“A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking because her trust is not on the branch, but on its own wings.” ~Unknown “Hey Smiley!” “So many pictures of you smiling on Facebook!” “You seem so happy.” I remember hearing these comments in the spring of 2015—so different from the comments ..read more

If a school or organization is afraid to include the topic of eating disorders on its agenda because they believe it will cause eating disorders, or because they do not have in-house expertise to know how to approach this topic, they would be well-served to connect with an eating disorder professional to better understand how to move forward. By choosing not to address it, they are choosing to perpetuate the silence, keep the topic taboo, and keep the students uninformed. However, students will never be unexposed to eating disorder triggers. And some students are vulnerable and predisposed. A ..read more

I met Melanie Brender when raced together on a team for Michigan at the Mideast Cross Country Championships at the end of our senior cross country seasons. Melanie and I stayed connected over social media ever since, and when I began posting for this blog, she was extremely supportive the entire way. Melanie has had ..read more