I have mixed feelings about putting adolescents and adults together in treatment. I have been on both sides of the equation (treatment as an adolescent and treatment as an adult), and definitely have a stronger opinion about it now that I’m older.
Pros:

Adolescents can learn a lot from adults who often have been in treatment before and have some more insight into the disorder.
Adults are (hopefully) more mature and less competitive. Eating disorders in general are competitive… and I’ve just found that when you have a large group of …

This is nothing new, but everyone seems to be on some kind of diet.  Or, if they’re not “dieting,” then they are eating purely organic food, or only raw foods, or cutting out all white flour and sugar.  All of this leads me to ask myself — if this kind of eating is “healthy” or “okay” for the rest of the world, why isn’t it okay for me?
I think that the line between healthy and disordered is so fuzzy (grey territory, I’d say).  Eating organic is healthy.  Raw foods are …

For the first 5 years of my treatment, I kept a food log. Yes, I have a record of everything that I ate for 5 years… which is now completely useless, but at the time I thought it was a helpful tool. I counted exchanges (rather than calories), drew pictures to illustrate my days, and wrote any feelings that came up during the day. My therapist and nutritionist would review it every week… which was also useful, since I am really bad about brining up things that …

Half of Americans are dieting these days (not an official statistic) — and I can’t handle being around any of them. That rules out a lot of potential relationships! But really… I don’t handle being around dieting well. I don’t need anyone around me counting calories or skipping meals. Why? Because:
1. I’ve spent enough time in my life counting calories (and want those hours back!
2. It’s triggering
3. I feel guilty for eating more, weighing more, needing more, wanting more, thinking I deserve more, etc
4. Paranoia …