# How To Put Your Eating Disorder Recovery First



## David Baxter PhD (Jan 31, 2015)

*How To Put Your Eating Disorder Recovery First*
by Jessica Hudgens, HealthyPlace.com
Jan 15, 2015

 First, let?s recap why it is so important for you to put your recovery first.

 In short, your eating disorder affects every area of your life.  Anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and other eating disorders will destroy  the things most important to you (and in short order!), so you need to  spend just as much time and energy on your recovery as you did acting on  your eating disorder. Which, while it surely felt second nature and  automatic (and therefore probably felt like you spent no time at all on  it), was a _tremendous_ amount of time.

 My basic philosophy for prioritizing your eating disorder recovery can be summed up in three words: *Recovery First. Always.*

 The cornerstones of your recovery are nutrition (AKA eating without  compensation) and appointments with your treatment team. These things  should be scheduled before anything else on your calendar. This might  leave you with some uncomfortable choices. For example:


Early in my recovery, I was looking for a job and was finally  offered the exact position I wanted in a preschool. However, the hours  would have conflicted with the hours my therapist and dietitian were  open. After talking with the school, there wasn?t much they could do in  the way of changing the hours, so I had to turn them (and the steady  paycheck) down. 
I have, on more than one occasion, had dinner in my therapist?s  office because of the timing of our sessions. It also really forced me  to challenge the shame I felt about eating around other people. 
On the first day of classes last year, I had to approach my  professors and tell them I would have to eat meals and snacks in class.  Not only that, but if they found this disruptive, I would have to be  excused to eat in the hallway. Not eating? Not an option. (Thankfully,  all of my professors are great about it and actually encourage it!) 
 *What If I Can?t Put My Recovery First?*
 There have certainly been times in my life when it felt like I  couldn?t put recovery first. At some times it was because I didn?t have  the skills or support  to make recovery happen; at others, it was because I didn?t have the  mental, emotional, or physical energy required to do so. Regardless of  the reason, if you aren?t able to prioritize your recovery (and/or  aren?t making good progress) in your current treatment situation, it may  be time to change things.

 It may mean adding a second (or third) appointment each week with  your therapist or seeing your psychiatrist every other week instead of  every month. It may mean finding a treatment center near you where you  can go a few nights a week for extra meal support and education. Or it  may mean taking weeks or months away from home and doing a residential  or inpatient stay to get your recovery going.

 I should note here that there is no shame in choosing any of these  options if they are called for. A lot of us as sufferers, especially  those of us who have been in recovery for some period of time, feel that  increasing the time we are spending in treatment is a step backwards.  It?s not. It?s a wise, recovery-oriented decision that ensures you keep  your recovery first.

*Putting My Own Recovery First*
 That said, I certainly understand the feeling of shame. I am  struggling with it some myself now. I had to make the decision to drop a  class prior to the start of the semester, knowing that the subject  content could be triggering and that I am simply not equipped mentally  or emotionally to take an ?extra? class beyond the minimum required.  While I am by no means back in my anorexia, I can certainly recognize  areas where I have slipped and areas I need to prioritize to be at my  prime physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.

 So for me, putting recovery first right now means a lighter workload.  Even if that keeps me in school longer and it feels like a ?waste of  money.?

 Recovery first. Always.


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