Many people have an unrealistic idea of what the recovery is like and what to expect. When they start to experience symptoms like extreme hunger or craving only their former “binge foods” they may panic as surely this is not “normal eating”, right?
But at the same time, they do not take into account that the restrictive eating disorder past they come from is also not “normal”. The fact that they have restricted calories and types of foods, maybe even engaged in purging or overexercise. And this went on for years or maybe even decades.
Often they compare their food intake to other normal eaters around them. And this seems to give even more “evidence” that their eating is not ok and something is very wrong.
But recovery eating is NOT the same as “normal eating” if you compare it to a person who never had an eating disorder and does not have years of restriction to overcome.
BUT, your eating is VERY normal considering the eating disorder past you come from.
In recovery:
- extreme hunger is normal
- massive cravings are normal
- only wanting to eat your fear food is normal
- mental hunger is normal
- feeling like “eating all day” is normal
- “feeling full but still hungry” is normal
- [insert any other combination] is normal
This is why its called RECOVERY! It’s a temporary healing phase you simply must go through. This is where you start to change all of your eating disorder behaviors, stop restriction and calorie compensation and you rewire your brain and THEN you get back to normal eating.
✔️The path is: eating disorder –> recovery –> normal eating
✖️Not: eating disorder –> normal eating
I hope this post helps you to stay strong in your recovery, focus on what is important and keep on going!
