Letters to My Body

Weakness

Elisabeth from Letters To My Body.com — Mon, 24 May 2010 13:00:18 +0000

Amazing “Dear Body” Video by Ally Marks

Elisabeth from Letters To My Body.com — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:06:28 +0000

A few months ago, I received an email from a girl named Ally Marks.

Ally explained to me that she is a student at Smith College, and as part of an assignment, she wanted to “write” a Dear Body letter while videotaping it. In doing research on the project, she came across the Letters To My Body website, and asked me for permission in featuring some of the content on the site. I was unsure at first about saying ‘yes’ to something like this, but this statement by Ally is what swayed me to agree:

I really want to connect my story with other peoples’ stories as well as bring more attention to body issues and eating disorders that does not serve to glamorize or victimize like the media tends to do.

Since this very statement sums up the reason why I decided to start Letters To My Body in the first place, I agreed.

Within a couple of weeks, I received another email from Ally letting me know that she had finished the video, and providing a link so that I could watch it. Life took over, and I didn’t have an opportunity to watch the video until this morning.

Now, I wish that I didn’t wait so long.

This video is approximately 5 minutes long, and I had chills the entire time. The video is beautifully produced and thoughtful. Ally says so many things, without speaking even a word.

If you watch only one video online this year, please let it be this one…

Letter to my Body from Ally Marks on Vimeo.

Perfectly Imperfect

Elisabeth from Letters To My Body.com — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:00:16 +0000

Letter To My Daughter

Elisabeth from Letters To My Body.com — Wed, 19 May 2010 13:56:51 +0000

Join in the discussion: Childhood and Disordered Eating

Discussion: Childhood and Disordered Eating

Elisabeth from Letters To My Body.com — Wed, 19 May 2010 13:00:05 +0000

For today’s reader contribution post, we’re taking a break from the standard “Dear Body” letter format. I received a beautiful letter some time ago, and in the subject line, it said “Letter To My Daughter”. I immediately got chills. One of the things that I worry about in my own life is the impact my history of disordered eating could have on the life of any daughter(s) that I may have in the future.

I don’t blame my eating disorder on my mother or my family, per se, but sometimes I think of my eating disorder as “the perfect storm”. Every person is different, but for me, a combination of childhood events all culminated into a perfect disordered eating storm.

What about you…

1) Do you feel that your mother’s view of herself shaped how you learned to view yourself?
2) Did events in your childhood contribute to the development of your disordered eating?
3) Do you feel like some of us are just predisposed to develop an eating disorder?

My Body, My MS

Elisabeth from Letters To My Body.com — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:00:12 +0000

Endurance

Elisabeth from Letters To My Body.com — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:15:34 +0000

Exposed!

Elisabeth from Letters To My Body.com — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:21:55 +0000

In case anyone has not yet heard of it, The Exposed Movement was started by Mish on her blog, Eating Journey. Many people have joined in and posted pictures of themselves in some state of being “Exposed”, (including me). The reason why Mish started this movement (in her own words):

“It started when I decided that I was tired of hating the way that I looked and wanted to celebrate my body.”

Having done an Exposed post of my own, I know what a terrifying experience it is to hit “publish” on the post. I know that it is unnerving, and it makes us sweat and worry. However, I can honestly say that seeing everyone post themselves in this light has been incredibly enlightening to me. Personally, I felt very supported in the aftermath of hitting “publish” on my post. I did not feel all of the feelings that I thought I would (shame, guilt, embarrassment, etc.).

Instead, I felt incredibly empowered. In love with my body. Capable of anything. Strong. Enlightened. Confident.

Today, I want to bring everyone’s attention to Steve’s Exposed post. Steve is on a journey to gain back his health, and in the process, he is working to figure out all of the emotions that all of us often connect to our eating patterns. He’s doing an awesome job, and he really seems to “get” the process, rather than being focused entirely on how much weight he has lost.

I love the words that he writes about his body:

“So my body took the brunt of the damage, but through it all, it’s been a ever so resiliant, and it has always been there when I needed it to be.

When I thought I needed comfort in food, it was there.
When I was feeling lazy and wanted to do nothing more than to watch TV, it was there.
When I didn’t really give a shit and was going to allow myself to waste away, it was there.

When I started working out, it was there.
When I wanted to be a runner, and then a marathoner, it was there.
When I decided that I do actually care, and wanted to a make a change, it was there.

Ever patient, I think it knew that I would come around, but it wasn’t going to turn its back on me in the meantime.

You can head over to his site and read the rest.

I support the Exposed movement, and encourage everyone to read more about it. It’s truly a wonderful thing!

Start

Elisabeth from Letters To My Body.com — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:00:22 +0000

Ignored

Elisabeth from Letters To My Body.com — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:00:37 +0000