How to Recover from Anorexia

Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder associated with disordered eating and/or exercise habits that result in a person being significantly underweight. If you have anorexia, you may view yourself as overweight, even when you're not.[1] To effectively treat this condition, it's important to seek the help of experienced professionals. You can also support your recovery by finding healthy ways to cope with triggers and developing a healthier body image.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Getting Professional Help

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    Consider what level of care you might need. Anorexia can result in dangerous weight loss and seriously damage your health. You will need to seek help from a professional no matter what. However, if your anorexia is controlling your daily life or if you are severely underweight or malnourished, then you may want to consider seeking help from an in-patient facility.[2]
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    Work with a professional therapist. Emotional problems are typically at the root of disordered eating. You may try to restrict your eating to feel more in control of other stressors in life. A mental health therapist can help you learn to acknowledge and cope with these emotional problems so that you can return to healthier eating habits.
    • See a therapist who has experience treating individuals with eating disorders. Common treatments include talk therapy, which may include family therapy or individual therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy has proven effective at helping individuals with anorexia modify negative thought patterns that contribute to their disorder.[3]
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    Get nutritional counseling. Treatment for anorexia generally involves an interdisciplinary approach in which you count on the advice of various professionals. A registered dietitian can help you figure out what calories and nutrients your body needs to restore health and return to an appropriate body weight. A dietitian will also work with you to improve your relationship with food.[4]
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    Maintain regular visits with your doctor. You will need to meet with your doctor regularly for medical monitoring. These visits may consist of weigh-ins and tests to check important health indicators. Medical monitoring is especially important if anorexia led to malnourishment.[5]
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    Take your medications as prescribed. In addition to medical monitoring, your doctor may also prescribe you medications to cope with any underlying symptoms affecting your condition. People with anorexia may struggle with other conditions, such as anxiety and depression that require pharmacological intervention.[6]
    • Your doctor may prescribe antidepressants to relieve depressive symptoms and promote weight gain. In addition, you might benefit from taking anxiolytic medications that reduce anxiety associated with eating.[7]
    • Be sure to take your medications as prescribed by your doctor. It may take several weeks for medications to produce effects. Never stop taking your medications without consulting with your doctor first.
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    Join a support group. Being in a support group can help you to see that you are viewing yourself in an unrealistic way. Support groups for eating disorders are often facilitated by mental health counselors or therapists. However, some support groups are run by trained volunteers who have overcome their own battles with eating disorders.[8]
    • In these groups, you can seek out the company and support of those who understand your recovery journey, and who can offer you valuable tips for coping.
    • Ask your treatment team for recommendations about eating disorder support groups in your area.[9]
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Managing Triggers

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    Learn to identify and accept your emotions. An attempt to avoid negative feelings may be one of the reasons you fell into disordered eating patterns. You can learn to recognize and tolerate your feelings with mindfulness.[10]
    • The next time you are overcome by strong emotions, pause. Breathe deeply. Take some time to sit with these feelings. Try to label what they are (e.g. sadness, guilt, etc.).
    • Identify any thoughts that are associated with these feelings. Pay attention to how these feelings manifest in your body (e.g. tightness in your chest). Continue to sit with these feelings without judging yourself or trying to make them go away.
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    Develop a self-care plan to cope with negative emotions. It can help to create a soothing care plan that helps you be good to yourself when negative emotions arise. Anorexia has caused you to develop destructive habits that harm your body, so create a list of nurturing habits that allow you to pour love back into yourself.[11]
    • For instance, when you feel sad, you might call a friend for support. Other suggestions include performing self-massage, taking a bubble bath, eating a balanced meal, lighting a scented candle, or taking a walk by the riverside.
    • Turn to these activities instead of over-exercising or restricting your foods in response to uncomfortable feelings.
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    Challenge unhealthy self-talk. Unrealistic, self-defeating thought patterns are at the core of eating disorders like anorexia. You may only focus on the negatives of a situation, place pressure on yourself to be perfect, or always jump to conclusions. Learn to cross-examine your thought patterns, tearing them apart to reveal how weak and unrealistic they are. Then, you can replace them with adaptive thoughts.[12]
    • For instance, you might look at yourself in the mirror and say “I look disgusting.” Ask yourself how would you respond if you heard a friend say this to themselves. Can you rephrase this harmful statement?
    • You might change “I look disgusting” into “I am unhappy with how I look. But the doctor says I am at a healthy weight and I am healing. This is a good thing.”
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    Focus on your positive traits. When you're only focusing on what you don't like, you discount all the wonderful things about yourself. Train your mind's eye to view the positives. To do this, start a list of your positive qualities. Read the list aloud every day while looking in the mirror. Pull out the list when you start to give into negative thought patterns.[13]
    • You might write, “I am…funny, compassionate, intelligent, and artistic.”
    • Include any positive qualities others have made about you.
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    Build a strong support system. Being around positive and healthy people can help you feel supported as you recover from anorexia. Identify the people in your life who have positive viewpoints about their bodies and healthy relationships with food. Also, look for people who have an optimistic outlook on life. Make an effort to spend more time with these people.[14] [15]
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    Pursue fulfilling hobbies and passions. Keep yourself preoccupied with positive activities. Doing so can help you cope with negative emotions that trigger unhealthy eating. If you are in high school or college, join a few clubs, organizations, or sports teams at your school. If you are not in school, pick up a hobby you once enjoyed or commit to volunteering in the local community.[16]
    • Examples of positive hobbies may include joining political activist organizations, joining an intramural sports team, or participating in a writing group.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Supporting a Positive Body Image

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    Consume a regular, balanced diet. Working with a registered dietitian is the best way to develop a customized eating plan to help overcome anorexia. The primary focus, however, is to stop dieting. Dieting builds an attitude of restriction. Avoid this and focus on nourishing your body with healthy foods.[17] [18]
    • Learn to listen to your body and eat when you are hungry. Choose whole foods that provide essential vitamins and nutrients like fruits, vegetables, lean sources of protein, healthy fats, and whole grains.
    • Ensure that you are eating several small meals throughout the day and getting the necessary calories as suggested by your dietitian.
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    Remove your scale. Many people associate health with a number on the scale. However, every body is different and the scale doesn't really tell you anything about health. If you have an obsession with weighing yourself—which leads to unhealthy behaviors like restricting calories or over-exercising—get rid of your scale.[19] [20]
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    Don't overdo it in the gym. Physical activity is an important ingredient of a healthy body and lifestyle. However, if you tend to overdo it to control your weight, you will need to find a healthy medium. Work with your treatment team to determine the right amount of exercise for you.[21]
    • This may involve doing gentle restorative exercises like yoga, walking, or physical chores like gardening. Take your workouts outside to reap the mental health benefits of nature.
    • Be wary of guilt-inducing behaviors that can trigger a relapse like punishing yourself for missing a workout by skipping meals. If this happens, seek out your therapist for help.
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    Avoid negative media. Fashion magazines and beauty blogs can be ripe with unrealistic ideals of the human body. Exposure to such negative media can further distort your body image and compromise anorexia recovery. End your subscriptions to such media sources and become a critical observer of other forms of media.[22]
    • Remind yourself that human bodies come in all shapes and sizes. The bodied features on TV and in magazines have often been retouched to appear thinner and flawless.
    • Embrace media sources that emphasize a variety of bodies like the Project HEAL campaign, #WhatMakesMeBeautiful.[23]
    • You might also look into the “Embrace” campaign, which is aimed at helping people accept their body image.[24] [25]
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References

  1. ↑ https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000362.htm
  2. ↑ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/eating-disorders/anorexia-nervosa.htm
  3. ↑ https://jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40337-015-0057-z
  4. ↑ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9794-anorexia-nervosa
  5. ↑ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/eating-disorders/eating-disorder-treatment-and-recovery.htm
  6. ↑ https://www.drugs.com/condition/anorexia.html
  7. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3000192/
  8. ↑ https://anad.org/get-help/about-our-support-groups/
  9. ↑ http://www.anad.org/get-help/find-support-groups-treatment/
  1. ↑ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/eating-disorders/anorexia-nervosa.htm
  2. ↑ https://www.yourhealthinmind.org/mental-illnesses-disorders/eating-disorders/self-care
  3. ↑ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/eating-disorders/anorexia-nervosa.htm
  4. ↑ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/eating-disorders/eating-disorder-treatment-and-recovery.htm
  5. ↑ Mindy Lu, LMHC, CN. Certified Nutritionist & Licensed Counselor. Expert Interview. 21 October 2020.
  6. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4039404/
  7. ↑ https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/blog/finding-hobbies-enjoy-healthy-coping-mechanism-college
  8. ↑ Mindy Lu, LMHC, CN. Certified Nutritionist & Licensed Counselor. Expert Interview. 21 October 2020.
  9. ↑ https://www.anred.com/hltheat.html
  10. ↑ Mindy Lu, LMHC, CN. Certified Nutritionist & Licensed Counselor. Expert Interview. 21 October 2020.
  11. ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mindful-musings/201512/3-reasons-why-you-should-finally-throw-away-your-scale
  12. ↑ https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/blog/movement-compulsive-overexercise
  13. ↑ https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/general-information/ten-steps
  14. ↑ https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/blog/positive-uses-social-media-body-image-advocacy
  15. ↑ https://bodyimagemovement.com/
  16. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__2AayArYfs

About This Article

Mindy Lu, LMHC, CN
Co-authored by:
Mindy Lu, LMHC, CN
Certified Nutritionist & Licensed Counselor
This article was co-authored by Mindy Lu, LMHC, CN. Mindy Lu is a Certified Nutritionist (CN), Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), and the Clinical Director of Sunrise Nutrition, a nutrition and therapy group practice in Seattle, Washington. Mindy specializes in eating disorders, body image concerns, and chronic dieting. She holds an MS in Nutrition and Clinical Health Psychology from Bastyr University. Mindy is a Licensed Counselor and Nutritionist and is known for her warm therapeutic style and culturally-inclusive lens in healing. She is a member of the Multicultural Counselors of Washington State and the Association for Size Diversity and Health. This article has been viewed 21,432 times.
3 votes - 100%
Co-authors: 5
Updated: August 1, 2022
Views: 21,432
Categories: Eating Disorders

Medical Disclaimer

The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment. You should always contact your doctor or other qualified healthcare professional before starting, changing, or stopping any kind of health treatment.

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