How to be happy even if you have bulimia…

I admit it. This post is controversial. After all, if you suffer from bulimia you’re probably thinking it’s ludicrous for me to even suggest that you can be happy.  As John McEnroe would say “You cannot be serious!”

Just take a look at what you’re dealing with. On the outside there’s the ugly bingeing and purging. Then inside there’s the self-loathing and disgust which leaves you anxious, stressed and at a low. In truth it’s no surprise you’ve probably convinced yourself you can’t be truly happy until the bulimia stops.

Living with bulimia is a horrible, destructive place to be. And as bulimia takes its grip over your life, you can feel your dreams and desires slipping away. And right at this moment you can’t see a way out.

But what if you could be happy and still have bulimia?

Well in this article I’m going to show you a way to make this happen. So please read on to discover what it is…

The bingeing and purging starts where you least expect it

If you want to feel differently, the most powerful way to do that is to shift your focus.

Now if you have bulimia, you’ve probably convinced yourself you can’t feel happy because you’re battling with an internal dialogue.

And these thoughts probably play out something like this…

You want to stop. You really do. What’s more you probably wake up most mornings and tell yourself that today’s the day you’ll be bulimia free. You tell yourself you won’t binge. You really believe it but before you know it, the itch starts. You imagine what’s in the fridge, your thoughts turn to what’s bad in your life, you can visualise yourself eating and you know it will make you feel good. The urge becomes overwhelming and you give in. Then there’s that initial feel good surge as you stuff down the food, your problems don’t matter for those moments when food is your focus. But when you stop reality kicks in. You look at yourself in disgust. You hate yourself for being so weak. You can’t bear to have all that food inside you and you know you must purge.

And so the cycle continues. And you can’t possibly be happy because of what you’ve done. And you can’t stop the bulimia because the trigger that made you start still persists…

Your thoughts are undermining your happiness

Now there’s something very interesting in the above scenario that you may have missed.

It’s something very subtle but oh so important.

Did you notice the role thinking patterns played in causing the bulimic cycle to continue? Did you see how the focus on the food caused the itch? Now think about your own situation. Do you notice that when you try to think about NOT bingeing, it only makes you focus on it even more?

That’s because…

“You can’t think of NOT doing something without thinking about doing it. What’s more, what you focus on, you make happen”.

So if your thoughts and beliefs are helping bulimia to persist, is it possible you can also harness your thoughts to make the bulimia stop?

You can be happy NOW

Your subconscious mind and inner wisdom are infinitely powerful.

And your perceived reality is largely determined by what you think, what you believe and what you choose to focus on.

Consider this…

“Once you consistently think something, you lay the foundations for that thought to become a belief. And when you believe something to be true, you’ll start to see it and experience it as part of your everyday reality”.

You see the limiting beliefs you continue to hold about yourself along with your focus on being bulimic are fuelling the problem.

If you want to be happy, you simply need to shift your focus.

Stop putting bulimia centre stage

When you focus on bulimia and think about why you have it, how to control it and how to stop it, you give ‘it’ your full attention. As a result you become more likely to continue with the cycle of bingeing and purging.

Which means if you want to be happy, start focusing on what makes you happy.

I know it sounds far too simplistic but believe me it works.

Let the bulimia just sit there and instead shift your focus onto something more empowering. Allow yourself to be happy because of the bulimia. Shower yourself with the same love and affection you would a sick child. And most importantly tell yourself you deserve it.

And here’s the thing. If you do this and stop thinking about being bulimic, before you know it the urges to binge could stop. That’s because as you fuel your imagination with happy thoughts you’ll start to notice that you don’t need food to make you feel good.

In comparison if you focus on bulimia and all the associated heartache and distress, you’re making very bad use of your imagination.

It worked for me and it could work for you too  

This is exactly the method I used to become bulimia free more than 20 years ago. I was a successful model but became obsessed with my weight and as a result bulimia hijacked my life. But when I decided to shift my focus to being full of vitality and joy and a zest for life, the bulimia stopped. It just stopped. And I’ve not binged since.

“If you don’t understand how your thoughts affect your life, they will trip you up and cause you endless misery”.

So if some of what you’ve read today makes sense, find out more and sign up for my free video series. Simply pop your email address into the box at the top of the page and I’ll send you a link.

Bulimia nearly destroyed me but now I’m free and I’d like to help you get there too. So please take advantage of the knowledge contained in the FREE videos.

And then, just for today, decide to explore what happens when you choose to feel happy – just because you can 🙂