At the risk of sounding a little controversial and maybe provocative ... may I suggest to anyone who is reluctant to fully embrace what is needed for recovery.... Your  Body is Not an Experiment.!
It is the only one you have, it is yours to take care of, it holds your essence, or your soul. Don't be fooled in trying to push it to the limit to see how thin you can be, how many kilos you can lose, how few calories you can "survive' on, what is you "safe zone" .. You don't need to be concerned with this.  You have nothing to prove   !!!  Trust your body as your partner through life, it is what allows you to experience this earthly existence. It holds your 5 senses. Protect it and nourish it, don't treat it as an experiment.

It seems that family and friends of someone with an Eating Disorder are stressed about what to say and what not to say. Often it is more about creating the space for the individual to feel safe to share with you how they are feeling.  For example, if someone shares with you that they feel guilty when they can't exercise or feel that they ought to be working out for longer, or pushing themselves harder.... try to reflect back to them how awful that must feel.  If someone says to you "I feel fat" and they are clearly underweight or at a healthy weight, try to allow them the space to work out what they are really feeling. If you  respond with "that's ridiculous you're not fat!" it closes the dialogue.  People with an eating disorder need to learn to reach out to others to help them gain perspective again.  They need assurance that you will listen and not dismiss their thoughts or emotions as irrational.  You can do this by being prepared to listen and reassure them that you understand these thoughts must be confusing to them and that such thoughts are symptoms  of the illness they are suffering. 
I suggest you don't try to rationalise with the eating disorders thoughts and argue.  You are not expected to be the therapist, just the safe haven that will nuture recovery.

Wow .. what a week we have had this week.
Mental Health Week and a good time to raise awareness of the impact of Eating Disorders on mental health... Monday saw Christine Morgan CEO of the Butterfly Foundation come to Hobart to address our breakfast the following morning. Christine was interviewed on local ABC radio together with Poppy Scharkie , the creator of the Leave the Scales to the Fish , Facebook page,. Southern Cross TV also reported on the 6 pm news broadcast about Eating Disorders and our campaign to raise awareness. WE had a recovery group meeting on Monday night in Hobart and again in Launceston on Tuesday. AS the week closes I would like to share some resources I have found on nutrition and mental health. I remember when I was unwell and wanting to recover but still being scared about what to eat, thinking eating meant gaining weight but I was really concerned about brain nutrition and eating for mental health .Anyway I found the following handouts , they are UK based but worth sharing I thought.. See what you think and if anyone has an Australian source that is similar let me know.. Healthy Eating and Depression and the other one is Food and Mental Health.
Take care.x

Well it was one of the most gratifying things I have been privileged to do with TRED.. That is, eating a meal with some of the participants of the Recovery Group.   After all that's what it is all about... re-establishing normal eating. One of the most interesting points that I think was highlighted, was how important it is in recovery to be able to "manage " your own recovery and not be unduly influenced by others .. That is, to acknowledge that recovery gets to a point where you realise it is not relevant to YOUR recovery how much or how little others around you choose to eat at any one point in time.. What is critical, is knowing what you need to do for yourself at that point, and then following through... Look forward to next time .