Good stuff

So I'm kinda diggin' including a photo with each post. Did I mention one of my homework assignments was a values assessment? I had to write down my values for ten different areas of life (ie relationships: intimate, familial, friend, and career, leisure, education, etc). I enjoyed doing this assignment - making lists! When we discussed my values in therapy, we also discussed how my eating disorder has gotten in the way of achieving my values. Boy has it.

One of the areas of my life I, or the eating disorder, have held myself back from is my passion for photography. I am going to pursue that more actively. I've ordered some enlargements of photos I've taken and plan to hang them on the wall in my house. I'm also looking into getting a better camera. One with more versatility. I am so excited about this!


This week's therapy sessions went really well. Group was great, I'm no longer the newbie! We had a couple new people join our group. I also feel like I'm understanding more the skills that have been introduced in group and am able to put them to use. A corner has been turned! Doug and Amy both said this week I'm doing really well. They say I am much more engaged and I am making great progress. Yeah!

We talked about the fact that I sort of feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. I've had three really good weeks in a row, this can't last, right? They say this is valid but now that I am armed with more knowledge when I do use food it more than likely will be less satisfying, less effective. On Thursday I was feeling like I just wanted to binge - just for the sake of binging, because I hadn't had one recently. Amy said that was understandable as well. Thankfully, this urge has dissipated.

The next step is to start integrating more exercise into my life. Ugh. I detest exercise. I have been told I may never like it but that it is essential, especially to help achieve some of the values I had laid out in my assignment. I'm signed up for two yoga classes per week. One of my assignments this week was to find an exercise video I can do at home. That would require very little effort on my part to actually start exercising. Throwing a video in, rather than getting in the car to go somewhere to do some sort of exercising. Less obstacles involved. Oh joy. I picked a video that is more dance than something like a boring aerobics one. Hopefully it will be fun and I will enjoy doing it.