Enlist Support

"If you were battling cancer, would you try to do it alone? Would you refuse to see a doctor, convinced that you could save yourself?" I like this quote because, as Jenni says, an eating disorder is a life threatening illness which shows that she also should have a support team and help from others. When she first started her eating disorder, the last thing she had was a support team because she felt like she was a burden on everyone and she didn't want their help. She was to embarrassed and ashamed to even think to ask for it. When she got to the point where she felt like Ed was taking control of her life, she finally worked up the courage to tell somebody. She started by confiding in her boyfriend and then her parents. Eventually, after being in different groups and seeing different physicians, Jenni finally had a big support team which helped her get through her disease without being alone.

Ms. Perfectionist

In this chapter, Jenni explains how she also had to deal with Ms. Perfectionist, along with Ed. Ms. Perfectionist wouldn't allow her to go out to a party because she binged that day, which meant she didn't deserve it. Over time she found herself agreeing with these thought, but she would go and do it anyway. And with a lot of hard work, she finally could stand up and say that Ms. P was wrong. Although she made progress, she still hears her put in her two cents.

Disagree and Disobey

Jenni realized that as you start to separate the thoughts of you and your eating disorder, it's easier for you to create and listen to your own opinion. This is when she had to start disagreeing and disobeying Ed. Personally knowing that this is a hard thing to do, I understand why she says that it's okay if you don't disagree immediately. It's a procedure and there's steps that you have to get through. She says that the best thing to do is just disobey Ed because disagreeing won't stop him from taunting.

Making The Split

In this chapter, Jenni talks about group and how everyone seemed to be moving forward. In group one time she was to put on a Darth Vader mask and talk as if she was her eating disorder. In my group, we once had to sit facing an empty chair and talk to our eating disorder, then we'd switch chairs and roles. Connection! In this chapter, it's showing how she had to learn to make a split between her thoughts and Ed's thoughts.

Declaration of Independence

Jenni, for her whole life, has been a victim of an eating disorder. Bingeing, purging, and starving; everyday shee would try and change things but by the end of the night Ed (eating disorder) would always win. Finally, she wrote a declaration of independence from Ed and it now hangs on the wall of her room signed by the members in her group.