How To Get Through New Year’s Eve With An Eating Disorder

The mixture of Holiday food, family members and nostalgia
can brew a strong cocktail that is hard to swallow for anyone, but especially those
struggling with an eating disorder. New Year’s Eve is just a couple days away
and most of us have big expectations on how to bring in the New Year. For the
majority of women it includes a sparkly new dress, a champagne toast, being
surrounded by our closest friends and a hot New Year’s kiss! However this
pictures is easier staged with a stylist and paid models than with demanding
real life friends and places elicit the joy that we expect.

It’s kind of like the perfect Christmas picture where the
family sits around the fire, laughing at each others jokes and drinking hot
cocoas. This Christmas picture is one we are all familiar with, but very few
have actually been in it. Therefore in eating disorder recovery we learn to
adjust our picture. We change what we deem, “Picture Perfect” in life and on
Christmas and that takes away a lot of the stress off the Holiday and our loved
ones.

I suggest we do the same for New Year’s. Forget the New Year’s
picture some stylist from Macy’s created years ago in order to sell more
dresses and crystal and create your own traditions! Some of the following
alternatives are some of my favorite, that I have done the past couple of
years.

Game Night + Fire Works – Gather a bunch of friends together
and hold a kick-back game night at someone’s house. Watch the countdown to New
Year’s on TV in New York and when New Year’s hits go outside and light some
sparklers or fire works to celebrate the New Year!

Sober Party’s  – Many
of our women are also struggling with alcoholism. Thus a New Year’s surrounded
by alcohol isn’t ideal. However, Alcoholics Anonymous holds great sober party’s
for young people and older groups  that I
have been told are a ton of fun.

New Year’s Day Hiking – My personal favorite is to gather a
bunch of friends and go on a New Year’s Day hike! Southern California has the
most amazing frontier and we never lack in amazing new trails to enjoy!

New Year’s Open House – Some of my friend’s host this every
year and I love it! They open up their house to all of their friends from 11 am
to 11pm. They have movies going on their TV’s, old records to listen to,
puzzles, games and even some concoctions for those with hangovers to nurse
themselves. Everyone enjoys just staying in their PJ’s all day and hanging with
the friends they love. Good times!

I hope that this post helped you to think outside the box on
the way you celebrate New Year’s this year. Whatever you do, I hope that just
like eating disorder recovery that you practice listening to your inner compass
and that it leads you into a beautiful and healthy 2012!

Happy Recovery,

Irvina