Topic Tuesday: Support

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“Find Your Support” (By: Kayla Douthitt)

“She sits on the bathroom floor. Lonely, scared, and staring at the scale again. For the tenth time since breakfast, she sees that awful number flashing in red. Immediately she thinks her looks are determined by the digits. She doesn’t see light at the end of the tunnel. It’s what she’s known for years. She believes there is comfort in the knowing. At least with the numbers, she has control.

Later that day, an advertisement in the paper catches her attention. “Support Group for Eating Disorders”, 7:00 PM. She ponders and wonders if she should attend. Do I have actually an eating disorder? Will there be people I know at this meeting? What if they think I’m weird? All these crazy thoughts take hold, but for some reason, she decides to go anyways.

She packs her things, heads to the community building where she sees the sign of where to meet.  She enters the room. It isn’t empty…A circle of girls sit around and talk quietly. They seem to have been there before. She feels insecure, but at least no one knows her.

Five minutes later, the instructor comes in and with a warming smile and says “Welcome Beauties!” Everyone begins to tell bits of their story.

She hears various talks from one person to the next about what they were struggling with in terms of eating and body image, and then it was her turn to share.

The girl did just that and then some. She immediately felt gravitated to express to the crowd her hidden emotions and ruthless ways.

After a while, the new girl slowly doesn’t feel so alone or new anymore. She doesn’t feel afraid because she actually feels inspired for some odd reason.

This group was EXACTLY what she needed, like a breath of fresh air.

Several weeks later, she goes to more meetings, but with a different attitude. Her head is held a little higher and her smile a little brighter.

Several months in, she actually helps the instructor explain why everyone needs extra support. The support gave her something to look forward to on a Wednesday night. It gave her true friends that held each other accountable, and safe place to talk and not be judged.

The group meetings taught her self-love and gave her an understanding of her real self-worth.

This same girl, who once never went to a support group, now has dreams OUTSIDE the bathroom floor. She has big dreams of being a teacher and support mentor to others. Best of all, she throws away the scale and never looks back to how she once was and appreciates all what life has to offer.

Her new story begins…

About the Author

Kayla Douthitt is an intuitive eating health coach specializing in helping people overcome eating disorders, negative body image, and self-esteem issues. She stresses holistic health practices such as: stress management, meditation, journaling, and daily check-ins to heal from the inside out. Kayla overcame a 10 year battle with low self-esteem, anorexia, and binge eating herself. Thus, she is able to relate to others on a personal level. She understands how it feels to hide food, constantly stay on the scale, over-exercise, and compulsively count calories. She also knows the healing and recovery is fully possible. Her goal with Wisdom ‘N Wellness is to be able to inspire others on their road to finding food freedom and living their best life! Check her out on Facebook and her website!