Eating Disorder Recovery and The Highland Games

As you know, I attend an alcoholics anonymous group and one thing I often hear people say is that they are proud that they are alcoholic. They are proud, because they have worked the twelve steps and so have become a better person. I was thinking about this on my home from group and I realized that although I am not an alcoholic, I am proud that I am an eating disordered person in recovery. Being an eating disordered person in recovery means that I listen to my body and I do not diet. It means that I am learning to trust my body and to give it what it needs. I know the value of good nutrition, moderate exercise, and meditation. I do not compulsively weigh myself or count calories and fat grams. In short, I am no longer a slave to the diet industry or the eating disorder monster in my head.

While I try to eat healthily most of the time, there are, of course, times when I cannot. One of these such times was at the Highland Games at Stone Mountain last October. The Highland Games are a Scottish heritage festival with competitive outdoor games, traditional music and dancing, vendors and food. People come dressed in kilts and other traditional garb and hang out with other members of their clan. My boyfriend, Charlie, belongs to the MacLeod clan. He has attended the Highland Games all of his life and so the Games have a very special place in his heart. I was excited to be able to share this special event with him, as I had only been one time before. Funnily enough, I found out that I am also a MacLeod! The MacLeod tartan is bright yellow, so we're called, "The Loud MacLeod!"

While there, Charlie insisted that I try the traditional food, which is all fried. Fried food used to be a huge fear of mine and I did catch myself say to him, "Oh, this is scary!" but I was mainly joking. In reality, I didn't freak out at all, but tried a meat pie,


a bridie,
and a sausage roll.
They look different, but they're all basically the same: a flaky pastry filled with the same lightly spiced ground beef.

They were pretty good, although I'll probably get just one next year... After all the fried beef, I needed some vegetables, so I had a bloody mary.It was the best I could do... Then I helped Charlie pour drinks at the hospitality tent, which was fun. I liked chatting with the people there, while occassionally sneaking a drink. I also ended up taking two trash bags full of bottles home to recycle.

I enjoyed myself and I am sure I will be going to the Highland Games for many years to come. I am also proud of my recovery. Hopefully, next year I won't even feel the need to joke about being scared of the food, because next year I am going to try another not-so-healthy Scottish food-a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage. I'll admit, to me it sounds gross, but everyone claims it's really good. Read my blog a year from now to find out my reaction! (Let's hope I think it's tasty...)