To read each person's recovery story from The Other Side click on their name below:
new
Ms
"...I know how you feel, and what you go through. I've been there and back, and back again so many times. But I did find peace within myself..."
new
Erika
"...the difference between my life then and now is enough to make me believe that I have everything in the world even on my worst days..."
new
Glenna
"...Recovery is by no means easy, but it is 100% possible if you put your all into it, and accept help from anyone who offers. You cannot do it alone, but you don't have to..."
Harriot
"...If perfection is what I was striving for and in fact perfection doesn't exist, then it is o.k. not to strive for it anymore. Only I can give myself the true rewards for what I do..."
Gussie
"...I have managed to sit firm on the recovery side of the fence and turn my back on my old feelings of ambivalence about the outcome of my life and my battle with ED..."
Erica
"...It gives me the energy to chase my sisters, and work at my job, (which is physically demanding since I work and a garden center), and go to school. I can now see food as a neccessity, not an enemy..."
Anna
"...the simple things in life are so much better now. Like just realising that you didn't think of food all day..."
Shawna
"...don't get me wrong here, I HAVE CRUMMY DAYS, but it's not the same. I don't handle things the same way that i used to; i've grown. and the overall mood of my day no longer revolves around "when" and "where" and "what" i'll eat or "when i'll exercise..."
Morgan
"...I feel and KNOW that I've done such a great job at working my best to get this ed out of my life and to let myself FEEL again..."
Shinyflower
"...And I am not willing to give up the colors in life, just so my scale can show me a low number. That's too high a price for too low living. I am not willing to pay that price. Not anymore..."
Amy
"...Recovering from anorexia has given me the strength and courage to succeed in life. In a few weeks I will finally be graduating from high school and going away to college..."
Sonja
"...I just remember realizing that the attention the eating disorder was getting me wasn't the type of attention I really wanted from people..."
Caitlin
"...Everything that was put on our body was put there for a reason. Everybody is beautiful in their own, unique way...."
MD
"...now I don't use bulimia or anorexia to hide from the things that torment me... Instead I stand up to my problems and see them eye to eye for what they are..."
Kirstin
"...of course the step to recovery will transform your life and raise issues within yourself you would rather ignore, but the sooner you take the first step the sooner you will get your life back..."
Cassie
"...I will not try and tell you that recovering is easy, or quick, it is neither. But, what i can tell you is that getting rid of you eating disorder is the best thing you will ever do..."
EJ
"...For me the solution to beating my eating disorder was to separate myself from it, to put me on one side and the anorexia on the other..."
Alice
"...no matter how bad your eating disorder is, you can get help, you can win! I admit, I still find it hard, very hard, but slowly I'm getting there..."
Ben
"I am no different from any other non-recovered compulsive eater out there; I had no willingness to stop eating, yet I wanted to desperately. It can be done, there is hope and freedom from compulsive eating..."
Kate
"We all have beautiful talents and gifts. We all carry a special and unique meaning in our lives. The key to recovery is about listening to our own inner wisdom and finding our own answers..."
Katie
"It made me hurt enough to get into therapy and face my fears and become my true self. It was worth every difficult moment..."
Shauna
"Life these days is great. Sure, I complain every once in a while, I even get depressed at times... these days life is good..."
Buff
"I am a recovered bulimic and have often thought about sharing whatever I can through your site..."
Eva
"I am a recovering compulsive eater & have been getting help for 10 months now..."
Michelle
"I picked a name out of the phone book and made an appointment. I consider that one of the luckiest days of my life..."
Janna
"I know that letting the ed take control over me again is a cop-out..."
D. Desmarais
"My Story: Learning About Life, Love and Happiness"
Michele
"I am the happiest I've ever been, because I no longer embrace perfect...I instead embrace who I really am, and therefore, I embrace wonderful..."
Melissa
"It is time to say goodbye to you for good. I have been hanging on to you for
safety, but it's time to go..."
Anonymous
"Choose Life... Choose to own your right to take up space and own your life..."
BB
"Seek help for yourself. The real, caring, feeling you is inside. You need help to find it. You have to begin shoveling out the negativity covering you..."
Chelsea O'Brien
"I'm proudly emerging from this as a healthier, wiser, happier, more confident young lady. I feel better about myself now than I ever have..."
DCP
"How did I get in control? Even now I don't know for sure. All I do know is that I woke up
after a three day drinking/eating binge knowing I could not stand to live that way any longer..."
Anonymous
"We are on this earth to enjoy ourselves, not hurt ourselves. It's taken me a long time to realize that fact, but once I did, it opened many new doors for me..."
Jill
"There is such a better life beyond anorexia and bulimia. Hope can spring from a landscape of bleakness. Joy can take the place of misery..."
Barb
"I am at the stage now that I never dreamed I would be at. Overcoming the demons in our minds which fuel an eating disorder is hard, very hard. But believe me, it is far from impossible..."
James
"I now treasure my body, accept its beauty, and see it and all other bodies as expressions of the beauty of the Universe..."
Jane
"I am a whole person, an interesting, alive person. I need to love me every day. I am strong. You are strong too, that's why you're still here..."
Caroline
"I am living proof. I have survived and every one of you can too. Not only is recovery a possibility it is something that YOU DESERVE..."
Heather
"It is a choice...day by day, hour by hour, sometimes minute by minute. But I can choose healthy, and so can you..."
Christine Robinson
"To those of you who are fighting this, don't give up! Choose life, choose health, and you won't regret it!"
Melissa
"I am writing to share that life can be good. My recovery has been an amazing discovery of that..."
Kim DeNure
"Its so hard to believe that four years ago all I wrote about was food, weight & body image. I've come so far since then..."
Dancer
"Realize that life is not about what you look like, it is about being happy..."
Anonymous
:You have to be 'sick' of being 'sick' and be willing to do whatever it takes to get better..."
Anonymous
"I will never forget the pain, but going though the work to recover has caused me to grow into a really incredible person..."
Shawna
"I learned that I am strong and courageous, as is anyone who is afflicted with an eating disorder..."
Lisa Jebsen
"In this society it's seemingly impossible to have a positive self image -- but this too, can be done..."
Lisa Beth
"You must believe enough in yourself and your body to let go and let yourself get back to the basics..."
Cindy
"I know this may seem drastic and helpless for some, going cold turkey, but it was the only way for me to stop my spiraling decline..."
Anonymous
"...Thank you God for this second chance at life, I do not take it for granted."
Sally
"if only we can all find our true selves, we will cease to obsess about the circumference of our thighs or whatever..."
Anonymous
"Having looked at the mess I'd made of my life, I really knew I needed God's help to become different..."
Shannon
"I am no longer a victim, but a survivor. A survivor of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and of
anorexia/bulimia..."
Julie
"Overall, things are more dynamic: uncontrolled in a controlled way, or something like that. It's a lot like travelling: a much more interesting and fun way to live..."
Anonymous
"My life is not perfect and I still struggle at times, but what I am is happier than I have ever been..."
Christine
"I feel like I cut myself off from the world for years and now I have a real life..."
Tina
"I cannot stress enough that the beginning of my recovery was the day that I found this website and finally realized that I could not deny that I was very sick..."
tpryor
"How could I have ever imagined that recovery could be such a rich & worthy experience..."
Angie
"On January 24, 1997 I was checked into the Remuda Ranch center for ed's. I spent two months in Arizona. They were the two best and worst months of my life..."
Judy Sargent
"Don't be afraid to try something new. Seek alternative possibilities. Finally, remember to be patient with yourself. You can do it..."
Josie
"Today I try to live a well balance life, with healthy foods, moderate exercise and relaxing taking time out for myself thus, growing spiritually..."
Andrea
"...it's really neat to feel feelings. I now feel alive, living, rather than existing..."
Anonymous
"It's a tough road to recovery, but it's sometimes helpful to think of gaining health as a big experiment..."
Michelle Bohman
"...I will see the truth that all my parts and feelings are perfectly joined to make me, in all my uniqueness, me."
Cindy
"I can actually say that I am happy most of the time and that I can look at myself without horror..."
Tina
"It is very hard and very difficult, but I am there, and I am fighting to get my life back..."
Kelley
"If feels good not to be so wrapped up in self-pity. Recovery to me is giving up the securities an eating disorder offers, giving up my introverted unknown self, and unleashing my extroverted prior self..."
Rebecca
"Today, I can look in the mirror in any condition and see a beautiful woman of appropriate, but uncertain, weight..."
Adrienne Furney
"It took me hitting rock bottom to discover that each day is a lesson and we all learn from our
mistakes and not everyone is perfect so why even try to be..."
Alyssa Skye
"Underneath my recovery was my determination and my complete desire to get well; to conquer my eating disorder; to take back my life..."
Justine
"I went through a rough time, and at the end I realized that I can be a strong, beautiful person..."
Alicia
"Changing your way of thinking and your behavior is a long, slow, SCARY process which doesn't happen overnight. But it can happen..."
Sophie Palmer
"The best feeling is being able to laugh and just be yourself again and not have to worry..."
SuZett
"I was anorexic/bulemic (anorexic at first, bulemic later) for over 17 years. I stopped those behaviors almost four years ago..."
Anonymous
"The process of recovery is up and down. There will be days when things are going well and you think that everything is going to be o.k. and then you will take 5 steps backward..."
