http://blogs.independent.co.uk| Blogs from the Independent newspaper - news, views and features from the world's most free-thinking newspaper| Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:01:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2| en hourly 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/19/beating-anorexia-allowed-to-exercise-my-way-to-a-body-im-proud-of/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/19/beating-anorexia-allowed-to-exercise-my-way-to-a-body-im-proud-of/#comments Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:28:06 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=28510 It sounds dramatic but it wasn’t enough to scare me. It never is when you’re anorexic; you’re invincible, the doctors just don’t know it. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/19/beating-anorexia-allowed-to-exercise-my-way-to-a-body-im-proud-of/feed/ 10 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/31/the-staggering-cost-of-eating-disorders-in-england/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/31/the-staggering-cost-of-eating-disorders-in-england/#comments Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:25:31 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=26947 If ever there was a reason to emphasise the desperate need for early intervention, greater awareness and compulsory education on the subject of eating disorders, this is it.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/31/the-staggering-cost-of-eating-disorders-in-england/feed/ 19 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/09/drunkorexia-a-stupid-name-but-a-serious-problem/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/09/drunkorexia-a-stupid-name-but-a-serious-problem/#comments Mon, 09 Jul 2012 09:00:41 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=26000 “Eatin’s Cheatin’” echoes around the office on a Friday afternoon as women pick over their naked salads and extra extra light low fat Philly on Ryvita. The preparations for ‘Rosé o’clock’ are well under way. They’ll grumble their way through the afternoon and suppress the urge to be ‘naughty’ whenever anyone offers a biscuit, sweet or chocolate.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/09/drunkorexia-a-stupid-name-but-a-serious-problem/feed/ 40 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/21/force-feeding-there-was-a-time-when-i-would-rather-die-than-eat-what-was-on-the-plate-in-front-of-me/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/21/force-feeding-there-was-a-time-when-i-would-rather-die-than-eat-what-was-on-the-plate-in-front-of-me/#comments Thu, 21 Jun 2012 11:19:58 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25538 There was a time when I would rather die than live with the guilt that came after drinking the nutrition substitute that replaced the contents of that plate.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/21/force-feeding-there-was-a-time-when-i-would-rather-die-than-eat-what-was-on-the-plate-in-front-of-me/feed/ 26 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/19/growing-out-of-anorexia/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/19/growing-out-of-anorexia/#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 23:00:30 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=24357 The biggest mistake I ever made was making a connection between achievement and being underweight. Two days ago, I celebrated my 26th birthday. Not a biggie, but on such occasions I often reflect on past events, memories and chunks of time spent or misspent and I’m often faced with difficulty when I think about how much of my life so far has been tarnished by Anorexia and Bulimia. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/19/growing-out-of-anorexia/feed/ 22 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/09/ban-images-of-emaciation-not-airbrushing/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/09/ban-images-of-emaciation-not-airbrushing/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 15:08:06 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=24005 In the Eating Disorder Unit, as we sat around in the lounge, cushions held tight over our swollen, protruding tummies, we were supervised post-meal to make sure we didn't throw up, exercise or make a bid for freedom. The blaring TV would be immediately switched over at the slightest mention of dieting or weightloss, certain staff would rip pages from magazines and websites (even my own blog) were blocked from view. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/09/ban-images-of-emaciation-not-airbrushing/feed/ 9 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/24/any-press-is-good-press-not-when-anorexia%e2%80%99s-involved/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/24/any-press-is-good-press-not-when-anorexia%e2%80%99s-involved/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:00:42 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=23463 Media coverage of eating disorders comes and goes in waves; one minute it's in fashion and the next, every editor in the world is sick to death of it. If one frustratingly and frighteningly successful news site is anything to go by, though, anorexia, or coverage of it, is really hot right now. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/24/any-press-is-good-press-not-when-anorexia%e2%80%99s-involved/feed/ 21 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/27/but-you-dont-look-anorexic/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/27/but-you-dont-look-anorexic/#comments Sun, 27 Nov 2011 01:01:22 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=19077 ‘Anorexia is so much more of as bitch when you don’t look anorexic.’ I tweeted this remark in amongst a rare splurge of personal eating disorder related rantage. Within minutes, I had a stream of comments in response, sharing my outrage that to anybody on the outside is so incomprehensible. It didn’t calm the anxieties I [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/27/but-you-dont-look-anorexic/feed/ 20 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/09/23/anna-rexia-adult-costume-a-strongly-worded-letter/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/09/23/anna-rexia-adult-costume-a-strongly-worded-letter/#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 23:33:21 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=16660 Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to you to complain on behalf of myself and I am sure that I speak for thousands, even millions of others who will be equally shocked and appalled by the 'Anna Rexia Adult Costume'.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/09/23/anna-rexia-adult-costume-a-strongly-worded-letter/feed/ 17 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/09/15/university-and-eating-disorders-a-few-notes-for-freshers/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/09/15/university-and-eating-disorders-a-few-notes-for-freshers/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:32:49 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=16215 Freshers’ Week is looming and new students will be dragging their excited bums around Ikea, packing their lives away, leaving mummy and daddy and will soon find themselves in a room no bigger than a prison cell thinking, “Jesus, this is it”. This time to students is what Leeds Festival is to grubby, post GCSE teens; [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/09/15/university-and-eating-disorders-a-few-notes-for-freshers/feed/ 16 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/06/27/the-urge-to-purge-bulimia-and-addiction/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/06/27/the-urge-to-purge-bulimia-and-addiction/#comments Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:19:41 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=13534 It is disgusting. It is desperate. It is dangerous. You may understand the logic behind Bulimia. A person wishes to eat and not have to deal with the weight gain that comes with that, so they puke. It makes sense. It may even be possible to comprehend why this may become habit, or you may have [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/06/27/the-urge-to-purge-bulimia-and-addiction/feed/ 18 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/05/09/this-picture-can-seriously-damage-your-health/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/05/09/this-picture-can-seriously-damage-your-health/#comments Mon, 09 May 2011 22:47:56 +0000 Ilona Burton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=11964 Our view is that such pictures do not help build a positive understanding of eating disorders in the general public – not least because they perpetuate the mistaken view that eating disorders are only about extreme thinness]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/05/09/this-picture-can-seriously-damage-your-health/feed/ 4