One of the most common fears that people in eating disorder recovery have is the fear that they will gain weight. And this is a completely valid fear for someone with an eating disorder. Your eating disorder has been telling you since the very beginning that losing weight is good and gaining weight is bad, so it is only natural for you to fear it. So, what if you gain weight?
If you gain weight in your recovery, that most likely means you were under what we like to call your body’s “natural weight”.
Recovery involves learning to listen to your body and learning to honor your body. Through recovery, you begin honoring your body through nourishment. You begin eating your three balanced meals and snacks and you begin tuning into your body’s hunger and fullness cues, eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full.
Through recovery, you begin honoring your body through joyful movement. You begin moving your body in ways that it wants to move, rather than in ways that you feel like it should move. You begin allowing your body to rest, recover, and recharge.
Working with a therapist or specialist during this time can provide crucial support. A trained professional can help you challenge the beliefs and fears that your eating disorder has instilled, and offer tools and strategies to guide your healing journey.
By consistently listening to and honoring your body (rather than your eating disorder), your body will find its natural weight. It will find the weight that it feels best at—the weight that it feels nourished, fueled, energized, and rested at. We know that a major fear related to weight gain is the inability to stop gaining weight once you start. You may be asking yourself, “What if once I start gaining weight, I can’t stop? What if I just keep gaining and gaining?”
When these fears arise, remind yourself that your weight does not define you. Your body does not define you. What defines you is what the eyes do not have the privilege of seeing. What defines you comes from within. Your team of specialists can also help support you through every stage of your recovery process including managing feelings and fears regarding your body possibly changing.
It may be helpful to consider therapy as a space where you can explore these fears safely. Whether you’re just beginning recovery or have been on this journey for a while, treatment with a qualified specialist can support you in developing trust with your body and shifting your mindset around weight and identity.
What would it be like to view your body as something other than ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’? To view it as something that doesn’t have to be changed? What if you could give your body permission to simply be the vessel that carries your soul through life? What if you could view your worth as a human being as who you are, rather than what you look like?
Take a second and think about all that your body does for you…
Your body allows you to dance. And laugh. And smile. It allows you to feel butterflies, hear music, see beauty. Your body carries you, every single day, along this roller coaster of a journey we call life. And now think about how you have been treating your body, how you’ve been speaking to your body. Not the kindest, huh? Your body doesn’t deserve that.
So, this is up to you. YOU are the only one with the power to give your body permission to exist exactly as it is. YOU hold the key to body acceptance. Giving your body permission, allowing it to simply be, is how you will get there.
So, the next time you look in the mirror, thank your body for all that it does for you. And when you see your imperfections, remember that you have the power to let those imperfections exist without judgment. You don’t have to love them, you don’t even have to like them. All you have to do is make the decision that today, you will give your body permission to show up, imperfectly. And simply take your journey one day at a time and even one meal at a time.
So yes, it is possible to gain weight in recovery. And if you do, it is okay. Because you know what else you’re going to gain?
FAB’s Body Image Therapist, Morgan, can help you heal your relationship with your body and let go of the fear of gaining weight
If you are thinking of trying therapy or are wanting to take the next step in healing your relationship with your body, take the quiz on FAB’s website and schedule your consultation with Dr. Jen, FAB’s Founder and Eating Disorder Therapist.
©FAB Food & Body Program
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