Last week, eating disorder survivor, advocate and author Andrea Roe shared her story of recovery (check out part one and part two). Today, she generously shares several tips she used to recover and improve her body image. I think everyone, in one way or another, can relate to Andrea’s story and use her tips to boost their body image and/or recovery. I’m so grateful to Andrea for sharing her advice. I highly recommend signing up  for Andrea’s Support Letter (sign up here).

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Here’s a guest post by Kate Thieda, who’s shared her recovery from an eating disorder and written a review of Jenni Schaefer’s Goodbye Ed, Hello Me. Below, Kate talks about her experiences seeking treatment at 28 years old, a bit older than the typical client who goes to an eating disorder center. She also offers some words of insight to older sufferers. Remember that eating disorders don’t discriminate: Anyone can suffer from an eating disorder, regardless of age, race or gender.

Back in December, I shared my story of recovery on Weightless. I asked Margarita if I could write another column, this time going a little deeper into part of my story that didn’t get full expression the first time around. During this week of Eating Disorder Awareness, there’s a lot of attention on treatment for those who struggle with EDs, which is awesome and hopefully the encouragement people need to seek or continue treatment and regain a life worth living.

About 10 percent of eating disorder sufferers are male, though the number may be steadily climbing to 25 percent. Still, we often forget that boys and men get eating disorders, too. The result?

There aren’t many treatment centers geared toward men (more facilities are starting to offer male-focused services nationwide). And the shame and secrecy prevent men from seeking treatment in the first place.

I regularly feature Q&As with individuals who’ve recovered from eating disorders, binge eating, negative body image and any kind of disordered eating. If you’d like to share your story of recovery, I’d love to hear from you! You can email me at mtartakovsky@gmail.com.