The-F-Word.org

The-F-Word has been awarded the “Beautiful Blogger Award” by Andrea Owens at Live Your Ideal Life.  Thanks, Andrea!  To claim this award I have to regift it to 15 blogs I love and read, so drumroll…. the awards go to:

1. Big Fat Deal
2. Frozen Oranges
3. Feed Me!
4. 5 Resolutions
5. A Celebration of Curves
6. Blogxygen
7. Body Love Wellness
8. Fat Nutritionist
9. ED Bites
10. Life With Cake
11. Oh, the Profanity!
12. Weighing In
13. Pretty Pear
14. Operation Beautiful
15. AnyBody

And to claim this prestigious award I also have to tell you seven things about myself, so I’ll try to tell you a few things you might not already know.  Without further adieu…

1. I have a phobia of bugs.  Ladybugs, ants and even some spiders are okay, but most other bugs send me climbing a chair and shrieking for my husband like a 1950s housewife.  My sister even has to walk me through the bug house at the zoo, eyes closed, before reaching the butterfly house at the end.
2. I am obsessed with plucking my eyebrows.  I didn’t start until my early 20s when a bunch of women I worked with talked about eyebrow waxes and I decided to get one on a whim.  I have naturally bushy eyebrows and the contouring made a big difference in the way I looked and my self-esteem, but it’s become somewhat of a stress reliever for me now.  My husband even got me a pair of eco-tweezers the other year for Christmas.
3. I have ADD, which is to say that I lose my car keys and cell phone on a weekly basis.  But I can remember weird things like phone numbers and birthdates with aplomb.  I still remember the phone numbers of some of my childhood friends from 15 years ago.
4. I absolutely despise skirts and dresses.  The only occasion of me wearing a dress (since childhood, that is) was on my wedding day and it’s the only dress I own.  Give me a nice pants suit with low heels any day.
5. I once slept beneath a freeway overpass with a homeless camp I befriended and it was a better night’s sleep than I’ve had in some hotels.
6. My name is Rachel and I have a book-buying obsession.  It’s not nearly so bad as it once was, but we still venture to the Half Price Bookstore a couple times a month to indulge my obsession.  I have stacks upon towering stacks of books in my office, boxed up in crates in the basement, and I’m loathe to part with 98 percent of them.
7. They say that the average American will have eaten 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before graduating from high school.  I can count on one hand the number I ate.  I hated peanut butter as a kid and it wasn’t until my early 20s when the college cafe was out of celery sticks and Ranch dressing and substituted peanut butter instead that I discovered I liked it.  I still don’t like PB&Js, but I’ll have a spoonful of peanut butter every so often with apples as a snack.

Every beginning brings with it hope and the promise of great possibilities and the start of the new year is no different.  But for people with an eating disorder, the seemingly never ending barrage of weight loss and fitness advertisements can make it seem very trying, indeed.  While many people pledge to transform their bodies each year, I thought it might be different instead to focus on our minds and self-image.  In that spirit, I’m collecting stories from people who’ve recovered from an eating disorder or who have overcome various degrees of disordered eating (including dieting) and/or poor body image.  Not only do I hope to show recovery is entirely within grasp for most people with an eating disorder, but also the different ways in which people from all shades of the disordered spectrum and backgrounds have gone about achieving it.  A few folks have already sent me entries, and I plan to run them as part of a special series beginning next week.  When I get the new site design finished, they’ll also be archived in a special section there, too.

Interested?  Here’s a few points to consider when writing your own story:

• Briefly explain the nature of your disorder or food-related behaviors (please omit specific weights and numbers). How did it start?  How old were you?

• When did you realize that you had a problem?  What led you to seek outside help?

• What kind of help did you receive?  Out-patient therapy?  In-patient hospitalization?  Self-help books?  Did you have any obstacles or challenges to receiving outside assistance?

• Did you have support from friends and family?  If so, in what ways did they support you?

• What kinds of goals did you set while in recovery?  Did you do any self-exercises or other activities to help you work towards those goals?

• How long would you say you’ve been recovered or mostly recovered?  How do you successfully manage triggers today?  Do you have any advice for others?

E-mail me your entries at Rachel (at) the-f-word (dot) org.  If you have a blog, website or email address you want to share, be sure to also include that.  These entries can also be completely anonymous, too, so please let me know if you’d like a pseudonym used.

Merry Christmas to our Christmas-celebrating readers from all of us at The-F-Word (and from my bunnies, Harry and Henry).  Posting may be light over the next few days as we take this time to spend with friends and family and play with all our new toys and gadgets.  In the meantime, use this as an open post to discuss all things Christmas.  Does your family have any special traditions?  Any Christmas cookie recipes to share?  What was the worst gift you ever received? The best?

So, I did some blogroll housekeeping this morning and removed some blogs that haven’t been updated in a long while or are no longer active. Sadly, there were a couple blogs that went from being pro-body acceptance to actively pro-dieting, so I deleted those, too. I also added a few new blogs to the list:

• Life with Cake (authored by our very own Greta!)

• Bl@q G!rl With An Ed

• Eating Disorders Blogs (sponsored by Gurze Books)

• Operation Beautiful

• The Thinking Junction

Know of any other good sites?  Post ‘em in the comments!

The New Year’s weight loss self-flagellations resolutions are returning in gale force again.  Why not trade in those tired (and probably oft-repeated) resolutions for something more purposeful and constructive?  Like, say, a copy of Rethinking Thin by New York Times science writer Gina Kolata. That’s right.  I’m giving away not one, but TWO hardback copies of the book to two lucky readers now through Dec. 13.

Interested? Details and entry form after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

Some time before Charlynn closed the Disordered Times blog, I began to notice the writings of a new contributor there, Greta — read her archives here.  Greta is a smart, clever writer who offers both personal and clinical perspectives on issues related to mental health and eating disorders.  I hate to see great talent go untapped and so, I’ve asked her to come on board as a fellow blogger here.

A former Radio City Rockette and recovering bulimic, Greta is in her final year of a graduate social work program at NYU, specializing in addictions.  After graduation, she intends to do a two-year specialization in eating disorders at a psychoanalytic/CBT psychotherapy institute.  Apart from personal experience, I approach the F-words mostly from an historical and sociological perspective, so having someone who is actually well versed in the clinical aspect of addictions and body image issues is a great addition for the site.  Greta also has much to say about the third F-word — feminism — and aspires to be a food critic.  And whereas Charlynn and I are boring married straights, Greta can also offer a lesbian perspective on both feminist and eating disorder issues.  So, please welcome Greta!  Her bio is below:

After an eight-year hiatus, co-blogger Greta Gleissner has recently returned to her favorite place on the planet—New York City. Her first experience in the city, where she had the pleasure of dancing as a Radio City Rockette, didn’t exactly go as planned, as she was at the height of a 15-year struggle with bulimia. A couple of rehabs later, and after many sessions of psychotherapy, Greta is back for a “do-over,” determined to live life in the city the way in which she originally intended.

No longer eye-high kicking on “The Great Stage,” Greta is well on her way to fulfilling her ultimate dream—helping others with eating disorders. She is currently a graduate student at The Silver School of Social Work, at New York University. Bouncing in and out of school for nearly a decade, and outlasting all of my stepsiblings and cousins in the, “Who Can Stay in School the Longest?” contest, her family is ecstatic that she  will finally graduate with her MSW in May.

Greta had a brief stint as a co-blogger on The Disordered Times, and has her own blog, Life With Cake. Greta’s personal essay was published in Dance Spirit magazine. She’s currently under literary representation for her memoir about her experience with and the process of recovery from bulimia.

A self-proclaimed food aficionado, Greta has a secret wish to be a food critic, and, on occasion, traipses the city streets with Lisa in search of the perfect pizza slice and cupcake. Though still mildly obsessed with food, Greta considers herself lucky to be somewhat of a “normal” eater… if such a state exists in Western culture.

In her spare time, Greta plays with her golden retrievers, Jack and Emma, reads memoirs of all types, watches Law & Order SVU reruns with her partner, Lisa, and daydreams about pursuing her Ph.D.

Would anyone be interested in an The-F-Word reader gift exchange?  Here’s how it would work:  You’d send me an email with your real name and address and a few lines about yourself, what, if any, seasonal holiday you observe and your interests by Wednesday, Dec. 9.  On Thursday, I will send you the name and info of another reader who wants to participate.  I know budgets are tight now due to the recession and holiday season, so there would be a $5 maximum limit on gifts.  You would then send your recipient the gift by Friday, Dec. 18.

If you’re interested in participating, please send me a note at Rachel (at) the-f-word (dot) org by Dec. 9 with the above info.  Thanks!

Update: The deadline to participate has now passed.  I am compiling addresses and will be sending out the names of your recipients soon.  Thanks!

As the media contact for The Fat Rights Coalition and a personal blogger who writes on issues of eating disorders and body acceptance, I field lots of public relations requests from media outlets worldwide, from international luminaries like CNN and The New York Times to small town papers looking to make a local connection on a larger issue. I’ve participated in some of these public debates in the past, but because I am a journalist myself, I have made the decision to limit my involvement to helping my fellow journalists out behind-the-scenes and referring them to other activists who will speak on the record. And that’s where you come in. I’m making what I fondly call my Big Fat Rolodex so that I can easily and quickly refer future media requests to the right activist or field professional. While I am looking for professionals like social workers, doctors, researchers, professors, lawyers, health care workers, therapists/psychologists, nutritionists and fitness experts etc… I am also looking for anyone with personal experiences with eating disorders (who don’t mind sharing details of their disorder), weight-based discrimination and fat rights activism.  If the Fatosphere has taught us anything, it’s that the personal is indeed political.

If you’d like to be included as a potential media contact, please send the below information in an email to Rachel (at) the-f-word (dot) org with “Media Contact” as the subject.

• Real name, first and last

• E-mail address

• Phone number (optional)

• Region: state and country

• Website address (if applicable)

• Available for: Radio, TV, Print

• Area(s) of interest: i.e. fat rights, eating disorders, health, nutrition and fitness, legal issues, fat studies

• Relevant credentials: (certifications, degrees, affiliations, personal experience)

Posting will probably be lighter than usual in the next few weeks.  I’ve taken on some freelance web design jobs again in an attempt to help pay down our $5,700 vet bill from Grayson’s surgeries.  I also ended up deciding to foster Nigel, the chocolate point Himalayan who’s been traumatized by demon children and will need lots of love and attention in order to recover.  You can’t see his beautiful blue eyes in this pic, but you can see how absolutely gorgeous he is.

To top it off, both Brandon and I seem to be coming down with something.  He insists that his sore throat and stuffiness are just allergies, but I rarely suffer from them and I have the same congestion.  So, consider this an open post to discuss anything on your mind or offer links to related news or sites.  Here’s a few headlines to check out.

• PsychCentral has introduced the new blog Weightless authored by new blogger Margarita Tartakovsky.  According to Tartakovsky, “Weightless is about well-being, not weight; about fostering body image, regardless of your size. It’s about exposing women’s magazines, other mediums and so-called experts, when they’re touting unhealthy tips and promoting restrictive standards.  The goal of Weightless is to help women develop a better body image and work toward accepting themselves as they are, while being healthy and happy (fad diets and skinny-mini standards prohibited!); and to become sharp consumers, who can pick apart a commercial or magazine article and know which advice is helpful or harmful.”

• Lynn Harris at Salon.com examines purging disorder, a “new” disorder discussed in an article in this month’s Archives of General Psychiatry.

• Courtney Martin, author of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, is one of 10 finalists for the Washington Post’s “America’s Next Great Pundit” contest.  Check out Courtney’s column here.  The contest ends today at 3 p.m., so hurry up and vote!

We’ve discussed here before how bulimia can literally (and metaphorically) rob sufferers of their smiles.  Now one organization hopes to give at least one lucky sufferer their smile back.  Jill from 1-800-DENTIST sent me a note about the organization’s Smile Makeover contest. Here’s how it works:

To help raise awareness about the importance of dental care, 1-800-DENTIST is offering a smile makeover contest. One lucky person will win a smile makeover valued up to $30,000. There’s no fee to enter the smile makeover contest; contestants need simply to upload a short video explaining their dental problems and how it affects their lives. Entries must be received by November 10.

Each contestant video will have its own page, including a brief personal summary. This is where friends, family and the rest of America can cast their vote! Ask friends and family to cast their vote from 11/10 noon – 12/1 noon PST. Only one vote per person per day allowed. The winner of My Smile Bites! will be announced on December 15, 2009* noon PST. Details can be found online here.

Jill also wrote an article on bulimia-related dental problems with some advice for people still struggling with the disorder.

Be sure not to brush your teeth after vomiting, as most bulimics feel compelled to do. The abrasive materials in toothpaste will further damage tooth enamel made sensitive by stomach acid. Eating or drinking anything acidic will have the same effect. Instead, wash your mouth out with water to neutralize the acid, and wait a few hours before you eat, drink or brush your teeth.

Practicing excellent oral hygiene will also help slow the process of tooth erosion. It’s extremely important to receive ongoing professional dental care. Although you may feel embarrassed by the condition of your teeth, visiting a caring dentist will relieve pain and restore your smile. As untreated bulimia effects can lead to large cavities, expensive dental treatment or even tooth loss, treatment should be sought as early as possible.

If you do enter the contest, be sure to let us know the link to your page so we can all vote for you!