Show your support on EDC Virtual National Lobby Day

Wednesday, Oct. 28 is Eating Disorder Coalition (EDC) Fall Lobby Day. EDC Advocates will meet at the U.S. Capitol to inform elected officials about their legislative goals.

Their main focus for the day will be lobbying for the Anna Westin Act of 2015. If enacted, this act would provide grant programs used to train educators, doctors and mental health workers on how to identify and intervene with an eating disorder when detected in their patients.

It would also decrease the out-of-pocket treatment costs for those affected by the disorders by requiring that insurance plans cover the costs of residential treatment. Anna Westin was diagnosed with anorexia at the age of 16. Even though her health deteriorated quickly while she battled her disorder, she had to wait until her insurance company certified her treatment–ultimately delaying and limiting the amount of treatment she received. The act named in Westin's honor would prevent the avoidable death's of those waiting to seek treatment for their eating disorders.

If you're miles away from Washington, D.C. but still want to take part in EDC Fall Lobby Day, there's still an option for you to make a difference. Advocates all over the country will be calling their members of Congress from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28 asking them to sign onto the Anna Westin Act of 2015. You can join them by following three simple steps.

First, if you're unaware of who your representative and senators are, visit www.house.gov (for your representative) and www.senate.gov (for your senators).

Next, once you've identified your elected officials, locate their contact information on their webpages. Use the phone number listed in their contact information or their Washington, D.C. office phone number.

Once you've placed your call you will speak with a staff member. Tell them that you'd like to speak with the person in their office who handles eating disorder-related issues. You will most likely have to leave a message on someone's voicemail. Not sure what to say in your message? Introduce yourself and inform them about EDC Fall Lobby Day, the Anna Westin Act and how if enacted this act would change the lives of many battling an eating disorder and their families. If you wish, you can share your story about how you've been affected by an eating disorder, and can leave your contact information if you would like to hear back from them.

For more information on what you can do to take part in EDC Fall Lobby Day, send your questions via email at mailto:km@eatingdisorderscoalition.org.

Tips for consoling someone with an eating disorder

I've had experience with trying to say the right thing to someone who is struggling with an eating disorder, as well as attempting to remain as sane as possible when someone offers me advice on dealing with my own recovery process. In either position, giving or receiving advice can be difficult.

Talking about any type of sensitive subject can lead to messy, undesirable situations–but these conversations should be avoided. People struggling with an eating disorder, depression, addiction or any other type of mental illness need to have some type of support system that they can go to release their thoughts and emotions. They need to know that it's okay to express how they're feeling–otherwise, they continue to strengthen their disease by keeping it a secret.

Here are a few tips that I've found to be useful (keep in mind, everyone is different) when trying to comfort someone who comes to you for support when dealing with an eating disorder.

Be empathetic, to a point. It's crucial that you try and empathize for the person that has come to you, so that you can understand what they are going through as much as possible. However, you need to realize that unless you actually have struggled with an eating disorder, there is a limit to how much of the situation you will be able to actually comprehend. Don't say things such as, "I know how you feel," because you most likely do not.

Tread lightly with questions. Since they have come to you for support they should be ready for you to ask questions. You'll need answers in order to be able to be as helpful as you can, but do not ambush them. You need to realize that they are in a fragile state. Your first job is to be a good listener for them, but once they're done sharing their story with you, feel free to ask appropriate questions that'll allow you to understand the situation more in depth.

Avoid ignorant comments. This is often a hard tip to master. It's difficult to know what the right thing to say when a loved one shares this kind of information with us, but here are a few comments that you should avoid at all costs. DO NOT say, "Why can't you just eat normally?" This is an ignorant comment because it puts the blame on them when they did not choose to be affected by this disease. Secondly, it's not that simple. If they knew the answer to this question, they wouldn't be coming to you in the first place.

My biggest support group: my parents.

You should also steer clear of commenting on how you perceive them, for example, "But you're already so skinny," or "I wish I was as small as you are." You can tell them this over and over again, but it won't make any difference. For many people battling an eating disorder, the disease may start off as an attempt to lose weight and change their appearance, but once it festers, it's all about control. These comments will only make the victim of the disease feel more guilty, confused, frustrated and possibly regretful for coming to you in the first place.

Establish a difference between them and the disease–they are not the same. When I was at my very worst during my journey with my eating disorder, my mom was such a good support system for me–mainly because she was able to separate my actions from those of the disease. Instead of blaming me for destroying my body and digestive system, she was able to recognize that I didn't choose this for myself. Rather, she knew that my mind had been taken over by a mental illness, which caused me to think irrationally. She still kept me accountable for fighting the disease and diminishing its power over me, but by telling me that it wasn't my fault that I had developed an eating disorder, I no longer saw myself as the enemy–it was the disease I had to fight, not myself.

Make sure they get the proper help they need. This is the most detrimental piece of advice to follow. Whether it be seeing a therapist, talking with a nutritionist or having an assessment with a doctor that specializes in eating disorders it's crucial that your loved one gets the right treatment they need. Unless you are a trained, professional specialist with eating disorders, you will only be able to support them so much. If they need inpatient-treatment (which requires them to live in a clinic until they are physically and mentally stable) and they're skeptical about putting their life on hold, remind them that the rest of their life can wait, but their health cannot. If they attempt to handle it themselves, defeating their eating disorder will be a much longer process with more likelihood to result in relapsing.

Many young female runners who aren't consuming enough calories to satisfy the physical demands of their sport are suffering from female athlete triad symptom, which can result in low bone density, fatigue and loss of menstrual cycles. Professional runner and coach, Meghan Armstrong Peyton, was able to speak more on how she has witnessed these symptoms in her professional and coaching careers.

Training journals: a way to find what works for you

At the beginning of this cross country season, my team's captains introduced a new requirement that my teammates and I would have to follow: filling out a daily, training journal. With these journals we were to keep a record of what we ran each day and how we felt about the run–mentally and physically, along with keeping track of what we ate each day, if we chose to do so. To keep us accountable, my coach would be checking our written reports once a week.

At first I was a bit skeptical about this new assignment. I hadn't kept a written report of what I ate each day since the Summer of 2015, which ended up with me counting calories and restricting–things that definitely triggered my eating disorder. However, I decided to put my faith in my captains and my coaches and give the journal a try. I had always found writing and journaling to be therapeutic, and I thought this might be similar to that.

After about two months of using a training journal, I would recommend the use of one to any type of runner–beginner or competitive.

I have found my training journal to be very useful in many different ways. First, it's a great way to see what type of training works for you. Each day I log what my workout is, how far I run, how I feel mentally and physically about my run and even what I eat every day. Being as detailed as possible is beneficial to me when I look back on the week and try to determine what I'm doing differently on good days versus bad days.

I'm also fortunate enough to receive weekly feedback from a professional runner–my coach–on my training and meal plan. She takes the time to write notes in my journal on my progress, which means the world to me.

There are various types and brands of training journals, but I personally love the ones my team was assigned. Our journals are called "Believe Training Journals" designed by professional runners, Lauren Fleshman and Roísín McGettigan-Dumas. Inside of this particular journal you'll find inspirational quotes, goal recording sections and more motivational tools.

This journal helps me stay on track, make progress towards accomplishing my goals, stay positive and find out what routines work best for me–as a runner and a recovering bulimic.

Here's a picture of my "Believe Training Journal".

The journal gives you lots of writing space to write down your thoughts, along with boxes for mileage, the date and a place to rate how well your run went.