Mental & Emotional Health

Bio: Deb writes and lives in the Boston area with her husband and their two young children. Find more of her work at www.spawnocalypse.com.

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Although I could ramble about my mental and emotional ups and downs all day, I decided to interview an expert on an issue I struggled with throughout most of my teens and 20s (and am now mostly free of, as a mom in my 30s). Lori Hanson, an accomplished writer promoting eating disorder awareness and recovery, was kind enough to answer several of my burning questions about this journey.

Deb: How would you describe what it feels like to have an eating disorder to someone who’s never suffered from one?

Lori: It’s total entrapment, surrounded with the worst form of obsession, shame, embarrassment and hoping no one else will notice. It’s thinking about how much you hate your body from the moment you wake up until you go to bed at night. As a bulimic, it is concern about what you ate, when you ate, how much you ate and how you screwed up. Every morning you wake with new found hope that this day you won’t fall prey to the behavior and every night you go to bed consumed with anger, fear, guilt, shame and hatred for yourself. Life is all about “when I weigh 108 pounds, then I’ll be happy and my life will start.”

Deb: Did you have any major "aha" moments in your own ED recovery?

Lori: My biggest “aha” moment in my recovery was realizing that in order to recover I had to reconnect my mind and body. I lived for over 30 years in my head because when I looked in the mirror I could not own the body looking back at me. When I learned how to get my energy flowing from head to toe through some alternative bodywork, I reconnected my mind and body and it felt incredible. The next day on the treadmill, I was aware of my legs, calves, and felt the movement of my hips and butt as I ran. I realized in that moment what it must be like to be an athlete and very tuned in to your body. It was the start of learning how to be in the moment and feeling the place I was in while I worked out.

Deb: Have you noticed any common denominators among those who successfully recover from EDs?

Lori: Attitude has a lot to do with it. Getting to a conviction of knowing and believing that you can recover, that you deserve live a good life. But beyond that, in my practice, it’s addressing several things that I call the Hot Pastry Principles™: improving self-esteem, understanding what contributed to your eating disorder, diet and nutrition (learning how to eat balanced meals), reprogramming your mind to support you vs. beat you up and improving your mental and physical health with body work.

Deb: What’s the first thing you tell yourself when you feel the tug of your ED (if you still do)?

Lori: I quit binging on food back in ’96 and then spent 10 years using alcohol in the same pattern, which I didn’t realize until I started to write my book. This is common with addiction and addictive behaviors until you get to the core of the issue and resolve it. When life gets really stressful at times I feel the call of the wine, which is still the call for the sugar and simple carbs I used to binge on. Two things are important: #1 – keeping your body chemistry in balance, and second it’s critical to learn to live “in the moment.” If I’m feeling a craving for something I stop and identify what I’m feeling and why. I use deep breathing to pull me out of my head and back into my body aka out of impulsive behaviors. I’ve developed several coping tools that I share in my practice and use in these moments. For more information please visit: Learn2Balance.com

About Lori:

Lori Hanson battled with bulimia and her self-image for 34 years. She recognized her experience and approach to recovery was a gift she had to share with others. Lori shares her story and approach in her award winning book It Started With Pop-Tarts^®…An Alternative Approach to Winning the Battle of Bulimia. Her second book, Teen Secrets to Surviving & THRIVING will be released in 2009.

After a successful 28 year career as a software consultant and professional services salesperson she left to pursue her passion of self-improvement. She is founder and CEO of both Shewolf Press and Learn2Balance a company focused on improving the lives of others.

A media favorite, Lori has appeared on national radio and TV shows to bring awareness to the epidemic of eating disorders. Her goal is to help individuals find empowerment much younger in life than she did.