Facebook Book Club

The University of Utah program SPEAK (Students Promoting Eating disorder Awareness and Knowledge) has chosen my book, A Future for Tomorrow  for their online/facebook Book Club.

I know it is a little confusing but the club is actually held ON FACEBOOK. You don't have to go anywhere! It is neat to think of people all over the country, or world for that matter, can all discussion one book via their computers.

All you have to do is read my book then join in on the ongoing discussion that will be held from Aug 2nd to Aug 30th.

Here is the link:
Haley Freeman's Facebook Book Club

(http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=85670011583&v=info&ref=ts#!/event.php?eid=101845906532173&ref=ts)

(If you can't join the event without being invited then add me as a facebook friend [Haley Hatch Freeman] and tell me you want to participate in the one time club-- then I will send you an invite.)

To get your copy of A Future for Tomorrow you can go to my site afuturefortomorrow.com which has free shipping and you will receive a signed copy or you can go to Deseret Book (also on deseretbook.com) amazon also on Kindle on amazon.  Soon to be available on barnesandnoble.com and Orem's Barnes and Noble.  

Unexpected Review

Something that means a great deal to me is hearing from my readers of A Future for Tomorrow.  When someone is touched enough to take the time to write me or even leave an unsolicited review on their blog it truly means the world to me.
Today I was surprised by both.

Click below to read Brenda's words about my book.
Brenda's Blog Another Small Adventure.

Thank you so much Brenda!!

A Future for Tomorrow on Kindle

I am excited to announce that my book is now available to be downloaded on amazon's kindle!
Clink on the link below:

Choose to Forgive Yourself

I had an interesting experience the other day.  When it comes to trying to be perfect, I am doing extremely well compared to where I have been in my life. But I still catch myself being way too hard on myself and not feeling like it is ok for me to error.  Maybe it is leaving a spelling error on a facebook status, or messing up while playing the piano in church, or any of the other imperfections I can list but I have to fight to not obsess over them.  I have to constantly be reminded that it's okay to be human. 

I had a powerful moment the other day when I realized the power of two things, one is choice, and one is forgiveness.

I have discovered over the past years that you can actually CHOSE your emotions. Yes, emotions, feelings, and your reaction to those feelings are actually all in your own control. 

Eleanore Roosevelt knew this principal, we all know her quote, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."  Love it!

Here is a quote from Elder David A. Bednar, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in his talk titled And Nothing Shall Offend Them

"It ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else."

Or maybe you have heard people say they CHOSE to be a survivor instead of a victim.

The freedom of choice is a great blessing we have been given on this earth and is part of our Father in Heaven's plan.  

If you can choose your feelings then think of what great power this gives you.

I have decided to not let my imperfections consume me and to not feel unworthy or inadequate because of the lack of ability I have to be perfect.

Now this takes me to the next step of forgiving myself.  I did something the other day that I thought was less than acceptable, nothing big but it might have left me scolding myself for hours in the past.  This is what I DECIDED to be my inner dialog or self talk instead, "It's ok. I forgive you. I don't have to be flawless. I don't have to be everyone's hero. I'm going to be kind and gentle to myself. I want to show love to myself with or without perfect behavior."

WOW what a freeing moment that was! It literally changed something inside me.  Not only trying not to obsess over the mistake but to actually be forgiving and loving toward my actions was freeing and brought me peace.

I'm still a work in progress but this is a concept I want to keep practicing. I want to keep forgiving myself and allowing myself to be human.

Assignment:
Be kind and gentle to yourself. Allow yourself to feel your own love and forgiveness to yourself.  

Kindle

I'm so excited that my book will be available for kindle and other digital downloads in a day or two. If you are interested in buying a kindle they are a great deal now on amazon, by clicking my amazon button above it gives me a percent of sells.  How cool is that!
I have been wanting one for a while so I will be ordering mine asap.

Power Of A Mother's Self Talk

I have recently meet a remarkable woman named Cherie Burton.

2004's Mrs. Utah Cherie Burton is the founder and president of Blue Rose Communications, a company devoted to helping women and girls discover their personal life missions and divine femininity.

(photo of Cherie)

I feel Cherie and I are of one heart in the attempts to reach women and youth with a message of knowing their divine worth among other things.  I look forward to working with her and getting to know her better.

Cherie posted a powerful message on her website that I want to share with you. Click here to see it.

It is titled Sobering Stats.  I have actually used some of these statistics in my own presentations before,

namely this one:

81% of 10 year-old girls are afraid of becoming fat; 78% of 18 year-old girls are unhappy with their bodies (Body Wars: Making Peace With Women’s Bodies by M. Maine, 2000)

I would like to add my own statistic I learned saying women who diet are twice as likely to have daughters with eating disorders.  (My original source was from ANRED which has closed down their site recently)

I have found a new article supporting this information and is actually titled this: Mail Online News: "Women Who Diet Are Twice As Likely To Have Daughters With Eating Disorders."  

Going back to Cherie Burton, I hope you take a minute to read her post I think you will be better for it. She closes with a neat quote that I agree with whole heatedly.

"A mother who radiates self love and acceptance actually vaccinates her daughter against low self esteem." (Naomi Wolf)

My own mother is a wonderful, selfless woman. Unfortunately I grow up with hearing her put herself down.  Often it was about her appearance or her self criticism of not being able to complete some task flawlessly. I heard "I can never do anything right." and watched her avoid photos, swimming suits, and even long sleeve shirts to hide what she thought to be an unacceptable body.

I learned to put myself down by emulating her.  

Please, as a parent don't EVER let your children hear you say anything negative about yourself.  Then go a step further and work from the inside and truly not think and feel those negative messages because you can't hid much from your children. They will pick it up. This was one of the major topics I spoke about with Dr. Paul Jenkin's radio show Live On Purpose. (click to hear interview)

Assignment:
I believe there is power in words and positive "self talk" or "inner dialog"  I want you to be aware of what you are saying in your self talk.  If it is hurtful to yourself, STOP that thought then replace it with listing a positive attribute about yourself. Say, "I'm beautiful, happy, good enough." or whatever it is you need to hear and want to be.  If you don't believe it at first -- do it anyway!  It works I promise!

The Winner . . .

The winner to my trailer contest  is

ERIN!!!!!!

Erin, just go to closetomyheart.com and click on product, then on idea book.  There you can chose $25 worth of anything you want.  E-mail me at afuturefortomorrow@gmail.com  or send me a message on facebook with the list of what you want. 

Thank you to everyone who participated. I appreciate the support!

Extending Contest For a Few More Hours!

I am adding a few more hours for the book trailer contest today.  I will announce the winner at 9:00 tonight. So enter now!
For full contest rules click here.

I have two trailers so you can choose which one to add to your sites or add both. Thanks and good luck!!

Here are the links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SakJrGB-1w




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85pe1SdwtPM

Live on Purpose

Yesterday I was honored to do the radio show Live on Pupose with Dr. Paul Jenkins. He is a great guy and I enjoyed visting with him.

Not only is Dr. Paul Jenkins a counselor but he is LDS and also has a great desire to help others by encouraging them to live their best life, a life with purpose.

Hear it now!

To hear the interview all you have to do is click on the link below then click on download. 

 http://www.liveonpurposeradio.com/radio/2010/06/11/a-future-for-tomorrow/

Second Trailer For My Book

I have never posted any pictures of me BEFORE my eating disorder as a teen. This video shows some for the first time.


(For some reason it cuts the video off on the side on this blog so you click on the link below to see it fully)

If you post this trailer on your blog, facebook, twitter, you can still be entered into the contest (see last post)

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJqY8S46USc
You can also search A Future for Tomorrow 2 on youtube.

Book Trailer Contest

There is just one more week to enter the book trailer contest.  The dead line is June 11th at midnight. I will announce winner on June 12th!

Again here are the rules:

You earn entries for each place you share my trailer.
Just link my trailer to:
*Facebook
*Twitter
*Blog - Posting it on your blog gives you two entries!
*If you do all three you get five entries!
*If you share it on other sites (such as circles of moms) just let me know and that will also give you an entry.

Now  leave a comment on here letting me know where it is at. Thanks!

Here is the link  to my trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SakJrGB-1w
 If it doesn't work you can find it on youtube, search under A Future for Tomorrow Surviving Anorexia.


PRIZE

$25 worth of Scrapbook supplies from Close to my Heart. You get to pick what you want!
 

Girl's Camp

I love sharing my story at any public speaking event, however there is something special about addressing the youth at Girl's Camp.  Their spirit is almost tangiable.

I want to let everyone know that I am booking for this years girl's camps.

My presentation includes my personal story of over coming depression and anorexia. I give vital information about the destructive power of this addiction and the importance of getting treatment for those who are suffering. I incorporate faith, the power of the priesthood, and my testimony. I teach the audience the importance of knowing their divine worth, having good self-esteem, and possessing the knowledge that they are a loved daughter of God.

To reserve a speaking date please contact me at afuturefortomorrow@gmail.com

Are you trying to save yourself?

Statistics of individuals with eating disorders among Latter-Day Saints is significantly higher than non-members. Why is this? I feel it is because as members we hold ourselves to a higher standard, we strive to become perfect. Unfortunately media and society connect perfection with being thin and obtaining a flawless body. There are also messages which associate sin with eating certain foods. Have you heard advertisements of “guilt-free, fat-free ice-cream” or statements of “I’m going to be naughty and eat cookies,” or “chocolate is my guilty pleasure?”


As a teen I wanted to be perfect, these messages became entwined with my desire to be faithful and worthy in the gospel.

These associations and my drive to be righteous in all aspects helped to create the deadly disease of Anorexia Nervosa. After a year of extreme deprivation I weighed a mere 85 pounds (I was nearly 5’10” tall at the time) when I was admitted into the hospital.

I no longer knew who I was or how to feed or bathe myself. My mother stayed in the facility completing these tasks for me. My brain, liver, kidney, and other organs began to die. I could no longer speak coherently, and was completely psychotic. The doctors prepared my family for my inevitable death.

The chance of survival was gloom, but the probability that my mind would return to normal functioning was never expected. By a miracle resulting after priesthood blessings, fasts, and many prayers I did survive and my mind and body healed to a full recovery.

My incredible story not only demonstrates the power of prayer and the priesthood but teaches us that we need to remember the Savior’s ability.

I was trying to save myself. I thought I had to become perfect on my own. Even though my relationship with Jesus was strong and pure in regards to Him being my friend, my eternal brother, someone I knew understood and loved me completely, and my Savior who redeemed me from my sins, I didn’t understand or apply His ability to be my teammate— a partner that would fill in my deficit. I needed to internalize this principal, that the demand for perfection on my own was not expected but only required as becoming one with the Lord Jesus Christ before I could fully heal.

My sincerest prayer now as a survivor of anorexia is for youth and adults to gain this understanding along with knowing their divine worth. I know becoming one with Christ and feeling the value He sees in us will help us heal from not only eating disorders, but other mental disorders and addictions.

Deseret Book

I'm excited that Deseret Book is still selling my book both at their store and their online store deseretbook.com
Here is the link: A Future for Tomorrow.

If you have read my book and want to leave a review on this site I would appreciate it. Leave me a comment that you did it and I will enter you into the still ongoing contest for $25 of Scrapbook supplies.


Thanks!

Book Signing - thinking outside the box

This week I did a book signing in a place you wouldn't normally do a book signing. But it turned out great and I met several people with stories I appreciated them sharing.

My son use to take a boys hip hop/ break dancing class and their recitals are PACKED full in the school's gym/ stage area.  I had noticed before that the main teacher (it is a fairly large production now so there are several teachers/classes) allows local people to sell there goods at tables and just now it hit me to ask if I could do the same with my book. I was going to just have them sitting out on one of the tables but she hooked me up to do an official book signing.
It was defiantly thinking outside the box compared to other store book signings I've done. But hey, where there are a large group of people it's always worth a try.

It turned out well with sells, exposure, and sharing my story with others who are experience similar heartbreak one way or another.