Posts Tagged ‘mind and body’

Body Image: Missing A Link

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Since deciding that my eating disorder was about far more than body image (which I’ll stand by); and determining that the outside was a reflection of the struggles which were taking place within (yes, again), I seem to have cut off any consideration of my appearance and swung straight to the other extreme.

If I understand that my perception can get distorted; and I know that it’s all tied into how I feel about myself; and I have a whole bag full of CBT tricks to prove that no, I can’t possibly be fat with my BMI or yes, the reason I feel uncomfortable now is because I was used to being so unnaturally thin…

Well then, it’s all hunky-dory, really, isn’t it, and there’s clearly nothing to dwell on?

Hmmm.
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The Calathea

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

I have a calathea on the window sill in my front room.

I’m not particulary green-fingered so I keep forgetting that it needs to be fed.

A few days ago, I noticed that the cool stripey leaves had become crisp and were drooping (oops); and, in an attempt to save it from shrivelling away, I whisked the baby bio and watering-can out.

Today, when I got home from work and the sun was streaming through the window, I noticed that the leaves were unfurled and blooming; and the plant is radiant, once again.

This is the second time I’ve had to provide my calathea with a little emergency TLC. You would have thought that the first near miss – and then incredible revival – would have stopped me from letting it wilt again….

Some lessons need to be learned a few times and some miracles take a while to sink in.

I know it’s not as easy as a jug of water and some baby bio –

But feed a person properly and they, too, can come back to life.

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Tickled

Friday, May 21st, 2010

I have not had much success in my body befriending mission and I therefore decided, a few weeks ago, that it was time for a change in approach. If the visuals are still too much to handle and mirrors remain a little tough, exploring my body, from a new perspective, might possibly start to help.

So I decided to try something totally off the wall.
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Full Fat

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

My friend has challenged me to replace sweetener with sugar. Frankly, the idea had never even entered my head. I’m not quite sure what goes into the little blue dispenser I carry around with me – but why have sugar, when I could have calorie free sweetness instead?

It started me thinking – this sweetener challenge – of a few automatic assumptions that I have around food; and the extent to which weight loss, even though medically un-needed, still seems to rule the roost.

My food choices remain based, at some subconscious level, on the calorific content – and I don’t often consider the other variables that might begin to factor in.
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All Joined Up

Monday, January 11th, 2010

In July, I had a nasty incident with a treadmill and some osteoperotic bones, and I learnt a thing or two about this piece of machinery that I have been walking around in –

The human body is pretty amazing; and it deserves a bit of respect.

As I have been struggling with befriending my body recently, I thought that re-visiting what I learnt on the physiotherapist’s bed might be a good idea – or at least plug in a few of the holes that the therapist’s couch has evidently left – so, here’s a run down of a few key bits of learning that might make me hesitate when I’m next tempted to give myself a good kicking.

The first thing that my physio did when I sat down for my consultation was to tap me, sharply, on the knee to see whether my foot shot up. It did. Lesson 1: we’re all joined up.
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Nutritional Information

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

I’ve had a few small misconceptions about food that some good nutritional advice has helped me to correct.

For a start, fat does not convert into body fat.

Second, you get out what you put in – and no puns are intended. Invest wisely because your body is a temple.

Third, the car-petrol-food-fuel analogy isn’t as clichéd as it sounds. You can only run on empty for so long.

Nutritionists can really help to change your thoughts about food and, as I started to get my head in gear, they armed me with some great science to challenge some of the bizarre conclusions my anorexia had reached.
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