Eating Disorder Recovery – How to Prevent a Relapse

Here is a big myth about being recovered from an eating disorder that I always thought was true:

”Your life is full of rainbows and unicorns and you will be forever free!” 

(and here are some more myths in case you are curious)

I always thought that once I am recovered and free of my food- and body obsession I will be happy.

Why?

Well, because for so many years the only thing weighing me down was my issue with food and my body.

Once that was gone, everything was going to be okay, I thought.
Sadly, this is very far from the truth.

Eating Disorder Recovery makes room for the real stuff to come to the surface

Thoughts, feelings and emotions that I had suppressed for years by putting all my thoughts and energy into changing my body and controlling my food intake were now out in the open.

Recovery made me an emotional mess at the beginning

I cannot count the times I cried myself to sleep because I was so overwhelmed, defeated and heartbroken.
My heart aches writing this, but I am also grateful because I am finally able to FEEL again.

My Eating Disorder made me so numb to any real feelings that I was unable to process anything that was going on around me.

Anytime I felt sad or upset I made it all about my body, instead of what was actually going on.

Now I know that my life is messy and it’s okay to curl up in a ball and cry.

Sometimes, I feel like packing my bags and going traveling to escape my reality.

And that’s okay, because I am human and I have feelings.

Allow yourself to be perfectly imperfect

I don’t need to suppress my emotions anymore by restricting food.
I also don’t need to numb them by eating large quantities of food and then spending the rest of the night planning how I will restrict to make up for the binge.

I have actual space in my brain to process my emotions and feelings, instead of channeling them into restriction or over-eating.

Being imperfect and not even striving for perfection is actually a beautiful experience.

Allow yourself to see your human flaws, because they make you unique, lovable and worthy. Give yourself permission to mess things up, because there is always a lesson and a learning.

You just have to actively look for it, instead of listening to your inner critic.

Preventing a relapse means focusing on a bright future and not looking back

Have you heard the quote “If you are depressed, you are living in the past“? Remembering this quote helped me focus on the present moment and on creating a bright future for myself.

In the beginning, I avoided looking at old photographs and I made a list of triggers that I committed to avoiding until I felt safe in my body and in my relationship with food.

This Work Book Bundle will help you dive into this area and take action.

Anytime you catch yourself wearing rose coloured glasses and looking back at your Eating Disorder through the lens of reminiscing, I want you to catch yourself and remember how you actually felt during your eating disorder days.

When I did this, I realized that it wasn’t all that rosy.

I felt anxious, depressed, famished and unable to concentrate and focus on the important things, such as my career, my relationships, my marriage and my self care. This is not how I wanted to live my life.

Reminding yourself of this and then turning your eyes towards the future helps tremendously.

Get really specific on what you want for your life. Visualize it. Put yourself in it.

Focus on taking one action-step towards your future-goals every single day, even if it’s a baby step.

You absolutely got this, my friend.

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