Cure For Bulimia

Beginning May 2006, ABC’s 20/20 cameras followed Sue, a 48-year-old married mother of three suffering with anorexia, through her treatment at The Renfrew Center of Philadelphia.  20/20 was there with Sue on the morning she entered residential treatment, when she stepped down to Day Treatment in July, and when she completed treatment at Renfrew in August.  One year after the day she entered treatment, 20/20 followed up with Sue and her family to see what recovery from an eating disorder is really like.

Visit 20/20 website for more information about the segment that aired on Friday, Jan. 18th.  To view the segment, which has been broken up into three parts, click on the following links:

Introduction;   Part One;    Part Two.

After all of the filming was complete, and almost one year since she completed her treatment at Renfrew, we sat down with Sue to see what it was like to take the brave step of seeking treatment as an older woman, how her life is different now, and what she hopes other women will learn from her experience.

As more and more studies are done on bulimia, more theories are beginning to point to the fact that bulimia and self image really are related. It is the problems with self image that lead to the eating disorder…at least as far as some psychological professionals are concerned.

The truth is that most people have issues with their self-image. This is an issue that starts sometime during adolescence (when it is at its most torturous) and continues on into adulthood. What matters is the way that we handle the feelings that we have about our own image.

They say that a person can be anything that they set their mind to; whatever it is a person wants to be, they are supposed to be able to become. What of those who don’t know what they want to be or are afraid that they will never become anything or anyone important in life?

These are the types of people that succumb to things like depression and bulimia. One of the first steps that bulimic has to take is to work on the self image. Focus on what you want to become instead of the past mistakes. Accept yourself the way you are now and set a new limits within yourself of who you want to be.

Bulimia is a problem that usually has a great deal to do with issues of self image. Women have a feeling in many cases that they should be a certain way. Looking a certain way is what sets a woman’s value in many cases, and that is something that society has slowly but surely created.

In the constant effort to fit this image as to what society expects a woman to be like, it is all too easy to get a messed up self image and fall victim to depression, bulimia, or any other mental problem.

We are all different and very unique. You can set your mind on becoming a movie star. There is nothing wrong with this if you have your own action plan on how to achieve it. If you want to look like a star and are doing nothing about it but only hating your own look and stressing yourself about to fit into size 2 than you will never become a star. Have a picture of “future you” in your mind the way you want to become, feel that you are already half way out there and follow the plan on how to become you want to become and you will be it.

Think about this! Look at yourself as outsider. What kind of picture you see? Depressed, worthless, helpless with low selfesteem… Now, what would be your future picture: happy, confident, productive and healthy? Keep this image and create an action plan for changes in every part of your life. Start with bulimia, the addiciton that keeps you away from your dreams. If you are here reading my blog that means you are already searching for the answers and you are in recovery. You are in recovery because you are looking for the solution, searching for advice from those who went through it already and is on the other side. YOU ARE IN RECOVEY!

For those out there looking for help with bulimia recovery, outside of all of the other things you do to better yourself every single day, try this: visualize yourself as a person who has fully recovered from the grips of bulimia. You can lead a normal life with normal eating habits and a healthy system, but dispelling the myths of society and visualizing and striving for success is the best way to go about starting out in such endeavors.

It sounds very easy to say that once you visualize yourself in bulimia recovery, you can be there just as quickly. That is simply not the truth and recovery is definitely going to take some time. But it is impossible to recover without changing the self image. Denis Waitley, famous psychologist once said: ” OT OS NOT WHAT YOU “ARE” THAT HOLDS YOU BACK, IT IS WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE NOT” (”Psycology of Winning)

Succumbing to the problem and rolling over is not the way to go about it; facing it head on and your own self image issues is the only way to get past it.

It all comes down to what you want for you. Do you want to recover from bulimia, or are you willing to let it claim your life as well?

The Truth about Bulimic Food

Un-recovered Bulimics do not understand or know the truth concerning bulimia. Contrary to the common misconception, vomiting does not control weight loss. Ok, so then what really happens? The truth is that the body adapts to the situation in which it finds itself.

Since a body needs the nutrients provided by foods and is deprived of those, it begins to react by retaining the food longer in the stomach. The body then begins to start digestion higher than normal in the gastrointestinal tract. Bulimics throw up the foods they ate more than 24 hours before, while the stomach naturally empties in about two hours. It is a proven fact that even after vomiting, the food eaten previously will still be there.

It is important to learn of the more healthful ways of weight control. A body naturally needs and anticipates three regular meals a day to curb hunger. Therefore, instead of being fed the body naturally protects itself by producing fat when its metabolism has been slowed down by not receiving the nutrition it needs. This means, the body literally begins to eat itself to survive.
Bulimics need to understand that only they can control the way their body looks by eating well and exercising it daily.

Sounds like something a mother would say, right? Well, trust me, my system offers three meals and two snacks that are enjoyable as well as offering the tips and know how to stay on track of creating a personal healthy menu.

The energy boost that sports provide is comparable to one other thing only and that is the feeling of being in love. Perhaps you have heard about the running high. This feeling is caused by the production of one of the chemicals that the brain produces while it is being exercised. This feeling can only be achieved through sports.

Some studies have proven the possibility that you brain will change by the strong influence of regular exercise. Blood flow to certain areas of the brain is the influencing foundations of these changes during activities.
The most influential motivation of performing basic exercises is the production of a certain brain chemical that causes you to feel on top of the world are called endorphins. It is believed that endorphins produce four special effects on the mind and body, which are an enhancement of the immune system, pain relief, and reduction of stress as well as postponing the process of aging. It is called by many names such as a runner’s high, the euphoric state that is trancelike and the body’s opium like tranquilizers. It is a fact that regular exercising does strengthen the body as well as keeps weight controlled. Exercise provides more energy and the activity of sports improves the memory.
Here is a tip.

Test it! Get up early and walk around the neighborhood, listening to a favorite tune and see how the day progresses.

I was able to loose weight without Bulimia. I am writing about my own experience of becoming a marathon runner as well as how sports helped in my recovery. In my book, The Truth Will Set You Free.
I realize my readers want to know how, right now. Nevertheless, believe me, first my friend, they will need to become stronger and be Bulimia free so that they can go on to the next page. This process will take patience as well as time.

There is a hope for recovery without spending thousands dollars on doctors and medications; my goal is to prove this by my own experience, in my next book, How to cleanse your body and your mind. I will teach the exploration of learning to loose and maintain a good weight. Consistencies in an exercise plan right now. This is the important key to building and keeping a great figure for your body type.

The achievements of small but significant goals will help not only change the life of a Bulimic and immensely increase their self-esteem.
Set the goal and then go for it no matter the circumstance. This will allow one’s self the enjoyment of feeling like a winner more often. One does not have to become a runner to succeed. Choose a favorite activity a day and stick with that by making a training plan of twenty to thirty minutes daily. The point is to set a goal of improving performance everyday.

Bulimia is an addiction. Did you know that? It may not seem like it, but it is—an addiction that results from regular girls and women like us not knowing their own worth. Abusing our bodies is the only way to really abuse anything that matters as the rest of us can seem worthless at times. In this sense, one of the main reasons why we deal with this illness is self-esteem, or rather a lack of it.

Many people out there are born knowing that they are beautiful and wonderful, and important. I wasn’t; if you weren’t born with this knowledge then you know this. This can be changed, though. The right positive reinforcement can lead to healthy attitudes about ourselves and somehow along the way many bulimic girls just like us lost out on that knowledge. I know that when it comes to me, personally, I can hardly remember ever looking in the mirror and being pleased with myself. Too much hair in one spot and not enough in the other. Not enough in the chest but way too much everywhere else. Most girls have been there at some points, but I lived with this every day until I learned that something had to give. From here I adopted some personal development changes like trying to be pleased with myself no matter how I looked—because that was how I looked. In pretending to just deal with my imperfections and flaws they became less of a big deal. It isn’t as easy as I make it sound I am sure, but through a long and dedicated road I was able to manage. Help yourself by realizing that it is time for you to change, and create that value in YOURSELF.

The dictionary definition of the word ‘esteem’ means to appreciate the value of something. Everybody has something to be proud of, even if it is only one thing. Are you a great listener? Do you have a good job? Good grades? Are your kids really smart? Start out by making a list of all of the things you can consider successful—even if they were slight. Anything that makes you feel even remotely good about or proud of yourself should go on this list.

Then comes the important part—the change. Think about what has to be done here and make a plan to do it. You know you have a problem with bulimia. You may even know why, that self-esteem is lacking and creating a horrible circle. Start out by changing the things that you do in life to help you be more successful and work cross-laterally on your bulimia as well. If you don’t like your job, start working on your resume and look for a new one. Once the search starts the opportunities will come to.

The same thing goes with your bulimia and self esteem. Once you find excuses to appreciate yourself you may find yourself having more and more reasons to. Focus on the things in your life that you liked, the things you are proud of and would like to share and forget about the rest. When you fail, you learn something and this applies to every area of life.

Our self esteem as women should be based on our actions and the way we live rather than the way we feel. Emotions change, successes and failures do not.

If you don’t do something about your bulimia you are always going to have to deal with it; do you want that? For yourself, make the decision to figure out what it is about you that drives you in that direction and before long the answer will come. The reward for all of your hard work is knowledge about your addiction and if you follow these bulimia tips a path to bulimia recovery—for good.

There are many things out there that may contribute to your bulimia. One of the more important qualities that regular bulimic girls like yourself lack is responsibility—for yourself.

What is self responsibility? Dr. Wayne Dyer describes the word responsibility as, ‘to respond with ability.’ Bulimia is an addiction; there is no doubt about that. It is an addiction to a poor self image many times, and the response for that in this case is binging and purging. Like any addict, bulimics blame others for their condition as it is a lot easier to place the blame for the problems that you create for yourself on someone else. At least that way you don’t have to take immediate responsibility for them.

What I present to you now is a new approach in psychology—one that will help you in your efforts to recover. Self recovery is the way of overcoming bulimia that would mean the most, that would be the longest lasting. Only self recovery—helping YOURSELF to recover—will make you truly free from the clutches of this horrible disease that is bulimia.

How does self responsibility apply to this? It is about taking control of your own life, and not worrying about the role of everyone else in it, no matter how important they are to you. It is easier to blame your mom or your husband or your overbearing sister for your bulimia problem, but who actually carries out the act? Who makes you eat the way that you do? Who goes to the store and buys all the food? Who goes through it all at once and then throws it up later?  YOU. You are the only one responsible for your problem. You are the only one who can help you to truly recover.

Take control over what you are doing and what you eat. Take control over what you do with your food and whether or not you actually digest it, or if the toilet gets to. Take control over your life, who you date, who you let stress you out, who you surround yourself with; make changes if that is what you have to do to take control.

From now on, you have the control. You know that you have the control, but are you going to use it to help yourself? That is the question that really begs answering. You can change things for the better.

Like now—you can stop reading this message and forget you ever saw it OR you can make that change right now that you always knew you could. Take control and take back your life.
 

Bulimia is about control. Yes it is true that it may be due to self-esteem issues and other things of that nature, but a good percentage of the girls out there that deal with this illness have a chemical imbalance to deal with, making it difficult to see the forest for the trees, so to speak. Chemical imbalances are more common than you might think and they contribute to many an issue with mental health in both the sexes. Bulimia is just one thing that can result from a chemical imbalance and many professionals feel that it is an issue that must be treated with the help of medication. It doesn’t have to be this way. Whether you know it or not, YOU have the ability to control your mood, and how you feel, and how the way you feel affects the rest of you.

Sounds crazy, right? I know because I used to think so, too but one of the best bulimia recovery tips a person could give you is to take control of your life—it is all a matter of just doing it. If you make yourself think or believe something enough your body will respond. Here is an example:

Sit and think about the last thing that made you very worried or frustrated. Think about it in detail, when you got the bad news, the events that unfolded, and such. Maybe something bad happened to you or you lost somebody very close to you. After a while, your heart rate is bound to pick up and you may start to have a physical nervous reaction, yet these were just thoughts. The thoughts that you created in your head caused a reaction in your body, didn’t they? You can apply this toward your life in a positive manner, too. The point here is that no matter what you think, you can change the way you feel and the things you do by changing your own thought patterns; after all, nobody has power over your thought patterns but you.  The reason why this is, is because when you think positively your body produces endorphins, the brain’s ‘happy chemical.’

If you can find a way to do so, build up the habit of thinking positively. By doing so you sill have more control than you ever thought possible—control over the chemistry of your body. Positive emotions create endorphins, which make you happier and better able to handle life’s hurdles.

Don’t think this will come right away. It will take practice, but that is with anything worth having. If it rains today even though you had everything planned, you can decide to do something else while it pours and reschedule your plans or do them anyway. The choice is up to you—the rain doesn’t have to stop you. You can control more than you ever knew you could.
 

Bulimia is not a diet plan. Bulimia is not an activity that some people choose to join in on. Bulimia is a serious addiction problem that can destroy your life and your physical and mental health. Those who have bulimia have an abnormal dependency on the feeling they get from controlling their own body to the point of going against one of the strongest primal urges we have.

Bulimia nervosa is a serious eating disorder that not only causes issues with our eating habits but this disorder can cause stressful anxiety and depression issues. These issues are not only caused by this condition, but they can be the cause of the condition. In this circular relationship food becomes a tool that is used to reward and punish simultaneously.

The cycle of addiction starts with the feelings of inadequacy and triggers the binging and purging. With each cycle the addiction gets stronger as it causes shame and guilt which then turn into more binging and purging. The body takes its nutrients from food it digests. If you aren’t allowing the food to stay in your system long enough for the nutrients to be absorbed before purging yourself your body will not get the nutrients it needs.  This causes the body to begin to wear down increasing the stress on the body.

Binging and purging are not the only phases of bulimia.  Though short at times there is also the planning phase.  For some this phase can consume their consciousness, from morning till night, anytime that they are awake, the next binge is being planned.  Though for others, especially those who tell themselves, “That was the last time” each time that the purge, this phase may only last a couple of moments before another session of binging begins.  During the planning phase tension builds and it explodes into a binging cycle.  Quite often the amount of attention that has built is proportionate to the amount of binging that will be given into.

Most treatments for bulimia are a temporary fix.  Hospitalization and other support groups are only effective while the patient has the direct support.  As soon as a bulimic is put back into of a situation with large amounts of pressure and little to no support bulimia out will again take over.  Bulimia patients who gain control of bulimia while they are in treatment or hospitalized generally are unable to deal with pressure of a real life.  This is because these programs are not set up to teach the patient to deal with real life pressure independently.

For treatment programs to be successful the patient needs to understand the seriousness other situation.  Patients who believe that bulimia is safe and that they have control of it will continue to struggle with their condition.  Without this understanding success in any form of treatment program or plan is quite limited.

True recovery for patients with bulimia begins with re-building there self-image and making life changes.  These changes include healthy dietary choices.  Understanding as well as implementing healthy dietary and exercise plans is also needed.  It is not possible to have a healthy body if you deny it the nutrients that it needs to grow.  Eating the right amounts of a wide variety of healthy foods is the best way to give your body the nutrition that it needs.