Combating the Calories on Menus and Labels

My name is Frankie I am 14 years old and I have an eating disorder.

When I finally admitted I needed help and was formally diagnosed the world became a really scary place. I suddenly developed a new super power. My new power was to zoom in almost instantly on labels of food products the calories the fat content the salt and saturated fats, my eating disorder revelled in my newfound ability and set about practising at any given opportunity. This made starting my journey of recovery almost impossible.

It’s hard to ignore the traffic light system on packaging, most products you don’t even need to search for the information, it’s there centre stage waiting to be seen.

Anything other than green became a big No for me and my ED rejoiced in its new found power , my mum however didn’t have the same appreciation for it. She tried to hide packaging or attempt to stop me from seeing it, but that’s all I could see and would recognise in an instant if there was any other colour than green.

We tried colouring over the packaging or removing it but my ED was too clever for that so we had to find another solution.

Positive affirmations have been a good part of my journey, reminding myself why I need to get better and calming that overwhelming voice constantly screaming for attention.

I decided that I could maybe use this and solve my problem with labels at the same time and that’s how my labels were created.

Instead of seeing the nutritional values or the traffic light system, I see positive affirmations, reminders of the journey I am on and reminding me to keep going.

It’s a very long uphill battle but this one thing has really helped me and mum suggested that it may help others.

I am Frankie
I am 14 years old
I have an eating disorder.