Week Six Down

Yesterday I decided to try my best to look decent and play dress-up :)

Well, it has been a pretty quiet week. The weekend was calm. On Sunday my nutritionist shared her own story of recovery during a group. It was very inspiring to me. It made me realize that she could truly emphasize with me and that I need not be ashamed of some of the behaviors that I have engaged in over the years. When she talked about the beginning of her recovery, she told how the most important step she took was to be 100% honest with her sponsor. For some reason that really struck me. There are secrets that I have been keeping- nothing major, but they add up and fuel my addiction. Things such as having extra salt, extra diet coke, ect. At that moment in Deborah's story I felt compelled to be 100% honest. I know that recovery means 100% honest. I decided to come clean. As the evening wore on, I started to become hesitant and knew I was losing that motivation. I told a peer that there was something I needed to talk to Deborah about and asked that she would hold me accountable to doing so. Towards the end of the night I pulled Deborah aside and told her what was going on- everything. I trust Deborah the most of anyone. I had put myself in a difficult situation- on one hand I feared the consequences (well, mainly the consequence of being kicked out- I could handle and deserved anything else), but on the other hand I knew that recovery = honesty. I could get rid of whatever forbidden things I had, but that would only be a patch over the pothole. Thankfully, Deborah was very gentle, but I worried about the team's response on Monday. It went better than ever- I was actually commended for my honesty.

Tuesday I shared in group about the most difficult aspect of my eating disorder- the ruminating. It is a behavior that I am so ashamed of and is a huge dam in my recovery. My peers were very supportive, so I am glad that I am able to talk about it and get help with the issue.

The rest of the week has been a bit blase, a bit down. I don't know. I am relaxing that I am struggling less, having minimal urges to purge, ect, and that is a bit scary. I feel emotionally blank.

On the upside, I realized yesterday that I feel more comfortable within the community. I am finding it easier to talk to and connect with my peers and the staff. Hopefully that will continue to improve.

On Tuesday I woke up at 4:30am and could hear the wolves outside. I tried to get the howling on video, but you can only hear birds: (the bright object is actually the moon, not the sun)

Couch Bum(med)

Well, I had a frustrating end to the week. Which kind of sucked since the rest of my week was also frustrating.

Thursday afternoon my tube was clogged. In all honesty, I have not been great about taking the initiative to flush it every time I am supposed to. So it was pulled Thursday, and I was hoping that that meant it would stay out. Surprisingly, I found dinner Thursday night to be particularly hard. I have been wanting the tube out, but once it was, I was suddenly thinking about how much I didn't want to eat, how now nobody could 'force' me to do it. Also, I truly have not been experiencing any hunger. I was having an okay time in the beginning, but now I have absolutely no desire to eat. So eating dinner was me literally forcing it down. I was trying to use the fact that I wanted to go to the movie Friday night as motivation. But I was rather miserable the rest of the night.

Friday morning I found out that I was going to the hospital first thing to get a new tube. Part of me was frustrated- I didn't even get a chance to ask anyone if I could have a 'trial period' without it, and I didn't see the necessity in having it replaced since I have only used it a couple of times. But then there was another part of me that was relieved- I didn't have to torture myself with the guilt and shame for eating when I didn't 'have to'. This is disordered thinking, I know. Anyways, I had to get it done, and thankfully the procedure went a lot smoother than the first time.

Friday afternoon I was hit with another bombshell. Apparently since I have not gained any weight (or lost some- I am not exactly sure) my insurance is questioning whether this program is appropriate for me or whether I need a more intensive inpatient rigid refeeding/weight gain program. This would really suck. I will not go to such a program, so I really hope things work out. Because my weight has not progressed, I am on a new protocol. I am back on 24-hour observations and also on strict 'couch rest'. This means I can only walk to the bathroom and dining room (about 15 feet away) and the group room. The rest of the time I have to sit on the couch. I cannot even go on the bowling outing today or sit on the porch on the opposite side of the room :( I understand the concept of them not wanting me to expend even the slightest amount of energy, but it is still disappointing. And I get the sense that they don't completely believe me that I am not doing something 'bad' to avoid weight gain. That is actually the worst part- I can't do ANYTHING to make my body do what it 'needs' to do. I am literally helpless. So parts of it do feel punishing. But it will supposedly be re-evaluated on Mon. I am trying to remind myself:

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change"

My sacred 'couch seat':

Weekend Wrap

It was a productive weekend. I feel good about that.

Friday night we went to see the movie. I have this thing I do which is that I always see things that I want to do or intend on doing, but then I back out at the last second. This was a constant occurrence during college. I would decide something looked fun, but as the time approached, I would find my anxiety increasing, the fear of being around people and food and out of my isolative abode overtaking me. Most of it was eating disorder related- I didn't want anything to interfere with my routine or schedule or intentions to binge and purge. As movie time approached Friday night, this same anxiety crept up, to a lesser degree. Of course, engaging in eating disorder acts were not a factor, it was more of stepping out of my comfort zone and interrupting the schedule I knew and was familiar with.

Similarly, I felt the same way about Sunday's outing, which was to the Botanical Gardens. But I pushed myself to go. The gardens were pretty, but not exactly what I was expecting. Their Japanese garden was not at all like what I remember seeing in Japan. Plus it was really hot and there was a lot of walking, and my unfit body was exhausted by the time we left.

Saturday I also engaged in another eating disorder fueled sin. I stole food, ate it and purged it. I am not proud of this. It was the hardest thing ever to admit this to Deborah yesterday, but I think I feel a little better now that it is out. I am just very ashamed and disgusted with myself.

Sunday was kind of chill. For Body Movement group we went on a walk. It was supposed to be peaceful and calming, but it was sort of difficult for me to get in that space. I was, however, reminded how much I want to do things that that the eating disorder prevents me from doing, such as taking up photography, hiking, camping and fishing.

Sunday night it was sprung on us that we were going out to eat again. I was not very happy about this. I was already grumpy because Deborah just bumped my meal plan up again (I am now eating exactly double what I was just a week ago), and going out did not appeal to me. We got there, some very expensive European restaurant, and I decided to have the "Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad." Yes, this choice was majorly influenced by my eating disorder, but it honestly sounded good on the menu. It wasn't. It was disgusting. I disliked every part of it, besides the beets, but they were all covered in disgusting dressing. I choked it down. I was annoyed on the outside, and angry on the inside. It is a very big eating disorder rule not to ever eat anything I don't like (is that really unreasonable?) and I feel that if I have to eat, I might as well like it, or at least be able to tolerate it. Not the case here. I guess it taught me several things: 1) Don't let the eating disorder choose your foods for you and 2) I don't ever have to have that again!

Today I am sort of blah. I processed my theft/purging event in group, and just am ashamed about it. I am eating the damn food. But I am still blah.

Here are some pics from the Botanical Gardens:

The Promised Catlewood Pictures!