On the Way to Binge Free Living!

Made in His Image is exceedingly proud of this woman!! We hope you can glean some wisdom from her words below.

By: Brittany Cermak

Four years ago I did’t realize that my focus on nutrition and fitness would turn into an obsession. I was a competitive swimmer in high school, and often compared myself to my teammates. I had the desire to lose a few pounds so I began to watch what I ate and took it a little too far. While I was burning thousands of calories a day at practice, I was taking in much less than that. I noticed my body becoming weaker as I was not replenishing it properly.

I struggled with my body image for a long time, and when I was finally seeing my weight drop, I was greatly satisfied. Eventually, I became very weak at practices and competitions, to the point where I could barely finish my race. My coach talked with me as well as my parents. I did not think that my innocent weight loss had gotten out of hand. But, then I came to realize how I deprived my body daily of necessary calories, and forbade any junk food in my diet. I turned to God for help during this time of recovery.

A few months later, I was getting back on track with my eating. While I was still strict about what I ate, I allowed myself one day per week to eat whatever I wanted. This soon turned into weekly binging since I was not used to eating these junk food items. I never counted calories on these cheat days. Once I got to college, these cheat days turned into cheat weekends and I continued to binge when I became stressed with school. I saw the pounds add up over my first year of college, and I attempted to purge many times. I became very discouraged, especially because I exercised almost every day.

Over the summer, I worked hard to control my portions and to allow myself to eat junk food in moderation to avoid the binging. Although I continue to struggle with binge eating, I have gained much more control over this and I continue to pray to God each day for guidance and the mindset to make good and healthy choices. I know that He wants me to be secure with my body image, to take care of my body and to not under or over eat. I know I am Made in His Image, and I need to be proud of that.

P.S. You are enough.