Mr North Carolina twitter friend, Dave Munger, wrote a post (on his great blog) about his trying to get his blood pressure down. His post made me realize that we in the eating disorder realm have much to share with non eating disordered folk who want to be more healthy.

We who deal with eating disorders come to learn that will power is not the answer.  Here's what I wrote Dave.  Maybe you have more to add.

Dear Dave,

Let your whole body go up in a hot air balloon over Krakatoa, but bring your blood pressure down.

First, instead of thinking about deprivation – those sausage and cheese pizzas don’t have to be seductive. Really. Give yourself a chance to get used to foods that help your body.

Make sure you get enough fish oil, vitamin D and vitamin A. These are often neglected when looking a nutrition. And above all, make sure you get eight hours of sleep every night.

The sleep is critical. If you are sleep deprived, you may have to put in a few 10 hour or more nights of sleep before you reach a normal equilibrium. Once you reach that point you can sleep eight hours and be refreshed.

Part of reaching for high carb foods is a misinterpreted energy need signal. You reach for that pizze because your body wants to be more energetic. What your body really needs is sleep.

Once you are in a routine of giving yourself genuinely nourishing food minus toxins and genuinely restorative sleep every night you will find that the pizza and all the rest of the junk food doesn’t look so appealing.

Also, go rescue a dog from a shelter and walk it every day. The rescue aspect works both ways!

You both get a longer and higher quality life. And a little more love in your life helps too!

Writers tip: After you’ve been writing for a while at the computer and need to get up, do you head for the kitchen? Don’t. Head for your dog and walk him for 15 minutes (more if you can. Your dog will love it. You will surprise yourself at how much you enjoy it. And… trust me on this….your writing will improve!

warm regards from Los Angeles,

Joanna

Do you have more suggestions for Dave from your own experience?  Write in and let us know.