I'm pulling this post from an ask I recently answered from someone who was struggling with frequent relapse. Thought this advice might apply to a lot of us:
Use timed reminders to hold yourself accountable to consistently practicing self care before, during, and after eating. Especially when you're going places like - out to a restaurant with friends and family, event where surprise food might be offered, holiday party, etc. Self-care can be whatever works for you - writing down positive affirmations, meditating, taking a long hot bath, taking a little walk and moving your body, gently reminding the bully in your head that what they're saying to you is not helpful to you in the long run, doing some stretches, creating some art...literally whatever self-care looks like for you, but create a self-care regimen around eating properly.
Create a self-care regimen for lapses, too. Hopefully you won't need it, but understand that self-care means investing in resources and safety nets for yourself in the event that you might have a hard time, rather than punishing yourself by letting yourself fail. Think about it in advance so that you are not struggling to come up with a self-care plan when you're already in crisis: what are you going to need in order to help gently pull yourself out of a lapse? Failing is human and struggling is common in eating disorders. Learning to be kind to yourself when you fail and growing from your mistakes is a huge part of ED recovery, since we tend to be big self-punishers. Examine your lapse without self-hatred. What led to it? What can you practice learning from it? It's okay if it takes practice to learn, some of us weren't raised with the self-care knowledge that we needed.
Create a support system! Reaching out can be hard and scary, but surrounding yourself with the right influences can really give us a boost when we need it the most. If you trust your friends with this, let them know what they can do to support you, whether it's reminders of how much they love you and want health for you, or ways they can help you stay calm and well. If there's anyone you can reach out to when you're struggling, practicing asking for help can be a really good skill.
Healing is not linear, and lapses and relapses don't mean you've lost what you've learned. Keep on going, I believe in you!
Not my usual brand, I know, but this is something I've struggled with literally half my life at this point. I've been in recovery about 7ish years now, and I still have to remind myself sometimes that eating is not bad. Being fat is not bad. Enjoying a meal is not bad.
And because of these struggles, I want to share this with my followers. Self-care is something I didn't really know existed until 3 years ago, and it's been a game changer. I haven't employed it in this regard (but I now plan to!), but it's made my myriad of other mental health issues so much more bearable.
Self-care is so important for mental health. I've taken numerous medications in those 7 year (for various things), but it wasn't until I learned the concept of self-care (and got out of the bad situation I was living in), that things started to improve.
I know it's almost a cliche at this point, but it truly does get better. The bad stuff may feel never ending (especially if youre a minor still living with your family), but someday, it will improve. Until thing, try to find something to look forward to and keep yourself healthy alive. Even if it feels small and insignificant in the grand scheme. For me, it was new episodes of Supernatural (dating myself a little lol). A TV show. The next book or movie in a series. I've even seen someone on here say that thinking "What Would Naruto Do?" helped them. Whatever it is, as long as it helps you, it's valid.
