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You Are the Constant in Eating Disorder Recovery

January 11, 2017 Z Zoccolante

In life, and in your eating disorder recovery, you are the constant. Let’s be honest, when we have an eating disorder, recovery feels like the most daunting path we face. There are reasons the eating disorder started; therefore, recovery is a process of exploring little black holes, and learning the skill sets we missed. Recovery can feel as though it depends on so many external things. Will we get into a good recovery program? Will it be covered by health insurance? Will we find a therapist who helps us move forward? Recovery can feel as though it’s based on a slew of external decisions, and we’re simply a bystander. However, the reality is that we are the constant in eating disorder recovery We are the most important factor.

The Variables and Constant in Eating Disorder Recovery

External Variables of Eating Disorder Recovery

Eating disorder recovery is comprised of many variables. There are factors like insurance, or finding a good program, therapist, or nutritionist. There are family dynamics present, especially if you’re a teen or still live in the same home as your family. There are considerations like jobs, school, and friends (Eating Disorder Recovery: Getting Better and Losing Friends).

Internal Variables of Eating Disorder Recovery

Added onto the external factors are the important internal factors. First, we must admit that we need help and seek out and accept that help. Even if we’ve made that step to want to be healthy, the disorder has a way of making us second guess every healthy decision. It will tell us that we can’t recover, that it will never leave us, that we’re not strong enough or good enough, or that we will always struggle. It whispers lies that we will never be free (Why We Believe Eating Disorder Lies). The internal factors are the most important because we need to be on board with our own recovery.

The Freedom Variable of Eating Disorder Recovery

No matter how many variables are present in your eating disorder recovery, you can rely on one thing. You. You are the constant in eating disorder recovery. Here’s the freeing part. We don’t have to be on board one 100 percent of the time. We don’t even have to start out believing that we can recover. When I went into inpatient treatment years ago, I didn’t believe that I could actually recover, but I did want to. I wanted to, I just didn’t know how.

One of the most powerful things we can do for our recovery is to simply hold the vision of possibility. Even if we have no idea how to get to that place of recovery, we can believe that it is out there and that maybe one day we will be there.

But You Are the Constant in Eating Disorder Recovery

The truth that I’ve come to know is that we are the constant in our eating disorder recovery journey. Yes, programs, inpatient treatment, therapy, family, friends, and support make a huge difference in the process, but at the end of the day, we are the ones who keep putting one foot in front of the other. At the end of the day, we are the ones that are responsible for our forward locomotion. Recovery is work, and sometimes that work doesn’t feel good. Sometimes it’s scary. But we are the constant.

We get to wake up every day and choose to face the things that stand between us, and the freedom we desire for our lives. We get to feel all the feelings (Eating Disorder Recovery: Dealing With The Emotions). We get to grow. We get to recover in the time it takes us to recover. We get so many choices. Because recovery is about the life that we want to have after our eating disorder is gone. Eating disorder recovery is up to us because we are the constant in our own lives.

Keep moving forward towards eating disorder recovery, health, and freedom.

Find Z on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and on her blog.

APA Reference
Zoccolante, Z. (2017, January 11). You Are the Constant in Eating Disorder Recovery, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, March 28 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/survivinged/2017/01/you-are-the-constant-in-eating-disorder-recovery



Author: Z Zoccolante

jane
January, 15 2017 at 5:52 pm

I know you write a lot of blogs but I have a hard time concentrating so can you pass on any tidbits on how you were able to beat anorexia. I know it is a life long battle but any information would be helpful. I am now 49 and have suffered since I was 12 and currently at a low point.

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Z Zoccolante
January, 16 2017 at 6:56 pm

Hi Jane. I remember that concentration was difficult for me as well. Some of the vital things that helped me recover was:
1) finding a therapist
2) identifying my triggers
3) learning to set boundaries with others without feeling guilty. My favorite boundaries book is here: https://www.amazon.com/Boundaries-When-Take-Control-Your/dp/0310247454/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8….
There are reasons that your eating disorder started when you were 12 years old and that's why I recommend a licensed therapist to help you figure out what wound was created then that made you slip into anorexia as a possible solution for whatever pain was happening.
4) I also highly recommend taking walks outside and being in nature,
5) praying or connecting to whatever form of spirituality makes you feel loved and alive.
6) Doing Somatic Therapy, of any sort, can help you connect to your body again and open to the possibility that your body is a safe space. One free one can be dancing.
7) Connection, with safe non-judgemental friends, also helps.
If you'd like to talk with me we may be able to identify what might help you best with how you're feeling right now. If so, please contact me to have a complimentary chat at the number at the bottom of this page: http://zzoccolante.com/coaching-z-zoccolante/
Thank you for reaching out and know that no matter how long you have suffered there is hope and you can have a different life with more freedom.
Also just to let you know, if you have a hard time concentrating, I do audios of my blogs on my site. Sometimes it's a lot easier for me to hear things rather than read online. You can find them each week here: http://zzoccolante.com/category/all/
With love, Z :)

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