Freedom to Choose

There are slips and falls as fears of ED reemerge. It’s official: Gluten-free has to go - all products are banned and disposed of in our home. There has to be a conscious decision on Lauren’s part also, to eradicate it. As Costin as Grabb state: “Until you recover from your ED, such rigid extremes have no place in your life and will continue to keep you in an unhealthy, good versus bad food mindset." Even Forbes magazine ran an article recently titled What We’re (Not) Eating: A Potential Danger of Gluten-Free, which states that gluten-free is the “perfect cover” for an eating disorder. A spokesperson from the Renfrew Center agrees that gluten is the latest fad that allows disordered eating to go undetected. It’s a slippery slope as a restriction leads to a restriction until the list of forbidden foods is longer than those that are allowed.

We accept the notion that an ED is nobody’s fault. However, surely there must come a point when the person with the illness has to be held accountable for choices they make? The reality is that life decisions determine outcomes. We provide the information, the support, (coercion?), and encouragement. But ultimately, she is the driver of the bus. She has to keep going - maybe lose her way here and there. But eventually she will reach the light at the end of the tunnel, which flickers and continues to lure her out of the darkness and into the precious light of freedom.