This is part 3 of my 9-steps to recovery from bulimia. Outlined today are steps 7 – 9. Monday is the beginning of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (NEDAW – February 26 – March 4th, 2006) and I plan to cover topics from the 9 steps in more detail.
Please feel free to share your own recovery stories, ask questions or leave comments!
The 9 Steps to TRANSCEND Bulimia:
- Tell someone – get help
- Responsibility
- Acceptance
- Nutrition
- Spirit/Soul
- Commitment
- Exercise
- Nurture yourself
- Discover who you really are
- E – Exercise – Safe, healthy exercise that is right for your body can provide many benefits. Overexercising only keeps you stuck in the vicious cycle of an eating disorder. When I stopped bingeing and purging, I started to overexercise instead. Then I realized that overexercising only messed up my ability to really KNOW my appetite and my own sense of “normal” eating. Overexercising can also create injury, stress, health issues and early ageing. It is just another way of keeping your mind and body at war.
At some point, when I really committed to my recovery, I naturally backed off. I started being happy with a normal amount of healthy exercise – and even taking a day or two off each week. Talk to your health professional about an exercise routine that would be healthy for you. Consider gentle walking, hiking, yoga, t’ai chi or pilates. These are all forms of exercise that integrate body, mind and spirit.
- N – Nurture yourself - As people pleasers, we tend to take care of everyone and everything else before ourselves. What do you love to do? How much sleep makes you feel most refreshed? How do you feel when you’ve had a healthy, nourishing meal? How does it feel when you relax, get a massage or take a bubble bath? When you laugh with friends? Nurturing yourself is all about self-care. It is THE foundation for having a joyful life. When you have enough sleep, exercise in healthy ways, rest and relax and do fun hobbies that make your heart sing, you are taking care of yourself.
Ask yourself, what love do you want to feel from others? What approval do you want from others? What kindness do you want from others? Make a list. Now how about doing these things for yourself? How about taking care of yourself in these ways first, before you do things for others? Your best caretaker is YOU!
- D – Discover – Discover who you really are and what you want. Do you know the answer to the question “Who Am I?” You don’t have to know the answer right now – the important thing is to start getting to know yourself.
To get to know yourself, just become aware of the way you feel as you go through life. Whenever you feel something, go into your inner body – maybe into your heart. Separate the thoughts you have about what you “should” be doing or feeling and ask yourself what your heart wants. Just notice if there is a difference, without judgment. Write down how you feel in your journal.
You may find, as I did, that your inner body (your heart and gut feelings) start to give you clues about what you really want, rather than your mind, which might be full of “shoulds” and fears. Getting to know your inner self can be difficult if your mind and body are in the war, typical for an eating disorder. In war, communication between enemies is cut off, so it takes time to establish trust again and find out who you really are. Be patient, as you create a better relationship between your mind, body and spirit, you will begin to really know yourself. It is worth all the work of recovery!
