Everyone Has a Seat at the Table

Here is what I wrote for NEDA's Awareness Week:

Could be TW?

Everyone Has a Seat At The Table

This year, NEDA’s theme is Everyone Has a seat at the table. I do like this theme because it includes people from different ethnicities and various eating disorder diagnoses, and no one is excluded but included in the celebration of eating and gathering around the table.

I remember when I didn’t want to come to the table to eat. I made excuses like: “ I ate already, I am not hungry,” even though I was hungry after restricting for most of the day. The truth was the Eating Disorder was running the program and telling me to exercise more and eat way less. The truth was, I was getting tired of this regimen that the ED was putting me through. My therapist, Miriam gave me a good wake up call, “ You need to stop this or I will have to hospitalize you.” “ I don’t want to do this sweetie but will if I have to.” She knew it was the wake up call I needed but did it out of love.

Slowly I recovered and now I am strong enough to have meals with family and friends at the table. I don’t concern myself with exercising after or about the calories that I have eaten. I concentrate on the fellowship and fun.

There is another table I like to go to is the church dinners or breakfasts and have fellowship. One important is the Lord’s Table for communion at church. I trusted God to help me through the Eating disorder and he helped me recover with the help of my husband and my therapist, Miriam. I am glad that I can thank him and praise him for that!