Starting on another journey (and you're all coming with)

Thursday morning. You know, I actually - just for a moment - thought to myself that I might need to start another journal just for my mental health/binge eating discussions until I remembered that this is my (purported) weight loss/fitness site and, therefore, the perfect place for these discussions. Perhaps by my being open about my disorder others will seek help or gain a greater understanding of their own issues. At the very least, I'll get things out in the open that I need to talk about somewhere.

So I had my first meeting with my therapist and it went very well. She's a nice lady and is part of a group that has an outpatient eating disorders clinic, which is very exciting. The clinic includes very small group sessions, yoga and movement, nutritional counseling (not that I need that - I could teach the class on what you're supposed to eat!), and one-on-one psychotherapy. I don't know how much of that I would be interested in and none of it's required, as I can simply attend therapy with my doctor if that's helpful enough. Still, it's nice to know that it's available if I want it.

I got some good information about binge eating, both from my session and also from the reading materials the doctor sent me home with. There is a very strong connection between binge eating disorder and depression, for instance, although they're not sure if one causes the other, if they're both symptoms of something else, or if it's just a coincidence. Binge eaters also tend to have been overweight at a much earlier age (childhood) than those that don't binge eat. Both of those are very true of me, so that was somehow comforting.

I also have a food log to fill out (joy), with a column to indicate whether it was part of a binge or not and, if so, a space on the back of the log to delve into root causes for the binge and do some problem solving retroactively. Interesting. I've never previously been any good at the whole journaling thing, but I'm really committed to kicking this thing, so I'm giving it a shot. I can't see myself actually writing down all of my binge buddy foods, but, again, I've committed myself to the process, so I've got to give it my all.

There's the fitness portion of this exercise. If you're interested in the rest of my life:

* Alcott (my assigned foster child for Voices for Children) is having some issues right now that are making me really stressed out and frustrated. This has not yet, however, bled into the rest of my life and I appear to be doing a good job of keeping it contained

* Daddy is doing well and has gone back to work full time, which also worries me because I think it's too much for him so soon after surgery (he works 10 hour shifts), but that's just my opinion

* Work and my new position are going really well. I'm now mostly transitioned over to my new role other than being on the interview team to find my replacement on my former team. It's such a huge, new adventure that it's got me jumping up and down with anticipation of what's coming next

* The house is actually looking nicer although there's lots more work to be done. TCB came down to my place after work on Tuesday to install my curtain rods which, for the most part, was done. Unfortunately, one of the curtain rod kits I'd bought didn't have the mounting hardware inside, so I'm going to have to get another one - boo! However, I do have curtains on one of my two upstairs windows now and they look fabulous, which pleases me greatly

* TCB and I are going well. No details here, but you know where to go if you want to know more.

I'm going to work on daily posting here, so keep on checking back for updates. This is going to be an interesting journey, I can just feel it!