By Jenni Schaefer with Kim Collins, MS, RDN, CDE, CEDRD-S
Back in the day, my eating disorder (aka “Ed”) would have provided all kinds of ways for coping with COVID-19. Unfortunately, none of his coping mechanisms involve recovery. Have you heard Ed chiming in with excuses to cut back on your own recovery efforts during this unprecedented worldwide pandemic?
Ed might say that holding onto “just” one or two eating disorder behaviors isn’t that big of a deal. In my own recovery, Ed frequently said something like, “It’s okay to restrict food — just a little.” Yet what I learned is that a little restricting can hurt a lot. My former dietitian Reba Sloan used to share that we can’t leave one ember burning in the eating disorder forest fire. If we hold onto even just one eating disorder behavior, the Ed fire can roar again — possibly bigger than ever before.
“…joining forces with others was a surefire way to gain the strength and confidence that I needed to talk back to Ed.”
Jenni Schaefer
In early recovery, I often wasn’t strong enough to combat Ed’s lies on my own. But joining forces with others was a surefire way to gain the strength and confidence that I needed to talk back to Ed. One of the most stealth tools in my recovery toolbox was indeed my dietitian Reba. An expert eating disorder dietitian can be a Jedi knight guiding the way.
Below, Kimberly Collins, Director of Nutrition at The Meadows Ranch, takes on Ed as he tries to undermine.
Read the full post on The Meadows Ranch blog.
