DON’T FALL FOR ED’s 3 BIGGEST LIES AGAIN! What are they, you ask? * More recovery articles? | Click Here |
“I don’t need to pack a snack, I’ll just find something there - later.” Sorry babes, but come on now. This is the #1 way to fall off your meal plan wagon and mess things up for yourself. Just because you’re going out doesn’t mean that all the rules stop applying. In fact, they should apply even more so because you’re expending extra energy you might not have otherwise.
Instead: If you’re going out - pack as many meals and snacks as you’d miss if you didn’t pack them. Out for half the day? Half the day’s meals and snacks should be traveling with you and not only traveling, but also consumed in a timely manner. If you’re serious about breaking ED’s grip on your life, you absolutely need to follow this step, otherwise be prepared for a long uphill battle if you insist on skipping it!
“I know I tend to binge on peanut butter, but it feels like this time will be different…Now, to find a spoon…” No, stop, halt - right there! This is 99% of the time a lie you try and tell yourself when you know you’re feeling off-center and a binge session is around the corner. If you tend to binge on something and all of the sudden you get this glorious feeling that somehow this time will be different, it won’t and you’ll stumble and fall and will need to pick up the pieces. In order to start tackling binge foods, you need to be at least 6 months seriously and whole-heartedly into recovery, otherwise, forget about it and be weary when this feeling of faux-invincibility strikes!
Instead: When you find yourself reaching for that spoon, remember to H.A.L.T.Are you hungry, angry, lonely or tired? More often than not, it will be one or all of the latter three and that’s the emotion you need to deal with. Angry? Write it out - raw and uncensored. Take it out on paper, not on your body! Lonely?Text or call a friend even if you don’t ‘feel’ like it right now because I guarantee that once you go through the motions, you’ll be happy you did and will feel much more connected. Tired? A nap is in order. Not a treadmill marathon - a NAP. Get your butt to bed and lay it down. Set your phone on a 30 min. timer and turn on soothing music - your body and mind will thank you for it when you wake up.
“I’m starving but the fridge is empty! Guess a grocery shop is in order…” If you don’t have an ED (or are fully recovered), there is nothing out of the ordinary about this and people do it every day. If you do have an ED (and I’m assuming you do since you’re reading this) a grocery shop on an empty stomach is pretty much equivalent to taking a stroll through a mine field. What will inevitably happen is you will buy a mighty pile of binge food (on top of your usual staples), will start eating on your way home and continue from there. The good news is - you don’t have to put yourself into this situation.
Instead: Fight laziness and go grocery shopping before your fridge becomes an empty wasteland of hopelessness. See your shelves running low? Wait until your next meal, eat and then go shopping AFTER you’ve eaten. This isn’t a beneficial strategy only for people with EDs by the way! If you’ve waited too long and the northern winds are roaming freely through your fridge with not a slice of ham in sight - well, a trip to your local Subway (or whatever else) is in order BEFORE you go grocery shopping. Yes, it is crucial and yes, you have to do it this way otherwise, like a moth drawn to the flame of abundance, you’ll get burned by your ED.
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