I believe full recovery from an eating disorder is possible and always hold hope that this can happen for everyone. 

I believe in harm reduction—promoting safety, reducing suffering, and increasing someone’s quality of life no matter where they are in their eating disorder or recovery.

I believe an eating disorder has often served a purpose that makes sense in someone’s life. I validate the ways an eating disorder has been an attempt at a solution by a part of us for coping with struggles and trauma. Healing asks us to honor our eating disorder’s attempts to meet our needs and help us survive while also acknowledging the harm it has caused in our life. In order to recover, we must compassionately hold space for both of these truths without judgement.

I believe we must factor in the social and systemic inequities that contribute to eating disorders and add barriers to recovery. Each person faces a unique combination of factors contributing to their eating disorder and challenges in their life influenced by the systems we exist within. I believe we must speak about the interconnection between identity, oppression, and eating disorders.

I believe in state not weight. Full recovery asks us to surrender to nutritional rehabilitation, unconditional permission to eat, and an unsuppressed weight for our unique body. Surrendering does not mean we don’t feel fear and resistance; fear and resistance are an inherent part of an eating disorder and recovery. Surrendering means letting our body do what it needs to do even when a part of us is afraid. Only our body can decide what it needs to weigh in order to fully heal from an ED and what set weight range it is happy and healthy at. Like height, our weight is largely predetermined. There are consequences to trying force our body to a lower weight then is right for it. For those with the genetic predisposition for an eating disorder, the consequence is far greater because we know that being in an energy deficit is a major contributing factor to developing and sustaining an eating disorder.

I believe neurally rewiring the fears and behaviors that have been strengthened and reinforced during an eating disorder is essential. We need to be brutally honest with ourselves and our supports about where our eating disorder is still showing up. If we wanted cookie dough ice cream but got vanilla—that is restriction. If we wanted seconds but we didn’t have it because our meal plan didn’t require it—that is restriction. If we are able to order whatever we wanted but we exercised more or ate less to feel more comfortable doing it—that is restriction. Restriction is insidious and if we want to fully recover, we will need to completely root it out even when others cannot see it. To fully recover we must let go of all eating disorder rules, compulsions, and conditions around eating, movement, and weight. 

I believe you hold the map to your recovery. It’s doing all the things your eating disorder does not want you to do. This serves as your guide to freedom.