Things Your Body May Go Through In Recovery
I have found that my body feels better in so many ways — but my digestion tends to be worse. I’ll share what happens to my body, because I found that it helped me to trust the process of recovery when I understood that these things were part of it. Keep in mind that this is not medical advice — it is only my experience. Your doctor or health care professional is the best person to talk to regarding your personal situation.

From my research, many bulimics (including me)– and maybe anorexics too — go through symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). In my experience, it did get better over time. In future posts, I’ll share some tips for easing digestive issues in recovery. Please talk to your doctor or health care professional before trying anything related to your eating or health. It’s so important to get guidance from a professional that you trust when it comes to your health.

Here is my list of some of the challenges my body goes through. I would appreciate if you share your experience as well. There is virtually nothing written about how the body recovers from an eating disorder. Most books, therapy and programs focus on ending the behavior — but not on helping us understand and cope with how our bodies react in the recovery process. Since most of us get a little freaky when our bodies do things we can’t control, it makes recovery more challenging. This is where trust comes in — start to trust your body — read my posts on learning to trust your body for some tips & actions you can take in your own recovery.

  1. Bloating – everywhere, legs, stomach, etc. I had a pregnant stomach effect for hours after eating or sometimes all day.
  2. Gas
  3. Constipation
  4. Some body pains — for me it was my face — my cheekbones, jaw & temples ached & needed to be massaged
  5. Nausea after eating or taking vitamins
  6. Discomfort after eating – maybe even for several hours
  7. More frequent urination during the day and/or at night – your body may have been retaining water or needs to balance now that is is getting the hydration it needs.
  8. Digestive discomfort sometime in the early morning (3:00 am – 6:00 am) – this is fairly normal, but I wasn’t used to it. I’ll give tips for this in another post.

Here’s my list of wonderful things that happen to my body in recovery:

  1. My knees feel better & stronger
  2. My back, neck and tailbone feel better – no more sore muscles
  3. My throat & esophagus feel better – no loger sore
  4. My teeth feel stronger and no loger hurt when I eat fruit, hot or cold beverages, etc.
  5. I sleep more soundly & for more hours – no more dark circles under my eyes
  6. I drink more water and my skin gets better — it’s softer, healthier looking & the redness goes away
  7. My face & neck are no longer puffy – you really notice a difference in pictures, even if it’s less noticeable day-to-day
  8. Less congestion – I feel like I can breathe better, even at night – this could also have something to do with foods you eat.

Toward Radiant Health
In recovery, I’ve had friends tell me I look radiantly healthy. The last time they visited me, they told my husband that I looked better than they had ever seen me look. Now I’m not saying that the focus should be looks or image — it wasn’t that I was more beautiful or anything — it’s that I looked so healthy, instead of tired and drawn. If you are reading this and you’re under 30, you may not realize how important health starts to become to people as they get into their 30′s and up. Looking & feeling healthy became more of a goal for me — it was too much of a challenge with an eating disorder.

Recovery is more than just body health, however — it’s a partnership of the mind, body and spirit. I noticed that over the years of my recovery, each area started to unfold. Every time I stumbled, I took a lesson from it. Every time I recovered, I felt so much better. I started to tell myself that I wanted to live. I just wanted to live — to feel good.

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