Honesty

One thing people sometimes do not understand, is that when I eat properly, I am not necessarily recovering and I am not necessarily cured from my eating disorder.

It is difficult.

During the summer, I decided that I was going to try and get better. I slowly let go of restricting. I allowed myself to eat carbs and meat and to cook with oil and I stopped limiting myself to 1200 calories. It seemed as if I were getting better.

However, my ED voice was resurfacing. The guilt and issues with weight were all still there. I was still weighing food and counting calories and thinking about food ALL THE DAMN TIME. That guilt, I realise, doesn't just evaporate. It motivates my behaviour as if it were the sole purpose of my existence. When I did eat, I was obsessive. I counted calories and weighed food. I cooked one meal at a time so I could be absolutely sure of the calories. I planned when I would eat and where and how many grams I would cook and what to do with the rest of the day to avoid the temptation of food. I stopped eating food where I could not estimate the calories. I began to walk 10 - 12 miles a day without a fail. I'd spent 20 - 30 minutes additionally exercising at home or at an outdoor gym. I would write down how many miles I was walking and would record the minutes I spent exercising at home. Any thing that impeded my attempts to burn calories would make me feel incredibly guilty and push me towards restricting again. Because I couldn't possibly eat enough if I am not burning calories. If I am not doing anything, I do not deserve food. I deserve the headaches and tiredness. I can't be lazy.

See, it is all still there. The faulty thought processes and the guilt and the fear of gaining weight and the obsession with food.

Eating properly means I am managing to live with those voices, but they are still there.

This sucks but I do not think I will be free of my eating disorder. At least not anytime soon.

My eating disorder is a save haven. As long as I am good at times, as long as I burn calories and restrict, I will not gain weight and I couldn't bear gaining weight because no one could ever love me fat. My eating disorder is all I know - I cannot eat properly without compensating or guilt. I cannot eat based on my appetite; I eat too much or too little.

Hopefully, I will get there.

I think I am becoming depressed.

I hate that label.

I hate labels attached to mental health in general.

It feels like once you tell someone like I have x problem, that is how they see you.

As an illness. As symptoms.

But really, no one is a set of symptoms. Or an illness. Even if it does seem to swallow you.

I unfortunately know what is happening to me.

I do not know if it makes it worse; knowing?

Because there is knowing that I am falling, but feeling equally like I cannot do anything about it.

The first time I felt like I was depressed was when I was 11 ish and all I wanted to do was rid myself from the world.

Hahahahaha, yes, a bit drastic and melodramatic but honestly, that felt like the only option.

Back then, I was falling apart and had no idea what the hell was happening to me and that scared me almost as much as how I was feeling.

Now, things aren't that bad, but at the same time, I don't want them to.

Things feel like effort. Small things. Putting on clothes sometimes. Showering. Some days, midday, I crawl back into bed and just wait for time to pass.

There are things that make me happy, yes. But, in the background, I just feel like shit. Trapped sort of.

I hate eating so much and it feels so bad but then when I do not eat enough, I feel like shit because it hurts.

I am avoiding people. I know I shouldn't, but I just can't handle socialising as much anymore.

On the positive side, I am seeking help.

I will talk to my GP.

I am still keeping my three things that make me happy a day list.

I am talking to people. I am not bottling things up.

I don't want you to be worried about me Bob. I just want to be honest. Things aren't great and instead of trying to hold things together and trying to be pretend to be happy, I am being honest.

And I do think that is  quite strong. I am accepting things. But still, at the same time, fighting it.

I can do this.

Chaplaincy

I was pretty sure that one of the chaplains at University did not like me.


Okay, I will backtrack a bit.


Do you know when you meet someone for the first time and you like them already? The sort of person you can see yourself being able to talk to. That was her. I guess, she just talked and smiled and she was nice.

I didn't get to know her much last year. I more sort of 'liked' her from a distance. Not in a creepy way. In a sort of, she's really funny (I know that through sermons) and really nice (she'd talk to me a bit after services when she wasn't busy).

There are many reasons I think she didn't like me last year.

She'd always encourage me to stay and join in the meal but I'd always come up with flimsy excuses.

Also, whenever she talked to me before services, I usually felt quite anxious and responded awkwardly and monotonous.

I also never turned up to anything. She was always trying to sort of engage me and be nice, but I wasn't receptive.

Things sort of got better nearer third time.

I had to cook at the Chaplaincy and I made rice and vegetables but I couldn't eat the rice at the time because I wasn't eating carbs and so I left straight after the service and so she messaged me on Facebook (an added me) and asked if everything was okay because I rushed off and I said I didn't like rice. That same week, I went to the chaplaincy to do a craft activity and we talked quite a lot. (I think she may have been surprised by how much I actually talk!)

Honestly, sort of closer, she was nicer and funnier than I thought. She laughed and talked a lot. She doesn't take things too seriously and she was caring and I don't know, she made me feel a bit like I mattered.

Around the middle of third term when things were getting a bit tough, I decided to tell her about my eating disorder. This was when things were getting worst and all I could think about was food 24/7. My personal tutor was away on a conference and honestly, I felt like I owed her an explanation. She was being so lovely to me and I was always a bit on edge when I talked to her and always came across as stroppy or rude. I never stayed for dinner in the chaplaincy after the services and I felt like maybe she took it a bit personally.

She was so lovely about it. She sat there and listened to me and asked me questions and afterward, prayed for me. It was so sweet of her.

What I liked most is that she didn't give up on me, if that make sense. She continued after that to ask if I wanted to stay for dinner, but would always smile and tell me that there was no pressure at all. It felt nice, her not making any assumptions and also that she made clear that it was not a problem if I didn't stay and that I had nothing to feel guilty about.


So yeah, things were sort of alright near the end of last year.

But I decided to volunteer in the chaplaincy in September. I thought why not? I'd like to do something nice for her.

It was so awkward. I have been feeling a lot more anxious in general. One of the things that makes me feel a bit on edge is where people I am not particularly close to are kind to me because sometimes people treat me better than  I treat myself and I feel uncomfortable because I don't think I deserve it. So seeing her again made me feel kind of anxious.

The way I treated her, I think was very much influenced by my anxiety. I'd smile and laugh a lot. I'd avoid direct contact where I could - opting to stare at my phone - than interact with her. The thing is, I talked to her colleagues just fine. I am certain that I came across as stroppy, quite, anxious and that I was horrible company.

At first, she talked to me, but after a couple of days,  I started to feel like she didn't like me because she thought I didn't like her because she came in and said hello to the other member of staff sat opposite me, but she didn't even look at me. Like, she would interact with the others as if I wasn't actually there. We were setting up for a craft activity and there were 6 other volunteers and she didn't directly tell me to do anything, only them. She interacted with them like her usual self i.e. making jokes and just talking a lot but she wouldn't say much to me. However, during the craft activity, I actually talked quite a lot and appeared happier and she actually talked to me a bit more and so I figured that she was treating me based on how I was treating her and that made me feel more anxious and I don't know, just kind of weird. I thought maybe she didn't like me and thought I did not like her and so stopped bothering with me but only talked to me when I talked to her just to sort of be nice.

I felt so bad that I decided I'd just talk to her.

She asked how things were going and I explained that I things with food were just as unstable and that I am also feeling not great and she asked about my anxiety levels and I told her they were high and she said that was interesting because I do not come across as anxious at all and then she asked how I was feeling when I volunteered at the chaplaincy and I said I felt like I was horrible company and she said no and that they loved having me there and I was like, are you sure but she said yes and the way she looked at me, I was sure that she wasn't lying it just telling me to make me feel better and so it turns out, I just made everything up in my head.

I was pretty sure she was ignoring me but I guess my interpretation is wrong and maybe I didn't notice things and maybe she was busy and because I was there pretty much every day for a while, I had become like furniture so she was used to having me around. I don't know. But for now, I think she likes me... I mean, she listened to me and tried to help and suggest what I should do and she didn't think I was being silly and she said that I could come back and talk to her like weekly if I wanted to and when I was skeptical, she said she would not make a promise like that if it were not genuine.

She is kind to me and it is difficult to accept because I do not feel like I deserve it. I do feel like a fraud. Like at some point, she will find out something about me that will make her hate me. I feel like I am blowing things out of proportion. Like I am unreasonable and not worth the hassle. I do not want to be dependent on someone because what happens when they let me down? What happens when I become too much to handle? However, I do feel less anxious around her because I know she doesn't dislike me. Also, I know now that I do come across happier than I feel even when I am certain I am being a stroppy piece of crap. I know that maybe I am processing things that aren't neccesarily bad, in a negative way and so things feel like a bigger deal than they actually are. Also, I know that in future, I can just talk about things and ask about how I am coming across.

So yeah. Peace out.

On the bright side

Joy and Anthony came up to Warwick on Tuesday morning and we had a great time!

I played Monopoly for the first time and it was really fun - though both Joy and Anthony proclaimed that it spoiled families and friends which I did not understand until we bought property.

They met Nabz and Tiff which was great. They loved Nabz - they agreed with me and felt like she was a Londoner - and they liked Tiff, though felt like she didn't like them. Also, she told my sister that moving out and University is shit and Joy wasn't too pleased about someone spoiling her excitement. We went to Coventry and just chilled in IKEA. It was really fun.


I have enjoyed not having wifi. I have had to walk to the library at Uni to use the internet. It is refreshing in the respect that I do not feel like I am a slave to technology. Also, I have enjoyed having my own room and being home alone. I have been sleeping a lot earlier and I wake up in the morning and feel refreshed and go on a walk and breathe in the cold morning air and it feels so amazing. All alone, I feel so unattached if that makes sense. I am not a friend or a sister or a student or anything to anyone. I am just myself in my own space and I am free and not responsible for anyone else apart from myself. I don't know. I do not have to worry about my little sisters' eating and about my mums' spending and my dads' health problems and getting good grades and looking presentable for others.


I earned 130 pounds working for two days which feels good. On one day, I was making sandwiches - by this, I mean I was literally buttering bread for seven hours. On the other day, I was a fake diabetic patient. Medical students have to do exams called OSCE's where they go around in circuits and do 15 tasks. Each one is 9 minutes - two to read and seven to do the task. They had to explain to me that they were going to give me an insulin and flu injection. They had to explain the routes and check my records and then perform the injection on a fake arm. And I got paid for that. For sitting. They gave us free breakfast and lunch and we got to sign we did an extra 15 minutes we didn't do and we did nothing for an hour and still got paid. It was brilliant.

The not so great...

I have been ill for a while. Not ill as in, full blown cold. I can still do things. However, I can still feel the cold is there in the background. Instead of resting, I have been cramming every second with something to do and really, I am just tired and I am dreading doing things.

I just want to stay in bed and hide away from the world. I don't want to leave my room and face the world. I don't want to respond to messages. I don't want to eat properly. I don't want to start Uni. I don't want to be around people. But I know I have to so it sucks.

I looked at my time table and the next days I have some free days all to myself is 7-8th October. I am working weekends to then. I am volunteering all next week. I am training for volunteering for an open day on Thursday. Next week Monday, I am training for another volunteer role and also working. On the Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, I am taking part in a programme. On the Wednesday next week I am volunteering. The week after that is when Uni starts. I will be on a stall on the volunteers fair and going to the soc fairs with Nabz. Additionally, I will be spending evenings preparing for my URSS project and researching it.

Also, things with food feel slightly on edge. Anthony and Joy came up for two days and for dinner, we were in Iceland and the picked up frozen pizza, chips, chicken nuggets and cheesecake. I was mentally panicking thinking I cannot eat all of that (we had Gregg's for lunch as well!). Then today, there was like so many packs of crisps and snickers and we basically ate all junk food all day. To top it off, I weighed myself yesterday and my weight remained stable but I spent so much time after that getting annoyed at myself for not losing weight. I feel more and more like I am losing control with food and I know this sounds stupid, but I really want to restrict calories. I want to stop eating meat and rice and pasta and potatoes and junk and crappy food. I just want to be good again. Only I know very well that I shouldn't give in.

Honestly, I just feel so not motivated thinking about it and even though I really do not want to, I may start back at Uni already burnt out and it will be my own fault for just not looking after myself properly and for prioritising work, volunteering and other commitments over my health.

Hello!

These are exciting times!

I start back at Uni in a month which I am super excited for. I actually cannot wait to be back in lecture theatres. To have structure to my life. To see my University friends. To have my own room and to just be free really. Tat being said, I love my famiy

Friends again

WOOOP!

My mum a

13 reasons why

Okay, so I finished reading thirteen reasons why and it is funny because I always think books are better than series are movies. However, I didn't like the book too much.

I could not sympathise with Hannah in the TV series and in the books, I could a bit more. However, towards the end, I really disliked her. This girl, knowing Bryce was a rapist, took of all her clothes and got in a hot tub with him. She could have turned around, but no. In the book, it was depicted like she knew it would happen but she didn't care enough to try and get a way because she had already made up her mind. She almost wanted him to do something so that she could lose control completely. I am not at all for victim blaming. i.e. Where were they? What were they wearing? Above all, rape is wrong. However, it is common sense that if you know someone is a rapist, you don't hang out with them half naked.

I think my overall problem is the way suicide is depicted. Hannah used it as a weapon to punish people. I mean, yeah, she was vulnerable, but she was also malicious. The amount of responsibility she put on others for her life was a lot.

It reminds me of James actually. As in, trying to use suicide as a weapon, not to punish people I guess, but more to keep people around. At the time, me and other people involved thought, if we say or do the wrong thing, if we're not there for him, he might go through with it. We thought it was our responsibilities to keep him from hurting himself. We were so worried about our input into his life. However, more and more, I am starting to believe that as much as people can have an impact on your life, if someone is ending theirs, then it is there decision. Granted, it may not feel like a decision. It may feel like it is the only option. And yes, someone can be hurt by others making them want to hurt themselves. However, ultimately, you cannot save someone who doesn't want to be saved. Not in the long run anyway. For instance, I have a friend who has anxiety and I can try and be there for her, but when she doesn't want me to be, she won't contact me.

The answer has to come from the sufferer really. And that is what bothers me. Hannah's story is about what others did and didn't do. What did she do for herself though? I get that she felt like she was losing control, but there are so many alternatives.

I originally wrote this two days ago but I uploaded it accidentally to my other inactive blogger account and then noticed today.

Hello!

I thought I'd update you because today was a particularly good day. 

I started off the day a bit bad. Yesterday, I ate so much and thought, damn it, I cannot continue like this. I need to diet and just not do that again. I had a plan and I was going to eat less and healthily. Then I opened the fridge and took the first thing I could find, completely neglecting my plan and it was a greasy, not even nice burger with 650 calories all in one go. 

Joy came down and had pizza and noodles for breakfast and then like an hour later she had a sandwich and I felt a tiny pang of jealousy because for her, if she is hungry, she eats. If she is not, then she will not eat. She doesn't count calories or feels bad about eating something bad. It bothered me that she ate a lot of carbs and it probably does not cross her mind at all. 

I have been trying to convince myself that maybe I do not have an eating disorder. Maybe I made it all up in my head and I am overly dramatic as usual. Also, now I am eating enough and trying to eat properly and so I am fine. I probably don't have an eating disorder and I was probably just super stressed and so my eating went a bit bad. However, when I see other people eat, I cannot help but calculate the calories that they are eating. I cannot help but wonder how much they eat, what they eat, when then eat, if they feel bad about it, if they eat properly. When I eat, I try to stop counting calories, and sometimes I forget to measure the weight of something, or I estimate instead of measuring, however, I cannot stop counting. I am glad I am not acting on the urges to restrict calories or food groups but every time I eat feels weird. It feels like a mixture of giving up like the weakling I am yet like I am strong because I am saying no to struggling with food. If that makes sense. It's weird. 

After that, I started to read 13 reasons why. I found the book yesterday evening in the library and pounced on it, telling Joy that I'd finish that night (which I did not!). I was supposed to take Busayo to the cinema but she woke up half past ten and I took her to breakfast at IKEA instead. I had  coffee and ended up at Sufra at 12:00. I was so hyper and Saba, who works there, was like, calm down. I was literally jumping around because I felt so warm inside because of the combinations of the caffiene and the hotness. I was helping Nirmean, a volunteer whose recently completed a masters in sociology, carry out some research which involves asking food bank users to fill out a survey. I actually like helping out now. It helps see people less two dimensional because I listen to them tell me their stories. Of benefit sanction. Illness. Being manipulated. Separation. Sudden loss of job. I also like that I can help some of these people. I can reassure them that THERE IS HELP even if Government is letting them down. That the staff know how to fight someone's corner and win. That there is a community food kitchen and that other food banks have kitchens too. Because what is sad, is that lots of these people have no idea who can help and what they can do and what to do next. They just come for a bit of food for the meantime while they deal with things on their own. But they do not have to because charities like Sufra exist. 

Also, I didn't really think my role dealing with social media was that important. Okay, so I post a couple of picture. Whatever. However, I am really excited because we have seen an increase in attention towards Sufra. Yesterday, I posted a post about children who'd completed a gardening course and Brent and Kilburn Times did an article about it using our pictures. And today, I posted a picture of the milk shelf being empty and donations were asked for and someone went to a supermarket and bought enough milk to fill the shelve because he saw the post. Within an hour, I had to post another picture with a full shelf of milk with thanks. How amazing is that! 

Following this, I had lunch. I then went out. I have realised that with food, because I am allowing myself to eat, I end up eating too much sometimes. It's like, oooh, I can eat as much as I want. However, that doesn't help because I start to feel a bit anxious about food and then I try to restrict calories and it fails and so my way to deal with this is to be out of the house after threeish and during the evening because before that, I don't want to eat much. It is kind of weird. My appetite is messed up and so I reckon I could starve myself for a day and still not feel hungry. So it will not wotk for me just eating when I feel hungry. So I try eating when I need food. I.e. when I start to get headaches and feel faint, but if I strategically plan my day, I can get away with only eating during the afternoon and sleeping early and so eating when it feels like I should is the healthiest thing for me to do, but that is still a bit messed up. But yeah, will work on it. But yeah, so I left the house, not knowing what I would do but knowing I couldn't be back home before seven. 

I ended up in Wembley and weighed myself (I gained a bit of weight) and so to make myself feel better, I went Primark and tried on some clothes I knew I wouldn't buy. I don't know, it makes me feel better knowing clothes will fit me and look nice. I actually bought something but i had to strategically avoid Mona and Kinal who were also there. Ugh, Kinal. 

Then I went to King Eddies and I saw the  badminton cage and it hurt a bit because years ago we said we'd come back to play badminton there, but we never did. I read a bit of 13 reasons why and then I went to the outdoor gym and I  remember when we went there once and bumped into a certain guy when I liked him. I then walked home the looooong way through Neasden. 

After dinner, Joy and I walked to Sainsbury's and I saw the freefrom aisle and thought of you. I walked past your house and tried to take a picture of it but my phone was on flash and so I hid my phone and walked quickly. I then told her about how you liked your neighbour and could only talk to him when you had a boyfriend. 

I came home and I showed Tobi what I made for myself for dinner. She told me I annoy her because I refuse to make her food. So I made her food, but she had to wash the dishes. I have not been cooking for her (I cook for Joy sometimes) but Tobi annoys the hell out of me. I asked her to turn of a light and she said she didn't put it on and I was pissed. I was cleaning plates I didn't use and I was cleaning the floor even though I would be out all day. I bought groceries with my own money. I do things for other people without asking and she cannot take off a bloody light and she is making a big deal and huffing and puffing and I wanted to slap her for being so selfish and spoilt but instead, I just refuse to cook for her and so she had to wash her own plate. I hope I taught her a lesson and I will not hesitate to do so again. I am proud of myself for being tougher. 

It is happy in a sad sort of way. Everywhere I look, I see our memories. 

I haven't cried yet, but I love you to bits Bob and I miss you and it is sinking in that you're not here. 

Three pictures and a reason

I made and ate rice for the first time in weeks! It looked really pretty and so I took a picture.

Recently, my relationship with food has been getting a lot better.

When I came home from University, I struggled. I was restricting calories during the day. Around the afternoon, I would start to experience headaches and tiredness. Then around the evening, I'd start to think a lot about food. What I can't eat. What I want to binge on. How many calories I have eaten. How much weight I have gained or lost. How many calories I have lost through exercise. I usually keep busy during the day but when I come home in the evening, I'd see lots of food in the kitchen and before I realize, I am bingeing.  I'd feel super guilty - how many calories did I just eat?! - and worry that I had put on weight and I'd be so angry at myself. I would feel like I have wasted an entire day trying to be good and trying to not eat enough. I then pinch and bite myself because I am so annoyed, exercise to try and counteract what I have done and then plan the next day. What I will eat, and what I will do so that I avoid bingeing. But I can't. See the thing is, I am depriving myself of energy and nutrients. Bingeing is a way of compensating. So, it becomes a very cycle.

Things, however, have got better recently.

I reached a very bad place the other week.

I restricted calories very low and I ended up bingeing on more food that I have ever done in ages and I felt so bad. The thing that made it very bad was that I was aware of how distorted my thoughts were. I was close to tears and I was thinking, I wish I could purge because that would feel better. I was also so angry and I just wanted to hurt myself. This scared the hell out of me because even though they were just thoughts I'd wouldn't act on, I couldn't help but think about how in December, all I wanted to do was just 'eat a bit less.' In May, I felt so bad for eating a lot and ended up restricting calories so low I thought I might faint and I restricted calories on the day of the exam which meant I could not concentrate. My point is, it scared me because this isn't something I can predict. If that makes sense. I don't know where I will be in terms of my eating. I may be better. But I may be worse. That scares the hell out of me. I don't want to get worse. I don't want to purge. I don't want to lose weight. I don't want to gain weight. I don't want to screw up my health anymore. I don't want to feel the urge to restrict and binge. I just want to eat like a normal person.

I felt really trapped that day. Like I would keep on going in a cycle. Like I would only get worse. Like this is it. And I am NOT saying I am suicidal or anything, but I thought, I really do not want to live like this. I cannot continue like this.

It scared me so much that I think it sort of gave me a reality check. The next day, I attempted to eat properly. It wasn't great because I was allowing myself to eat food, all I could think was food, food, food and I ended up over-eating even though I was not that hungry.

Shortly after that, I was going through my food journal. I write what I eat, when, calories, how I feel and any thing else that is relevant. Written down, I kind of realize that as much as my eating is a cycle (of restricting and bingeing) that there were days where I was fine. As much as certain things could trigger me, there were things that buffered me as well. I also saw that I was miserable really. Restricting only temporarily felt good until I started to feel headaches and bingeing is always awful. So I thought, Okay, I am going to try chose a happier way. I am going to try not feel bad.

Long story short, recently, for like the past four days, I have been able to eat. I start of the day restricting calories, but then around mid-day, I allow myself to eat because it feels silly. It is sort of a compromise. My issues with food are still there i.e. I still have bad foods that I won't touch (any thing that is oily, fatty meat) and I am still counting calories and I have to measure everything I cook so I know the exact amount of calories and I feel uneasy eating foods that I have no idea how many calories are in it. The voice telling me I should feel bad for eating and the voice telling me to restrict calories are still there, but they are quieter.

It sort of makes sense. When I was in counseling  Jo (my counselor) told me that my eating problems are the healthiest way for me to deal with life. I laughed. Healthiest? However, it makes sense. Restricting calories during the beginning of term two in a way did help. It helped me manage my anxiety of gaining weight. This may seem stupid but losing weight was a big deal for me and also, I felt pressured to maintain that weight because of everyone's' comments. Also, I know myself. I know that I will say I am fine even when I am crying and I will even convince myself that it is all okay. However, really, I kind of feel like crap and like things are falling apart and focusing on food means that I can still pretend that things are okay. During term three, where I struggled the most, I had too much free time. As in, instead of studying for exams, I decided to rest. I wasn't going out and doing much and it gave me a lot of time to think and I couldn't handle it. I hate not being busy. I have to be doing something, or else, what is the point of life? What is the point of waking up in the morning? I do not want to merely exist and at that time, I felt like that was just what I was doing. Instead, focusing on other things, focusing on calories and food meant that I was occupied. It perhaps was less sad than focusing on the emptiness I felt at the time. Not eating was actually something that felt good, so at some points I was happy.

My point is, as destructive as not eating properly is, I have come to see is as helpful at times. Sometimes, it is a bit of a coping mechanism. However, now, I am in a genuinely good place. I have made so many positive changes since coming home. I am teaching Joy how to cook. I am refusing to do all the cooking and the cleaning. My family is eating healthier. I am allowing time for myself. I am expressing my feelings through drawing. I am occupied. There is meaning to my life. I have accepted the way my relationship is with my mum. I am stronger.

At the moment, I don't need to exert control over my eating. At the moment, I am strong enough to tell this voice to shut up. And I guess, I need to take that. I can't think of where I will be tomorrow or in six months. I just need to accept that today is a good day.

So yeah, here is a picture of rice. I took it because I felt happy. I ate and it felt like magic because I was actually enjoying food instead of thinking of it as calories.

Here is a picture of a light house I drew. I drew it because to me, it kind of symbolizes that I kind of do need help. As in, in the past, I just sort of push problems down and say I am fine. However, a sort of positive from struggling with food is that I kind of have to acknowledge that I do need help. If that makes sense. It made sense to me. I draw a picture every day (or at least aim to) and it feels really nice looking back and thinking, I took something horrible and created something pretty.

This is a tote bag I sewed buttons into to occupy my time on Sunday. It was fun. I felt so at peace and nothing mattered apart from sewing.

Au Revoir! 

Weight

Today at church, I was about to leave when an old lady stopped me. 

"You've slimmed down," she told me. "You look nice now," she said several times. "Keep it up!" she added.

How did I look before? 

Okay, yes, I get I was heavier. 

Without realising, I was surrounded by a group of ladies who were agreeing with the lady. My mum was there as well unfortunately for me. "Thank God!" as if it is a bloody miracle that I have lost weight. 

I know it shouldn't get to me. That it is only comments and words but it really does annoy me. 

I'm sick of people commenting on my weight like it is any of their business.

Welcome back Bob!

Welcome back to London Bob. If you are back already. Can't wait to see you!

What I've been up to

On the 13th of July, I  went to a club for the first time two weeks ago. Let me tell you, I was not looking forward to it. I kept trying to think of excuses to escape having to go. In fact, I very nearly did - I didn't have any ID - but alas, when a friend called up the club, she was informed that my university card was sufficient.

It was not as bad as I thought it would be. I got there and it was loud and there were so many people and I felt quite uncomfortable. However, I was with my friends and they were enjoying themselves. If they could, then I could as well. I ended up telling myself to shut up and just have a nice time. The club even did free face painting so I got a butterfly on my face! :)

Also, I went to see Julius Caeser with my flatmates at Stratford. It was amazing! I initially thought that the plot would be confusing and that I'd spend three hours of my life trying, to no avail, to decode Shakespearian English. However, I mostly got the gist.


Furthermore, I went to London with my flatmates this Tuesday. We went to the sky garden and from there, there was an amazing view of London. We pretty much went on a walking tour. From the British Museum to Hemley's and from there to China town. Then, we played frisbee on the field just behind Buckingham Palace. At the end of the day, our feet ached but it was brilliant all the same.

Rise

Yesterday, I went to the Cathedral ruins in Coventry for a massive Pentecost service. There were several baptisms. They had full body ones which were the first I've ever seen. The people were completely submerged in water. It was beautiful because they all came out of the water looking pleased and I thought, wow.

My eating has never been great, which, if I am honest, I have always noticed, and it is something which I am sort of accepting now.

At the moment, my eating feels a little unstable. It's a bit of a cycle. I started off thinking, arrgh, I've eaten so much during the holidays. I started back making a list of things I cannot eat. There'ss carbs, so pasta, rice, couscous, bread, etc. They have so many calories. There's meat which has lots of fat apart from on lean meat and even still there is fewer calories in Quorn products anyway. 

I start and it works really well. On the one hand, it feels crappy, because I'm so tired and there are times where it feels like I may faint. Also, there's craving food and trying to stop me from eating it. On the other hand, it feels good. It feels good to be so in control. To feel like I have achieved something. 

Then, I start to slip. I feel so tired that I know I must eat something. Usually, bread. Instead of eating just a bit, I sort of go overboard. There was one day I had four cinnamon bagels. It was so bad. The afterwards, I feel like, I have eaten so much, I need to starve myself. And then it repeats. 

I literally spend most of my day thinking about food. Calories. What I can and can't eat. How much I eat.  I feel better eating in front of my friends and people I know well (when I have to). 

I just want to be at a good place with food. I'm sort of trying. 

I tried some self-help stuff (though being an idiot, I never stick with it).

Though I've started something new which feels kind of exciting, so I thought I'd share. My flat-mates for my birthday got me a sketch pad. I looked at it at first and thought, I have no idea what I am going to draw. However, I've been thinking about it, and I'm going to sort of draw how I feel.

Usually, when I draw, it's because I see something pretty or feel inspired, but I have never really drawn to express myself. I quite like drawing and I find that I am focused and peaceful when I draw and soI think drawing will take my attention of food. Also, that it's kind of cool, taking something I feel sort of uncomfortable and not really great about and making it sort of beautiful if that makes sense.

JOB

I just got really good news and so I thought, I have to share it!

M mum got a job! She's finally got a job. You have no idea how happy I am!

She started a course three weeks ago. A health care one. She was hesitant at first because she has been let down so many times before. She's done health care courses and teaching and nursing before but nothing has worked. It has been the case that people have told her a job would be guaranteed if she paid for the course, but she didn't get it.

However, with encouragement from my family, she decided to stick with it.

She's completed it now and they promised her an interview at the end of the course and she got a job out of it.

I am so pround of her perseverance and happy that she has a job! :)

Nineteen

Today was absolutely amazing.


Usually what happens is that my flat-mates bake the cake for other people's birthdays. However, I baked my own birthday cake - white chocolate sponge cake with chocolate topping and sprinkles. Not bad for the first time I've made a cake! By the way, it is upside down and some of the cake crumbled off. It tasted really good anyhow.

Rebecca made curry for some of my other flat-mates and me. Following this, I went back to my room and ended up laughing hysterically because on my desk was something I was pretty sure was not there before - a card and a present. The present was a sketch pad which they'd all drawn something on and on the front cover was a map.


The map told me to go to the chaplaincy which I did. I was completely confused when I entered the building  There I found a balloon with my name on it telling me to return to my accommodation. Upon doing so, I got back and there was a note in my kitchen door telling me to open my cupboard which I did. Another note told me to use the key inside my cupboard to open the adjacent kitchen door. I opened the kitchen door and this is what happened:

We stayed for ages and played games and honestly, it was absolutely perfect! They were all just so sweet and lovely! I got a Nemo, a sketch pad and some flowers. It turns out the reason why they made me go to the chaplaincy in the sort of treasure hunt was because I was finding Nemo. I,e. eventually reaching him in my fourney. It completely cracked me up!

As for the rest of the day, Nabz and Tiff came over and we hung out in my room and they gave me my presents which were amazing! Nabz, amongst other stuff, got me a book called 'my dysfunctions,' (totally me!) Tiff got me a questionable gift from Ann Summers which made me crack up - trust me, it's not age appropriate!

And what's more, is that we all seem to be finally sort of getting on with J again. I have not mentioned this yet, but a few days ago, he asked via Facebook, Alicia, why I was not talking to him. I responded that he was the one ignoring me and so he asked if we can talk again. I was like, yeah sure, but why would you want to talk, after I snapped at you and after he got kicked out of the house we're living in? Then he said that he said he wants to put that aside and that he still likes me as a person so yeah, we've sort of buried the hatchet. Well not exactly. We're not friends and I am most certainly not going to let him in my room. However, it's so much easier to just be civil up until the end of the year then cut him properly out of my life after this year.

To top it all off, I had my presentation today which went well. Hester, the lecturer marking us, was absolutely brilliant. I love her. I really do! She was marvellous at sort of calming us down. She asked whether any of us were nervous. When people raised their hands, she then asked if anyone was going to be critical and mean. One guy put his hand up as a joke and she jokingly told him to get out. Then she reassured us that we were on the same boat. Then she told us what not to do and assured us that the first time she did a lecture, she was so nervous that she had to hold on to something. When she finished, she told us that we should focus on how much we know that we didn't know in the beginning of the year and not what we still needed to know. She was brilliant and motivating and I felt so reassured.

My presentation went really well.Nabz, of course, was brilliant and did her part well and I did not talk way too fast :)

Also, what made my day as well is your postcard, Bob. It is on my wall and I was grinning like an idiot for ages after I saw it. I was going to message you saying thank you but I didn't just want to leave with a crappy message and at the time, I did not have time to write something out properly. What I want to say is:

I love you so so so much and it sucks not seeing you every day. It sucks that I don't get to share my moments with you, but on the other hand, I am happy that we are still in each other's lives. I am grateful for all the moments that we have shared. Thank you so much for the postcard!

Carry on being fantastic. The other day, I was talking about you (I talk about you all the time btw). I was telling my flatmate how cool it is that friends influence each other and I told them about you and how your influence has always been positive. About how you always make me into a better person. You always make me feel confident and invincible because no-one's approval matters. I love you! I listen to Ed Sheran songs and Imagine Dragons and all I can think about is you. I look up to my wall and see pictures of us and the stuff you have made me and I just think, wow, my best friend is beautiful, amazing and great!

I am so glad you're in my life. That things turned out the right way. Imagine if it were the case that we didn't meet? That would be scary. It would be like a whole that would never be able to be filled.

Okay, I am done with all the cheesiness. Bye!

PS, nineteen is so old! Wow. I'm an adult! :P

Research assistant

I finally finished the transcribing so I applied for another research assistant position. 

The guy emailed and told me to meet him in the Psychology common room at 9am. I got there nd he was late and I was panicking thinking, what if I was there on a wrong day?

I thought the meeting would take ten minutes at most, but it actually took fifty!

At one point he asked me, "Do you know much about my research?" And I thought, crap. I didn't think of reading anything up!" I said, "Um... wasn't there something to do with gambling?" He said yeah and then told me what it was about.

He told me of three projects I can get involved in and asked me what I am interested in and I told him about my first-year project and so he said if there is anything he can find regarding social media he'll let me know.

I feel really optimistic because he pretty much said that I can be involved in his research for as long as I want! :)

I am going to get the work done fast and efficiently so I don't let him down! :) 

Essay feedback

I had essay feedback with my personal tutor yesterday. 

Basically, my essay was bad, but my conclusion was good. 

Also, she thinks I am not confident enough about myself. 

That I sometimes hold myself back and don't say stuff that I want to. 

I found that weird because I would have thought that people think the opposite if that makes sense. 

For instance, I answer questions in lectures and if I need help, I will ask for it.

Also, I talk a lot to people, even people I have just met. 

I laughed all the way through the tutorial because I had no idea how else to react. 

I knew it was not an attack and that she was trying to encourage me and that she gave up half an hour of her life just for me.

But, also, she was saying that my spelling and grammar wasn't the best and that I should have let someone look over it - which I actually did this time.

And she asked me if I looked at her previous feedback and I did. She told me I needed to define terms which I did. She also told me my conclusion last time wasn't strong so I worked on that. 

It was most definitely useful and I want to do better on my essays so after exams, I will redo all my essays and ask her to look at it for me. 

It is just that her comment about my confidence level annoyed me a bit. Because, she sort of looks at me like, I am pretending to sort of be something I am not. I would have thought I am confident, but am I really? And I don't want to question that if it makes sense. 

I went to Warwick today and after handing in the USB to the postgrad student, I met up with Nabz and we were talking. At some point, our conversation got deep and we were talking about happiness and it was quite a sad topic ironically, because no-one seems to be happy these days.
For instance, we were discussing our university friends and they are all just so unhappy with life and themselves.

There is one, whose super rich, super smart and she is the unhappiest of us. She, I guess is rich in terms of money, but hasn't been in terms of relationships, for instance, she had no friends growing up and her parents left her with a child-minder growing up. It is sad because she has had everything materialistically. However, lacks the things that many people take for granted.

 There is another, who makes too many suicide jokes to not feel concerned. She too isn't the happiest of people but she tries.

I bumped into Paula today. Still as crazy as ever. It was brilliant. It's funny really because me and Paula are complete opposites. She likes to drink and party, whilst I find that aversive. She is laid back whereas I am not. As in, she'd be the person to leave an assignment to the last minute whereas I am panicking about it five weeks before. Yet, despite our many differences, I really like her andI guess we have a similarity in the respect that we both talk a lot. It's funny because at first, she was a bit scary.

The cutest thing ever

I was in Tesco and there was a baby in a trolley. She was a baguette but her teeth were so small that it wasn't working. I was staring at her amused and she looked back at me, smiling.

Today was Easter. 

Usually, on Easter, the church is crammed full with people. So much so, that during the service, someone from the hospitality team tries to discretely add more chairs to the back. This doesn't escape anyone's notice though. Most of the people who come for Easter are never seen again until perhaps Christmas or Easter the following year. 

Peace

I remember a sermon that the old priest gave in Church and she commented on this. The world isn't peaceful, but we need to strive for finding little pockets of peace in the midst of everyday life.

I feel like this is a very important message especially considering the situations that are happening in the world. It is sad to see that society seems not to be learning from its mistakes, but instead making the same ones again. It is sad to hear the news of innocent people dying and it is not great thinking about Brexit and Trump being president. It may seem really bleak at the moment seeing what is going on. And then, there are the problems of everyday live itself. Arguments. Tense situations. Stress. Worries. It is really easy to feel like peace isn't achievable. 

However, I think my old priest was right. We can find peace if we look for it, and not in a, I am going to ignore all the bad things that are happening way, but realistically. For instance, I feel at peace when I am at Northala fields, sat at the top of a hill and just focusing on breathing. I am under no illusion that life will be perfect and that problems will solve themselves, but I just find myself drained of negativity and worry even if just for a moment. I also feel peaceful when I am revising or volunteering or drawing. 

Peace on a large scale, may seem far off unfortunately. But, I really do think that we can all find peace in an individual basis.

Doctor Who

I am so happy. New season of Doctor Who and it looks promising! :)

Here is a list of stuff that has made me happy since the 7/03/16

I started the list because a friend was in a bad state and she was like, please tell me something happy and I couldn't think of anything. I was sat behind my computer screen thinking, but nothing positive has happened in ages! Then, when I realised that I thought this, I sort of freaked out because I thought, oh wow, what has happened to me? I mean, I have ups and downs, everyone does. But usually, there is at least something making me happy and I couldn't find that. So, I decided to made a list on all the things that made me happy.

1) Phone call from Agata
2) The Galentine's day cards I made.
3) Water spilling on my desk and missing my laptop.
4) Watching Girl on the train with Tiff
5) Watching La La Land with Tiff and Milly.
6) Watching TedX talk with Tiff and getting to know her better.
7) Zainab (daughter) making me the apron.
8) Teaching Joy how to make pancakes.
9) Christian union, wonder event. The mafia boss turned Christian.
10) Finishing the Transcription.
11) Always going to Alicia's room when she's on skype.
12) Call to Amelia.
13) Drawing raindrops and watching the DUFF.
14) Walking to IKEA Coventry.
15) Playing table tennis.
16)

I made a list the other week when I was very much focused on how I am eating too much and how i am going to gain weight.

The list was of things that I like about myself irrespective of my weight, which is as follows:

a) I laugh a lot
b) I can draw
c) I am hard working
d) I try to be nice to people
e) I get along with people
f) I am serious about stuff (i.e. my education) but still know how to take a joke.
g) I don't drink alcohol
h) I enjoy a walk
i) I don't spend much money
j) I try to be respectful to people
k) My sight and hearing is good

All of what I have

Here are some stuff I am grateful for in no particular order.

1) Somewhere to sleep
2) Warm water
3) Friends who I can trust
4) The sense of stability
5) I can move about
6) Money
7) Food and drink
8) The capability to love and trust
9) Family
10) An education
11) Ability to make own decisions
12) Technology (e.g. my phone)
13) Nice weather
14) Clean clothes
15) Peace and quiet
16) Books
17) Being able to enjoy things
18) Problems - they suck at the time, but I feel like lots of things have a silver lining. For instance, having responsibility over my siblings means I am able to look after myself.
19) Music

Hello!


I sort of have been thinking. I need to eat more balanced. At university, I manage to. But I feel like I am not allowed to eat most foods and I go overboard. Then at home, I still feel like, 'I shouldn't be eating this,' but I do anyway and then worry about gaining weight and I have been thinking, if I were able to maintain a balance between that, I would be okay.

I feel like even though my eating patterns feel bad, a plus side is that I am able to eat healthily. As in, I do eat vegetables and fruit. Also, I do not drink many drinks high in calories or sugars. Also, there is so much I won't eat unless it is bought for me / in the house. Therefore meaning, if I am not surrounded by biscuits, I won't eat them.

OMG, I am in love.

Just watched how to train a dragon 1 and toothless is soooo cute!

A guide on how not to be awkward


1) For me, just not talking.

Rewatching something on lecture capture and the lecturer is like, 'actually, I don't understand any of this either.'

Mum's back

My mum is back!

I'm going to gain so much weight this holiday.

I don't want to know.

I just want to go back to uni where I can eat better and properly cut food out of my life.

Like here, it's like, I won't eat chips. But if someone shoves chips in my face, then I will eat all of them, even if I am full. Even if I know it is bad.

I need to be in an environment where there is no bad food anywhere.

I keep saying, oh, I will eat less calories tomorrow. I'll be good. I'll resist temptation. But then the next day, it is like shit. Damn it. Because the problem is, other people by junk food and I eat it because I am an idiot.

I just want to go back to uni where I can eat better.

A couple of weeks ago, at the foodbank, my brother discovered that there was a small group of people bitching about everyone. They got pissed. 

One of the girls sort of isolated herself for a bit and everyone was going on about, wow, she's such a b****. She's so two faced. She comes today and my sister is talking to her like they are best mates. Like of course, I didn't want them to argue, but exactly the same thing that they were getting annoyed at her for doing. I think it is better to actually address the problem - like say, why did you say those things - as opposed to both sides being so two faced and chatting shit behind others back but being best friends together. I'm sorry. I was so annoyed by how superficial it was. My sister's boyfriend - who was also commented about by the girl - just ignored her. I mean, it is getting no where with solving the problem, but at least he's not pretending to like her then saying stuff. 

Hello, 

I absolutely love mornings. 

At the beginning of term two, my eating patterns got really bad and so I went to a mental health drop-in session. I was nervous at first, but the lady was very nice. She laughed a lot and she smiled. So, yeah. That was alright and she gave me links for self-help stuff. I looked briefly at it but didn't use them because one said 'eating disorder' help booklet and I thought, I am fine. Perfectly fine! 

There is a point, I promise. I am getting to it. 

I ended up going to counselling and I had two sessions and each time I felt bad because I thought I was wasting the lady's time. My last appointment was last week Tuesday and the lady was like I could book another appointment or finish there and I opted for somewhere in the middle. Not booking another appointment, but seeing how things goes and calling up if I feel I need to. 

I have started to think about it. Last term wasn't great. I didn't feel like myself. Like, I wasn't the sort of happy person I usually am. I was tired and confused.

I feel like, with all the counselling, I was focusing on negatives. I was focusing on what has went wrong and those thoughts permeated into everyday, so in a way I was sort of trapped in the past for a lot of last term. Then, there is the who J situation when I just felt like shit, because I was letting him down, but if I am honest, he wasn't my responsibility and he put so much on me even though professional help was avaliable. Then, there is my mum going to Nigeria and having to pop home and look after people. So, yeah. I was focusing on the negatives and what didn't help was that when I talked to people (i.e counselling and my personal tutor), they looked at me like, that is so sad. Like, they could see right through me and like it was okay to not be happy. Because then it sort of made it okay for me not to be alright, if that makes sense. 

So, yeah. My point is, I spent so much time focusing on negatives. 

I realised this when Hayat emailed me and asked me to state good things that had happened and though many good things have happened, I couldn't think about any.

And so, I decided that I'd write a list of positive things that have happened this term. Recently, it has been helping.

Because, okay, fine, life may suck sometimes, but there are great things and the happy times has always been my pillow when stuff gets hard. The simple happy moments of every day are what I am living for. It is what makes all the crap feel worth it. 

And yesterday,  I looked back at the links that the lady gave me and there is this positive psychology practise link which I will use. 

I've decided that I will try be kinder to myself. That I want to reach a place where I love myself unconditionally. Because then, eating too much or too little, and gaining and losing weight won't matter. Then, I won't believe that I should take shit from people. Then, I will put myself first. 

And ending with a quote I saw in a book many years ago: When I love myself enough, I learnt to care about my own needs and not call it selfish. 

By the way, a certain person is not talking to me because we kicked him out of the contract. 

Basically, Friday evening was not good at all. 

He posted that he was dying on the accommodation and went on staying stuff like that. Half the flat had seen and were stood in the corridor like what the f? I was on the phone with him - as he wasn't on campus - frantically trying to find out where he was. We'd called security and the residential life tutor and they were trying to track him down and enter his room. 

He was really horrible. I get that he was drunk and suicidal but like, he sort of just took it out on me, saying mean stuff and talking to me like I was stupid and like, shut up Linda. He was telling me that no one loved him and that I was just saying the 'right' things and I didn't actually believe it. 

And I felt like absolute shit. This is bad. I know it is, but we were hoping that the university withdrawals him because he's obviously not in a good state to study if every other week, he's going to message someone saying he's suicidal. Especially considering that we told him that it has a bad impact on people and it's only encouraged him. They were on the verge of considering it because he sent messages of this nature to two more flatmates the weeks earlier and now they were like, he's sort of crossed the line because instead of endangering the mental health of two people, it was now four. (Yes, because two people is most definitely fine!) 

Luckily on the night, we had lot of support from each other. A was like, let's do something fun, so we proceeded to make banana bread as a group and stayed up really late. 

He came back during that and acted like nothing happened. He came into the kitchen and I offered him banana bread and he threw it in the bin and stormed out - presumably, as he wasn't getting much attention from us. None of us knew what to do If we should ask him if he is okay or leave him be so we all pretended that the heavy tension in the air wasn't there.

The next day was better. I made jallof rice nd chicken for my flat mates someone else made french toast and someone else made cake and we shared it all together. We played games on until the night and pretended that nothing happened the day before. We tried to integrate J, bur he ate our food and didn't join the games.

The next day, we talked to our subwarden and told her how we should go about leaving the contract and after the meeting, we told him. We said living with him just isn't a possibility and that it is not a healthy living situation and he agreed to leave the contract but he was hurt and asked us why we didn't tell him we were considering leaving because he would have fixed up.

He's not talking to us now. Feel like shit, but this is potentially the best decision i have made recently, so short term feeling like shit is better than having a shitty year next year because of living with him. 

Tonight was just so messed up and I don't even know. 

The day started off really well. I have started to organise my time and think a bit revision and I started a bit of revision. After my lecture, I started drawing and watched Letter's to Juliet, which is absolutely brilliant. 

Then I went to the kitchen and J and one of my other flatmates were there and we talked. I told them I was watching a movie and J got up and asked said we should do something and I was like, yeah, I am going to sleep and he was like, I was going to follow you. Is that alright. I thought, crap. I am supposed to be more firm with him. It's my room and there is no way he is allowed in if I don't want him in. But I failed miserably. I said, sure. Come. Then I spent my time drawing and ignoring him. He told me he felt really happy. 

This evening he went partying. 

And at some point, someone is like, Linda, check the Facebook group and there are messages from him. 'Please help.' 'I'm gonna die.' Stuff like that. He wasn't at uni so we told him to come back and he was like, no, because he didn't want us to call security again. He proceeds to say stuff about how he will die tonight and how he will take his own life. I run to call Alicia. I'd lost my phone and we needed to call our subwarden asap. Crowded around her door were half the flat, all scared for his life. 

I called him and tried to get him to stay on the phone with me. It was awful Bob. It really was. Becausse he's saying stuff like, going to kill myself then swearing at me and telling me of course he's not going to do anything because he's scared and obviously he would have done something already. (I.e. talking to me like stop being stupid Linda). He was telling me no body loved him. That all just found him a burden and that everyone will treat him weirdly when he returns and that he's a mess and there is no getting back.  Then he's getting angry at me for calling. Sort of inferring I should piss off and then apologising. He was just so aggressive and mean and he was a mess. Half the flat just could not sleep because they were worried about him. Then, after a while. he's like, it's okay guys. Sort of brushing it off like it is a joke or not a problem and he sends us a picture of him smoking on the group chat. 

And I don't know how to feel. 

I was pissed at him. I was pissed at myself. I felt confused. Annoyed. I just wanted to punch something. 

I don't know. I can't do this. I refuse to live with him next year. 

Hey, well today was the first time I ever fainted. It was... interesting.

I was coming back from Alicia's room and I reached my door and shut my left baby finger on the door.

I was like, "shit" and Marianna heard and took me to her kitchen to put ice on my finger.

I became really dizzy and thought, I need to make it back up to my room so I told them I was fine and attempted to leave.

Then THUD! Or, what I assumed happened. I completely zoned out and then, I found myself on the floor and was like wtf.

My flatmates were really lovely trying to make sure I was okay and so I am going to get them chocolate tomorrow.

It wasn't even a bad experience, persay. My finger hurts - yes - but we joked around a lot. Like, I was on the floor and they were asking how is life and i was like yeah good. And they were all telling me their faint stories and I was happy that it's my left finger and not my right because I can right. So yeah, they're positives in everything.

In fact, I'm feeling happier than I have most of the day. So yeah. I guess sometimes, when something not so great happens, it reminds you that you have people who will care about you. And also that things could be worse, so yeah, I'm happy.

Volunteering

I did some volunteering last week. It was for a community centre and I was helping out with a community youth disco. So I took the opportunity and made this! :) 

 We had cake and icing left over. So I brought them back home for my flatmates and they decorated these cakes. I was so happy! :)

I've got a tonne of work! :o

It's really not the right time to be going home for the weekend.

I feel motivated. I am enjoying the work so it is worth doing.

Support

I had a meeting with my personal tutor the yesterday. She is so lovely.

The other week, I told her about how my mum going Nigeria is worrying me because I won't be around to look after them.

Then she was like, maybe you should book a counselling appointment and talk through things?

At which point, I told her, I have already seeing as my eating hasn't been great so she was like, come yesterday.

I did and I  was soooo nervous.

She told me that I didn't have to tell her anything and that whatever I said would be confidential.

Then she asked about J. And I told her briefly what happened and she was like, I give out the sort of vibes that I am a nice caring person and that I should perhaps be a cow to people so I don't have to be in such a position.

Then she was like, I need to look after myself and asked me if I am used to putting people before me at home.

Then she asked about counselling and I said, yeah, I have an appointment today and she was like, that's great and I said, no, it's not because I wanted to cancel it really but I didn't. Then she told me she is really proud of me. And I thought, but I haven't done anything. She then said something about it being courageous about asking for help when you need it. Then she told me I was scared and that she could tell by my body language because I sort of made myself smaller and I thought, damn it, I didn't know she could read body language as well as facial expressions.

Then she was like, if she'd known, she would have made sure she was free so that she could come with me for my appointment so I have support. And I was thinking, oh my gosh, that is so sweet and so I laughed and told her thanks but I'd rather do this alone and then she laughed because she was like, I am the sort of person who would be happy to help other people and who would offer the same to someone if I were in her position but that I wouldn't.






I feel a bit better with eating hence wanting to cancel the appointment.

However, I cannot guarantee that it won't get worse. I guess, sometimes dealing with something early may make sure it doesn't get worse.

Then I thought, but is this really dealing with it early? My eating habits have never exactly been good. I mean, I wouldn't be overweight if they were. I wouldn't feel so powerless with food. Maybe, if I talk about my eating and deal with it now, I'll get to a place where I am not over or under eating. Where I am not worrying about calories. Where I don't feel like people will judge me.

I didn't cancel my counselling appointment.

It was... it was a little intense. The lady kept probing me. She asked me when my eating habits have been at it's worse. She asked about home and what that is like. She asked if I felt like people are judging me for my eating because I feel like they feel like I am eating too much. She asked about my families eating habit and asked about bullying and if I feel me being overweight is subjective or objective or both. I felt so exposed. Then she told me I am resilient and I laughed and she asked if I believed her and I said no because I feel like, I am constantly a mess and then not a mess and how is that resilient? Then she said that the mess I am talking about is just sort of reacting to stuff that have been tough and that it's fine to sort of be a mess when things aren't going alright.

So yeah, it was intense. In a good way, I guess.

I have another apppointment in a months time and yeah, I'll see how that goes.

The hall way party

The other day, I was talking to M. I told her that she should come out of her room some time and talk to Alicia and I when we have a hallway party.

I went down to Alicia's room today - I was so tired and I could not continue doing my essay. I went to the kitchen and R gave me an apple. I was standing outside Alicia's room and we were talking. Then, R came out of the kitchen and I told her to come join us which she did. Then, I called M and L out of their rooms and so we stood there talking.

Then, I asked them how their days was and Alicia was like, should we go around the circle and so we did and we clapped about everyone's milestones. For instance, R did a test and felt happy after.

Then, I was like, lets go around the circle and talk about three things that made us happy today. L was like, what? Three is so many! So we settled for at least one.

After, I was like, I had to do this task after my positive psychology lecture for a week. That the task in theory should make us feel happier. Then I told them that it is important to look at the happy things in life because then you're focused on happiness.

And with that, I bid them goodnight and commented about how it was a deep and good way to end a hall way party. :)

This weekend was emotionally and mentally draining.

Though it was productive as well. :)

Some people are absolute idiots.

http://www.damnlol.com/more-like-thursday-addams-am-i-right-98835.html

I found his hilarious!

Update

I'm feeling better in terms of food.

I'm sort of only counting calories roughly now.

I'm eating enough so that I don't have energy dips but not so much so I still end up losing a bit of weight.

Also, I am eating around other people when I absolutely have to.

:)

Life

Life is difficult and I'm going to hide out in my room forever and never leave. I'm hiding from one of my flatmates. He's on the floor below (so I can avoid) but in the same kitchen (so I'll have to starve).

I'll get a lot of work done! :)

(It's not that bad, just that shit happens when you're honest because even though people ask for honesty and expect it, they don't actually want it so when you tell someone the truth, they get upset and you feel like crap for telling the truth and wish you hadn't even though it was important).

Mulan

Hey

First time I watched Mulan and it was amazing.

I absolutely loved it.It is officially my favourite Disney film over the Lion King.

In response to your post

I'm no better with updating. Today, I've posted three (soon to be four) but I probably won't post for the next year! Alright, that is an exaggeration... but yeah.

I'm proud of you. :) Happy that you're doing so well! Your hard work is paying off.

Wow, that sounds really long and stressful. Hang in there! :)

It's a bit funny because I went Sufra today and my daughter's mum was looking at me and she was like, Linda, you've lost weight. What's happening? Are you eating properly? And I said yes of course I am eating properly. Tobi asked the same thing too and I was like... maybe??? And she was like, what do you mean? So I told her and she said I was being stupid and I agreed and I told her not to tell anyone and she told me to make sure I eat properly from now on.


I came back home, and filled in the fridge and table was all the food I've been avoiding for weeks. Orange juice, garlic bread, apple pies, white bread, butter, meat, speedy burgers, pizza, cake, biscuits and sweets and I was just there like, crap, these people are trying to poison me. I am going to gain so much weight over the weekend. And we're going Nandos and IKEA tomorrow so I will need to go on a jog.

I feel better in terms of food at the moment. I am still counting calories (and I may have got a kitchen scale to weigh my food so I can calculate calories more precisely) but I now have breakfast with Alicia and I am eating healthier than home. I booked a counselling session which is on the 24th February and I spoke to my subwarden about it, because I want to cancel it because I don't think I need help, but she was like, it isn't necessarily for people who have problems, and it can help tackle a problem before it gets worse and I have nothing to lose. I can just go to the one and never go again so I reckon, if things get better, I'll abandon it but if it doesn't then I'll stick to it.

(I am so sorry, I feel like I am just focusing on me, me, me.)

I can't wait to hear your voice. :)

As for J.... Yes... A certain someone may have messaged me expressing some very worrying thoughts that meant that I couldn't go to sleep, but had to spend an hour, hugging him as he cried... I'll let you figure out the horrible and worrying nature of those thoughts I'd prefer to tell you the story through text or call as opposed to through my blog.


Love you lots and lots :) I am so glad I have you in my life!!!

The hell getting home

Before I even got home, my mum was shouting. I was so annoyed. 

My dad said he's pick me up outside the station and so I waited and 15 minutes later, he still wasn't there. 

I called my mum and she was like, try the JD sports car park and so I did. 

He wasn't there. 

I was surprised. It is so unlike my dad to let me down or to be unreliable. 

I walked back to Wembley Stadium Station and then realised. 

What if dad thought he was supposed to meet me at Wembley Park. 

That would be plausible even though I've pointed out to both of them that I always come back through Wembley Stadium station.

So I call my mum and she is shouting. Shouting at how stupid my dad is for not taking his phone and shouting at me telling me she is fed up with me and that I was being stupid and that I shouldn't have told her I was coming back at Wembley Park if I was coming back at Wembley Stadium station. 

So I am there outside outlet, shouting into my phone that I am not stupid to MISTAKE where I am coming back and that she just didn't ask and when I tried to say, she cut off and I forgot. I was trying to tell her - not that she listened - that I was the one who had the right to be angry seeing as I had walked to and back several times with luggage. My hands, freezing. (I checked on Google and it was two miles. I walked 2 bloody miles). Dad had a right to be angry, waiting over an hour. But mum, who was at home, not cold and perpetually waiting, didn't have it too bad. 

I swear, I just wanted to turn back and go to Warwick because damn it. 

I went Wembley Park. There was my dad, reliable as ever. Just simply a victim of miscommunication. 

Contactless

Oh, yeah, these fools from Santander.

I lose my card. So what do they do?

Replace it with a contactless card.

Do they want someone to steal my card and spend all my money?

I called them to replace a lost card and they give me one that is easier to lose!

Home coming

Bonjour mes amis,

That is the extent of all the french I know.

I now some more. But it is really pitiful considering that I took French for GCSE.

Ah well, C'est la vie.


I came back home today.


I lost my card on Monday. I am an idiot. I left it in the card machine in Tesco and I couldn't go back because I realised the next day before my lecture.

I realised midway through my lecture that I needed to have my card to print off my tickets. I went to Leamington Station anyway - hoped that they would let me get my ticket anyway. However, apparently, I couldn't use my ticket. I was so annoyed.


The man was like I could buy another ticket for twenty pounds - money I didn't have. I only had a tenner! I was so annoyed and gutted. I just had to get home!

So I approached a stranger and asked for ten pounds and told her I'd give it back to her through online banking straight away but she was like no, it's fine.

I got on a train two minutes later.






On the train, I sat opposite a lady who was sleeping. I smiled at her and then avoided looking at her. I then brought out my work and did that for a while.

At High Wycombe, I asked her where the train was terminating seeing as I had no idea. And She said, London Marylebone and I said thank you.

Then we started to talk and didn't stop for the whole journey.

She asked what degree I did and when I said Psychology, she told me she was a mental health advocate and she told me about her job and how to get work experience. We talked about her daughter who wants to go London for uni next year and she told me about how she was going to the theatre for the evening with her boyfriend and she said she had only one child and that she was 43 and I told her she didn't look it.


And then at three, I arrived, back in Wembley. :)

Au revoir.

James and I sat in my room talking for an hour forty-five minutes and it was pretty cool. He talked more than usual and we both enjoyed each other's company. It feels like we're friends. We are friends but it's just that it hasn't felt like that for a while. I feel like instead of hiding out and doing work in the library, I can stay in my room and I won't be distracted.

Hello

I thought I'd update you.

At uni, there is a wellbeing service and they have half an hour drop-ins every other weekend.

I decided that perhaps I should go to one and talk about my eating. That perhaps they could outline a strategy.


It was a bit scary because I don't like labels and I wasn't seeking like a diagnosis or something. It was more just, I do not want things to get any worse than it is and so may as well try and tackle is at as soon as possible.



It was really funny really. Before the session I was sooo nervous and I felt like either crying or leaving. Then when I went in the room, all I could focus on was her green hair. At one point, she asked me how my friends would describe me and I said definitely talkative and that they would say that I laugh a lot. At which point, she laughed and said she laughs some times when she feels nervous and I was like, yep, I know that feeling then she said my laugh was contagious.

She suggested that I try counselling (which I am not too keen on) or maybe IAPT (which is going through therapy through GP).

Alternatively, she suggested I try some self-help (which I was more keen on).

She sent me links for positive psychology strategies (which she thinks may help me to focus on something other than food). I've briefly looked through the practices and they seem rather character building in general, like the sort of thing people should do regardless so here's a link if you want to take a look : http://ggia.berkeley.edu/#filters=featured

Also, she sent me links to an eating disorder work booklet (which sort of scared me because eating disorder? She didn't say, but like I was worried).

I think I'll try the self-help.

I don't think I have an eating disorder and even if I did, I am happy with life. Therapy and counselling is for unhappy people. I'll only be wasting their time.


Though on the other hand, I thought, but like my eating has never been great. I have never felt in control with my eating or weight. I was obese when I was 10 (according to my BMI). Until recently, I have never been able to tell whether I am full or not, If I am honest. Before I started uni, I struggled when it came to trying to go three hours (or longer) without food. The only times I did was when I went out somewhere.

 And whilst now, I finally feel like I have control, it's become rather obsessive. I am eating healthily which is great but it doesn't feel great. Will I ever be in a place where eating and food isn't a problem?Hopefully. We'll see.

By the way, this post was really hard to write.

Love you.

My day today because why not?

Hello world,

Today has been a really good day. 

One of my lecturers - the one who gives a lot of eye contact to the first row - had the 'man flu.' It was rather funny because he looked out into the crowd for sympathy and realised that there pretty much only females. 

My second lecture was given by my personal tutor. My friend - who usually never turns up - had to today because she thought that Liz would notice her absence and 'kill her'. Some lectures are really entertaining because the lecturer keeps spitting out jokes, left right and centre whilst the content is not at all as riveting or stimulating as the lecturer intended. I had this problem learning about free will (because philosophy, despite being entwined with psychology, doesn't interest me much). Some lecturers are really informative with the absence of jokes. Only one lecture has failed on both accounts (learning about gestures - I cried mentally. I was soooo bored!). I appreciate that it is really hard for lecturers to do both, so I usually just care about whether I found the topic interesting or not (seeing as I am there to learn). 

However, Liz's lecture was like watching a comedian and also learning something interesting. We learnt about empathy. She started off the lecture not so subtly hinting about how neither Brexit or Trump's presidency was pleasing (I knew what she was getting at seeing as yesterday during a tutorial, she called him a slimy man, upon talking about the lack of empathy and the division in our current society, it wasn't hard to get at). Then she went on to blatantly make comments. 

Apparently, there are eight types of empathy. Knowing what someone else is feeling (knowing is rather debatable because can you know someone's feelings even if you're really close?) There is imitation because apparently crossing your arms when someone else does or laughing hysterically when someone else does is empathy. There is emotional contagion where one person has an emotion and it's spread proceeds like a snowball effect witnessed in situations such as mass panic. There is attributing or trying to have an abstract idea of feelings of characters or inanimate objects (which I do when I write fanfiction and you probably do when you think, hmmm, that is a cool tree, I wonder what it is feeling?) There is one in which you lose yourself completely in the pursuit of trying to empathise. There is empathy where you feel distressed thinking of someone's emotions. I realise now I probably haven't stated eight. (I don't think I can remember all of them). 

It was also a good day as my friend bought me some pasta her mum made and another gave me a 20 pounds Nandos voucher as a belated Christmas present. Also, I took part in an experiment where I had to play Solitaire - love that game! - for eight minutes whilst hooked up to a sweat detector and I got paid 5 pounds. 

On top of this and most importantly, J went to the GP and he's been giving medication. It has a lot of side effects and there is a possibility that for the first week, he may exhibit suicidal behaviours because of the drug (scary!) so he asked me and A to monitor him and to flag up anything if he is behaving weirdly. It apparently takes two weeks for the medication to work. He's happy, though. I have never seen him happier. I hope hope hope that the medication works and that he is on the road to recovery. 

At nine I am going to basketball for beginners. :)

I named the dinosaur Phoenix Peppergrinder and I'm unsure of gender. 

Love you Bob xxx :) 

(PS I would have snapchatted you, but I haven't got the app). 

Life is hard but you have to deal with it.

I know that I should NEVER go to a store when I am hungry.

I  know I should NEVER go down the confectionary aisle on a period because you feel entitled to eating junk just because mother nature is being a b****.

Guess what I did today?

Difficult conversations

Today, A and I went to see the subwarden for our accommodation.

We had reached the stage where we were regretting our decision to live with J. We literally have to tip toe around because if he catches wind that we are together or that A has left her room, he sort of tries to find us.

With A, she feels bad and always has to sit with him during lectures and as a result, she's not been able to make more friends. It sucks in the respect that she is trying to introduce him to people but he doesn't make an effort meaning that she is feels obliged to look after him.

With me, I feel like I am guilt-tripped into spending time with him, the way he messages me. It is the 'oh, don't worry about me, I'll be fine,'s and the sad faces when I haven't got time.

Friendship shouldn't feel like an obligation.

We know he has a mental illness. We know that it's not a choice or a preference - if it were, who would choose to go through such agony?



Our accommodation warden told us to talk to him. To tell him that he was putting so much on us. To tell him that we aren't trained and that he should seek help from elsewhere whilst still sort of saying that he should come and talk to us because obviously, it is good that he's talking about his problems. She told us to tell him that me and A need time alone and that we aren't trying to exclude him. We were also told to say that it was be helpful if he told us what we could do to help as opposed to just sat there.

And she told us she knew it would be a difficult conversation but that it was necessary.

I felt like laughing all the conversations are difficult.

Telling him he should seek help.

Telling him to text me and not knock on my door.

Responding to him when he's sort of guilt tripping me.

It's all difficult. What's one more difficult, honest, conversation?



We talked to him as soon as we had the meeting.

We tried to skirt around the topic - he thought we were just going on a walk.

We were five minutes in and A and I were both so nervous and unsure of what to say and so I was like, we need to talk to you.

AT which point, we figured out that we had no idea how to articulate our points, so it came out as waffly nonsense.

But he understood and he appreciated our honesty.



I guess now we wait and see what happens.

A was super happy about things. I should have been but I felt like hiding away in my room and never dealing with human interaction because it was a good response, yes, but I still felt so tense.

(But half an hour later, I was perfectly fine, running through the corridor with A on my back).