NEDAW Monday

It is a delicious irony that NYC Fashion Week ended last week, and that this week marks 2009's National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Head over to the NY Times or New York Magazine or WWD, or any of the countless other websites that would have coverage, and be prepared to be bombarded by shocking images of women who are wasting away.

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You know it's getting bad when the celebrity show (Heart Truth Red Dress) features the "meatier" models.

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Here's the thing about eating disorders: they're neurologically-based and they're biological devils, but their continuation is, to some extent, a lifestyle "choice." You can dedicate yourself to recovery mentally, but if you don't change your lifestyle as part of that dedication, you're going to keep eschewing any single food over 100 calories, or you're going to keep isolating to hang out with food rather than friends, or you're going to keep waking up at 5 a.m. to run 10 miles instead of sleeping in until seven on a Sunday. Last year when I blogged about the neurobiology of eating disorders, I got a few comments reminding me that, yes, there are biochemical factors, but recovery is a choice.

So this week let's celebrate the choices of cupcakes (but not too many), of exercise (but not too much), of bodies being themselves, and of giving a big middle finger to the hawkers of shame, scorn and digust.

Eating disorder recovery is a lifestyle choice. Need to learn how to make the choice? NEDA can help.