May 2007 End Binge Eating Newsletter

Hey everyone!

I hope that you are having a great week so far.  Boy, I’m beat so this newsletter won’t be too long, but I just wanted to let you know how my cruise went and I want to keep my promise from last newsletter about telling you Jacqueline’s story. 

Jacqueline is a college student who has struggled with binge eating for a few years now.  Even in desperate attempts to stop bingeing, she told me that she cut up her ATM card so that she wouldn’t be able to go to the convenient store at the bottom of her building. 

Here’s a little bit of her story in her own words…

“The past month has been full of ups for me!  I have seen exciting changes in myself and overcome huge struggles with my binge eating disorder.  As a college student, I am always stressed with tests, papers, and deadlines, which usually sends me into major episodes of binge eating. 

My food of choice is cookies and chocolate, which is easy to access since I am also constantly surrounded by endless amounts of food at my dining hall and on campus deli's.

In the past month I have read Kristin's e-book and participated in her e-course.  With her kind words, teachings, and inspiration, I have made major successes this month and I want to share some of my personal accomplishments with all of you. 

Earlier this semester, I was bingeing about 3 times a week.  My roommate kept a container of chocolates in our room and I used to polish off half the jar on a bad day or I would go to my cafeteria and shove down 10 cookies in my mouth without even thinking about it. 

With Kristin's help, I haven't binged in 4 weeks and I know I am on my way to being healed.  I can sit in my cafeteria, place one warm cookie on my plate, and REALLY enjoy it.  Just the other week I was in my room with a HUGE bag of chocolates that belonged to my roommate and I was not even tempted to eat any. 

These feelings are SO empowering and I have realized that I am really making progress.  Kristin's e-course and eBook have taught me the importance of self-love.  I have learned to treat myself with kindness and respect and I cannot thank Kristin enough for being such an amazing and inspirational woman! :)”

Jacqueline, I really am so proud of you for all of your hard work and dedication to bettering yourself.  You’ve done a wonderful job so far and I wish you continued success in the future!! 

Rob and I went on the cruise with my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend.  It was such a great time and we had a blast sailing together into the Caribbean.  Many memories were made!  I wish I was still on the ship.  Coming back to reality is quite a shocker!

We set sail for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel and everything was beautiful!  I took over 400 pictures and can’t wait to share some with all of you.

So, I will admit that I was just a little nervous about food for a few reasons.  First, I was concerned that there would not be a lot of vegetarian choices (there were).  Second, I was concerned about not quite knowing what I was eating (think about what I told you about how I picture the ingredients of chips).  And finally, I didn’t want to gain any of the weight that I’ve lost. 

All in all, I did great.  I will let you know that I did enjoy desserts and I didn’t limit myself if I wanted something.  In fact, we ate a lot.  For those of you that have been on cruises, you know what I mean.  There is food everywhere at any time of the day.  Even room service is free and open 24/7.  For anyone that struggles with food, it’s very difficult to ignore the caloric feasts that await you.

I realized that my apprehension regarding food was a part of how I used to be.  The last time that I went on a cruise was in the beginning of 2003, and I was still bingeing.  I remembered what it was like to be around so much food and for it to just consume my thoughts.  It was torture.  I feel like I wasn’t able to fully enjoy that cruise because I was always thinking about the next time I would eat. 

This time was a lot different though.  Once I got onboard and was faced with many different choices of food, it wasn’t a big deal.  I think that I got myself too worked up about it instead of just taking it day by day.  It was great to think that I could be around so much food and not think twice about bingeing.  I know I often update you about how I have changed so much, but it’s just amazing to notice all of these situations that don’t faze me now, when I don’t think that I would have been able to handle them in the past.  I am STRONG!  Roar!

For the week that I was gone, I actually gained… (drum roll, please) 0.7 pounds.  I have no problem with this because it’s nothing.  0.7 pounds.  Big deal! 

So I want to know, what things (big or small) have you noticed in your own life and were surprised at how you handled it?  Maybe it was just driving in another direction away from a fast food place.  Maybe you exercised to relieve some stress that was building up.  Maybe you listened to your body tell you that it was full and didn’t want anymore food.  Maybe you passed up buttery popcorn at the movie theatre because you knew that eating it would lead you into a downward spiral of buying candy, hot dogs, nachos, etc. 

You know, whatever it is, notice it and be proud of yourself for surpassing your expectations.  Give yourself more credit.  Believe that you can accomplish a small goal that will turn into helping your achieve an even bigger one!  When you work at something little by little, you will start to notice great things.  I didn’t just decide one day that I wanted to stop bingeing and then BOOM! I was cured.  No, it took hard work on my part.  It took therapy and a constant effort.  It took learning to love myself and knowing that I was worth a whole lot more than stuffing my face with food.  You will get there too – You are all STRONG…  You just need to let that side of you shine a little more!

With all of the traveling that we’ve been doing, I’m glad that it is about to slow down.  Just in April we were in Florida, Chicago, and went on a cruise.  It’s quite exhausting!  We are going on a little get-a-way tomorrow for my birthday, even though my birthday isn’t until Saturday.  We’ll be gone for 3 days and I can’t wait for some much needed R&R. 

If you ask me, traveling is probably the hardest thing for me.  If only I could travel with my own refrigerator I would have no problems.  What I have found to be really helpful is to bring my own snacks that I have when I’m at home.  This prevents me from picking snacks that I wouldn’t usually eat.  I love bringing mixed nuts, fiber bars, whole wheat crackers, and sugar-free caramel nips. 

As promised, I included a picture of me in my bathing suit.  I felt great in my bathing suit and had no bad feelings about myself, even though I still want to lose 12.5lbs.

Just knowing how far I’ve come (46lbs lost) makes me feel so good!  I’m also including a slideshow because there are just too many pictures to plaster on one page. :)  You'll see the photos on the bottom of this page.

I hope you all have an incredible week and if you have a success story like MaryAnn’s or Jacqueline’s, please send your story to me by clicking here and I will include it in the next newsletter!  I received a lot of feedback from people saying that they loved hearing other successes and that it really pushed and helped them.  We'd all love to hear from YOU!

Keep it up!!

I believe in you!

Love,

P.S... If you haven't read my eBook and you're ready to finally put an end to Binge Eating, go to: http://www.endbingeeating.com today!  And know that I am here to help and support you any way that I can.  You can and will beat Binge Eating!  I believe in you!!!