How to Recover from an Eating Disorder during the Summer

By Christine Saah | Guest Blogger

I am 115 days free of binging and purging. I know the summer can be very difficult and wanted to offer some tips on how I am continuing to recover. I hope they are of help to you.

First, I made a promise to my friend that I would offer up 9 receptions of the Eucharist at mass in honor of her new marriage. I am now using a sacrament not only for myself, but to pray for someone I love. I am also offering up 9 rosaries for her marriage. This means that my personal prayer has to start to include a daily rosary. It’s going to be tough to pray it every day for a few days, but knowing why and who I am doing it in honor of will motivate me. I am making more changes to my prayer life too. This past week I had a week off from camp, and decided to leave many of my books behind as I travel for the next 3 weeks. Why did I do this? I want to make the Bible my main choice of reading during prayer. I have many books that are good to use in prayer, but I feel called to go straight to the source of many writings – the Bible!

Secondly, I have added a new exercise goal. I have to be super careful with exercise, because I am easily tempted to over do it. Right now, the last thing I want to do is over exercise. I finally learned my lesson after spraining my foot in October, and I want to remain well so that I can run these camps along with my teammates. Anyways, my goal is to run 30 times in 30 days. All it has to be is a 30 minute run to count. The pace and distance don’t matter. Calories don’t matter. This goal of mine is about reteaching myself how to have a healthy running routine. If you are struggling with working out too much try to make a goal each day to limit yourself to a reasonable amount of time. At one point I exercised for 3 hours daily and it took up way too much of my life. You can chip away from your workout routine gradually if it’s too scary to cut back.

A third point, but not necessarily a goal, is to mention the issue of counseling. I am no longer in counseling, because the school year ended. Do I feel that I could still use counseling? Very much so. However, my circumstances of traveling place to place each week make that impossible. I knew this ahead of time so I made sure I had an accountability partner. This person has gotten a text from me everyday for for the past 105 days. She’s someone I can text if I am tempted or have a difficult time. She may not reply right away, but I know she will the minute she has a chance to. The funny part about my accountability partner is that she’s not even my best friend. She’s someone that has been through an eating disorder, and wants to make sure I can get better. Make sure you can trust the person you choose for an accountability partner, but be aware that it does’t have to be your closest friend. I think it’s better to have a more neutral person who will keep you in touch with reality.

I have one final message for anyone reading this. Summer time is not like the school year and involves traveling. It can also involve being home with people your not used to being around all the time. You absolutely have to make sure you have a support team that you can easily access. That could mean checking in with your friend daily with a phone call or as simple as a text. It could also mean letting new people into your support group. I know I struggle the most when I am at home alone without my support system, but I learned quickly that traveling makes me feel almost more distant from my support. However, this has taught me how to effectively meet my needs by making my teammates aware of my struggles. I also schedule phone calls when I need it. Something that’s helped me most is praying more. When I feel that I’ve lost control and I have no clue what to do, I find myself turning more to God each day.

P.S. You are enough.