Friday, May 27, 2011

Why hello there ;)

 Bienvenida! Aloha! Benvenuto! Cead Mile Failte! And all of the other beautiful languages that I do not want to leave out...."welcome!"

Where do I begin?

I guess I could explain to you that I have an eating disorder (anorexia I suppose would best describe it).  I'm in recovery and doing really well (at this particular moment).  I guess I could describe to you why I [I think] I developed this awful disease, why restricting and starving felt good, why I thought I lost all control in my life.  I guess I could explicate why I sought recovery, what has helped me, what I have learned.  I guess I could share with you the details of my mundane existence, which is overtly laced with eating thoughts and restrictive behavior.

But I'm not.

Because this isn't about me.

No sir!

It's really about this:

42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner (Collins, 1991).
81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat (Mellin et al., 1991).
The average American woman is 5’4" tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5’11" tall and weighs 117 pounds.
Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women (Smolak, 1996).
51% of 9 and 10 year-old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet (Mellin et al., 1991).
46% of 9-11 year-olds are "sometimes" or "very often" on diets, and
82% of their families are "sometimes" or "very often" on diets (Gustafson-Larson & Terry, 1992).
91% of women recently surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting, 22% dieted "often" or "always" (Kurth et al., 1995).
95% of all dieters will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years (Grodstein, 1996).
35% of "normal dieters" progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders (Shisslak & Crago, 1995).
25% of American men and 45% of American women are on a diet on any given day (Smolak, 1996).
Americans spend over $40 billion on dieting and diet-related products each year (Smolak, 1996).
Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself! (<--That's my source!  No plagiarism intended here!)

This blog is about how these terrifying statistics relate to your friends, your peers, your sisters, your cousins, your children, your students, your future.  Yup, your future

I realize I'm certainly not the first to post these stats.  And I wholeheartedly hope I am not the last.  Something needs to be done.

THIS.IS.NOT.OKAY.

So, what am I doing here on blogger?  Or, better question, what are you doing here reading it?



I found this beauty here!

Any-who,
We are starting a change.
We are not accepting these statistics.
Through motivational sayings, resources, my own personal experiences, and whatever else I find pertinent, we will see a change.

You, me, your friends, your peers, your sisters, your cousins, your children, your students, all of us together.

So stick around my blog, I need YOUR help.

xoxo
CJ [<--for privacy purposes, that's me ;)]
 



2 comments:

  1. Hello...eating disorders are as real, severe and controlling as any type of addiction. In keeping it simple...something, somewhere deep in the mind is very unhappy and is causing the brain to seek safety and/or a place to feel happy where no one can disturb or destruct it.
    Dealing or coping with any disorder is a daily exercise at best. Having understanding and supportive people around helps make this battle somewhat easier to fight. It is a constant reach out for a discipline very much needed to just maintain some form of sanity through out each day~

    'One day at a time'.. is probably the most effective way to deal with any emotional roller-coaster ~

    Onward & Upward~

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  2. Thanks Dorothy L for your encouraging words! I appreciate when others understand. Most think it's a vain, silly "tendency" and do not understand the addictive part of it. It makes me feel better knowing that there are people out there who understand and who are not judging!

    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete