that fueled her eating disorder, and how she recovered by addressing both.

I first learned about Nicole when I reviewed her book Purge: Rehab Diaries for Psych Central. (You can read my review here.) In short, I loved the book for its raw honesty, hopeful message, myth-busting and accurate information.

We’ve been in contact ever since, and I think she’s an incredible person and a great advocate for eating disorder awareness and recovery.

By the way, Nicole recently wrote about how lucky she is to be doing what she loves, such as speaking, teaching and writing. I know I can’t imagine how hard recovery is, but this post definitely speaks to why it’s so worth it!