My body is a cage

According to The Arcade Fire this song isn't about shame about you body but I choose to interpret it this way. It's a great song and a great group to see live by the way

Affirmations - Change Your Mind

As I'm not at all a fan of Celine Dion so I can't see this video using the sound but the message is really good. I had enough! I know I've said this so many times before but this time it's for real. I'm fead up with feeding myself. I had it!

Do you have an eating disorder? Well... yes I do

This questioner is from the site eatingdisorderfoundation.org.

If you have answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you may have an eating disorder.

1. Do you overeat until you feel sick?
2. Do you feel guilt and remorse when you eat?
3. Are you terrified of being overweight?
4. Does it feel as though food controls your life?
5. Do you isolate so that you can eat?
6. Do you have a history of dieting?
7. Do you avoid eating when you're hungry?
8. Do you weigh yourself at least once a day?
9. Do you eat large amounts of food in a brief amount of time?
10. Do other people say you're thin but you think you're fat?
11. Do you make yourself vomit?
12. Do you regularly take laxatives or diuretics to lose weight?
13. Do you exercise no matter how tired or sick you may feel and feel upset when you miss a day?
14. Do you go to the gym or exercise more than once a day?
15. Do you take longer than other people to eat a meal or do you usually finish before everyone else?
16. Are you preoccupied with food or your body size much of the day most days?
17. Do you hide foods?
18. Do you cook for others but never eat what you've made?
19. Do you resist foods when in public but eat them when you're alone?
20. Do you eat or refuse to eat when tense, anxious, or disappointed?
21. Do you feel exhilarated or "in control" when you don't eat?
22. Have you taken drugs to curb your appetite?
23. Do you exercise instead of eating?
24. Do you count calories or fat grams?
25. Do you make unfulfilled promises to yourself about what you will or will not eat?
26. Do you feel defeated or hopeless about food or your body size?
27. Have you kept any of these issues secret?

Sleep loss, increased appetite and obesity

I've been indulging in compulsive and uncontrolled eating for 3 hours now. Ice cream, chocolate pralines, candy, fudge and more ice cream. This frightens me as I've been experiencing amelioration's recently in this area and all actions reinforces that particular behavior....

I also had 3 days of binging last week. After trying to analyse what could be behind this behavior I found the answer being lack of sleep. After googling this issue I found that several researchers have since 2004 tried to prove the connection between sleep deprivation and increased appetite. The first article in this kind was publicated at the University of Chicago showing that sleeping too few hours will have an effect on your hormones. This will cause an increase in appetite and a preference for calorie-dense, high-carbohydrate foods. And in my case, having an appetite for such food is forbidden, and if I eat something that's calorie dense and still feel hungry afterword I will most likely choose to have a binge. I'm using the word "choose" as I should feel responsible for my actions, but whenever this happens, I really don't feel like it's a choice.

On my bedside table lays my body for life

When Bill Phillip - the publisher of a bodybuilding magazine - found out that a majority of his enthusiastic readers were completelly out of shape he realized that something was wrong in his methodes. He decides to motivate his readers to do a 12 week body transformation - The body for life Challenge.

I beleive that it's the real life stories that are what makes this book so special. With "before-and-after" shots and success stories you can not avoid wanting to act. wanting to change. These real life cases all seems to have experienced tremendous uplifts in their life in other areas outside their physical body. l did try this cardio methodes for 2 weeks with enourmosly positiv results in my mental and physical health. However, then my brand nex PT came along saying that I shouldn't do so as I've got weak knees and that the cardio - program put to much pressure on them...

However, I still loved the book, hoping that I'll be able to do it one day.

Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength by Bill Phillip

You can alos check out Bill's homepage: http://bodyforlife.com/index.asp

ED's helping you go through emotional conflicts

Text from http://www.eatingdisorderfoundation.org/

Eating Disorders are not just about food and weight. They are an attempt to use food intake and weight control to manage emotional conflicts that actually have little or nothing to do with food or weight. Eating disorders do not occur in an otherwise satisfied, productive, and emotionally healthy person. People with eating disorders are struggling with a number of emotional problems. This may be a hard concept to accept. Many people with eating disorders appear to be functioning at a high level, such as enjoying success with school or work. Often, the only problem appears to be with eating. However, healthier eating habits or stronger willpower are not the missing ingredients that will make the problem disappear.


AN EATING DISORDER IS AN EXTERNAL SOLUTION TO INNER TURMOIL.


Psychological Factors that can contribute to Eating Disorders:
Low self-esteem
Feelings of inadequacy or lack of control in life
Depression, anxiety, anger, or loneliness

Interpersonal Factors that Can Contribute to Eating Disorders:
Troubled family and personal relationships
Difficulty expressing emotions and feelings
History of being teased or ridiculed based on size or weight
History of physical or sexual abuse
Social Factors that Can Contribute to Eating Disorders:
Cultural pressures that glorify "thinness" and place value on obtaining the "perfect body"
Narrow definitions of beauty that include only women and men of specific body weights and shapes
Cultural norms that value people on the basis of physical appearance and not inner qualities and strengths

Other Factors that can contribute to Eating Disorders:
Scientists are still researching possible biochemical or biological causes of eating disorders. In some individuals with eating disorders, certain chemicals in the brain that control hunger, appetite, and digestion have been found to be imbalanced. The exact meaning and implications of these imbalances remains under investigation. Eating disorders are complex conditions that can arise from a variety of potential causes. Once started, however, they can create a self-perpetuating cycle of physical and emotional destruction.

Why are everybody nagging about keeping a food journal?

Knowing when and why you eat is an important step in recovery. Therefore it's often recomended in self help litterature (about eating disorders) to keep a daily journal of your eating habits. List what you ate, when you ate, your hunger level, and your feelings before and after you ate. This is not suppose to be an activity in order to judge yourself. Don't feel guilty. Instead be like a detective eager to reveal a secret. It sounds silly but hey, I'm not the one writing the self-help books. However I've tried this before and believe me it works.

Quote of the day

“Beauty is not a frivolous issue. Nor is it a vanity issue. It’s a quality of life issue”

My roots

I beleive that some things enables us to swing with the wind instead of breaking whenever there's a storm going on. This is what I call our roots. More importantly this basic will also provide us with material to nurture and grow fruits on your branches. Enough with the metaphores today, this is my roots:



HEALTH - I take care of the garage where I park my soul
RELATIONSHIPS - I show appreciation for, and spend time with my loved ones
CREATIVITY - I build on my creative side and feed my curiosity.
WORK - I have a stimulating work, both intellectually and socilaly
BEAUTY - I beautify my exterior and interior environment
RITUALS - I do ordinary things in extraordinary ways

Denial

I'm having a hard time taking myself seriously. I don’t really grip that my life is going on right now (and have been going on for 26 years). It feels more like a general repetition. I do hope that reincarnation exist so that I’ll get a second chance to live my life to the fullest :-)

Pain, pleasure and payoffs

Even the most destructive behaviours have a payoff. If you did not perceive the behaviour in question to generate some value to you, you would not do it. So if you want to stop behaving in a certain way, you've got to stop "paying yourself off" for doing it! Really! This is important. You must link pain to doing a destructive behaviour and then link pleasure to changing.

Find and control the payoffs, because you can't stop a behaviour until you recognize what you are gaining from it. Be alert to the possibility that your behaviour is controlled by fear of rejection. It's easier not to change. Try something new = putting yourself on the line. Also consider if your need for immediate gratification creates an appetite for a small payoff now rather than a large payoff later.