Why I recommend Blogging

To say that blogging has changed my life may seem like an exaggeration, however I believe this to be 100% true. I honestly dont think I would have been strong enough to recover, if it wasn't for Blogging. Firstly, it was only through reading other peoples recovery blogs that I realised recovery from Anorexia was actually possible.

Before this time I really did believe I would be sick for the rest of my life and that recovery was impossible. It seemed as though no one could help me and changing my ways seemed far to painful. So I suppose throigh reading other people's blogs, I found hope that I would someday recover, which is perhaps the first stage of recovery.

As I could see others making progress and getting better first hand, I started thinking, 'well if they can do it, I can too.' And since I was totally fed up with living the way I was (although I really wouldn't call it living, more like barely existing), I finally made the brave decidion to try and change.

As I started to make changes, I was overwhelmed by just how painful it was and felt completely alone. No one else could even begin to understand what I was going through so I took great comfort in reading other peoples blogs. I could relate to what these like minded people were saying and this stopped me feeling quite as alone and like such an outsider.

While I feel as though reading other peoples recovery blogs really did get me in the right frame of mind to want recovery and change, actually making these changes was a different story. I made a little progress, very slowly, but did not make any great progress until I started writing my own blog.

Once I started my own blog, I felt as though I didn't only need to recover for myself, but also for those people who were fighting anorexia themselves and reading my blog. I knew I could not fool my readers into believing I was in recovery, like I had been doing to myself for years, unless I truly was. I knew that whilst blogging I needed to take action and start actively recovering. So that is exactly what I did.

I still had moments of desparation when I felt as though everything was just far too hard, but then I remembered all of the people who believed in me and this gave me the extra motivation and strength I needed to fight my anorexia fully. I knew that if I just gave into my anorexia that I would not be showing my readers that recovery is possible and that is the message I wanted to portray the most.

Of course, I also dont know that I would have been able to recover if it wasnt for the encouragement and support that I recieved from my readers. Just seeing my blog views meant a lot to me but actually talking to others just like me helped me so much. I developed many special friendships and really cant thank those people who helped me through my recovery enough.

So If your trying to recover, I highly recommend reading other peoples recovery blogs as it can be extremely helpful. Also, reaching out to other people who understand what you are going through can be incredibely helpful too. Even though starting your own blog is a big step, I have never regretted starting my own blog and like me, this could be the key to your recovery. So if you think it could help you, please give it a go!

Starting a blog

I got the following question from a reader and thought I would write a post in responsee to it, as it was a really great question!

'Just wondering if I could ask a few questions on how you started up your blog please? Were you nervous before hand? Do you have any tips on how to get going?'

The truth is, I was incredibely frightened of starting my own blog at first. Growing up, I have always been very insecure and have worried a lot about what others think of me which I guess is one of the reasons why I found starting a blog so daunting. The thought of people critisizing me or judging me really scared me and it took me a while to realise that I shouldn't let the fear of being judged stand in the way of doing something that could not only help me, but help others too.

The very first post I wrote was on the 18th of January, however I soon realised that I wasn't yet ready to publically share my story just yet, so I didn't log back onto blogger until April the 3rd, almost 3 months later. My first April post was called, To Blog or not to blog and it actually sums up how I was feeling at the time really well;

To blog or not to blog?

After my initial post I had second thoughts about whether blogging was for me or not. Honestly, I was terrified that people who I know would find my blog and criticize or judge me for what I write. I mean, my anorexia recovery has been a very personal and painful battle. But I want to give blogging another go. I feel as though I am making more and more progress everyday and this blog will allow me to connect with other sufferers to give them support and advice. And perhaps others can help me as I progress into my recovery journey too. I have a pretty busy life so I don't think I will have time to write more then 1 post a day. Some days I may not even have time for 1 post but I really do want to give this another chance. Who cares who may or may not read my blog. Apart of recovery for me is to stop worrying about what others think and just focus on what is best for my health and happiness.

Wish me luck!

I think I also just wasn't really ready to fully committ to my recovery until April which is another reason why blogging scared me so much and why I didnt start sooner. I knew that I wanted to be completely honest on my blog, no matter what and I also wanted to set a good example for others trying to recover too. So I didn't want to start my blog until I actually truly wanted recovery and was willing to fight for it! 

So as far as advice for starting your own blog goes, I say go for it! My blog really has helped me to save my life and I honestly don't know where I would be today without it. My blog and my readers are what gave mme the extra strength I needed, to fight my anorexia when I otherwise wouldn't have been strong enough to do it. Like all things I suppose, there are a few negatives associated with blogging too but for me, the positives outweigh any negatives by so much, that I don't really care.

I am glad I didn't start my recovery blog untill I was fully ready to start fighting my anorexia 100%. At times I reallly did only fight my anorexia because I wanted to set a good example for my readers and somehow felt as though I owed it to my readers to fight. I think that if I had started my blog whilst not being truly dedicated to recovery, I probably never would have felt as though I needed to fight my anorexia, for the sake of my blog as well as for myself, as I did. 

I guess what I am trying to get at is that there is a big difference between a recovery blog and anorexia blog. I mean there is nothing wrong with someone writing a blog about their daily battle with anotrexia but unless they are fighting their anoreia, it i not a recovery blog. So to start a recovery blog, you really do need to be ready to fight and recover.

And I guess another thing to remember when you start blogging is that someone you know is bound to stumble accross your blog at some point. Even though the thought of this happening terrified me at first, I no longer worry about it at all. I will never forget the first day I stumbled across a photo of myself on google images when I was trying to find some recovery motivation. I instantly started to panic about who else would see my photos but then I thought, it didn't really matter if someone did find them.

The truth is, I am not ashaimed of my past or my illness. In fact, I am proud of my story and everything I have achieved. I know that anyone who does judge me for what I share on my blog is obviously not a person worth worrying about anyway and it is well worth it if I am able to help many other wonderful people, through sharing my story. 

  

So to teh beautifu person who asked this question, thans for the great post idea! I realise that this post really is not structured all that well but I hope that you can make sense of my thoughts anyway and that it can be helpful to you in some way! :) Make sure you let me know if you decide to make your own blog, I would love to be your very first follower! X

Thank god I found blogging

Before I found recovery blogs online, I had lost all hope of ever recovering. I had been to specialist after speciallist however none of  them had ever been able to help me. One even told me that there really was no point in continuing to see her whilst I was not willing to change. The problem was not that I was unwilling to change, but instead the problem was that I didn't know I could change. I had never been shown anything by anyone to make me believe I would ever be able to recover and change just felt far too difficult and impossible.

I cant remember exactly how I came accross my first recovery blog online but it instantly inspired me and filled me with hope that my future did not necessarily have to have anorexia in it. Although the girl whose blog I had found had already been declared healthy from her anorexia, I went back to her earlest post so that I could read them all in chronological order. This allowed me to truly see the transformation this girl had taken from being incredibly anorexic and unwell to health and hapiness. This showed me that recovery was possible!

I didn't start my own blog for another couple of years but I still continued reading other peoples recovery blogs. While I managed to stop losing weight in this time I did not make any dramatic recovery progress and my anorexia still seemed to rule my life. Things were not good for me living at home and in a way, my anorexic behaviours were the one thing that felt familiar and safe. I still think that reading recovery blogs was still helpful for me at that time however as it kept giving me hope and inspiring me to want to get better.

 It wasn't until I moved out of home at the start of this year and I started my own recovery blog that everything fell in to place. It is only theen that I was able to fully committ to my recovery, gain weight and make mental progress. I still read other peoples recovery blogs everyday and I find that they still help me so much. And writing my own blog has helped me enormously too as it has made me feel as though I need to keep making recovery progress, not only for me but also for my readers.

The support I have had from my wonderful readers is the thing that keeps me going every single day and gets me through the tough times. It is so important to me that I make a full recovery, not only for myself but so that I can show everyone else battling anorexia that recovery is possible. The message I try to get out through my blog is 'If I can do it, so can you,' and this is what I truly believe. I honestly believe that anyone can recover from anorexia as long as you believe in yourself and believe it is possible!

Please, just ask

I know that the types of posts that I write has changed a fair bit since I first started my blog and I guess this is because my life has changed so much since then. I used to write about various topics and issues that were relevant to my anorexia at the time but now, those types of things are not really relevant to my life anymore, so I forget to write about them. I guess that this is a good thing really as it shows just how my life has been turned around and it shows just how much progress I have made.

In saying this, I do not mind writing about those types of things that used to effect me and that I used to write about in order to help any of my readers out. I have been thinking and have realised that there are probably a lot of you who are in a much earlier stage of recovery then myself and what is relevant to me, is not necessarily relevant to you. I honestly don't mind writing about anything at all from my past or present, all you have to do is ask :)

You can also go back and read my old posts that I wrote in the earlier stages of my recovery as well if you are looking for any guidence or advice about a articular topic. Other then that I will try to remember back to what life was like in the earlier stages of my recovery and I will try to write a bit more about overcoming various challenges I was faced with.

Some people may question whether it is healthy for me to be thinking back to when I was sick so much as in a way it may be stopping me from moving forward but I honestly dont find it harmmful to me at all, at this stage of my life anyway. If anything, remembering back to the bad times just reminds me of how terrible life used to be and makes me never want to go back to that. It also makes me appreciate how wonderful life is at the moment, now that I am so much closer to making a full recovery.

Initially I made my blog mainly to try and help myself in my own recovery and I honestly believe that my blog has served this purpose extremely well. Now however since I am in such a good place, I feel as though the most important role of my blog is to help others others. So please, if you have any ideas about how Ican help you or anyone else, I would love for you to share them with me. Don't be shy, just comment any ideas or questions below or if you would rather, you can email me at: karlygraham94@gmail.com

 

Social Media

Something that really annoys me is when older people complain about sociaaal media all the time and say how terrible it is that young people use it. I think that this is a really unfair, especially considering most of the people who say this dont even really understand how social media works and have nnever used it themselves. The defiition of social media is;

social media

noun

1. websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

Perhaps the reason why I am so defensive of social media applications is because technically Blogging is in fact a form of social media and I know that I would not have been able to make the recovery progress I haave made without it. I really do feel as though both reading blogs, writing my own blog and talking to other people who have suffered from eating disorders have all helped to save my life, so I will therefore always be grateful for social networking.

I really do believe that the little recovery community that as formed online is the most wonderful recovery resourse there is for people suffering from eating disorders. I found that no doctor or specialist was aactually able to help me to recover and that the only thing that has helped me is talking to other people who are in recovery or who have allrready recovered from anorexia. Reading blogs of people who have already recovered made me realise that recovery is possible and that it is also worth all of the hard work that it involves.

Of course there are some negatives that come with social networking, like anything else. There will always besome people out there who unfortunately misuse social media however I think it is unfair that this minority give social media a bad name. While there are some negatives, I believe that there are far more positives.

Social media allows us to talk to people from all over the world, who we would not otherwise ever have the chance of meeting. I am so thankful for all of the great friends that I have met through my blog and they all help me everyday to keep fighting until I make a full recovery. I also use things like facebook tto keep in touch with friends who have moved away and that I no longer get to see which is great too.

I honestly do not think that there is any problem at all with social networking but instead that the only issues lie with some of it's users. As long as social media is used responsibly, I think it is a truly wonderful thing.

Day 30: Hopes for your blog

I think that all of my regular readers already know what my blog means to me and what I want to achieve through my blog but since this question is the final question of my blog challenge, I am going to answer it anyway.

I had two main reasons for starting my blog. These were that I wanted to find a way to express myself which would hopefully help me in my own anorexic recovery. The other reason I decided to start my blog was because I wanted to help inspire other people to recover, as it was through reading recovery blogs I was inspired to recover myself. Since starting my blog, I honestly feel as tough I have been able to achieve all of these things.

Firstly, I know that I would not be where I am in my recovery if it was not for my blog. Not only has my blog been the place that I could express myself and organise the thoughts that would have otherwise remained jumbled in my mind, but it has also allowed me to connect with many wonderful people who have supported me immensely. Before I sarted my blog, I really did feel as though I was trying to recover on my own but fortunately, I no longer feel as though this is the case.

Even more importantly, I have been able to make a positive difference to people who are both suffering and/or recovering from an eaing disorder. Ever since I got sick myself, my biggest dream has been to help others suffering from eating disorders but I knew that in order to do this, I had to get well myself first. I think it is so wonderful that I have been able to do both of these things all at once. Hearing people say that I have made a positive difference to their recoveries really means the world to me.

So my hopes for my blog in the future is to contiue doing exactly what I am doing. I want to continue to document my recovery, atleast until I make a full recovery so that I can prove to everyone out there suffering from an eating disorder that it is possible to recover. No matter how awful it may seem and no matter how painful it may be, it is possible to make a full recovery, all you have to do is keep fighting.

I dont only want to show everyone that recovery is possible, I also want to make the actual recovery process less painful for anyone who may be going through it. I want anyone suffering to realise that there are other people out there who understand and that they are not alone. I do not know how long I will continue to blog for but I hope that my blog can still be used as a resource to anyone recovering, even after I stop writing new posts one day.

Day 1:Your blogs name

I think that this is a kind of silly question as obviously you already know the name of my blog, as you are reading it right now. So I decided hat I will explain why I decided to call my blog 'fighting Anorexa'. When I put my blog together, I was no longer just accepting my anorexia anymore however I was not recovered  yet either. I was in that 'still trying to recover' stage. I was still fighting my anorexia every single day so I thought that 'fighting anorexia' was the title that most accurately described my relationship with my anorexia, at that moment in time.

I hoped that through the title of my blog, readers would instantly see that I was NOT a Pro-Ana Blog and that I was still going through the recovery process myself. Through the title of my blog I am making no claim to have already recovered from anorexia which suggests to readers that I still have times when I really struggle with my anorexic tthoughts. This also suggests to my readers that I do not necessarily have all of the answers about how to recover, as I am still trying to figure everythng out myself. But I do share my own experiences of anorexia and recovery, mainly to show everyone that it is possible to fight your anorexia and to make a full recovery.  

Keep fighting everyone <3 xx

day 29: What are some of your favourite recovery blogs or sites.

Recovery Blogs I follow (that are in my blogger reading list)

A life without anorexia

Free of an eating disorder

Holly Alyssas recovery from Anorexia

How nutella saved my life

Ice cream can save your life

Izzys journey

Life with Anorexia

My cocoa stained Apron

Websites I find helpful

Your Eatopia

Butterfly Foundation

ED Bites (on facebook)

Lets recover

please feel free to comment your own blog below if I dont already follow it, so I can check it out :)

Thoughts on recovery blogs

After seeing a fair bit of critism about recovery blogs lately (not on my blog, but on other  blogs), I found myself getting quite defensive and upset over what was being said. People have been saying that recovery blogs arent helpful and that the types of things bloggers post completely contradicts the messages their blogs are trying to get accross. It has also been suggested that some bloggers have created a particular 'trend' of living that people want to follow after they recover from eating disorders.

While everyone is entitled to have an opinion, I do not think that anyone can speak on behalf of all the people out there who follow recovery blogs. To me its simple, If you dont agree with what a particular blogger is writing, stop reading that blog. No one is forcing you to read it and voicing your opinion is only going to upset the blogger as well as all of the readers who believe in what the blogger writes. I think the reason these comments upset me so much is because reading recovery blogs has truly changed my life, which is one of the main reasons I started my own blog. I wanted to help others in the ways I have been helped through reading recovery blogs.

I have always been the type of person who stands up for what I believe in and the fact is, I believe recovery blogs have the ability to save lives. While they may not be helpful to everyone, I know that they make the world of difference to others. Before reading recovery blogs, I had never been given any reason to believe that recovering from my illness was possible. I had accepted the fact that I would die with my illness and that I would never know a life without anorexia again. However reading recovery blogs showed me that recovery was in fact possible and that life after recovery was worth all of the pain that is involved in recovering.

I agree that simply reading recovery blogs does not allow a person to recover from an eating disorder. For instance I read a recovery blog every single day for two years but still didn't make any progress as I just wasnt ready to yet. Once I decided that I truly wanted to recover however, I found that I already had all of the knowledge, advice and understanding from reading the recovery blog that I needed in order to recover. I dont think anyone would ever be able to truly understand what having an eating disorder is like, unless they have had one themselves. This is why I believe recovery blogs were able to help me more than anything else ever could, because the person writing the posts had been where I was and truly understood what I was going through.

In my experience, reading recovery blogs has not made me feel pressured to follow a certain lifestyle trend at all. Yes the authors of recovery blogs have inspired me to recover, but not so that I can live their lives, but so that I can live my own life, exactly the way I want to live it. Some of the people with recovery blogs eat very healthily both during and after recovery and that is their choice but what I eat has not been influenced by this at all. Everyday I eat icecream, puddings, chocolate bars and cakes and I don't not eat something I want just because others dont eat it. I also eat lots of fruit and vegetables but not because I feel pressured to do so, but because I love eating them.

I find that seeing what others eat during and after recovery can be helpful as it shows me that it is healthy and ok to nourish your body with the food and energy it deserve. I have also found that seeing recovering anorexics do things like conquer their fear foods incredibely inspirational. It makes me think things like 'if they can do it, so can I'. The reason I share what I eat on my blog is because I believe it is important to show people trying to recover that there is nothing wrong with eating and enjoying a large quantity and variety of food. I also want to show people recovering that eating fear foods and becoming comfortable with them again is really important and acievable.

I found it very upsetting when I saw that bloggers were being judged for posting 'selfies' as I post pictures of myself quite often. I have always been incredibely shy and have always hated to be the centre of attention but I still post photos of myself because I feel as though it is important for my readers to get to know who I am and that it will make people relate to me better. I think that learning to appreciate yourself and love yourself for who you are is essential in order to recover and I feel as though posting pictures and sharing them is a huge part of this.

I was terrified about posting my progress pictures yesterday but I did anyway in the hope that I could show those trying to recover that progress is possible, as is accepting changes in your body as they happen. Everyday people tell me that they are glad they found my blog as it has helped them to find the strength they need to fight their eating disorders. Hearing people say I am making a difference to their recoveries means the world to me and only reinforces the way I feel about recovery blogs, that they are a truly wonderful recovery resource.