Eating Disorders in Children

 Healthy Eating, Eating Disorders and Children

A great article from "Mom please Help" on government's campaign to reduce child obesity and its detrimental effects on children's psychological well being. UK has the highest rate of child obesity in Western Europe.

According to BBC: "There has been a four-fold increase in the number of children and teenagers admitted to hospital for obesity-related conditions in the last decade, doctors in England and Wales warn." Furthermore, n 2009, nearly 4,000 young people needed hospital treatment for problems complicated by being overweight compared with just 872 in 2000. Rates of obesity surgery also went up, especially for teenage girls. 

Another pandemic affecting UK's health services is eating disorders in Children. Dr Jane Morris, chairwoman of the Scottish Eating Disorder Interest Group, said children were obsessing about their diet because of drives to combat obesity.Figures reported in 2011 show that more than 2,000 children have received treatment for eating disorders in the past three years in UK.

Report in Guardian shows that:

 Nearly 600 children under the age of 13 were treated in hospital in England, including 197 aged between five and nine. The figures from 35 NHS hospitals showed 98 were aged between five and seven at the time of treatment and 99 aged eight or nine.Almost 400 were between the ages of 10 and 12, with more than 1,500 between 13 and 15 years old.

(Retrieved from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/01/children-eating-disorder-figures-alarm)

Dr Morris, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Royal Edinburgh hospital, said it was a ‘huge concern.’

She said: “We’ve had so many families say, all this [the eating disorder] started with the healthy eating lesson.

“Their child has come home from school and said, this food or that food was bad and she was only going to eat good food from now on.

(Retrieved from: http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2012/02/26/healthy-eating-campaigns-causing-anorexia/)

 

Are Governments healthy eating campaigns causing eating disorders in Children? Read below for an article by William:

Source: Mom Please Help

Here is a great article from William that really makes you wonder how much governments think things through. In 2006 the Australian Government launched a $6 million campaign to reduce Child obesity and the Australian Medical Association (AMA) welcomed the focus on kids' health.
 
The idea was to focus on junk food and get parents to stop the child from eating fast foods, sweets and other unhealthy foods.  TV, radio and newspapers were running government sponsored ads to point out the dangers of these kinds of foods, with the idea to get kids eating more healthy foods.

This at the time seemed a very noble cause as overweight kids are a big problem in all western countries. The government was correct that for these overweight kids there was a great risk to their health from diseases such as diabetes, heart problems and high blood pressure etc, in later life.

What they did not factor in was the psychological effects on these overweight kids and may have inadvertently created a whole new generation of eating disorder victims. Kids were encouraged to start diet clubs at school and there have been
stories of kids being weighed at school, at times in front of the whole class. We learn of incidents of bullying and social isolation of larger children which is another anecdotal trigger for eating disorders.
 
What has now happened is a lot of these overweight kids are starting to be ostracized by their peers and so much pressure being placed on them that they are starting to suffer from stress and other psychological ailments, like anorexia and bulimia.

What the so call experts in the government ranks forgot was that the child brain is like a giant sponge and very plastic. It absorbs huge amounts of information forming neuronal pathways with the information that is deemed to be important.
 

So constant teasing and emotional abuse from other kids for being a bit overweight can have a devastating effect on the child and the way they see themselves, or to put it simply their body image.

 

This added to the fact that the so called perfect body type is the emaciated Hollywood stars and the super thin catwalk models they see in the media: it is easy for the plastic brain of the child to form a distorted view of reality.Even shows like Australian Idol and American Idol favor the slimmer better looking contestant, with the bigger contestant voted out of the show even if they are fantastic singers. They just don't fit that TV mode or what a modern singing idol should look like.

This is an extremely bad role model for the slightly overweight child or teenager
who watches these shows; it sends a lot of false messages to their brain.
 

The major problem that arises from all this negative bombardment on
the child about weight is the fact that it will be formed in a child brain and formed by child logic, e.g. eating food equals becoming fat, equals being teased, equals bad emotions. So the remedy is to stop eating, loose lots of weight and you will be accepted.

 

When these kids become adults this faulty distorted thinking will be a full blown case of an eating disorder and extremely difficult to treat because it was formed in the plastic brain of a child with child logic and emotions.
 
But luckily there have been major breakthroughs in the treatment of eating disorders using the fact that our brains remain plastic even into adulthood, it is call neuroplasticity.
 
Neuroplasticity is a method where we are able to form new neuronal pathways by using a set of mental exercises built on new positive emotional input. Once these new pathways have been built and are used instead of the old destructive ones, the old pathways will loose their power: hence the eating disorder will disappear. Will this be easy for this new generation of eating disorder sufferers to do:  no absolutely not. The problem as stated is the fact that these faulty neuronal pathways have been build in the child brain and will be extremely hard to shift.Unfortunately a lot of children will fail and suffer lifelong eating disorders, but luckily a lot of people will succeed using the neuroplasticity approach. Many more than will succeed with this new approach than the conventional treatment used today to treat eating disorders.

William Webster

More information at:

http://www.dr-irina-webster.info
http://www.eatingdisorder-cure.com/mom.htm

 

 

 

My Daughter's Anorexia

I thank this great mother for sharing her experience of dealing with her daughter's anorexia with us. I wish you and your family peace and good wishes for your daughter's quick recovery and good health.





I often wish that my daughter was diagnosed with an illness that was easily curable and less challenging.  Anorexia is an obscure illness, which involves restricting what you eat. Patients with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa have one of the most challenging disorders in mental health care  (Strober, 2010).They have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness with markedly reduced life expectancy (Harbottle et al., 2008). At 20 years the mortality rate is 20%, and given the young age of onset this results in many young adults dying in their 30s, and a further 5–10% every decade thereafter (Steinhausen, 2002).

My daughter was diagnosed at the age of 17. We have lived with this illness as a family for nearly a decade now and do I see her making a full recovery?  I’m afraid the answer is No.

I wish I had taken those early signs of anorexia behaviour more seriously.  I should have been more aware of early signs such as loss of appetite, withdrawal, poor sleeping patterns, mood swings and fear of touch.  Perhaps I should have paid more heed to her constant complaints on weight gain. Her retort ‘Mama you’re a typical Arab who always sees her child as too thin’ were too often ignored. I saw her obsession with OC’s character Marissa as a typical teen idolism.   She was obsessively perfectionist and oh how my heart always swelled with pride at her perfect manners and perfect grades. She firmly believed in being thin to be successful in life.

Every night I torture myself over the role I might have played in my daughter’s illness.  I have stopped wondering whether it would ever go away.  I have spent nights crying because of my daughter’s chronic anorexia. The constant reminders from psychiatrist that she can die in her sleep has left me with a sense of hopelessness and insomnia.

The anorexia –ana illness has profoundly affected the family, but I feel a sense of being manipulated and controlled by the illness. There are  effects on the family’s social life and difficulties in making future plans. The illness has contributed to friction within relationships, arguments between siblings on how she gets away with tantrums and rule breaking and how we are always busy with her has led to a stressful atmosphere within the household. The impact on my own mental and physical health is obvious and i hate the impact on other family members as well.

Imagine getting your first born sectioned under mental health act and then see her being fed through feeding tube and then witness that hate and loathing in her eyes because we as parents have gone against her will to let her die an anorexic death? We had no choice; it was either get her sectioned or wait for her to die a slow disordered death.  I still remember the summer of 2009, when we made that fatal decision. Our daughter’s weight had dropped dramatically in past few weeks. She had entered a new phase of eating disorder, where she misused laxatives to rid her body of unwanted calories.  Even in mid-July we had to keep the central heating on. She was out of touch with reality and exhibited sever mood swings when it came to meal times. Every morning we engaged in an hour long battle to get her to eat her bowl of watery oatmeal and ¼ of banana.

How did she reach such a mental stage? I wish we knew the answers, but we don’t. There is no one cause of anorexia. Living with a person with an eating disorder is a testing time for everyone. It is the erratic behaviour of the person that makes holding conversation and socializing with them very difficult. 

She lived in a dichotomy . Despite cardiac arrest, bed sores and osteoporosis, she thought she was obese. When people are in the extreme stages of anorexia, they don’t recognize the problem and they tend to be depressed a much greater percentage of time. Over time she has developed a low self worth and has become very dependent and demanding.

They told us that it takes five years of treatment for people to recover from anorexia. With my daughter, we are in the ninth year of pure hell and if anything, she has worsened.  With my daughter nutritional intervention was an integral part of treatment. At home we failed to get her to put on weight. She ate but very little. Her diet had no carbohydrates, no oils, no protein and no sugar. I remember that evening of 3^rd August 2009, when our GP arranged for our daughter to be taken away to the unit in London. Days before she had tried to overdose on anxiety pills.  When the ambulance took her away, she weighed 70pounds and had a BMI of 11.6, which is life threateningly low and below the healthy range of 18.5 to 24.9.

 Her screams and pleads still haunt me to this day. I accompanied a manic, kicking, screaming girl on her way to hospital. It was her constant pleas that really shattered my heart.“I promise Mama, I’ll eat, stop them please.” 

Three medical staff had to use force to restrain her.  Sectioning is a traumatic experience and at times can damage people. Seeing that feeding tubes pass through the nose to the stomach is a memory I want to erase from my mind forever.

Few hours later, when I saw her she was under sedatives and on a feeding tube. The goal of programmes within inpatient unit was to regain her weight and to get her into a routine of eating 3 meals and 3 snacks a day. Did the nightmare end with the weight gain? No. I wish it did and we hoped against hope for some kind of miracle, but what followed after the nine months of inpatient and outpatient appointments were the constant threats of suicide and running away from home. With proper treatment and support, you can break anorexia's self-destructive cycle, but we have failed in doing that. In some cases treatments have failed us and in other cases we have failed treatments.

 



We are in 2013 now. We celebrated her 26^th Birthday 2 weeks ago with a cake that she did not eat, with jaded relatives who no longer have patience for her odd behaviours and siblings who rather be million miles away then with a sister whose busy doing cart wheels in back garden to burn off calories from a can of Pepsi max. It doesn’t matter what we do, with her there is inability to experience happiness in anything. A frail looking woman, who looks 11 and has chosen to befriend a dangerous illness called anorexia. What do I fear most?  When she snaps out of her illness, she’ll be very sad to see her wasted youth and loss of opportunities. Her younger siblings are all at university now. Soon they’ll move out and will have their own lives, but my daughter will be too busy in her own disordered world of living.

 

 

Mastering the Fundamentals of Recovery- Heal your Bulimia- Replay Webinar

Missed Webinar on Bulimia recovery by recovery coach Jen Knaebel and Richard Kerr?

Jen Kneabel is a Recovery Coach at bulimiahelp.org. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work and is experienced in using a variety of therapeutic interventions.

She relies on the Bulimia Help Method as the most effective way to help others make a permanent recovery.

Don't worry, just click on link below for a replay of last weeks webinar. On the webinar Richard and recovery coach Jen Knaebelrun through the essentials for bulimia recovery. Plus they open up the lines for a Q & A session from their listeners.

This is a good one and really worth listening to.  

Here is what you'll learn:
- How to create a food plan that works.
- How to overcome road blocks with your eating plan.
- Myths and realities about the ‘recovery bloat’ and how to overcome it.
- And much more...

Click here to listen to audio: http://bulimiahelp.s3.amazonaws.com/masting_the_fundamentals.mp3

or alternatively right click the link choose "Save Link As..." to save the audio to your computer

Link 2 of webinar

http://www.bulimiahelp.org/articles/mastering-fundamentals-bulimia-recovery-webinar?utm_source=BulimiaHelp.org+Subscribers&utm_campaign=e7da6156bb-Mastering+the+fundamentals+of+recovery+%28replay%29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_065d6654bd-e7da6156bb-249160533

 



 

Don't miss it.

 

 

 

Happy Father's Day- A Hope and Miracles of Recovery

To all those fathers who've fought for their Child's recovery.

I dedicate this post to a brilliant father, who fought for his 13 year old daughter's recovery from anorexia nervosa. He devised a calorie controlled recovery programme that cured his daughter from anorexia nervosa in six months.  I wish you a blessed Father's Day.  Indeed you gave us a hope that anorexia can be defeated. Please do read his story and please do click on links below to see how his devised strategies from meal plans to planned exercises helped his daughter's recovery.




I thank my father for his unconditional love and support in my darkest phases of disordered life. Thank you Abu for all your support, for taking me to all my appointments, for holding my hand during blood tests and for keeping my room toasty warm in long winter months.

A Story Of Hope

http://www.escape-from-anorexia.com/

In March 2003 our then 13 year old daughter, Helen, was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, at which point she was on the verge of being emaciated. Her BMI was approximately 15.

My initial reluctance to accept this diagnosis was dispelled towards the end of the month when Helen became severely dehydrated and suffered a complete nervous breakdown as the anorexia finally took total control of both her mind and body. It may sound melodramatic, but it was as if she had become possessed. Helen’s reaction, when encouraged to drink a glass water in order to ease the stomach cramps caused by the dehydration, was uncharacteristically aggressive and resulted in an hysterical screaming fit which unnerved both myself and Fiona, my ex-wife. Helen flew into a rage and began to scream: “IT'S WEIGHT, IT'S WEIGHT, IT'S WEIGHT!”

At this point, we realised that we had no control over Helen whatsoever. However, by June 2003, only three months later, Fiona and myself had broken the illness and Helen was able to return to school. By September 2003 Helen had attained her perfect weight and the illness had been completely eradicated from her psyche. By January 2004, Helen was signed off by the adolescent mental health unit, her psychiatrist commenting that it was “one of the quickest recoveries” from mental illness that he had ever seen.

In order to break the anorexia, my ex-wife and myself devised a radical treatment programme which was contrary to the advice of the medical specialists and which, for a number of weeks, put us in direct confrontation with them. Throughout this period, I rigorously maintained the validity of our approach and predicted that the anorexia would be “done and dusted” by Christmas. Helen’s psychiatrist was extremely sceptical and was clearly concerned by what he must have perceived as my over-confidence. The very next day, Fiona received a phone call (May 2003) in which it was suggested that I was actively perpetuating the illness and we were both summarily summoned to an emergency meeting set for the following week. However, before the meeting could take place, our approach finally started to show results and Helen put on two pounds, thus attaining her highest weight in two months. As a result, the meeting became a rather muted affair and it was agreed that we would be monitored but essentially left to continue Helen's recovery via our own methods.

In the sections which follow, we have set out to explain exactly how we rescued Helen from this dreadful illness. We are  not necessarily advocating our strategies to anybody else but we do sincerely hope that our account of Helen’s recovery may present some useful insights which might make a difference to you and your child.

CONTENTS

STEP 1: RECOGNISING THE SIGNS

STEP 2: SEEKING MEDICAL HELP

STEP 3: DEVISING AN EXERCISE PROGRAMME

STEP 4: COUNTING THE CALORIES AND KEEPING A FOOD DIARY

STEP 5: CAREFULLY SUPERVISING ALL MEALS

STEP 6: OUTWITTING THE ILLNESS

STEP 7: CONTINUED VIGILANCE

If you wish to comment on any aspect of this story or if this site has been any help to you then please email:

escape_from_anorexia@hotmail.com

http://www.escape-from-anorexia.com/

The Top Trigger For Bulimia & How To End It‏ by Shaye Bodington

Causes of Bulimia: The #1 Trigger For Your Bulimia, and 3 steps to end it for good!

Article by Shaye Boddington
Author of your-bulimia-recovery.com
and creator of The Bulimia Recovery Program and Community



About Shaye:

You're Not Alone - Thoughts of Food Used to Rule My Life Too...

I had been bulimic for 1/2 my life, but it had never been this bad. Bingeing on the train ride home from uni - and then throwing up into my empty chocolate milk bottle... It made me feel like a crazy person.

I was tired... I was so tired of living like this.

I felt like I was in too deep to ever make a full recovery... But despite this, I'd still go to bed every night and promise myself "Tomorrow will be different. Tomorrow I won't binge and purge!" The next morning, I'd be plowing through the pantry and stopping at every store on the way to uni.

My binge urges felt as primal and as powerful as a wild bull - I didn't know how to control them.

But... At the age of 21, I recovered from bulimia. And there's only one way to explain recovery... It's freedom.

Beautiful. Magnificent. Freedom. :)

I recovered from bulimia.You can too.

The causes of bulimia used to baffle me...

I had never been abused, raped or neglected. I had grown up with a loving family and I had great friends... yet somehow, somewhere along the line, bulimia had consumed my life.

My bulimia was so severe that I was sure there must be a deep, dark cause for it lurking somewhere. At times I even wondered if I'd been raped, but had blanked it from my memory. Surely something traumatic must have happened to me for such a powerful obsession with food, throwing up and staying thin to rule my life?

I didn't believe that a normal girl with no 'baggage' could eat a box of cereal, 2 king-size chocolate bars, a liter of chocolate milk and a pack of biscuits - all in one frantic blurred sitting - for no reason.

It was 12 years after my first binge and purge, that I began my recovery journey. It was in this journey that I first began to understand the true causes of bulimia.

And in the 7 years since I recovered, that understanding has grown deeper and more certain.

Since working as a Bulimia Recovery Coach, I can now see with almost crystal clarity the causes of bulimia and how to reverse it... For anybody.

What causes bulimia? (For me and you too!)

Before you begin reading this, I want you to commit to reading to the end of the article. What I am going to explain might sound overly simple, but give it a chance and it may transform your life.

I believe that the 3 causes of bulimia are almost always...

1. A lack of self kindness


2. Dieting (or attempts to diet)


3. Neural pathways of habit within our brains.

In this article I am going to talk mainly about #1 - a lack of self kindness. But first of all, I'll touch quickly on all 3 causes of bulimia and how they link into one another.

The bulimia cycle starts with a lack of self kindness...

That feeling of "I need to change myself" or "I am not enough" or "I need to be better than I am"...

Now there are many reasons you may have these feelings... Perhaps you were abused, bullied, raped or mistreated? Sometimes a lack of self kindness does come from traumatic experiences in life, such as these...

Often however, a lack of self kindness is simply a byproduct of growing up in a society where being unkind to ourselves is sadly acceptable - even considered normal.

Where your lack of self kindness came from does not matter so much in your recovery. What matters is that you acknowledge it's there and that it does not serve you in any way.

Lack of Self Kindness Leads Onto Dieting

A lack of self kindness in itself doesn't develop bulimia, many people live out their lives being unkind to themselves, which is not fun - but they never develop bulimia..

But put a lack of self kindness and dieting together and you have a recipe for disaster.

Fad dieting is one of the craziest concepts ever trailed by our human race... How is something as absurd as purposefully pushing your body into a famine ever supposed to be successful?

Whether you believe that we were created by God, or we have evolved through evolution - one this is certain...

• You have not been designed to allow yourself to sit back and starve


• You have not evolved to allow yourself to sit back and starve

When we diet - we are in effect tricking our our body and subconscious mind into believing there is a famine...

Our bodies do not understand dieting... they do not understand that there is a KFC at every corner... Our bodies believe we are under huge threat. Our bodies believe they need to fight back... And so they do...

They send us powerful binge urges, so that we are on the lookout for any availability of food...

And as almost every dieter eventually does... You cave in. You eat. Your binge.

And then, that lack of self kindness comes into play again and instead of blaming the act of dieting, you blame yourself.

Your push yourself harder and you diet with even more force...

And with even more force - the binge urges come back again. You binge.

And then that lack of self kindness yells at you loudly "You will get fat!" and before you know it, you are trying to reverse the 'damage' of the binge by taking laxatives, over exercising or vomiting.

Thankfully the survival mechanism that tells us to binge can be quietened down... By slowly but surely working on eating (and holding down) regular meals and snacks, your body will trust the famine has passed. In time, this will help the binge urges to subside. I talk about this further on stop binge eating.

Repeating This Cycle Wired it as Neural Pathways within Your Mind

As you repeat the self-cruelty-dieting-binge-purge cycle over and over again, something is happening deep within your mind...

You are wiring it as a neural pathway habit - a series of connections within your mind that enable you to repeat this cycle with ease.

As far as your mind is aware, if this cycle is being repeated frequently - it must be important... and so the neural pathways are formed to make it easier to repeat this cycle again in the future...

As with any habit, with practice it becomes second nature.

But just as habits develop, they can be broken. Through lack of use and by developing new healthier habits, you can rewire almost any unhealthy habit.

The #1 Thing That Will Enable You To Beat Bulimia

So as you can see from what I have shared above, lack of self kindness is what triggers the events that lead to bulimia.

And lack of self kindness not only leads to the development of bulimia, but it also helps to maintain bulimia...

I know that every unsuccessful bulimia recovery attempt I made was interwoven with cruelty. My final and successful recovery attempt was different - woven into it was love, kindness and forgiveness.

Above anything else, self kindness is the key ingredient that will allow you to recover from bulimia...

Self kindness is the seed from which recovery can grow.

I am making my way through (again) one of my favorite books Love Yourself by Lawrence Crane. I recently read a passage that I wanted to share, which leads onto a message which is at the very CORE of your bulimia recovery.

_____

"The more you love, the more you can practice love. The more you develop your capacity to love, the more you come in touch with the harmony of the universe, the more delightful your life becomes, the more bountiful, the more everything. It starts a cycle where you spin upwards. If you want to be loved, the way to do it is to love. It's not only the best way to do it but it's the only way of receiving love, to give love, because what we give out must come back.

Being loving is easy, because right now you are all loving. You don't see it because it's smothered over by wrong attitudes, non loving attitudes, I don't like him, I don't like her, I don't like them, I don't like that group of people, I don't like that kind of people, I don't like people from that county, from that city, I don't like people from that part of town. Those attitudes are all in the direction away from love, they cover over the natural, all-loving being that you are. With all those non-loving attitudes you are moving away from the loving being that you really are.

When you're non-loving, non-loving experiences come back to you and you have more and more things not to love. When you're non-loving you have to be on guard. You have to protect yourself. If you're not loving the world, you're always protecting yourself form the world, causing more and more negative thoughts which put you on extreme defensiveness as it builds up subconsciously year after year. Then, you have a mass of negative thoughts protecting yourself from the world.

The opposite happens when you love the world. When you love the world, the world can't hurt you, your thoughts get quiet, your mind gets peaceful and then the infinite self is right there and you experience tremendous joy.

You have taken your infinite beingness, your infinite joy, and you covered it over with thoughts, thoughts of limitation. These negative thoughts smother the infinite self that you are, They smother your capacity to enjoy. All you need to do is quiet those thoughts and what's left over is the innate, glorious being that you are, absolutely perfect and can never change.

______

How this relates to your bulimia recovery…

This passage talks about love being smothered over by wrong attitudes. Lawrence talks about wrong attitudes towards others - but it is also relevant in wrong attitudes towards yourself...

And I'm talking of…

• I don't like my body


• I don't like my weight


• I don't like my face


• I don't like my cellulite


• I don't like my character


• I don't like myself


• I don't like, I don't like, I don't like…

All of these thoughts, these attitudes, these cruel words…They are non-loving. I have experienced it in my own life (and I know you would have too) that non-loving attitudes NEVER bring anything positive into our existence. Non-loving attitudes do nothing positive for anybody...

…And of course, non loving attitudes most definitely don't help you recover from bulimia. Non loving attitudes towards yourself (The same thing as a lack of kindness) are the most significant causes of bulimia. They only hurt you.

I say it so often, because I believe it to be true from the bottom of my heart…

ONLY love can heal.

Love helped me to heal - and beautiful soul, love will help you to heal too.

Love is the answer to your bulimia recovery.

3 steps to loving yourself

1) Acknowledge

Acknowledge that beneath all of your non-loving attitudes, is self love. Love that is always there for you. Love that is beautiful, glorious and abundant. If you're not sure that it's there, then please take my word for it. It is. We are born completely loving, and that beautiful loving being is still there.

2) Commitment

Make a commitment to yourself… A commitment that you will work on developing loving attitudes towards yourself and the world. This doesn't mean you'll do it perfectly from now on - but it's a commitment to working on it, slowly but surely. LOVE is the way forward, towards freedom from bulimia - towards a joyful life. Make a commitment to working on self love.

3) Awareness, Letting go and Replacing

Be aware of any cruel self talk or negative and unkind voices that enter your mind. When you hear them, acknowledge them and let them go, remind yourself that only love can heal. Remind yourself that love is always the solution - to everything. Let go of non-loving thoughts, remind yourself they do not serve you anymore, and replace them with words of loving kindness.

Prove You Mean it

Loving kindness is the solution.

Start today :)

Start by saying "I love you".

Right now. Right here.

And then allow this love to enable you to take another step. Get help in your bulimia recovery. Get love and support...

There are lots of wonderful 'next steps' that you can take to move forward in journey recovery journey :)

Just take one of them.

Lots of love,

Shaye

 

Discover how hundreds of women are recovering using Shaye's practical step-by-step online recovery program. Visit: http://www.overcoming-bulimia.com

 

Want to Master the Fundamentals of Recovery? Free Live Session on Bulimia Recovery.

Master the Fundamentals of Recovery.

Want to recover from Bulimia Nervosa, Overeating and Binge Eating Disorder? Then Please join two of my Favourite Coaches on Internet, Richard Kerr and Bulimia Recovery Coach Jen Knaebel from Australia for Brilliant Live Session on Bulimia.

Free Live Class Invite for Bulimia Recovery on Thursday, June 13th at 7pm Eastern Standard Time. (Please convert the time to your local standard time)

About Bulimia Help

At Bulimia Help we're on a mission to revolutionize the way people recover from bulimia thanks to our unique recovery program "The Bulimia Help Method."Bulimia Help was built to reach all corners of the earth; Intended for people who don't have the opportunity to book into expensive treatment centres, for those who have lost hope or those simply seeking a fresh approach to recovery.

What Richard has to Say about Bulimia Recovery?

In a recent interview, I was asked, "How important do you  think structured eating is for bulimia recovery?" 

My answer was and is always the same. 

 

Based on my own experience, after a decade of  research; and after working with thousands of clients all over the world... 

 

... I know that structured eating is the  most powerful tool you have for recovery.

 

The fact remains;

 

If you don't feed your body the nutrition it needs

you will always be prone to massive binge urges. 

 

And this has nothing to do with your genetic make up, upbringing or mindset. 

 

It's a basic physiological fact. 

 

With that in mind I would like to invite you to a special Bulimia Help Show with me and Bulimia Recovery Coach Jen Knaebel.

 

Here is what you'll learn:

- How to create a food plan that works

- How to overcome road blocks with your eating plan

- Myths and realities about the ‘recovery bloat’ and how to overcome it.

 

You’ll also learn about Coach Jen’s personal experience and struggles using structured eating to recover.

The class is free. At the end of the discussion, we will open up for questions submitted by our listeners.

You can submit questions ahead of time to jen@bulimiahelp.org 

About Jen Knaebel:

Jen Knaebel joined BulimiaHelp.org in 2009 after struggling with bulimia for over 6 years. After her recovery she became a valued member of the community helping others to recover in her spare time. Jen now works as a bulimia recovery coach for BulimiaHelp.org.

 

 

This event will be broadcast live, so you don’t want to miss it! 

Click on this link below to be taken to the show page: 
http://www.bulimiahelp.org/ms/live-chat
 

See you then! 

 In health, 

Richard Kerr

Bulimia Help

 

p.s. You can join this live broadcast class online or from your telephone. If you're unable to join the broadcast, the archive and notes will be available in the Bulimia Help Method recovery Program.  

Mushrooms and Truffles In Islam and in Eating Disorder Recovery

Mushrooms and Truffles in Eating Disorder Recovery

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "The truffle is among the Mann (Allah's favours) and its water cures the eye" (Bukhari). It was said that among the Manna sent down by Allah to the Children of Israel were several plants that grow in the wild without effort. Some scholars consider truffles to be a kind of Manna, althought the word Manna in the Quran refers to the sweet dew that descended from the trees (Jauziyah, 2003).

The hadith already mentioned is relevant here, too: "Heaven laughed and it produced truffles, and the earth laughed and produced capers."

Truffles grow wild underground and they are a type of fungi sometimes regarded as a mushroom and they have a strong flavour and fragrance.

 

Source: Healing Body and Soul- Your guide to Holistic Wellbeing Following Islamic Teachings by Amira Ayad



Ancient Greeks and Romans credited truffles with both therapeutic and aphrodisiac powers.  Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics reveal that mushrooms were thought to bring immortality and valued them as both food and medicine.

Benefits of Mushrooms in Eating Disorder Recovery

Mushrooms are an important dietary source of essential amino acids.

Mushrooms are excellent source of fibre, vitamins and some minerals like selenium. They are low in fat and free of cholesterol.

The body of a mushroom is an excellent source of B- complex vitamins including B12.

Mushrooms are anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-tumor and boost immune system.

Mushrooms are the only vegetable and the second known source (after cod liver oil) to contain vitamin-D in edible form.

They are rich in calcium (good for bones), iron (benefits in anemia), potassium (very good for lowering blood pressure), copper (anti bacterial) and selenium (very good for health of bones, teeth, nails, hair and as an anti oxidant).

Here are some fabulous recipes from around the world. Bon Appetite!

Arab Mushroom Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 head broccoli separated into small flowers 


• 1 cup mushroom shopped  slices 


• 1 small carrot shredded


• 2 tbs pesto cream sauce 


• 1 ts salt


• 1 ts ground black pepper 


•  3 tbs extra olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven on broil.


2. Place the broccoli, mushroom in a resealable bag. Add the oil, salt and black pepper, close the bag and shake to mix.


3. Pour into a tray and broil for 15 minutes with stir after each 5 minutes.


4. Serve with pesto cream sauce and decorate with carrot. (Retrieved from: http://arabdishes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/mushroom-salad.html)

 

Khoresht Gharch ~ Persian Mushroom Stew

 

Ingredients

8 chicken thighs
2 medium onions
4 garlic cloves
24oz mushrooms
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp brewed saffron
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 egg yolks
oil
salt & pepper



Small dice onion and mince garlic.  Saute in some oil until golden.



Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add to onion and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover, and cook on medium for half hour.



In the mean time clean mushrooms . Cut off the bottom portion of the stem and depending on the size of each mushroom either cut into four section or nine. You can use any type of mushrooms you like.



I personally like to use all of my mushroom, including the stem. I cut the stem off then quarter, or cut into nice pieces, the cap then slice the stems.



Saute mushrooms in a thin layer of oil until their juices come out. Allow for the juices to evaporate.



Add flour to mushrooms and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.



Add brewed Saffron and lemon juice to chicken and mix well. Then add mushrooms and continue cooking uncovered for about 10 minutes.  Beat egg yolks in a bowl and carefully taper in the egg yolks with a bit of the juices from the stew.  Add tapered egg yolks to the pot and continue cooking for another 15 minutes. Make sure to adjust seasoning if needed.

You will have a fantastic stew in just under one hour to serve over  rice!

(Recipe retrieved from: http://mypersiankitchen.com/khoresht-gharch-persian-mushroom-stew/)

 

Cream of Mushroom Soup

 



Ingredients:

• ½ lb  (225 g) mushrooms


• 1 small onion


• ½ pint (300 ml) water or white vegetable stock


• Salt and pepper


• 1 oz (28 g) butter


• 1 oz (28 g) flour


• ¾  pint (400 ml) milk


• 1 egg yolk

Method:

1. Clean the mushrooms and cut up roughly.


2. Peel and chop the onion finely.


3. Put into a pan with the stock or water and seasoning.


4. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer with the pan covered for about 20 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked.


5. Either rub through a sieve or put through a blender to make a smooth pureee.


6. Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour. Blend it well and cook for a minute or two without colouring.


7. Gradually pour in the milk, stirring all the time. Simmer for a few minutes to cook.


8. Pour in the mushroom puree and add the beaten egg yolk.


9. Stir over a low heat to re-heat without boiling..


10. Serve hot. (Retrieved from: http://www.allotment.org.uk/recipe/335/cream-of-mushroom-soup-recipe/)

 

Malay Mushroom Tikka Masala

 



Mushroom Tikka Masala Recipe
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

For the sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 large onion, minced
2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
3 medium sized ripe tomatoes, pureed
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder or according to taste
2 tablespoons dry kasoori methi
2 tablespoons heavy cream, optional
Salt

For the vegetables

9oz fresh white button mushrooms (about 15 mushrooms)
1 large green or red bell pepper, cubed
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
1/4 cup whole Greek yogurt or strained yogurt
1 tablespoon oil

Method:

Heat oil in a wok, and add the cumin seeds. When they begin to sizzle add the onion. Cook on medium heat till onion is brown. Then add the ginger garlic paste and stir for about 45 seconds. Pour in the tomato puree and sprinkle the coriander, cumin, turmeric and chili powders.

Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to a simmer, and let the gravy cook for about 12 minutes or till it thickens and oil floats on top. (Canned tomato puree will cook in lesser time). If the sauce gets too thick add ½ cup water whenever needed.

While the sauce is cooking, work on the mushrooms. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a paper towel. If the mushrooms are large, cut them in half, if not leave them whole. Mix together the mushrooms, pepper, turmeric, chili powder, and yogurt and set side.

Heat a large skillet and add oil. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and peppers. Make sure you don’t crowd the pan; do this in batches if needed. Cook the mushroom and peppers on medium heat, till they start to brown a little. Don’t move the mushrooms around too much, they wont brown.

When the tomato sauce is done, add the sautéed mushrooms and bell peppers to it. Also add kasoori methi and sat. Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes or till the peppers are cooked. Turn off heat and stir in heavy cream if using. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

(Recipe retrieved from: http://rasamalaysia.com/mushroom-tikka-masala/2/)