SO YOU WANT TO OVERCOME YOUR EATING DISORDER?
The hardest part of recovery is choosing actually to recover. I have attempted to recover many times and failed throughout the years. The day I chose to end my eating disorder was the day I finally began to recover and see longstanding results within myself and my life.
Recovery isn't a five-step program that fits all; it's a personal and very unique journey only you can explore. To sit here and write an ED recovery to-do list would be ignorant; however, I have a few tips to help you recover and finally part ways with those destructive eating disorder thoughts taking over your mind. I know you want to change; the question is, are you ready to put the work into changing?
Let go of skinny; embrace healthy.
You have been chasing the desire to be thin, and it's destroyed you; now it’s time to chase health and embrace that glowing beauty that comes from within. True beauty starts with good health and a great mind, and in my opinion, self-destruction results in high-quality self-care. Once you learn to hate yourself, you can truly learn how to love yourself. Let go of the desire to be thin and embrace the beauty of being healthy. Life feels so much better when you are chasing wellness, not sickness.
You dont need to do everything at once.
In treatment, they force you to eat three meals, plus snacks, plus dessert and fear foods all within a week of eating and in my opinion its too much. I think it’s far more sustainable to gently increase portion size within your own time. Extreme hunger occurs as you eat more, so you will naturally feel a need to increase portion sizes as time goes on. As for fear food, as long as you are eating enough food and making a conscious effort to increase your portion sizes, I dont think you need to test every fear food immediately. It's okay to take your time and slowly get comfortable eating enough food; when you are comfortable, start testing out fear foods. It took me over a year to overcome all of my fear foods, so be gentle and patient with yourself; recovery is not a race, and you deserve to go at your own pace.
Wear/buy bigger clothes.
Your clothes are going to become tight very quickly so to avoid triggers and buy bigger clothes that you feel comfortable in. Yes the label might be scary but a medium is going to feel so much better than an extra small.
Rest and isolate if needed.
It's okay to hate your appearance and not want to be social while recovering. Dont feel pressured to go out and be social if you dont want to. Recovery has an awkward puppy fat, puberty stage, so if you dont want to go out, you dont have to. The weird puberty stage (as I call it) is temporary and will pass; mine lasted about 6-9 months, so dont be triggered it will go away with time. Some people may not look like this, but others will; I did; however, I also had 10+ years of damage. Its okay to rest, and its okay to hibernate you will enter the world when you are ready. Everything is temporary, and you need this time to heal.
Be creative.
Creativity is a great outlet for sharing your current pain. Paint, write, draw, play music, sew—whatever you like, start doing it. The best way to express your pain is to become creative. After all, we no longer overexercise, starve, or purge; instead, we create and become art.
Feel your pain.
Feel your pain; the more you feel your pain, the faster it goes away. If we deny our unpleasant thoughts and feelings, they manifest into anxiety and depression. Feel your pain. It’s okay to feel ugly, awkward, fat, scared, angry, alone and everything in between. Feel it, let it go.