Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

February 20th, 2012
Hi everyone,

20th-26th February is ED awareness week in the UK (see http://www.b-eat.co.uk/ for more info)

As some of you already know, eating disorders are something which I believe strongly in promoting awareness for and I believe that reducing stigma and educating people will result in changes in society and help eating disorder sufferers all over the world. I have had an eating disorder for about 3/4 years now, I still struggle daily and I have a number of friends who have eating disorders as well, one of whom is currently in hospital. They wreck your life. They are not a 'fashion statement' or anything like that and they CAN be beaten.

Basically, I'd really appreciate it if you could help me promote awareness for this cause this week by possibly designing some of your photos to fit around this theme. Then if people could tag them with 'EDAW12', then we could look at them all and maybe post some of them on a thread next week.

If you need some ideas, here's a photo and description that I posted on the subject last year: http://365project.org/naomi/365/2011-02-26

Thank you, in advance, for anything that you can put forward to help this cause.
Naomi.
February 20th, 2012
I'll definitely see if I can come up with something. I had friends in school that really struggled with food. hugs!
February 20th, 2012
this is a very serious cause and you're efforts are great. I will try to catch smth if possible and post it ! glad to hear you are ok now :) !
February 20th, 2012
i'll do my part by trying to find as many fat people as possible to take pics of this week.

which won't be too hard since i live in the States.
February 20th, 2012
@grecican
Not cool. Not funny.
February 20th, 2012
@vendetta well... SOME fat people are cool and funny.
February 20th, 2012
@grecican
Haha, true :D
February 20th, 2012
@vendetta ;-)
February 20th, 2012
@grecican Is this a challenge?
February 20th, 2012
@jasehoad yes... you're in England, right? there's tons of fatties there, too...

challenge accepted... can we make it fat week next week, though? i'm already backed up on pics.

February 20th, 2012
@grecican Cool, we will start next Monday :)
February 20th, 2012
@jasehoad lmffao (extra f on purpose)
February 20th, 2012
@grecican tag as "lmffao"
February 20th, 2012
@jasehoad you, my friend, are a genius!
February 20th, 2012
@jasehoad @grecican So I should just do a week of selfies?
February 20th, 2012
@marilyn aahahahahahahahha i love a woman with a sense of humor!!
February 20th, 2012
@beautifulthing Yeah... my comment wasn't made to be funny, as @grecican apparently assumed... ❤
February 20th, 2012
@grecican @jasehoad Pretty sure this is not what @naomi had in mind. This is a serious health issue and weight is but a small part of it!

I know you guys like to have irreverent fun with nearly any topic, but this is kind of like making fun of someone with cancer or birth defects or any other very serious medical condition... it's really not very cool.
February 20th, 2012
@marilyn now wait a second... birth defects can be pretty freaking hilarious.



February 20th, 2012
You have to love how some people act like idiots on the internet. This is not something to joke about. Neither is birth defects or anything else about a person that they can not change.
February 20th, 2012
@lolanae I'm a lot worse in real life
February 21st, 2012
I'm probably not going to be on much, but here's the one I did last year.
February 21st, 2012
I'm sorry @grecican and @jasehoad but this thread has really upset me. I thought 365 was a caring, loving and accepting community. This has shocked me to the core. Eating disorders KILL people. People are dying from them every single day. I can't even begin to express how they wreck your life and destroy you from the outside in. I have a friend in hospital at the moment with anorexia. Her heart is failing and she is dying. She wants to recover but the voices are so strong. I have another friend who can barely keep down a meal. She's struggling at school because she can't concentrate any more. She wants to be a vet and would be an amazing vet but has to pass these exams. Eating disorders are not about fat and thin people. They are psychlogical conditions which, on average, take 5-7 years to recover from and many people never recover. I'm just..... shocked by this. I don't know how I feel about this site any more. This has really upset me.
February 21st, 2012
@naomi Eat a nice big bag of doughnuts, that should cheer you up
February 21st, 2012
@jasehoad Oh yes, that will just magically fix everything. The thoughts in my head. The things I go through every day of my life. I haven't eaten doughnuts in years. Some days, I find it impossible to even drink water. Please, go and educate yourself before making ridiculous comments.
February 21st, 2012
Looks to me that some of you are as shallow as the paper you print your photos on. That is sad.

@jasehoad @grecican
February 21st, 2012
@sharritta Agreed.
@naomi I think its a great idea, I haven't posted any photos in a while, (I know, my commitment skills are atrocious, haha) but I'll try my best to think up something, and actually upload a photo for once...! :) xx

February 21st, 2012
@jasehoad @grecican
Personally I think you are both well out of order and have stepped over the line of human decency. Trampling on Naomi's feelings with your hurtful comments just displays your shallowness and insensitivity.
February 21st, 2012
personally, i feel like i ate way too much damn ice cream.
February 21st, 2012
@naomi I just would like to say that I am stunned by the callousness displayed by some of the people on this thread. I wish you the best on your journey and hope you know that the majority of people here aren't so insensitive and confrontational.
February 22nd, 2012
how do we report @grecican @jasehoad so they can be removed from this site????
February 22nd, 2012
@naomi You always have the option of deleting this discussion thread and restarting an updated one that will cancel out all the comments. Also it will allow the discussion to start anew and fresh. I like to assume that this is a multi cultural site and things can go a bit off direction without meaning malice but still said quite wrong.
February 22nd, 2012
@naomi, I wish the best for you and hope that your struggle gets easier with time.

I haven't been around this year...trying to find my focus again after some rough months dealing with losing my good friend to brain cancer. Apparently this year brought a new crop of people who find stuff like that hilarious. Caring about people's illnesses, birth defects and struggles are not what I would consider "politically correct" behavior, it's what most people call common human decency.
February 22nd, 2012
@dmrams Hahaha, that made my day.
February 22nd, 2012
@jasehoad lmffao
February 22nd, 2012
Amy
@Naomi, though my photography skills or imagination aren't all that useful to this project, I wanted to say that I understand how you feel.

My entire life I've had problems with "eating too little", as everyone would call it. I seemed to be able to go on for days without eating anything, because I just didn't feel hunger and simply couldn’t force anything down.

Even today, where I eat almost constantly and have learned to love food, I still can't gain weight and barely can retain the weight I have right now. It's beyond frustrating when people tell you to just eat more because it'll "fix" everything.

So no, it's not about being fat or thin, like some people seem to assume, and I'm glad that you're trying to raise awareness because it is evidentially needed. I hope your project will kick off nicely, and my thoughts go to you and your friends.

February 22nd, 2012
There's having a joke and then there's this. Something like this may not be personally close to them but they are to other people. If this was something that they felt strongly about I'm sure they wouldn't be joking like this. @naomi girly, I will do my best to take my photo before the end of the week!

Stay strong, there is always someone there for you, even if it's only little me!
February 22nd, 2012
@jasehoad What the hell do you have in your right leg? It looks terrible. Oh, it's your brain getting out from there... I thought you had nothing in your head if you laught at people struggling with eating dissorderes, now I see why. @grecican "now wait a second... birth defects can be pretty freaking hilarious" yes, indeed, you only have to take a look at your stupidity, it's the funniest thing I have seen in this site.
@naomi I will try to contribute to your cause.
February 22nd, 2012
@sheshell finally... somebody with a sense of humor

@jasehoad
February 22nd, 2012
@grecican haha, maybe @sheshell could join in the LMFFAO challenge as well.
February 22nd, 2012
@grecican @jasehoad I have a lot of sense of humor, but I also have the common sense to use it properly, not like you, who have neither the one nor the other. Do not keep answering me in this thread as it is dedicated to better things than to show off your fool head. And of course, if I were a follower of you would cease to be right now. Ah, but that can not be, I only follow people who make nice pictures.
February 22nd, 2012
@sheshell bam! guuurrrrrrrrrl, you on fire!

@jasehoad
February 22nd, 2012
@grecican @jasehoad You're both some undesirable, you should be expelled from this site
February 22nd, 2012
@jasehoad i find it ironic the peeps that actually personally insulted us are the ones who want us off this site. not sure bout you, but i haven't made one insult towards anyone on this entire site. at least, not directly, as opposed to some folks who've had some harsh things to say (not that i give a flying fuck either way since i'm not made out of glass).

i think it's time we all step off of our high horses and eat some god damn twinkies together, is all i'm sayin.

did you hear about twinkies, btw? they're to keep coming despite bankruptcy. praise Jeebus, ya'll!
February 22nd, 2012
@sheshell Thank you, quite possible the nicest thing you could have said about me :)

@grecican No they are right, we are morally corrupt and a blight on the normal fluffiness of the internet ;)

PS What's a Twinkie?
February 23rd, 2012
@jasehoad omfg.. twinkie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkie

yeah, that's right... i just wikied it.

remember Die Hard? Carl, the cop is all bout the twinkies.
February 23rd, 2012
@grecican Ah I see, hmmm I suspect they would be popular in Scotland

Ewww

God, now I have upset the Scottish ;)
February 23rd, 2012
@jasehoad haahahaaha you're nuts... that looks AMAZING! i must haz
February 23rd, 2012
B-eat estimate that 1.6 million people in the UK suffer from diagnosed or undiagnosed eating disorders, and that 20% of these become seriously ill. Anorexia Nervosa impacts upon 1 in every 100 women between the ages of 15 and 30 and it is estimated that 30% of sufferers experience long term illness and lasting physical effects. Bulimia Nervosa continues to grow in prevalence with experts reporting 18 new cases per 100,000 population each year; whilst Binge-eating disorders account for approximately 15% of mildly obese women who enroll in weight loss programs. Obesity itself has more than trebled in recent years, with 17% of men and 21% of women being clinically obese (BMI above 30). Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) is seen in 4-6% of the general population. EDNOS is the term used to describe an eating disorder that presents with some of the symptoms of anorexia and/or bulimia. http://www.careukeatingdisorders.com/About%20Eating%20Disorders/Eating%20Disorder%20Statistics/

Seventy-seven percent of individuals with eating disorders report that the illness can last anywhere from one to 15 years or even longer in some cases. It is estimated that approximately six percent of serious cases die. For many others, there are long-term, irreversible consequences which can affect one's physical and emotional health. Up to now, only 50% all people with this devastating disease report being cured. http://www.mirasol.net/eating-disorders/information/eating-disorder-statistics.php

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. 15% of all people with anorexia die from problems directly related to their illness. http://www.sheenasplace.org/index.php?page=about_eating_disorders

Just thought I'd throw that out there... @grecican @jasehoad
February 23rd, 2012
@dmrams @naomi Everyone's a victim! Just sayin....people have eating disorders for the same damn reason that EVERY type of human dysfunctionality exists - we are TOTALLY addicted to the drama! Sad, but true. Incidentally, the same goes for cancer and birth defects. Nothing is random in this world - we create everything that exists! Everything!! Earthquakes? Yes, we create those too. Quantum physicists are starting to understand this now...

Before you get up on your high horse wanting to get people kicked off this site, Della, ask yourself what is it about the behaviour of @grecican and @jasehoad that reflects something in YOU? "It takes one to know one" is WAY truer than most silly humans could comprehend! Mostly because they spend more time planning their fucking weddings and their vacations than they do on trying to rid themselves of baggage to become better people.
February 23rd, 2012
Dear Mothership, I'm over HERE!!!!!!!! Could you please pick me up SOOOOOOOON??!!!!!!!!!
February 23rd, 2012
@naomi Wish I'd seen this thread earlier... I'll see if I can come up with something by the 26th for you. Having worked in health, I understand where you're coming from and how important it is to raise awareness of the disorder. It goes much, much deeper than many people think - like any other mental illness, you can't just "snap out of it".
February 23rd, 2012
Actually... I wonder if my latest photo can be linked in any way?

http://365project.org/pocketmouse/365/2012-02-23

It was a shoot involving my yoga class... In my class, people of all shapes and sizes attend, and they're all working towards the same goal. Yoga is about loving the body, not punishing it. It is about the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle, the development of core strength and alignment, and about becoming more aware of your body in space. It's about accepting people as they are, at whatever stage of life they're at... no judgement or comparison or competitiveness.

I know it's not *directly* related to EDs, but I shall tag it anyway and I hope that my above explanation ties in with it somewhat :)
February 23rd, 2012
@tabbycat Eating disorders are not about drama. In fact, sufferers often try to hide their disease from those around them. If you take the time to look at the statistics on b-eat, many sufferers can take a very long time to reach out for help and a major step in ED recovery is actually accepting that you have the disease as a lot of people deny it even to themselves.

Also, on a personal level, I have never been married and haven't been on a holiday in a while. I spend a lot of my time volunteering at various functions and generally trying to make the world a better place.

EDs are not a form of attention seeking. They are a mental illness. Illness in the same way that cancer, heart disease and osteoperosis can be classed as illnesses. I don't know anybody who would choose to have one, but by all means, if you want some 'drama' in your life, feel free to take my ED! You can have it!
February 23rd, 2012
Her's mine.. stretch marks on my stomach from weighing 250 pounds and losing about 100 of it. Being pregnant twice didn't help either.
February 23rd, 2012
@naomi That defensive nature, you've got there? That's all just more of the drama, honey! I really wish you were serious about giving me your ED...but I don't think you are. If were were, you wouldn't be crapping on about it in this thread. I had one myself. I finally got sick to fucking death of it, so I let it go. Just like that. Just let it go, Naomi! It can't let go of YOU until you let go of IT! Think about it..how does it feel to define yourself as a heathy eater? Does that feel weird? Scary? What are you getting out of having the thing? If there was no pay-off, believe me, you would have dropped that sucker long ago. Please don't defend your poor little victimhood again, but think bout my words...what are you getting out of having it? As soon as you answer THAT, you can let it go. No, not in 5-7 years - that's bullshit stats fed to "sufferers" to make them feel more powerless! Real change happens in an instant!

Also, cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis are not random. They are planned. By each and every peson who gets those dis-eases. Do you honestly think our souls are capable of making mistakes?? They are not. Everything is unfolding perfectly! So stop being a drama queen and let it go. The End.
February 23rd, 2012
@chasingwishes that's kind of wicked bad ass looking! serious props to you for being brave enough to share this. i love scars, irregularities and deformities in folks. it's plastic people that kind of give me the heeb jeebs, i.e. fake tits and the such... unless of course you had a mastectomy or something.

@tabbycat i agree with a lot of what you posted. for me, i look at life on this great blue planet as one colossal joke to be laughed and pointed at directly. the moment you can't laugh at a mishap or tragedy is the moment you might as well just cease to exist. how else do you get over it? plus, i hate people equally so everyone gets a fair shot at being made fun of. equal opportunity racist!

i'm going to go kick a baby now.
February 23rd, 2012
@grecican I agree that having a sense of humour is important..but there is a difference between that and um, just being an asshole. Also, just sayin'
February 23rd, 2012
@grecican PS: Tina/Quin/Paula I absolutely adore you! - just not everything you say or do....
February 23rd, 2012
@tabbycat oh i'm a total asshole. i've accepted this.
February 23rd, 2012
@grecican ok. But you're so beautiful....it just seems an odd choice given what you COULD be (read: what you really are underneath all the asshole-ishness)
February 23rd, 2012
@tabbycat lol... i'm comfortable with who i am, boo... plus, i'm a stand-up comedian wannabe (no, seriously... it's a passion). so, there's absolutely nothing protected. did i mention i don't believe in political correctness and/or censorship?

haters gonna hate
February 23rd, 2012
@tabbycat You mean that,for example,my dad's death because of cancer was planned?By who?We don't ask for all these diseases.They just come .He was a great man who was doing incredible things for us and he didn't deserve that disease.And I can put his cancer on the explosion from Cernabil.Not sure you heard of it,it was a nuclear disaster that occured in 1986 in Ukraine and because of which many people died,especially from cancer.And some effects can be seen even these days,as many reserchers say:)
February 23rd, 2012
@michellina OMFG! YES!!! Of COURSE he planned it! and collectively, we as a species plan the bigger things, like nuclear "accidents" which are not really accidents at all. There are NO accidents in this Universe, just sad little victims who say there are because that is a nice excuse to divest themselves of their personal power so they don't have to take responsibility for their own choices or the choices of others. Grow the fuck up, people! As humans, we are WAY more powerful and almighty than we generally give ourselves credit for! My mother died from cancer too, but to her credit, she recognised that she had created the disease in her own body. Like I said we've all chosen to be victims. I chose rheumatoid arthritis. Do you think I'm not in the process of healing myself? When people die of cancer, heart disease etc it because THEY WANT TO! Let them make their own choices and focus on making the best choices in YOUR life, instead of trying to get some stranger in a foreign country to feel sorry for your dad because he chose a painful way to die. It was his choice and I respect it. Perhaps you should give him a little more credit that he knew what he was doing - every step of the way! ..because, believe me - he did! :-)
February 23rd, 2012
@tabbycat you seriously believe eveything you say?
February 23rd, 2012
@michellina Of course I do, and I understand that this information may be shocking to you. I've been studying this stuff for many years. It's what I know. and what Marianne Williamson knew when she said

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

I am liberating myself from fear, nothing is random, that's just a fear we have. But please, don't take my word for it. I wouldn't expect you to. I'm a nobody to you. Do your own research. Please. You will be nicely surprised at what you find. Finding that you are indeed an architect, and not a victim of life is the most joyous, liberating feeling imaginable!
February 23rd, 2012
@grecican :-)
February 23rd, 2012
@tabbycat so... i'm not a victim to this donut i can't seem to say no to right now?
February 23rd, 2012
@grecican Hell no! ..and isn't that FUN??
I just clocked onto FB and there was the gorgeous Andy with this little gem. Had to share since it's pretty relevant to this whole thread. Who would YOU be without your story?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Ai5BBtvdk&feature=youtu.be
February 23rd, 2012
@tabbycat i didn't like him until he told me to feel happy happy joy joy and then started in again with the dancing. how can you not smile while watching him "dance?"

We all have our world views. We all have our advice for everyone else based on our own experience or inexperience. I think it IS possible to let our addictions go...and everything we do in an extreme way is an addiction at the very base level - drinking, drugs, religion, eating, not eating, bitching...whatever it is...it can be overcome. If you can't do it for yourself, there are people who can help. There is always going to be someone who has been where you are or has felt what you are feeling. Express yourself in any way that you might, but everything you say and do is your own ultimate responsibility. :)

I feel for people with addictions, I really do. I have a few unchoice vices of my own. the best advice is the advice that's hard to hear, and the best choice is usually the choice that's hard to make and follow through with.

@naomi I understand the photo you posted last year, but I would like to see you cross the boundaries of acceptance by others. You must accept yourself first. If you accept yourself with an eating disorder, then you won't get better. You have to face it head on for you and only you. I wish you the best with your journey to health, and please realize that although people are saying things pretty harshly here, some of it's comedy and most of it is true, which is why it hurts.
February 23rd, 2012
February 23rd, 2012
@grecican @jasehoad
So I guess the challenge is, can you post a photo each on this topic that is genuinely funny? So far, I think you've got a ways to go. @naomi, if they have the guts to take it on, you get to be the judge. But not on your high horse, right? @tabbycat made some good points, there!
February 23rd, 2012
Seriously, @tabbycat @grecican @grecican have taken this all too far, I dont care what their opinions are, there's no need to be rude or abuse people in a public forum, I will be in touch with them.

Closing this thread, please email me ross@365project.org if you have any concerns.
Thanks for your participation, this thread has now been closed.