 In the, “you can’t make this stuff up” category or as my friend and fellow author, Mary Treacy O’Keefe would call it, “a meant to be moment” I had an encounter at the Birmingham airport on the way home from presenting with Carlus Houston at the University of AL Eating Disorders Symposium. Page Love, MS, RDN, LD, CSSD had just shared with us about athletes and eating disorders and told us about how often things begin with not enough nutrition in the morning and went into great detail about the special nutrition needs of athletes. So I had 3 hours to chill at the airport (because 100 degrees is too warm for this Minnesotan to do ANYTHING outside) and wouldn’t you know, but a very harried working mom from Toronto joined me in sharing an outlet. After lamenting about how her job is killing  her, (commuting from Toronto to Birmingham…) she starts telling me about her 25 year old daughter who is an athlete and they cannot figure out why she is passing out regularly. So I start asking questions about what is going on and what tests they’ve done so far. Her daughter rarely eats breakfast and has a tiny lunch. I told her about Page’s presentation that I’d just heard a few hours prior. When I asked if they’d considered an eating disorders evaluation she was not surprised at all and said they’d been told about a center in Ohio and I encouraged her to follow through on that. Thankfully I had Page Love’s handout in my bag to hand to her. We both looked at one another and shook our heads at the odds that we would have this chance encounter… Travel can be exhausting – yesterday I had to nap for a few hours in fact. AND, moments like this one with a tired mom from Toronto make it all worthwhile and meant to be. Makes me smile.  SHAME – Special Guest on our Weekly Online Group Support Call
This week the parents in my Weekly Online Group Support and I will enjoy the expertise of a special guest speaker, courtesy of our generous sponsor, Monte Nido and Affiliates. Danielle Small, MS, LMFT Clinical Director, Clementine Briarcliff Manor will be speaking with us about “shame” while parenting a child with an eating disorder. Parents can register for the calls here. RAISING BODY CONFIDENT KIDS I wanted to let you know about a Kickstarter campaign from eating disorder  prevention advocate Emma Wright. She is creating a much-needed resource for parents to help them raise body confident kids, a help prevent eating disorders taking hold in vulnerable kids. Wright’s book will give parents the language to have tricky conversations about weight, fat, and bodies that I strongly advocate for. The workbook will walk parents through the 10 principles of raising kids to love their body, giving parents practical at-home actions to take, so they can set their kids up to feel confident in their body. I have talked with Emma personally and she knows her stuff. Consider supporting her project by clicking this link to help bring this much-needed resource to parents. Take care, 
_______________________________________________________________________ TREATMENT CENTERS & Non-Profits Ask about special rates on bulk orders of the H.U.G. Kits to share with your families so they are less distressed. They’re READY finally! Becky Henry, Founder Hope Network, LLC – Eating Disorder Family Support [email protected] 952-451-5663 ____________________________________________________________________ | 
