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Lisa's Example
Eating Disorder

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A couple of months ago, I put on a pair of jeans that I hadn't worn since my 13 pound weight gain. I was getting dressed after my 3:00 p.m. shower in my upstairs bathroom and found that I could barely get the jeans to zip up. My once loose jeans were now too tight. I thought that I had become grossly overweight and that I was too disgusting to look at. These were the type of thoughts I had as I began to work myself up.

Right away I began experiencing tenseness, heart palpitations, racing thoughts and lowered tones. I had a strong impulse to call my fiancee and tell him that I needed him to come pick me up from the treatment home I was living in because I couldn't bear the weight gain any longer.

Soon I realized that feelings are not facts and that acting on my impulse to give up on recovery would have been not self-led, but symptom-led. I remembered that every act of self control leads to self respect and that the will to bear discomfort leads to greater comfort. I realized that my insecure thoughts would lead to more fear and that replacing them with secure thoughts would bring peace. I made a conscious decision to turn chilly towards my disconcerting feelings.

In former days, I would have started crying hysterically and calling myself different obscene and cruel names. I would have written myself little notes of self disgust and posted them all over the house. I would have gone into a deep depression, vowing to not leave the house except to go buy binge food. I would have gone on a crash diet, exercised compulsively and then binged and purged with every ounce of the little energy that I had left in me. It was my eating disorder that brought me to Recovery, Inc. training.

Further Spotting!

Susan-- Lisa has learned to become aware of her symptoms--her palpitations, racing thoughts, and lowered tones--once she noticed them she remembered to start using her Recovery, Inc., spotting.

Marie-- Her way of reacting before Recovery only led to more fear and a vicious cycle between symptoms and the working up process.

Lee-- I spot that comfort is a want and not a need. Lisa wanted to leave so she wouldn't have to bear her symptoms, but she knows that she needs to bear the discomfort that her nervous symptoms produce so she can get better. Simple but not easy!

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