We have 200 car wash tickets (that don't expire)!

Leviana Coccia, Events and Communications Coordinator, holds 200 car wash tickets. If EDOYR sells every single one, we can provide five Stages of Change workshops. Have you gotten yours yet?

Who doesn't love a clean car? The shiny metal glistening on a hot summer day, no bug guts on the windshield, no streaks left behind...I can keep going, but I'll spare you.

I picked up 200 car wash tickets this morning from Richmond Hill Honda for your convenience. These tickets do not expire!

Will you pick up pumpkins in October or a Holiday tree in December? Will your car need a wash in the middle of winter? Will you roll through some mud or a big nasty puddle in the spring?

No matter how your car got dirty, you can use your car wash tickets at Richmond Hill Honda whenever the Service Department is open.

You can come on over to the EDOYR office in Aurora, purchase as many tickets as you'd like and use them at any time. The tickets are five dollars and three from each will benefit EDOYR.

If we sell each of the 200 tickets, we'll be able to provide five Stages of Change workshops: Sessions that explore the possibility of change. Attendees discover where they are in their journey of recovery as they expore the changes they are seeking. The costs and benefits of changing eating disorder behaviours will be presented as well as barriers and healthy coping strategies.

Since everyone loves a car wash, you're all invited to EDOYR's benefit car wash at Richmond Hill Honda where friendly Honda employees will wash your car (and your friends' and family members' cars) in the Service Department! Like those tickets we're selling, a car wash is five dollars and three dollars from each will benefit EDOYR.

E-mail info@edoyr.com or call us at 905 886 6632 for more information.

Get your car wash tickets in ADVANCE!

On Wednesday morning, EDOYR will have advance tickets for our Richmond Hill Honda Car Wash. The car wash is set for Satuday, July 21 from 10am until 1pm.

How to get your tickets early? Just call us at 905 886 6632, e-mail info@edoyr.com or come into our office in Aurora after 10am on July 11.

Each ticket sells for five dollars. Three dollars from each will benefit EDOYR.

The best part? The tickets don't expire. So, if you can't make our car wash on July 21, you can buy the tickets in advance and use them whenever is most convenient for you.

Because car wash tickets are so cheap, it'd be a great idea to get a bunch of them for your friends and family.

Get your tickets tomorrow!

Exceptional support group starts Tuesday July 10

Healing Emotional Eating: Using or Refusing Food to Cope is an exceptional support group facilitated by Marilyn Strauch M.A. (C) OACCPP Psychotherapist. It will take place starting on July 10 for four consecutive Tuesdays from 4:00 to 5:00p.m.

Those with eating disorders may restrict, overeat or emotionally eat in an effort to cope with uncomfortable negative emotions or to reinforce a positive mood. After each episode, there may be increased self-criticism around weight, body image and lack of control, in addition to long term negative physical conditions.

The group will be held at 115 Wertheim Court, Suite 511 in Richmond Hill, located east of West Beaver Creek and North of Hwy 7.

There are four spots left. Register online now.

Healing and Emotional Eating: Using or Refusing Food to Cope

Eating Disorders of York Region has a number of support groups coming up. See below for more information:

EDOYR presents a four week program, Healing and Emotional Eating: Using or Refusing Food to Cope with Marilyn Strauch M.A. (C) OACCPP Psychotherapist. It meets for four Tuesdays starting on July 10 from 4:00 to 5:00pm.

Individuals with eating disorders may restrict, overeat or emotionally eat in an effort to numb out or not deal with uncomfortable negative emotions, or to reinforce a positive mood. Unfortunately, after each episode, there is generally increased self- criticism around weight, body image and lack of control; in addition to long term negative physical conditions

LOCATION: Richmond Hill

115 Wertheim Court, Suite 511

(East off of West Beaver Creek, North of Hwy #7)

You can register for Healing and Emotional Eating: Using or Refusing food to Cope online.

EDOYR at the Richmond Hill Public Library's Health Fair

Leviana (Events and Communications Coordinator) and Michelle (placement student) at our booth at the Richmond Hill Public Library's Health Fair!

We got some great comments about this quote, so we thought we'd share it!

Allison Jorgens, Canadian author, stopped by our booth to give us a personally autographed copy of her book, "Read It With A Grain of Salt." The message reads, "Dear EDOYR, Empower yourself to make healthful choices." Thanks Allison!

This is the front cover of Allison Jorgen's book, "Read It With A Grain of Salt."

A ton of different vendors were at the Richmond Hill Public Library's Health Fair.

The Richmond Hill Public Library's Health Fair was from 10am until 1pm Friday.

Show Your True Colours does Mental Health Week

We at EDOYR have been busy. It's day three of Mental Health Week and we've got a great deal to show for it (literally...see the photos below). On Wednesday May 9, we went to St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic High School (CHS) in Richmond Hill to take part in their Mental Health Fair. We met with students, teachers, guidance counselors and representatives from other organizations in an attempt to raise mental health awareness.

While we were at the local high school, we also spread information about our Show Your True Colours campaign. Tons of students and teachers expressed their interest and support. We cannot thank you enough.

Check out our Twitter and Facebook pages for more photos of the day's events.

This grade twelve student at St. Theresa of Lisieux CHS in Richmond Hill poses beside our EDOYR booth at the school's Mental Health Fair, organized by the Stomping Out Stigma (SOS) club on campus.

Two St. Theresa teachers show their support for Stomping Out Stigma (SOS).

Look at those amazing shirts! EDOYR had a ton of fun at St. Theresa's SOS club's Mental Health Fair.

EDOYR was giving out our gear at St. Theresa! Buttons and bracelets for everyone.

Students, teachers, guidance counselors and the like were stopping by our booth to ask questions about eating disorders and how to get involved with EDOYR. If you're interested in getting involved, e-mail info@edoyr.com. We're ALWAYS looking for new helpers.

A lot of students weren't aware that men could have eating disorders, too. Well, they can! For more information, visit our website.

Three EDOYR reps are wearing their Stomping Out Stigma (SOS) bracelets to support the St. Theresa club!

We loved this banner so much that we had to take a photo. "Live the life you have imagined." So beautiful!

Look at this St. Theresa student showing HER true colours. Notice her green pin? You can show your true colours by taking a photo of yourself and sending it to info@edoyr.com for a chance to see your face on our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blog! Please e-mail us asking for a Photo Consent Form, as well.

This grade twelve student at St. Theresa of Lisieux is also showing her true colours. Thank you for your support!

Ashley Nicholls from the Women's Support Network of York Region was at St. Theresa for their Mental Health fair, too. See her here with her Show Your True Colours button. Thank you for the support!

This is Stephen Liu from the Canadian Mental Health Association. He's sporting his Show Your True Colours button, too.

Meaghan Bluer is from Pathways to Affordable Housing in Toronto. She has her Show Your True Colours button on!

What a lovely thank-you card from St. Theresa's Stomping Out Stigma (SOS) club.

Thanks again for having us, SOS at St. Theresa!

Myth busting at St. Theresa of Lisieux CHS in Richmond Hill

Every day we consume so much information, whether it is from the Internet, television, magazines or simple conversation. After acquiring knowledge, regardless of whether it is true or false, we are left to determine what to believe and what to further investigate.

Photo by: Longzero

Like in the popular Discovery Channel show MythBusters, Eating Disorders of York Region is going to different high schools to do just that: Demystify common misconceptions about the highly stigmatized disorders.

On Thurs. April 26 and Fri. April 27, EDOYR visited St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic High School in Richmond Hill to discuss common myths, prevention and the support available for individuals affected by eating disorders as well as their families.

Three steps in demystifying common misconceptions about eating disorders include becoming aware of any biased and inaccurate information that may have been consumed through conversation, media and the like, challenging and analyzing that very content and affirming for ourselves our own feelings. Ultimately, engaging our true sense of self to debunk inaccurate messages.

I graduated from STL in the summer of 2008. Though my time at the school was filled with memories of friends and fun, I also struggled with understanding beauty. Unfortunately, I chose to believe that I wasn’t pretty because of my weight. Every summer, I would try to slim down so I would feel more confident and strong. Each time I lost a few pounds and would thus fit into my smaller clothes, I would hear complements like, “Wow, you look great! How much weight have you lost?” I would strive to look even better the next day and the day after that, whether that meant doing an extra thirty crunches before bed or eating 300-less-calories.

Those comments were addicting. So addicting that I was no longer attempting a healthy lifestyle for myself. Instead, I was cutting back calories (a dangerous action at an age where numerous physical changes were taking place inside my body) and working out so other people would notice my aesthetic differences. Ultimately, I wanted to fit in.

At the end of my high school career, the problem wasn’t that I was unappreciated by others. In fact, the problem was that I was unappreciated by myself. I had devoted so much time to changing myself to please others that I had forgotten what it felt like to live, breathe, walk, talk and act in my own skin. I forgot that being me wasn’t about what people thought about who I was or who I should try to be. I had started to believe that the only part of me that mattered was how I looked in my “skinny” jeans, because I had based what it meant to be myself on the appreciation I received and eventually sought from others.

Being at STL during the last week of April was an opportunity to help others who may have been struggling with similar issues.

Though I didn’t suffer from an eating disorder, it was hard for me to ask for guidance about my misconceptions when I was in high school, as it often is difficult to ask for help in many instances. The first step for me was getting to know who I was. My goal, instead of appreciation from others, became learning how to guide myself, even though I had the support of guidance counselors, teachers, parents and friends. Once I understood how to encourage, motivate, guide and support myself, I then started understanding that something about how I perceived the girl I was did not seem right.

EDOYR has recently created an Early Intervention Centre with the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation. It aims to disrupt an eating disorder as soon as possible. If you or someone you know may be struggling from misconceptions of body image, disordered eating or an eating disorder, medical attention may be necessary. Feel free to contact info@edoyr.com if you have any questions and/or visit our website.

By: Leviana Coccia
Events and Communications Coordinator at EDOYR
Alumna of St. Theresa of Lisieux