Hello! My name is Julie, and I am a nursing student and am recovering from an eating disorder. I created an organization to help others who are also suffering from mental health illnesses. My organization is called Running Without Ed which is in the process of becoming a nonprofit organization to help raise money for … Read More
Self-care sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it? We hear about it all the time. We know it’s something we are supposed to implement in our lives. What we don’t often hear is that self-care begins with self-awareness. Self-awareness makes for a better person, and I’ve come to see self-awareness as an adventure. Sometimes you … Read More
As we approach Eating Disorder Awareness month for 2014, I think back to the fall of 1979. My freshman year at Penn State University. I was a brutally shy teen who had been fat shamed at home by his mother and bullied at school over his weight, even physically assaulted. A teen who wanted only … Read More
Have you ever thought about how powerful a piece of paper can be? Whether it be a university acceptance letter, a love note or a birth certificate, sometimes a little piece of paper can have an amazing impact. I realized this at 12 when my teacher assigned my class a unique activity. The activity consisted … Read More
Let’s face it, if you aren’t “skinny”…life can be really tough for you. “Fat” isn’t just a term that is associated with body size, it is a term that is loaded with other implications such as being lazy, sloppy and ugly. The way society views “skinny” is very different….skinny is associated with being beautiful, successful, … Read More
Love our bodies, love ourselves. That phrase echoed with me for quite some time. I couldn’t quite understand why it has become such a challenge to love who we are both physically and emotionally. I first got involved with PEDAW because of my passion to help people recognize both their inner and outer beauty. We … Read More
For a decade I suffered from bulimia. During my recovery, I came to know Merryl Bear, the director of the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC). She had heard that I was a dancer with the National Ballet Company of Canada and asked if I would choreograph and perform a dance based on my recovery … Read More
I am a good person and I know it. The feeling of never being good enough is the birthplace of eating disorders and it is a sentiment that I know intimately. I suffered from a serious eating disorder years ago which, at its lowest point, resulted in my admittance to a partial-hospitalization program. When I … Read More
When I was 21, I left eating disorder treatment for the second time. For months I had been shielded from the world – our exposure to the media was limited, we weren’t allowed to talk about weight, or calories, or share diet tips. Our food was prepared for us, and portioned out exactly. We were … Read More
In 2011 I was voluntarily admitted to the Health Sciences Centre Adult Eating Disorders Program in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The day I walked into program I wanted help, but I don’t think I realized until that moment just how much I needed. I hoped that this was the end for me – and by end I … Read More
