NEDAwareness Week 2015: I Had No Idea

Tomorrow is the last day of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and I didn’t want the week to end without acknowledging it on this blog. Especially since I have been having SUCH a hard time lately accepting myself as I am now – my body, my lifestyle, my values. I’m so thankful to be a part of a community of friends who encourage and support me every day. I’m so happy to have family members who have never stopped encouraging me to recover, even when I’m a jerk to them when I’m having a bad day (sorry, Mom). And I’m glad that organizations like the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) exist to bring awareness to these awful diseases, which so often get brushed off, go undiagnosed, and are underestimated.

I had no idea…that fats were essential to live. That is, until my skin was constantly itchy and my hair became brittle.

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Weekend Trades

I haven’t been up for doing much writing lately, so I’ve been fairly absent recently – my bad. But if I’ve learned anything, it’s that forcing myself to write is a whole lot more frustrating than letting this blog go post-less for a week or so. Good has been happening lately, but a whole lot of bad on the emotional front as well. Sounds like a prime time for Trade Em Up Tuesday.

Seems I'm not alone!

Seems I’m not alone!

I would not trade…trying out a tasty new-to-me restaurant. Friday night I selected Marliave for a girls night with Jeannie and Allie. The menu looked super promising and I’m always down for starting my weekend with a good meal out. Despite some iffy service, we all really enjoyed our food and drinks! French restaurants do damn good French fries.

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Very Thoughtful Thursday

I’m coming off of a rough few weeks as some of you may know, and also a very productive therapy session, so I have some reflections that I want to share on this Thinking Out Loud Thursday.

Link up with Amanda today no matter how deep your thoughts!

I seem to re-learn this lesson time and time again, but I think having strict rules has been backfiring on me. I decided after I got back from Florida that I was going to cut down on drinking by not having any wine on nights I stayed in – even on nights I wanted to. I also decided to really focus on keeping my eats at home “cleaner”. Well, this has not worked very well, because now on nights I am out I have found myself really overdoing it. And that’s been resulting in mental consequences far greater than any I’d be having if I was enjoying a glass of wine or two at home when I wanted to. Perfect example – Monday night I was snowed in and really wanted a glass of red. I couldn’t stop thinking about it! But I texted some friends, made plans to go out to eat the next night, and told myself THEN I could have a drink.

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I Would Trade WINTER.

I’m blogging two days in a row thanks to working from home. I refuse to thank the thing responsible for me working from home…snow. Winter. Freezing temps. Huge messes. That’s because I would rather work EXTRA than have winter stick around and keep acting the way it has. So I’ll start Trade Em Up Tuesday with that – I would absolutely trade winter.

I would not trade…this incredible tempeh and black bean casserole I had for dinner last night. There was not a lot leftover, despite my plans for it to last me 2-3 dinners this week. I’m so glad I chose to use corn tortillas instead of flour. So much more satisfying!

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Marvelous Visitors!

This past Saturday, two very special visitors touched down in Boston to stay the night – my good friend Rachel and her husband Steve! She got her wedding dress on Newbury Street, so thankfully for me, each fitting involves a visit to moi. (Rachel and Steve got married in a family-only church ceremony on New Year’s Day, but are having a big ceremony/party in Mexico in June, hence why Rachel the wife still needs a dress fitting.) And once the fitting was done (of course Steve didn’t accompany us to that portion), I had plenty of marvelous activities planned for the three of us.

Link up with Katie if you’re sharing a marvelous post today too!

Marvelous is…retail therapy. Before reuniting with Steve, we took advantage of girl time and headed to the Pru for some shopping, which I actually haven’t done since moving here. LOFT was having a great sale so I got a couple of tops for just $36, and a very helpful Sephora associate helped me pick out my first bronzer and eyebrow pencil. I’m really growing up!

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