Binge Eating Disorder Newsletter: Challenge

May, 2008
End Binge Eating Newsletter

Dear friends,

I hope that you all had a great Memorial Day weekend! We were planning on going to the lake with some friends, but had a change of plans at the very last minute. I received a call that my uncle had passed away, so I swapped my lake house weekend for a weekend in Philadelphia with my family. Aside from it being a sad time, it was really nice to spend some time with my family. Being that they are so far away, I don’t get to see them too often.

Now that I’m back in town, I wanted to send out the last 5 out of the 10 challenges that I wrote about previously.  As you’ll remember, I found all 10 challenges on my computer and each one helped me to move closer to overcoming binge eating disorder.

To see the previous 5 and the last newsletter, click here. 

Let’s start.

6. Challenge yourself to bite off more than you can chew, while learning how to spit.

Decide that you will stop your struggle with binge eating disorder. Instead of expecting to change overnight, remind yourself that it will take time, effort, and patience. The goal of overcoming binge eating is a big one – Know that and never forget it. It’s going to be difficult, but when you take it step-by-step, it is easier.

Don’t set yourself up for failure by expecting to change so much at once. Taking it step-by-step will be more successful than you think.

Figure out little things you can do daily, weekly, or monthly to help build a strong foundation underneath you. Start journaling. Talk to friends. Go for walks. Fight the urge to binge. Step outside of your comfort zone.

All of these things will add up and produce big results. You just have to take it one step at a time.

7. Challenge yourself to be the person you dream of being.

What kind of person do you dream of becoming when you are binge-free? What does that person look like? How does that person act? What does that person do instead of binge eating?

Write down all characteristics of the person you desire to be. Don’t leave anything out. Write down the types of people you will be friends with and what you will talk about. Write down how you will dress.

Just be sure to see yourself as the person you can be without binge eating. Make sure to leave that out and challenge yourself to think about how your life would be when binge eating is not a part of it.

8. Challenge yourself to fall in love with your quirks, flaws, and imperfections.

You cannot be a perfectionist while binge eating. It just doesn’t work and probably leads to more bingeing. Instead of finding and obsessing over your flaws, quirks, and imperfections, learn how to use them to your benefit. Learn how to love yourself and embrace the qualities that you have that might be different than others.

After all, being different is what sets you apart from everyone else… and isn’t that something to be happy about? How boring would our world be if we were all the same?

If we all had the same facial features…

If we all were skinny and looked the same…

If we all had the same bone structure…

If we all believed the same thing…

If we all enjoyed doing the same thing…

Remember, it’s our differences that make the world go ‘round. Rejoice in your differences and find a different angle on your quirks so that you can start to love them.

9. Challenge yourself to learn something new, do it well, and show it off.

When you learn something new and do it well, your mind opens up to other possibilities. You will not become stagnant in doing just what you know. You will step out of your comfort zone and this will do wonders for your self-esteem. As you know, when you improve your self-esteem, you will feel better about yourself, which will help you believe in the fact that you can overcome binge eating disorder.

10. Challenge yourself to have outrageous amounts of fun.

This is a fun one! I mean, who doesn’t like to have fun, right?

Try to add some fun in your life everyday and see how this will affect your total self. I bet you will be happier and will laugh, instead of feeling sorry for yourself and wondering why you are still bingeing. You need to have some fun!

When you have fun, it makes you feel good. When you feel good, you automatically feel better about yourself, regardless of what is going on. It’s an instant booster for your mood, no matter what. And, when you feel better about yourself, you might want to keep that attitude for as long as you can, which would mean having no reason to binge.

When you are having fun, you aren’t not going to think like “Wow, this is so fun… Maybe I should binge and totally destroy my mood.” No! Instead, you will feel so good about yourself and you’ll want to keep those good feeling going for as long as you can.

If you find yourself making excuses for reasons why you can’t have fun, you need to stop those thoughts in the tracks! If you are thinking, “I don’t have any extra money to spend on fun”, I want to tell you that there are plenty of free things to do out there. Check your paper for free concerts, go to a park, go to a museum (not free, but minimal), hang out with your friends, scrapbook, play an instrument, etc.

“I don’t deserve to have any fun.” I ask: Why don’t you? I don’t believe you will be able to answer that question with a justifiable reason. Everyone deserves to do something that will make them smile and forget about their situation for a while.

“I don’t like the way I look/I don’t feel comfortable with myself in public.” OK, this is understandable; but again, don’t let it stand in your way. If you don’t feel good about yourself and if you don’t want to be around people, do something more private. Do something at night time. Go to the movies – It’s dark in there.

The point is that you cannot succumb to your eating disorder. You can’t let it control your every action and thought anymore. You have to learn to step up to it and step out of your comfort zone. I promise that taking little steps will lead you to big accomplishments with this disorder.

As always, I do believe in you and am here to help you any way that I can!

I believe in you!

P.S... I've been having a lot of fun posting on my blog on: http://www.bingeeatingdisorderhelp.com.  Many of you have been commenting on my blog posts, so if you haven't been there for awhile, feel free to stop by and leave a comment.  :)