Your essential ED-beating toolkit for 2013

If you've never visited The New Maudsley Approach website and read through it in detail then I strongly suggest you do, in preparation for whatever it is you need to do to help your child recover from their eating disorder in 2013. It is packed full of tools and techniques for carers to use - evidence-based stuff that's aimed at helping you to get the best response from your child at a time when it can seem as if all they're doing is resisting logic and action.

Firing on all cylinders ready for the New Year

It's the final day of 2012 - and the end of my blog posts for this year. Tomorrow we begin our "fats experiment" whereby we spend a couple of weeks closely analysing (and adjusting) fat and calorie content of Ben's intake, preceded by a weigh-in session. I will also be measuring his height. Then, each week in the New Year, I will be introducing new challenges / experiments / tests / whatever with a view to making 2013 the year that Ben really does recover fully and permanently.

Comparing notes with my Mother-in-law

Back in September 2009 it was my Mother-in-law who suggested I take Ben to see our GP. She lives abroad and doesn't see us that often, so when she saw Ben following the summer of Drastic Weight Loss in 2009 she immediately noticed the difference. We, on the other hand, had been with him every day. As a result the dramatic weight loss wasn't as evident.

Why the "prequel" to my new book "Please eat..."?

Over the past 24 months I've had countless emails from parents of teenage boys (and girls) with eating disorders who have said that my blog has helped them in their own fight against anorexia, bulimia or EDNOS. It's one of the reasons why I made PDFs of my 2011 and 2012 posts. However as I was reading through the proof of my new book "Please eat..." I was suddenly inspired to publish my blog as well, in two parts initially, first 2011 and (later) 2012.

"Why are you obsessed with his weight ? It's only 2kg", comments Anon. Here's why...

Don't get me wrong... I welcome all kinds of comments on my blog. Often, like the comment I received the other day, it inspires me to write about why I do the things I do and worry about the things I worry about. So when Anon posted "Why are you obsessed with his weight ? It's only 2kg" [about Ben's 2kg weight loss over Christmas] I couldn't resist responding here...

Why do they insist on doing it?

Yet again I'm hearing of a family where the treatment team is insisting on what the parents believe to be a sub-optimum weight for their daughter as far as full Weight Restoration is concerned. I can't count the number of similar complaints I've heard from families, ours included. So why do eating disorder treatment teams insist on doing it?

Seeing as it's Christmas, let's be angry with the church again...

Yesterday my travels took me past "that church" several times - the church Ben and I attended for a year or so. My attendance was sporadic, but Ben attended religiously, walking the 30 minute walk there and back every Sunday morning over an 18 month period. As you know from previous blog entries he went out of his way to try and fit in, and to get spiritual help - and the church failed him. Read more about it here.