I suffered from binge eating and bulimia for nearly 30 years. Iām qualified to talk to you about how to overcome an eating disorder because Iāve been free from any eating disorder for 10 years and counting now.
Living with an eating disorder is not living, it’s surviving. You are worth more than just surviving.
Binge eating is when you eat a lot of food in a small amount of time (much more than most people would in that same span of time) and you feel out of control when youāre doing it. Bulimia is when you eat (and especially binge) then purge what you’ve eaten either through laxatives, exercise, or vomiting. (NEDA)
1. To overcome an eating disorder, acknowledge that having an eating disorder is a choice
You are responsible for your own choices, I say kindly. You are not stuck and you are not powerless. You get to choose. And while, I know it might not feel like it at the time when you desperately want the eating disorder to make things better, I assure you, thereās a choice to be made even if itās just a split second. And in that moment, when you want to choose the eating disorder to make everything better, you need to choose yourself instead.
2. To overcome an eating disorder, choose to befriend yourself
Self-compassion is what you most need to heal. That means being the kind of best friend to yourself that youāve always wanted. You are with you 24/7. You are already the closest and best friend youāll ever have. Now, you just have to treat yourself that way, sit with whatever youāre feeling and/or trying to avoid by abusing food, and decide that youāre important enough to do whatever it takes to heal yourself.
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3. To overcome an eating disorder, change what you believe
You always (always, always) live out what you believe. So you need to believe:
- itās okay for you to be a healthy weight.
- you are so much more than a number on a scale.
- food is just fuel so you can thrive.
Thing is, I could say those things to you for the entire length of this post. I could write an entire book filled with them, but they wonāt become truth to you unless youāre the one who believes them. And if they arenāt truth to you, you wonāt live them out in your life. So choose to believe them because you need to save your own life.
4. To overcome an eating disorder, reach out and tell someone you trust that you have one
I got trapped in a cycle because I wouldnāt talk about it and so I couldnāt get any help. I know you probably feel shame and humiliation and like thereās something wrong with you. Hear me on this: Thereās nothing wrong with you. Youāre just trapped in a cycle and you need help to get out, and thatās okay because all of us at some point or another has been trapped in a cycle. So youāre not alone in that either.
You donāt have to suffer in silence. You just donāt. So you reach out and ask for help today. And if you donāt have anyone you trust, please feel free to contact me.
Get off the diet-go-round. Get on with your life.Ā®
Stop wishing, start doing.
Create your own weight loss before and after success story.
My weight loss transformation & how it can help you overcome an eating disorder
You absolutely can break the diet cycle. I got free. Your life can be that way too.
I made my own path because I needed to get myself out of the crazy-making behavior I was having around food. I needed:
- no more dieting.
- no more restrictive eating.
- no weighing and measuring food.
- no off-limit foods.
- no more judgment around food.
- no more trying to figure out healthy eating or just what healthy foods to eat.
- no more judging my self-worth based on the scale.
- no more youāre-not-doing-it-perfectly diet rules that were only fueling my constant thinking about and obsession with food.
I needed to stop: searching for weight loss tips, wondering how to lose belly fat fast or how to lose weight fast, worrying about how to eat healthy or finding healthy snacks for weight loss, coming up with yet another healthy eating plan, trying to have quick weight loss, or forcing myself onto yet another weight loss diet. What I needed instead was to find, out of all the weight loss programs out there, the best weight loss program for me. Turns out, the best way to lose weight was to find out what works for me and do that.
- I’ve lost 160+ pounds naturally by simply trusting myself and listening to my intuition (mindful eating and eating intuitively).
- I have maintained that weight loss for 9 years and counting by trusting myself and listening to my intuition (mindful eating and intuitive eating).
- I no longer have any eating disorders, including bulimia (bulimia nervosa) and binge eating disorder (compulsive overeating).
- I no longer have a fear of food.
Just imagine what you could be doing with your life if you’d just commit to having your own before and after weight loss success story. You could be:Ā following your own dreams and reaching your own goals, cultivating your own passions, and making both your inner and outer worlds a more blissful and peaceful place.
I got that for my life. I want it for yours. I will teach you how.
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Let today be the day you make peace with your body and with food.
For more information, check out the Start Where You Are Weight LossĀ® page.
I love that you mentioned that a person needs to choose themselves if they want to overcome an eating disorder. In my opinion, it is really important to find a counselor and a doctor to work with when you are trying to overcome an eating disorder. It is really hard to do this by yourself, and by working with a professional you are ensuring that there will be people on your side.
Hi Thomas! I agree that finding someone you trust is key to releasing the shame the typically goes along with an eating disorder. It’s been my experience that overcoming an eating disorder is as hard or as easy as you want to make it; it’s just a matter of changing what you believe.