Weight Wisdom : Affirmations to Free You From Food and Body Concerns

In this powerful guide, Kingsbury and Williams equip readers with simple reflections, vignettes, and everyday analogies that they have successfully used with their own clients to counter destructive feelings and shatter distorted ideas of food and weight. Pithy and positive statements replace compulsive, perfectionist rules with new strategies to cope with blame, guilt, vulnerability, and self-criticism. Concrete activities help people with eating problems get off the scales, get in touch with their feelings, and make friends with their bodies. Written by experienced therapists who understand the needs and fears of people with eating problems, the book is a refreshing guide to lasting change and recovery. Book Cover......Page 1 Half-Title......Page 2 Title......Page 3 Copyright......Page 4 Dedication......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 9 Introduction......Page 11 You’re Not Crazy, You’re Coping.......Page 14 There Is No Magic Wand.......Page 15 Find a Safe Place to Heal......Page 16 It Is Not Your Weight, It Is the Weight of Your Issues.......Page 17 If Thin Is In, I Don’t Want to Win.......Page 18 You Are Not Your Dress Size.......Page 19 Think Genetics.......Page 20 Recovery Is an Inside Job.......Page 21 Fat Is Not a Feeling.......Page 22 The Pyramid Was Not Built in a Day.......Page 23 Keep Fuel in the Tank.......Page 25 Learn to Criticize Behaviors, Not Yourself.......Page 26 Use Short-Term Diversions.......Page 27 If You Do Not Feel, Then You Cannot Heal.......Page 29 It Is Human to Need Others.......Page 30 Develop Your Voice.......Page 31 Stay with the Day.......Page 32 Value the Instrumental, Not the Ornamental.......Page 33 Slow and Steady Wins the Race.......Page 34 Take One Step Outside Your Comfort Zone.......Page 35 Recovery Is a Long and Winding Road.......Page 36 It Is Hard to Have an Appetite When You Have a Bellyful of Feelings.......Page 37 Fear Not Your Feelings; Every Feeling Has a Special Gift.......Page 38 It Is Not Selfish to Take Care of Yourself.......Page 39 Strive to Be Average.......Page 40 Norman Rockwell Does Not Live Here Anymore.......Page 41 What Is Done Is Done!......Page 42 Quiet Your Mind.......Page 43 Who Says You “Should”?......Page 44 Take Compliments Gracefully.......Page 45 Go with Your Grain.......Page 46 Feeling and Acting in Beautiful Ways Showcases Your Beauty.......Page 47 Beware of the “Crunch”!......Page 48 Life Is Too Short to Wear Uncomfortable Shoes!......Page 49 Get Off the Sidelines and Get into the Ball Game.......Page 51 Before Growth, One Generally Experiences a Lull.......Page 52 You Can’t Buy Something from an Empty Store.......Page 53 Practice, Practice, Practice.......Page 54 Slips Don’t Always Lead to Slides.......Page 56 Notice the Moon.......Page 57 Perfection and Certainty Do Not Exist......Page 58 The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change.......Page 59 Pursue Your Passion.......Page 60 Desserts Equals Stressed Spelled Backwards.......Page 61 Every Day Is a Gift.......Page 62 Life after Recovery Is Just Life.......Page 64 Recovery Is Possible.......Page 65 Be a Super Model.......Page 66 Educate for Your Children’s Sake.......Page 67 Watch for Red Flags.......Page 68 Crisis Brings Opportunity.......Page 69 Get Out of the Blame Game.......Page 70 Pace Yourself.......Page 71 Have Hope.......Page 72 Recovery Is a Team Sport.......Page 73 Sometimes Appearances Do Count......Page 74 Plant the Seed; You Never Know What Will Grow.......Page 75 Take Tea and See.......Page 76 Change Can Happen One Person at a Time.......Page 77 Do I Have an Eating Disorder?*......Page 79 What Does Treatment Involve?*......Page 80 Helpful Questions When Considering Treatment.*......Page 81 How to Help a Loved One with an Eating Disorder.......Page 82 Eating Disorders Treatment and Referral Centers.......Page 83

Therapists Kathleen Burns Kingsbury and Mary Ellen Williams have treated hundreds of eating disordered people in their many years of practice, from slender seven-year-old Madeline who "feels fat," to Clare, an overwhelmed mother who can only cope with stress by bingeing three times a day.

In Weight Wisdom, they draw on their vast experience to illuminate a clear and practical path to recovery, offering a unique collection of daily affirmations that focus on the irrational beliefs, thoughts, and fears behind eating disordered behavior. In this powerful guide, Kingsbury and Williams equip readers with simple reflections, vignettes, and everyday analogies that they have successfully used with their own clients to counter destructive feelings and shatter distorted ideas of food and weight. Pithy and positive statements replace compulsive, perfectionist rules with new strategies to cope with blame, guilt, vulnerability, and self-criticism. Concrete activities help people with eating problems get off the scale, get in touch with their feelings, and make friends with their bodies. Written by experienced therapists who understand the needs and fears of people with eating problems, the book is a refreshing guide to lasting change and recovery.

"Through their years of experience as therapists, Kathleen Burns Kingsbury and Mary Ellen Williams have treated hundreds of people with eating disorders. Now they have compiled a unique collection of anecdotes and affirmations to help readers free themselves from food and body concerns. Whether you are just beginning to change your behavior, or have already been working to alter disordered eating, Weight Wisdom can help. Organized into three sections - from those starting the journey, on their way, or already successful - Kingsbury and Williams offer inspirational reminders that have helped their patients and will help you."--Jacket In this work, the authors offer practical advice about recovery from eating disorders in the form of daily affirmations that focus on the irrational beliefs, thoughts and fears behind eating-disordered behaviour. This text offers a unique collection of daily affirmations that focus on the irrational beliefs, thoughts, and fears behind eating disordered behaviour.