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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment