Dear readers of the former "Free of Bulimia" blog,Welcome!
Yes, you are in the right place. No, your search engines didn't make a mistake. The former site has now been "merged" into this one, as I expand my counseling and information ministry to as many women as possible.
MaRisa, the author of the "Free of Bulimia" blog and moderator of the Yahoo forum of the same name (see link to the right) is taking a break after a number of years counseling and encouraging women with her testimony. Like myself, she was set free from a deadly addiction to bulimia by Christ Himself. As she moves on to new endeavors in her life, she has asked me to incorporate the original domain into my own site.
So who am I (Marie)? Like many of you, I am a Christ-follower. At the time of this writing, I am 38 years old, am happily married with 4 children, and work as a Bulgarian<=>English medical and courtroom interpreter in urban Massachusetts. I attend a wonderful Evangelical church, where I co-lead Bible studies and occasionally help out with children's ministry. More to the point, I am a former bulimic who also used to have a drinking problem. For 17 years, I was enslaved to bulimia, which I thought would kill me. In 2003, I began making tentative steps back towards God (I had been a Christian for 13 years at that point) and found Him to be faithful beyond my imagination. You can read my full testimony here.
Within 6 months, I was completely free of the bulimia and never looked back. As I began repenting, I realized that I needed to allow Christ to renew my mind and heart. Once I surrendered my idols of food, thinness, anger and control to Him, He filled me with new desires and joy I had never known. Last year, I began writing a book about gaining victory over bulimia from a Christian perspective: "Redeemed from the Pit: Biblical Repentance and Restoration from the Bondage of Eating Disorders". Hopefully, it will be published in early 2010 (most likely by Bethany Press).
Thank you for stopping by. I hope that you will find some of the resources and insights I share on this site valuable, and I invite you to leave comments.
In Christ,
Marie Notcheva
Thank you for your site. I am realizing I have a problem with food. I am 50 years old, and no matter how much I exercise or how much weight I lose I feel fat. I am now seeing this has been a pattern through most of my life. I weigh 105 pounds, yet when people look at me in public my first thought is, "They are thinking about how fat I am." I am very social and love spending time with friends, but when food is involved I panic. I am constantly thinking about calories and cannot allow myself to eat anything fatty. I am tired of being trapped. How do I change the way I think? Is it possible or do I just have to live with this?
ReplyDeleteHi Anon,
ReplyDeleteIt is possible to change the way you think...I used to be the same way, and compulsively counted calories in every meal. If the tally went over a certain (arbitrary) amount, I would purge it. This pattern went on for 17 years.
It was not easy, but I was eventually able to break the habit by realizing weight had become my idol. I myself never pursued counseling, (although I do recommend women seek true, biblical counsel; it can help greatly). For me, I had to continuously turn to God in prayer before, during, and after every meal in order not to let my (ungodly) obsession take over. I had to re-learn how to eat and view my body in a God-honoring way - eating healthy, keeping it down, and focusing on the spiritual things in me that needed to change (which were fueling my outward behavior). This included realizing I had a lot of anger and unforgiveness, and never thinking I was quite good enough (read: thin enough) to be accepted. Of course, this is totally at odds with what the Gospel teaches: God chooses us, redeems us, and declares us good because of Christ.
It doesn't directly relate to eating disorders, but there IS a lesson in there for any addict (I'm using the term 'addict' in its broadest possible sense here - the use of food and obsessive control of your weight could be considered an addiction). We're tryong to fill and satisfy ourselves with something other than what will really satisy - fellowship with God. Once you really surrender and turn from this way of thinking, believe me, He will change your thought patterns (see my article, "Renewing Your Mind", linked in the entry below this one).
You're not going to believe this, but you live about 20 minutes from me, according to my Stat Counter. (I'm in Rutland). Let me know (by e-mail, if you wish) if you'd like to get together - by the way, my church, Heritage Bible Chapel in Princeton, is having a women's fellowship brunch this coming Saturday, Sept. 12th at 9:00. It's to kick off the new Bible study season and meet new ladies; just a fun time of fellowship if you'd care to join us. We could sit together.
Also, we're starting our Wednesday evening Bible study this week, 9/9 at 6:30 pm (studying John Macarthur's Ruth and Esther). It would be great to meet you.
Initially, take it one meal at a time, and seek God. He is faithful and if you truly want to be free of this mindset, He will help you.
I am a youth pastor in the area, and love your church! I want to keep this confidential.....it is a secret battle I have fought for years....yet my desire to move on has me excited to meet you. Thank you.....I prayed about how to find help and landed on your site.
ReplyDeleteI cannot find your email address.
ReplyDeleteover on the right - marie4thtimemom@yahoo.com.
ReplyDeleteI should probably make it more obvious - I have so much junk (good junk though) over there it's hard to find anything.
Love your site Marie, can't wait to see how much God is going to touch the lives of those He brings here and the power of His Word to set the captives free.. it is true, very real and we can believe it and trust as Christ has set us free too.
ReplyDeleteI am so thankful to have stumbled upon your blog. I am struggling with bulimia and always in constant search of support and other's insight. I am so thankful to read about your success and your strong faith. I truly believe is the only way to endure recovery.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful that you are here! Stay close to Christ and no matter how many times you mess up and fall back into the habit, don't stay there. He rejoices when you turn to Him for forgiveness and strength, and you really can leave this life and obsession behind! It takes time and tenacity, but you will get there holding His hand.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting! :)