“I’d go days without eating, then spend a few days eating and purging everything in sight. Any unplanned food or meals resulted in needing to do an extra workout, self harming, purging, or intentionally making myself sick. It was like someone else was living in my mind dictating my every move and, though I hated following along, I ultimately had no control.”
“I was experiencing multiple panic attacks a day and major sensory overload. I’d walk away mid-conversation from a customer because I couldn’t take any more information in and needed to shut my eyes as they were so sensitive to light. I had absolutely no awareness or concern about whether this came across as rude. To me, I was in survival mode.”
“Because our children need so much from us, that feeling of ‘am I doing enough’ always seems to be at the forefront.”
“Every time I bake them, the smell in the house gets everyone in the kitchen waiting to eat them. That satisfaction is enough to fill my heart.”
“I remember my partner saying, ‘I can’t see anything going wrong between us.’ I replied, ‘I do, my drinking.’ He didn’t seem to grasp that I couldn’t only have a couple of drinks. With me, it was all or nothing.”
“It’s been a crazy but enjoyable ride. That’s probably weird to hear. But this amputation really brought a new perspective on life.”
“Nobody can make facing cancer easier, but he makes the rest of my life easier. Joe is an example of all the good in the world.”
“As a mom who struggles with chronic health issues, easy dinner plans are a must.”
“I’d cry every single day, unable to sleep out of fear of not being able to control my eating the next day. I was afraid to hang out with friends because of how I looked. I returned back to my younger self, inside her room struggling with food. I felt like a total failure.”
“I hid behind baggy clothes to blend in, or at least not stand out as badly. When anyone took my photo, I’d put something over my stomach or, if it was a group photo, hide in the back. I was so afraid to be seen. I was so afraid to fully live. All because I’d been taught my worth was based solely upon my body.”
