For those of us who have an eating disorder, the holidays can be an especially stressful time. Don't worry though - the sting can be lessened just a tinsy bit by downloading the Rise Up app on your phone!

Here are five things that I love about the app:

1. It's free.

For all the beautiful support that this app gives me on a regular basis, I'd more than happily pay for it. But it's at your fingertips free of charge which makes you love it even more!

2. The daily check-in is the validation you never knew you needed.

The daily check-in is the BEST little chart that lists every emotion you could ever have, and then lets you "rate" your intensity of the feels that you've felt that day. You can also record particular habits like "restricted" or "binged", or "expressed gratitude".

3. The meal log.

I've never met a meal log that doesn't make me sad, but I love this meal log. To start your log out with good feels, the app will give you a daily quote. Mine today said: "The more I love, the more that love is returned to me." Then, all you have to do is type in what you ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with snacks in between. You can record what time you ate, if you ate by yourself or with friends, what you ate, and how you felt while you ate. Which is MY favorite part! No calorie counts, no portion sizes, and no judgements.

4. All of your data can be uploaded into a PDF file.

Whether you need to show it to a doctor or a therapist, or if you just want the data for yourself, the PDF file is super easy and can be emailed for anyone that might need to see it.

5. The little extras to make you smile.

Along with just being wonderful, the app comes with "Coping Skills" - a list of suggestions for whatever you need. The list includes: 911 Distress Coping, Body Image Coping, Journal Activities, and Mindfulness Coping.