Food is necessary for life. Good and nutritious food is essential for wellbeing and good health. For these reasons, your relationship with food needs to be a positive and healthy one. A dysfunctional relationship will result in eating disorders. To avoid this end, or to begin your recovery from any such disorder, keep reading for some suggestions on how to build or maintain this healthy interaction.

Join A Recovery Program

Depending on how progressed your eating disorder is, you will need the help of professionals. A general practitioner should take care of your overall bodily needs, a psychiatrist your mental needs, and a nutritionist or dietitian, your food needs. Such a team is important for eating disorder treatment in order to have all the bases covered. This most likely will be a long-term treatment plan and as a result, you must be dedicated and committed to focusing your energy on self-improvement. Don’t place too much emphasis on the fact that a change won’t happen overnight. This is not the case for anyone. The body and mind is a complex system that requires time for deconditioning and reconditioning. 

Feel free to engage in discussions with a counselor. Talking about what your triggers and fears are is important for your healing. Get involved in daily exercises and if you feel so inclined, delve into spiritual growth. This holistic approach will be beneficial as long as you fully commit.

Regard Food As A Friend, Not An Enemy

Setting regulations around when you allow yourself to eat and how much you should eat should be stopped. Plainly and simply, if you are hungry it is okay to eat. Yes, counting calories is important sometimes, and cutting off snacking can be a good course of action but when restrictions are taken to the extreme, things begin to go downhill. Train yourself to listen to your body. Respect when it calls for food but also when it says it’s full. Try eliminating distractions when you sit to eat. Put away your gadgets, turn off the tv. Enjoy the smell and taste of your food. Practice this kind of mindfulness to grow in appreciation for your meals. 

Eat Regularly

Set times for the three main meals of the day. You can meal prep in advance so that you’ll always be prepared. Skipping meals for whatever reason is to be avoided. If you pass on breakfast and lunch, by the time dinner comes around, your hunger will be so great, you risk overeating. Feeling guilty about bingeing you may be tempted to go straight into dieting. This cycle is dangerous.  Form healthy connections with healthy foods. Focus less on snacking and fast food options and instead opt for more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. If you are concerned about weight gain, this is a better way to temper it. 

Unlearning these schemas you’ve constructed for yourself may be tasking but it is not impossible to get back on the road to healthy living with the right help. Talk to someone, seek out help. Your eating disorder can soon be in your past.