End Binge Eating December Newsletter

Happy Holidays!

Dear Friends,

I know it’s been a long time since my last newsletter so I wanted to send one out to see how you were doing.  I hope that you had a great Thanksgiving!  Since Thanksgiving has come and gone – how do you feel about your eating on that day, or the days that led up to it?  Is there anything that you wish you could have done better? 

We were in New Hampshire for Thanksgiving.  It was the first time back in about a year and I forgot how the winters make people cook a lot of snacks.  It’s too cold to do anything else, so we were around the wood stove talking and eating.

Initially (I’m not going to lie) I was highly irritated about the amounts of food that were in front of me (I even blogged about it!)  Then I came to realize that even though the food was in front of me, it didn’t mean that I had to consume it.  (Brilliant, right?) 

The first night I snacked along with everyone else and my stomach didn’t feel good at all.  After that I realized that I was the one in control and that I wasn’t going to keep on snacking just because I could. 

Christmas is exactly a week away from today – Do you have a plan for enjoying the food, but without making yourself feel guilty or sick?  I know that holidays were always one of the toughest times for me.  There is just SO much food available and in the largest quantities!  I always found it incredible hard to pass up the goodies… which would leave me feeling sick to my stomach for overeating and then really down for not being strong enough to just say no.  Can you relate?

Situations, holidays, and life will not go away.  There will always be some kind of stress in your life.  Holidays come yearly and life just happens.  There’s no way around it.  So, how can you get through this Christmas while focusing on the meaning and being around family instead of bingeing? 

When I used to turn to food for comfort to get me through difficult and unusual situations, I no longer have that need.  I have enough love for myself (finally!) and feel worthy of feeding my body with the nutrients that it needs instead of filling it with binge food to try to make me feel better.

It doesn’t matter where in the recovery process you are at…  During the next few weeks, remind yourself what changes have you made in your life that you have grown from?  Are there certain situations when you used to binge because you felt out of control, but now feel in control?

Use any kind of change that you realize to push yourself to eat just enough to be satisfied.  Find strength in yourself to celebrate what this season is about instead of focusing and worrying on the food that will be present.  

Remember, all of the changes that I have made in my life did not happen to me overnight.  It took time (a lot of time).  The most important piece of advice that I can leave you with right now is to welcome any and all victories that you notice, no matter how small they may seem.  In time, all of your small victories will continue to add up and you will have accomplished much more than you ever thought. 

Just have patience – I binged for over 8 years and I would have never thought that I would be able to get through Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other holiday without over doing it.  Actually, there are many things that I would have never guessed, but I did it and so can you!!

FREEDOM from bingeing is what it's all about.

Freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want to do it without feeling consumed by food.  It's truly priceless.  But for most people, it's only a dream that seems so far from reality.  But the reality is that true freedom CAN be accomplished by anyone with the right mindset.

It never happens as fast as you'd like it.  And often times you have to work much harder than you had thought it would take to obtain it.  You'll fall down many times.  You'll want to quit 1,000 times.  You'll want to give up 10,000 times.  And sadly, most people do.

True freedom is reserved for those who are willing to stick it out.  It’s reserved for those who are willing to do whatever it takes to be able to say that they are binge-free.  True freedom is staring you in the face.  It's yours for the taking and all you have to do is work for it.

How would your lifestyle change if you didn’t have the struggles?  How would it change if you believed in yourself?
You need to take a serious look at your life, your goals, and figure out the freedom from food that you desire.

You need to look at why you want to be binge-free.  What is the single reason, your biggest "WHY"?  You then need to use that as rocket fuel to help push you to where you want to go.  And believe me, sometimes you have to use that fuel 10 times a day.  And there are several days where it feels like your fuel has run out.  But to get to where you want to go in life takes WORK.

Why do most people fail for the most part?  It's because people fail themselves.  They give up.  They give up on themselves and they give up on their dreams.  They get used to the life they are living, used to struggling with food, and they become stuck.

You have your shot at freedom.  Right here.  Right now. 

What do you want your life to be like?  Think it.  Feel it.  Imagine it.  And take that image in your mind and use it as the unstoppable driving force within you to propel you to ending binge eating.

Do not let people or life get in the way.  Keep pushing... keep moving forward.

Are you willing to truly do whatever it takes to get to where you want to be?  If you are, let's make 2008 YOUR year.  And I'm here to help you any way that I can with my personal experience with bingeing to make that happen!

Be strong!  Stay true to yourself! 

Most importantly, enjoy this holiday season with your loved ones!  Merry Christmas (or whichever holiday you celebrate)!

I believe in you!

P.S... For everyone who has emailed me, please give me some time to get back to you.  It's taking me a lot longer to get caught up than I thought because of the move.  I promise that I'll get back to each and every one of you as soon as I can.  Thanks for understanding.  :)