There’s no one way to cure an eating disorder, just as there’s no one way to contract one.
But, if you’re a college student in recovery, I came up with a few pointers to make the process easier. And, since this might be the rockiest road you’ve ever travelled, sometimes even the silly things can soften the terrain.
Here’s a 10-step guide for pushing through the hard days and wiping away those unhealthy habits that threaten to keep you sick.
1. Buy cute bowls.
One of the hardest things about leaving behind an eating disorder is that you literally have to eat. (UGH) If you don’t get it, you don’t get it – and that’s probably good. But a simple way to make the activity more appealing is to purchase cute bowls and utensils. Trust me; it helps. Not only are my Anthropologie bowls aesthetic AF, but the design on the bottom is the prettiest part. Which, I’m unable to fully appreciate until I finish ALL my morning granola. Maybe I’m just easily self-deceived, but don’t diss it until you try it.
2. Buy cute planners
Another aesthetic trick to slaying that eating disorder in the gut is writing down your personal goals and meal plans in a planner. If you’re as forgetful or as distracted by cute dogs and campus hotties as I am, planning out your meals will make sure you actually f**king eat them and don’t just put them off. Buy a cute notebook, practice cute handwriting, pretend you run a wholistic instagram account, I don’t care, just don’t let yourself forget your number one priority right now (your health).
3. Discover your talents
Can you sing? Dance? Solve a Rubix cube? Now’s your chance to discover all those talents you f**king rock at but never realized you had when you were avoiding all social situations that involved food.
4. Stock up on colored pencils.
Okay, honestly, I’m not picking up a colored pencil unless it dubs as watercolor paint and comes with a free sharpener. Then again, I’m hard to please when it comes to DIY Pinterest pins that I could easily DIM (do it myself) faster and better. Should I get off my high horse? Probably. The point is, when overcoming an eating disorder, crafts such as coloring are great ways to distract yourself from physical discomforts, destructive activities, or any lingering voices telling you that your worth is measured by a scale.
5. Practice Lots of Yoga
When recovering from an eating disorder, you may feel as if you’ve lost of sense of self. Perhaps you put your identity in being thin – or working-out. Yoga can help center you by reconnecting your body to your mind. It’s exercise without exhaustion, it’s routine without rigidity. In my opinion, yoga can be powerful enough to destroy your eating disorder but gentle enough not to take you out with it.
6. B*tch about #relatable content.
You no longer have to fake the “ugh my period cramps are so bad today” excuse in order to skip brunch. Now that Aunt Flow is actually here, there’s no way in hell you’re turning down chocolate chip pancakes because of her. Congrats, you’re finally a #relatable bitch. And, even if the aches and pains that accompany your menstrual cycle aren’t exactly the reward you were hoping for after beating this thing, they indicate that your body is trusting you again. Your bones are becoming stronger. You have the potential to produce babies (so use protection). Yay!
7. Count Energy, not Calories.
Food is fuel! And, changing your thinking around what those nutrients do for you is crucial to embracing a healthy college experience. Though you may think starvation only affects the body and not the brain, the two go hand in hand. Think about it. At your lowest, you pointed to the loose skin around your rib cage and labeled it as fat. How can you understand test material when your own body is beyond your comprehension? Feed your education!
8. Take pride in your “kick ass metabolism.”
That good old thing called metabolism is pretty damn awesome, to say the least. Because, the more or less we eat, the slower or faster it runs. That’s not to say if we make a drastic change to our diet that our metabolism will adjust overnight – things take time. But, what many people don’t know is that indulging in, or skipping out on, meals or snacks isn’t as monumental as we think. According to Radnor Dietician Tara Simpson, many college women could be eating much more than they do and weighing the same. If you’re recovering from an eating disorder, chances are you and your metabolism haven’t been on the best terms in the past. Now that you’re on good terms, keep fueling it so that it doesn’t decide to slow down and bitch-slap you again.
9. Embrace your fears – just not too tightly.
Focusing too much on fears and failures can be consuming, but holding on to some memories from your disorder – be it a hospital stay or bad mental state – can actually help to put things in perspective and give you motivation to move forward. Because, let’s face it, working through this is hard. If you find yourself with no other motivators to get those meals down, perhaps the reminder that not eating could land you another few months of bed rests and blood tests could do the trick. Just saying.
10. Don’t stay silent.
Talking about your journey is powerful – so don’t be ashamed about it. Your friends can be amazing listeners and supports – but they can’t help you if they don’t know what’s going on. Instead of telling the story of where you’ve been, tell about how far you’ve come, and how much you’ve gained – because it’s more than just body mass.