Eating Disorder Recovery Tips & Self-Help

Recovery from an eating disorder does not always occur when you are with a therapist or in a treatment program. The strains and stresses from eating disorders affect everyone around the clock. It is those moments when you don’t have an eating disorder specialist or counselor in front of you that are some of the most critical. Eating Disorder Hope has compiled a resource for eating disorder tips and self-help: emotional management, mentoring resources, coping skills, and other recovery advice to help you through an eating disorder.

Talking About Eating Disorders

• Discussing any sensitive situation with your parents is quite difficult. Attempting to speak with them about a sensitive topic such as an eating disorder that can kill you is even more difficult. However, do not forget that your parents love you, and they want you to be safe and healthy. Do not fall into the misguided belief that you can handle the binge eating, anorexia or bulimia on your own. You need help and two of the most important people that can help you get through the eating disorder disease are your parents.
• Few things are more painful than watching a friend suffer in silence with an eating disorder without acknowledging it. We’ve written a short help guide that gives some tips on how to speak to your friend about his or her eating disorder.

Articles for the Holidays

• The celebratory drop of the New Year’s Eve ball marks the end of a year and the beginning of new experiences and opportunities.  For many individuals January 1^st serves as an opportunity to establish resolutions and various ways of improving one’s life.  While such intentions may appear innocuous to some, for individuals struggling with an eating disorder this seemingly simple tradition can transform into an overwhelming, competition for success, quantified by numbers on a scale. The after-holiday onslaught of advertisements popularizing physical improvements and externally-related goals only exacerbates the challenge of establishing resolutions that focus on something other than physical appearance.
• Coping Tips for Getting Through the Holidays - For many people around the country, November 22, 2012 signaled the beginning of the holiday season.  However, Thanksgiving only marks the start of the onslaught of holiday celebrations.
• Eating Disorder Challenges During the Holidays – In the US, up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder[1].  For those who struggle with an eating disorder, or strive to recover from one, the holidays can be a challenging time. The celebrations really start on October 31 with Halloween and basically draw to an end the beginning of January with the ringing in of a new year.

Key Recovery Articles

• How to re-establish your identity and personality while in eating disorder recovery to find the “true you” in this article. Recovery from an eating disorder involves far more than establishing a healthy relationship with food. It requires breaking old habits and learning new skills to cope with the ups and downs of life. It takes strength, dedication and patience to face the inevitable challenges. Additionally, it takes a real commitment to rediscovering oneself.
• Top 10 Tips for Eating Disorder Recovery – Discover these top ten tips for promoting a successful recovery.
• Utilizing 12 Step Principles in the Treatment of Eating Disorders – If you have been researching various treatment methods for eating disorders and/or addiction, you may have come across the 12-step program. The principles outlined in this program can be profoundly helpful in the recovery process for eating disorders, especially when combined with other forms of therapy. Examples of some of the values included in this program are honesty, hope, and reconnecting to self and others. Read this article to learn more about how the guiding principles in the 12-step recovery can be a powerful tool towards healing and recovery.
• Setting Reasonable Goals for Eating Disorder Recovery – Learn about ways to set practical and achievable goals for yourself to help in attaining long-term success for your recovery.

Articles on Self-Soothing

• Effective Coping Skills in the Treatment of Eating Disorders – Healthy and positive coping skills are vital in establishing freedom from an eating disorder. Discover some great tips about coping skills that can be helpful for anyone by reading this article.
• Self-Soothing Skills: An Essential Tool of Eating Disorder Treatment and Recovery – One of the most significant tools for overcoming eating disorders is learning how to self-soothe. Learn more about the importance of this skill and helpful tips for application by reading this article.
• Social Support: The Cradle for Growth and Recovery with Eating Disorders – Giving and receiving social support can offer a strong foundation to recovery from an eating disorder. Read more about this along with helpful suggestions in this article.
• The First Step to Self-Care – Establishing self-care begins with learning about who you are and where you want to be. Follow the exercise contained in this article to begin your self-care journey.

Articles on Managing Emotions

• Eating Disorders: Accepting the Pain of the Past – Learn about the importance of discovering, accepting, and healing from the underlying pain associated with eating disorders.
• Eating Disorder Recovery and Overcoming Negative Thoughts – Changing your thought process is instrumental to recovering from an eating disorder. Learn about the common thinking errors observed in eating disordered behaviors.
• Artistic Expression & Eating Disorder Recovery – Learn how deep feelings can be expressed through various artistic forms, such as dance, music, and film.
• Eating Disorder Recovery Tools – Feelings – Acknowledging and understanding our emotions and feelings is crucial to an overall well-being. Read this article to learn more about this important subject.
• The Importance of Emotional Expression – Expressing emotions constructively and through healthy avenues is necessary and important in recovery. Learn more about this topic in this helpful article.
• Feelings are Important – Choosing to ignore or push aside deep feelings and emotions can be detrimental to overall health and well-being. Learn about the power of acknowledging and appreciating feelings in this encouraging article.
• Strength Lies in Talking About it – Eating Disorders are complex diseases rooted in secrecy. Learning to reach out, ask for support, and talk about struggles is fundamental is drawing strength for recovery. Learn more by reading this article.
• Eating Disorder Mindset – Eating Disorders are usually driven by an unhealthy internal dialogue. Thought restructuring skills are essential to recovery. Discover more about this by reading these articles.

Mentoring Articles

• Mentoring as an Essential Component of Recovery – Read this inspiring article to learn the value of a mentor in your recovery process.
• How to be a Good Mentor – You have the ability to become a quality mentor to someone who needs the life experience. Read this article to learn helpful tips on how to become equipped as a mentor.
• I Found a Mentor: Now What? 7 Steps to Building a Quality Mentoring Partnership – If you have found a recovery mentor, read this valuable article to learn how to make the most of your opportunity to be mentored in your recovery journey.

More Articles on Self-Help & Recovery

• The 12 Step Program of Recovery and Eating Disorders – Originally developed over 65 years ago by a small group of recovering alcoholics, the twelve-step program has become an important part of the recovery process and the foundation for many recovery programs.  Though the twelve-step program was proposed by Alcoholics Anonymous as an approach to recovery from Alcoholism, the methods have been adapted to a process that addresses a wide-range of substance-abuse and dependency issues.
• Health As a Recovery Tool – Eating disorders result in devastating health and medical consequences. Read these articles to learn more about this important topic.
• Eating Disorders and Mindfulness – The practice of mindfulness is especially important to those struggling with eating disorders. Read these articles to learn more about this.
• Eating Disorder Relapse – In eating disorder recovery, relapse prevention is critical. Read this valuable article to learn more about how to establish relapse prevention in your own journey.
• The Object of Comfort – Often times, eating disorders develop as a means of coping through a traumatic or distressing period in a man or woman’s life. As eating disorders offer a false sense of control and security, it can be all the more difficult to let go of these damaging behaviors. Read this inspiring article to learn more about the healing process through recovery.
• Walking in Recovery – Recovery is a long journey with many twists and turns, up and downs. Learn about the process of eating disorder recovery and the importance of humility.

Last Reviewed By: Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC on March 15, 2013

Page last updated: March 15, 2013
Published on EatingDisorderHope.com, Resources for Eating Disorder Information and Treatment