What would you advise someone with a broken leg who would want to run a marathon tomorrow?
“Heal first, recover, do some physiotherapy and then, slowly, build up your strength to run a marathon”.
Despite such an obvious answer, so many people with an eating disorder search through the internet and read “don’t eat carbs”, “exercise daily”, “run weekly”, “diet”, “don’t eat fat”, “don’t eat sugar”…. The list goes on and on!
And what follows is guilt, self-harm in the form of starvation, false body image, and harmful thoughts.
Have you ever met a successful person who follows the crowd? Who is more believable for you? A person who diets all life or a person who has a beautiful balance and doesn’t diet because there’s no need to do so.
While recovering, I felt like I acted against the whole world. I was eating six times per day, including three snacks/desserts. I was eating carbs, fats, and protein, all forbidden list foods, and I stopped exercising for a year.
I focused on my main goal, recovery, and not on looking good because I trusted that recovery means feeling and looking good! Good enough for my body, mind, and soul, healthy and balanced.
I stopped looking in the mirror for a while; I stopped counting calories; I threw away the scale! Against all odds, I was recovering!
Changing the whole belief system is hard, but it’s called rewiring your brain, and it’s the most crucial part of eating disorder recovery.
If you don’t believe that recovery will bring you that mind-body-spirit balance and you will feel and look as healthy as ever before, think twice: “Why are you recovering?”.
You are recovering to gain this balance. Trudy this process deeply, and you will see a shift in your thinking patterns and behaviour.
What is most important is to be kind, don’t run with a broken leg, and love yourself.
Love and light
Kasia
The Power in You 