self-acceptance

The new requirement for restaurants and cafes to display calories on menus will no doubt challenge people with eating disorders – myself included, as I have personally suffered with anorexia. Here are some things to remember, which might help if you’re struggling with this.

Firstly, calories aren’t the enemy. Calories are simply units of energy, which everyone needs in order for your body to carry out its basic functions. You wouldn’t tell your younger self that you couldn’t have that cookie because it had ‘too many’ calories in it, would you? You wouldn’t make your younger self have that plain salad instead of pizza would you? So why would you now? You are still as deserving as your younger self to have full food freedom and have permission to live your life to the fullest, without a number on a flimsy menu telling you otherwise.

Secondly, for someone with an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa, it may be hard to have foods that you’re scared you may not like, and it be a ‘waste of calories’. But calories aren’t a currency you spend, they’re something everyone needs to live! When you’re older, looking back on your life, don’t you want to say you made the most of it, and enjoyed it to the fullest? Don’t let a number control you. Calories aren’t money and you don’t need to ‘save’ them up, or decide what to get with them. You control food. Don’t let food control you. Because a life of food freedom, will always be better than a life listening to an eating disorder.

Lastly, calories aren’t an exact science. They’re simply an indicator of how much energy a food contains. Your body doesn’t care if it’s had X more calories than usual; it only cares that it’s getting enough fuel.

#BodyPositivity #EatingDisorderRecovery #anorexiarecovery #Selfacceptance #eatingdisorderawareness #tipsandtricks

One thing I can promise you is that once you push through the hardest parts of recovery, you will not regret it. I can't promise that things will be perfect, or that recovery will be easy. But I promise that you will find yourself again and things will be so much better than they are.

So, don’t let this new law knock you back. Get that pudding. Eat what younger you would really want. You wouldn’t tell your friends they couldn’t have something, so why would you tell yourself that? Don’t let a number on a menu get in the way of you enjoying yourself and creating memories. You’ve got this!

Hi everyone. I'm new here and it's the first time I've ever written about me in a mental health group. I'm suffering from BPD since childhood but only this year I received a correct diagnosis. And since I am probably older than the average of the people present here, I have accumulated years of failures and bad thoughts about myself, many acts of self-sabotage. I fight against the part of me that complicates every small or big daily choice, that makes me do things engaging more and more energy than necessary... losing time and self-esteem. But that part is not separate from me. I have to welcome her and listen to what she has to say. I know I can. I struggle to one day be able to trust myself.
I'm glad there is a place like this... (sorry for my english) #self -sabotage #Selfacceptance #BPD

For the past 5 months I've been on short-term disability from work for the most intense depressive episode I've ever experienced. When I first started my leave, all I wanted was to get better, to get back to "being normal," which I haven't felt in about a decade. I know now that back then I was using negative coping methods and sheer force of will to act like nothing was wrong. But I still held out hope that I could be "like everyone else."

Over the course of my leave and intensive therapy sessions, I started (very bitterly) thinking that maybe I was just too screwed up, that I would never be that person I wanted to be. Those thoughts made me incredibly angry and sad and disillusioned with life. But the more they stuck in my head, the more I got used to them and started thinking about them differently.

Now I've given up on ever being "normal," whatever that looks like. And there's a certain relief that came with that. I don't have to expect myself to be perfect or even normal. Of course I try to do things that will help my mental health, like exercising, walking my dog, being creative, eating healthy foods, etc. But if I fall short of that, it's okay. This acceptance gives me permission to have bad mental health days without as much guilt or internal struggle.

I know that my depression and anxiety will flare up and if it ever gets as bad as it was in the spring I'll go straight back to my psychiatrist to adjust my meds (feeling that bad is not okay). But in the meantime I can give up on trying to be something I'm not and then feeling guilty when I can't be that person. It's really hard and also freeing to accept that I'm someone with mental health diseases.
#Depression #PTSD #Anxiety #Selfacceptance #RadicalAcceptance

Grow into your best authentic self. #MentalHealth #Selfacceptance #Selfesteem