A Mask? More perpetuating eating disorder and body image issues?

I saw this and immediately thought “triggering.” After all, how many of us with disordered eating issues have shame/guilt/fear of eating in front of others? The article below reminds us we still have unhealthy ideas about what is attractive. “Too embarrassed to eat a burger? Japanese restaurant invents a mask to hide women’s faces as they scoff… and sees sales triple” By Simon Tomlinson

For a nation that prides itself on having impeccable table manners, gorging on a juicy burger can prove more than a little tricky when it comes to maintaining your decorum. So much so, in fact, that one Japanese fast food chain found that sales were flagging because women had been avoiding the cultural faux pas of showing their open mouths in public. In Japan, it is regarded as attractive to have what's known as 'Ochobo' - a small and modest mouth - whereas doing the opposite is frowned upon as rude an ugly.

Now Freshness Burger has come up with simple solution to free women from the 'spell of Ochobo' - and sales have gone through the roof. The Liberation Wrapper is a paper 'napkin' which holds the burger and covers the mouth with a picture of a polite smile as you take a bite. According to Dentsu East Japan, the company hired to come up with The Liberation Wrapper: 'Their (Freshness Burger) largest and best-tasting Classic Burger was amongst the least chosen by their female customers. 'One of the major reasons seems to relate to Japanese manner.... It is good manner to cover their mouth when they have to largely open up their mouth. 'Our female customers had a frustration of not being able to do it. 'Freshness Burger decided to challenge convention, freeing women from the spell of Ochobo mouth'. The company said sales have soared 213 per cent in just one month since introducing it.

This Excruciating Business of Food (And God's Hope Concerning It) In CIR...

This Excruciating Business of Food (And God's Hope Concerning It), featured in the November 7th issue of Christians In Recovery, looks at the how loved ones can support the eating disorder sufferer, while promoting healthy recovery.

Not overnight

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Lady Gaga: Again, the Vague “Right Weight” Question...

Recently, Lady Gaga has made waves about body image and her struggles with eating disorders in the latest Glamour magazine. “I always have been [conflicted about my body]," And some days are better than others, you know? Some days I feel fantastic. Today’s good. [But] at the end of the day, I’m a tortured soul." Known as quite the visual recording artist, we’ve seen some of her creations: the meat dress, the alien egg and the Joan of Arc look. But regardless of how many artistic visual expressions she puts out there, insecurity is still a painful reality. Like a lot of us out there, struggling with eating disorders, Lady Gaga was once bullied. And you just need to look at your nearest gossip magazine to read how she’s scrutinized. Last summer, tongues went wagging as she did, supposedly, the most outrageous thing: she gained twenty-five pounds. Here, in my head, is where I hear the phrase, “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” It was a few years again, when I heard rumblings she was “too thin,” perhaps even anorexic. It got me thinking, for Lady Gaga, what’s message? What exactly IS that “right weight?” Aren’t we still, celebrity by celebrity, person by person, demanding a “right (perfect) weight” standard which is elusive, impossible to achieve, let alone, maintain? I hear those words not just from my childhood, but for us at large today. It’s a whisper; it’s a scream. It’s a snarky remark. But somewhere, those words linger, don’t they? Again, I trot out good ole’ Song of Solomon 2:14… “O my dove…let me see your form…for your form is lovely.” Form. Whatever it is, whatever size and shape it is. God is not confining it to a limited definition. Why are we? Words are powerful, healing or deadly because they are ideas. And, whether or not “right weight” is audible, its message and influence are still strong. We have the idea there is such a thing as “right weight” and we spend our entire lives chasing it and even, perhaps, hating ourselves. This was not what God created our forms to be. Copyright © 2013 by Sheryle Cruse

It's not always a straight line...

God says there's hope; believe Him!

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11