Posts Tagged body image
First Comes Love, Then Comes Obesity
So reads the heading from an article in the July 6th issue of Time Magazine. Even though my skin was bristling at the glib headline, I felt obligated as a professional and specialist in the field of eating disorders and overeating to read it and find out what they had to say. I was not impressed with the simplicity and surface level of the conclusions they drew but I did find the statistics interesting. I’m going to share their conclusions with you and then take them a step further and explain, on a deeper level, why their results were so. (more…)The Main Barrier to Freedom
Your rate of recovery from your stressful relationship with food depends on your readiness for change. For example, I have worked with many people who have struggled for years, even decades with overeating, restricting and/or purging, and within 5 or 6 sessions, they are transformed, feeling clear, purposeful and trusting in their ability to no longer use food to cope. Yet others may take a few months or a year or two to get to the same place. And that’s perfectly fine. There is no right or wrong way to move through the healing process. It’s a completely personal experience and the length of the healing journey depends on many factors but the most important thing for us all is this: (more…)My Wedding and My Drill Sergeant
(Nadine) Women want to look their best every day, and I think most would agree that your wedding day is the one day you would want to look your very, very best – and your slimmest! However, every wedding magazine and website is plastered with tall, slim women who look fresh, ethereal, and sensuous all at once, like they come from some secret fairy world only to model wedding dresses and accessories. How can a normal, average woman possibly live up to those ideals? How can a plus-size woman possibly manage to look fresh, ethereal, and sensuous? It’s easy to understand the boot camp crash diets brides go through when faced with such unrealistic images. Dealing with these issues myself, pending my upcoming elopement to Tofino mid-September, I began to dig deeper. What else is really going on here? My past experiences at the CEDRIC Centre have taught me that when my Drill Sergeant starts badgering me about my image, it’s a smokescreen that covers a deeper and possibly more painful issue. After a little bit of reflection, I decided to question my Drill Sergeant about what IT thought about marriage and weddings, and here is what it said:- Look at all those beautiful brides, you’re not going to look like that – you can’t possibly get married at the size you are at – you should wait until you lose weight to get married! (“Why?” I asked)
- You need to look beautiful and perfect on your wedding day! (“Why?”)
- If you don’t look perfect on your wedding day your fiancé will regret marrying you. (“Why?”)
- You have to be perfect or your marriage won’t last and your fiance will figure out that you are flawed and unlovable!
My Wedding and My Drill Sergeant
AHA! I uncovered a core belief! My Drill Sergeant has been trying to protect me from this core belief so I wouldn’t get hurt. If I work on healing the faulty core belief, my Drill Sergeant will have nothing to protect me from and the badgering will stop. There are a few things I can do to heal that core belief – and just uncovering it and acknowledging it as faulty goes a long way! I can also try to love myself by listening to my fears, looking after myself physically and emotionally, and showing myself compassion. By healing the underlying core belief about how I’ll look on my wedding day, I can revel in the joy of the event. I can be excited about the exquisite dress I bought (ivory French lace over pale gold satin with clustered bursts of crystals) and I can be excited about all the other details like cupcakes, photographers, venues, flowers, and writing heartfelt vows. I can enjoy the process. I am more able to accept that my fiancé wants to marry me and (no surprise here) already knows that I am imperfect. We have been together for three years and he has seen me sick, seen me binge, seen me frustrated, and seen me freak out at him for something that has nothing to do with him. And he still loves me and wants to marry me. My goal for my wedding day is to be PRESENT. My goal is not to look perfect but to feel joyful, blessed, and authentic, and to remember my wedding day with more than just pictures.Posted in: CEDRIC Centre, Relationship with Self
Leave a Comment (1) →Three Days to Freedom!
Three Days to Freedom! Transformative Weekend Workshop July 24-26 in beautiful Victoria, BC
Details at a Glance
1. Early Bird Price: $596.00 or 3 equal payments at $201.00 only until July 5! (regular price $636.00). 2. Preview Q&A Telecall June 30 from 5-6pm Pacific (6-7 Mountain / 7-8pm Central / 8-9 Eastern). 3. Draw to win a free follow-up counselling session with Michelle Morand (value $130!). Freedom and peace of mind are on the way this July… Been thinking of coming to one of our workshops but haven’t quite drummed up the courage yet and need a little nudge? Well, here’s your nudge! There’s never been a better time than the present to explore your relationship with food. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how long you’ve been dealing with the stress of an eating disorder or that annoying diet mentality, you can find the answers you’re looking for. We promise. Really, the solution is close than you think.Imagine This…
In just three days you can completely transform your approach to food and your life. Come and learn everything you need to know about why you struggle with food, why you haven’t been successful in getting a good, solid, long-lasting grip on the problem, and 3 simple tools that will change your life forever! “Thank you for providing a secure and accepting environment for me to explore and identify some personal key issues – and for providing the tools to confidently move forward.” ~Christine Sound too good to be true? The CEDRIC Centre workshops have an amazingly profound and transformative quality about them. People from all over the world have come to us and have dramatically accelerated their recovery as a result. We’ve seen it over and over again, and that’s how we know what we teach is working! It is our greatest reward to see people move through changes and be released from the issues that have been keeping them stuck. We’d love to have you join us! Ready to take the plunge? Register for or read more about the Weekend Workshops.Three Days to Freedom!
Draw to Win a No-Cost Counselling Session
We’ll also be having a draw at the event, and one lucky participant will receive a free counselling session with Michelle Morand valued at $130!Preview Call Details
We’re holding a NO-COST Preview Q&A telecall on Tuesday, June 30 at 5-6pm Pacific so you can have your questions about the workshop answered live by Michelle. We’ll be recording the call, so even if you can’t make it, you can still get all of the information like you were there. However, you must register to ensure you’ll get the recording. Sign up for the Weekend Workshop Q and A call. Our workshops fill up fast. You don’t want to miss the chance to change your life in ways you can’t imagine: 3 special days with Michelle Morand and 3 special tools will put you back in control of your life and back on the path to the joy and happiness you deserve. “I am so excited to use my new tools and you have given me so much insight!” ~Jocelyn Register for or read more about the Weekend Workshops. Remember, the Early Bird price is only in effect until July 5! We would love to have you join us! Have questions? Visit our FAQ page or call us Toll Free at 1-866-383-0797 or 250-383-0797. The Complete Recovery TeamThoughts on Natural Eating
Many people hear the term Natural Eating and immediately assume it’s about eating whole grains and non-processed foods or has something to do with organics or locally grown produce, etc. Well, those are all great ideas and your body will love you for eating as unprocessed as possible, but….that’s not what we mean when we say “natural eating.” Natural Eating, also more recently dubbed “Intuitive Eating,” refers to the simple process of eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full. As a natural eater you are conscious of your body’s signals of hunger, fullness, lightness, energy, or bloating, lethargy, fatigue and heaviness. These are your cues about what your body likes and needs vs. what it doesn’t. In a natural eating approach, you honor those cues and are drawn to choose foods that allow you to feel light, full, and energized after eating rather than heavy, bloated, and pooped out. (more…)The word for the day is ‘PERFECT’
You know how sometimes you think a word and the world around you echoes it in some way, such as on the radio in the car, in conversation with people, on tv, on the net? That just happened to me, I was home alone watching the sun crest over the distance and illuminating my deck and the two cats tussling by the window. I said ‘perfect’ softly and not a second later, there was the word again, this time out of the mouth of the tv announcer.
Simultaneously, there is an announcement on TV that interrupts regular programming. It is warning of high winds in the area. In the theme of perfection, that fits right in as I sit here watching the storm approach from the distance.
I am anticipating winds of change. I can see the pine cones on the fir just off our balcony getting big and fat and puffing up. They send their little seeds off into the warmer springlike wind which triggers the cones to open wider and release. (more…)Thrive, Don’t Just Survive
I had to pull over into the Northfield rest stop to write this, I was desperate to find a restroom, just off the ferry in Nanaimo and once I'd stopped, and rested, I pulled out my blog with the following extruding out of the end of my pen, so inspired I was to write it. I had the good fortune to spend some quality time with a dear friend last night. All the way here from Iqaluit, Deb is one of those amazing people its an honour to know, an honour to be able to call her a sister-by-choice.Debbie has worked as a voice for those who can't speak for themselves, for many years in the furthest reaches of Canada, namely, women in poverty and women escaping from violence. She is wise beyond her years. She was a single mother for years, overcame her own demons to go on to make a huge difference in any community she touches.As usual, our conversation wandered around where we were in each other's lives - and we got to talking about CEDRIC, the blog, core beliefs and how we both dealt with our rascally drill sergeants.We were in Deb's downtown Vancouver hotel suite, pulling open the couch to turn it into my bed and Deb says "the trick is to take those surviving skills and turn them into thriving skills." Sometimes she comes up with such simple sentiments that are so ultimately dead on. Then she pointed out that she couldn't help noticing how my recent soul searching and subsequent life changes has had paid off and how I was now, like her, thriving. (more…)CEDRIC Client Success Stories – Spring Cleaning
February is relationship month here at CEDRIC and our newsletters this month will centre around the issue of relating to others. One of the key aspects that influences all our interactions with others, whether they are lovers, friends, family, co-workers or the check-out girl at the grocery story, is the degree of unconscious co-dependent behaviour that exists in us.
Ask yourself this question: Is there anything in my life right now that I feel anxious about that is not related to me feeling responsible in some way for someone else’s feelings and/or needs? No?
Or try it this way: If I could miraculously let go of feeling responsible for what other people feel and need or expect of me, how would I feel? Like I had just lost a hundred pounds? Free? Like I could finally live my life?
And what about this one: Is there any anxiety in me that isn’t about me wanting control of someone’s perception of me because I believe that if they approve of me I’ll finally be able to relax and won’t feel as anxious all the time?
This is co-dependency.
If I’m co-dependent it means I feel responsible for what other people think and feel and subsequently what they do. It’s the mechanism that allows abusive relationships to function (for if I didn’t buy into feeling responsible for the other person’s feelings and life experience they would not be able to control me with their words and actions). It’s also one of the primary contributors to the degree of anxiety and depression we see in our society and it leads us to use food to cope. (more…)The Gift of Letting Go ~ Making Peace with our Bodies in the Present
The Gift of Letting Go ~
Making Peace with our Bodies in the Present
By Virginia Preston, BA Psych, RYT – 500 Hr.
The theme for this year’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week
(Feb. 1-7, 2009) is ‘Celebrating Our Natural Sizes’. One might ask with frustration, ‘How can I accept something that I wish was another way?!’
Won’t accepting myself as I am only lead to more of what I don’t want? Isn’t the path to self-control and ‘change’ found in resistance to how I am, and a certain amount of self-punishment? Isn’t that the necessary ‘motivation’ for change?
The answers are: No, No and No (!)
Sadly, our argument with reality (as we perceive it) only fuels the fire of suffering and resentment toward ourselves and our bodies. It leads nowhere. If ‘resisting’ ourselves was adequate to solve our problems, we’d all have been problem-free a long time ago. (more…)