This week is Eating Disorders Awareness Week. Over the past month we have been gathering submissions from providers who help individuals and families recover, the clients who are currently or have previously dealt with ED, and the families and friends who are impacted and supporting their loved one for our #ExplainingED campaign. For these submissions, providers, clients, family, and friends, were asked to complete the sentence, "What I want you to know about eating disorders is______________." Our #ExplainingED campaign sheds light on some of the dos, don'ts, insights, hurt, shame, resilience, recovery, and other factors that come with an eating disorder. Make sure to check out part 2 of #ExplainingED to come on Wednesday, and part 3 on Friday.

These are personal perspectives; everyone will have unique experiences on their own path to recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors or symptom use. Please use your own discretion. And speak with your therapist when needed.

This is one person's story; everyone will have unique experiences on their own path to recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors or symptom use. Please use your own discretion. And speak with your therapist when needed.

By Liz Rognes, a former Emily Program client in recovery. She is a teacher, writer, and musician who lives in Spokane, WA.

When I was hired for my current job, I was elated. But a little voice in my head tried to justify this success by telling me that the hiring committee must have not have had any other applicants to interview. They probably chose me begrudgingly, it said, and only because the position needed to be quickly filled before the next quarter began. When I received a notification that a magazine wanted to publish one of my essays, I was thrilled, but that voice in my head told me that they had probably made a mistake and sent the acceptance to the wrong email address. When a friend congratulated me about the publication, the voice told me that she was just doing her duty as a friend and that she probably thought it was a mistake, too.

Hi Everyone,

Today's practice is a guided imagery called the Hollows of the Body.

In this practice you will experience a gentle meditation to aid in connecting to the spaces within your body.

Reprinted with permission from SCAN'S PULSE, Winter 2016, Vol 35, No 1, official publication of Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition (SCAN), Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Chicago, IL.

The popularity and accessibility of yoga has grown exponentially in the past decade. According to a study by Yoga Journal, approximately 20 million Americans older than 18 years practiced yoga in 2012, constituting 8.7% of the adult population.¹ An industry report by IBIS World estimates there are more than 30,000 yoga and Pilates studios in the United States.² Many of the 170+ eating disorder (ED) treatment facilities in the U.S. offer yoga or other mind-body based activities as a component of treatment.³ A 2006 study of 18 residential ED treatment programs in the nation found that two-thirds of the programs offered yoga.⁴

So it's that time of year. The time when the marketing campaigns begin, telling us "this is the year" to make a change, lose weight, get fit, get healthy, change ourselves and turn over a new leaf. Hey, I am a big believer in change -- it truly is the only constant -- and some change and internal focus is needed to grow and expand as a human being. It can be positive, healthy and needed. It can be helpful to step back and reflect on how things went during the previous year, what you want for next year and sketch out a plan of action on how to reach those goals.

As we think ahead to what this New Year will bring with an eating disorder, some of us may already be implementing our New Year's resolutions. Some of them may be centered around eating, stopping behaviors or maybe even recovery. (Remember, aim for daily goals, instead of an entire year to set yourself up for success.)

Re-posted from Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders (CCED) blog archives. CCED and The Emily Program partnered in 2014.

The two letters below were written by (former) clients to their eating disorders. With their permission, we share these letters to inspire others to seek treatment and fight for recovery.

In this "Ask Emily" Dr. Jillian Lampert addresses how The Emily Program approaches weight loss within eating disorder treatment for binge eating.

Hi Everyone,

Today is our first audio-only guided meditation. If it's available to you, create a calm and quiet space to practice this 7 minute breathing technique.

This is one person's story; everyone will have unique experiences on their own path to recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors or symptom use. Please use your own discretion. And speak with your therapist when needed.

By Liz Rognes, a former Emily Program client in recovery. She is a teacher, writer, and musician who lives in Spokane, WA.

A few months after I gave birth to my son, I decided I wanted a pair of jeans. None of my clothes from before pregnancy fit, and I was tired of wearing maternity pants. But I was terrified of the process of finding jeans that fit. My body had changed and was still changing, and I had no idea what size to try.

A message from April Smith, the lead for this research:

Hello!

We are a Miami University research team that studies the thoughts and feelings that motivate eating and dieting behaviors. We are interested in recruiting people who were or are currently in treatment for an eating disorder to participate in our research study. This study has been approved by the Human Research Protection Program Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Miami University (#00985r).

Article: Focus on Perfectionism in Female Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders, vol 48:7 936-941. Hurst & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2015

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a difficult illness to recover from for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it's life threatening and secondly, the treatments available do not yield high success rates and are in need of improvement.

In this "Ask Emily" Dr. Jillian Lampert answers the question "Am I sick enough for treatment?"

By Elizabeth Cappers, an intern at The Emily Program

The second I wake up in the morning my mind starts racing..."don't forget about your appointment today, and remember to finish that assignment for class -- you need to do well, and that test coming up -- you need to study more than last time because we know how that went...and oh yeah don't forget to feed the cat, seriously you need to eat breakfast, and come on now make sure you're on time, it's so embarrassing when you're late." Instantaneously I want to throw the covers over my head, close my eyes and disappear from the world as I become filled with an overwhelming and stressful lump of emotions that sits restlessly cold in my throat. How is anyone suppose to: get good grades, apply for graduate school, keep up their course load, study, exercise, eat right, have an internship, volunteer, work, hang out with friends, get enough sleep...let alone have one second to even to BREATHE! There are only 24 hours in a single day!

We hope our tips and ideas were helpful for anyone who struggles with an eating disorder and all support people who celebrated Thanksgiving last week. If your family or friends haven't celebrated yet, we are here for you. Feel free to check out all of our staff's #ThanksgivingSupport suggestions here.