Eating disorder recovery, particularly anorexia, demands rules, routine and regular eating times, 6 times a day. As you continue to grow stronger, flexibility and normal eating patterns begin to be introduced. This all works if you are in a place where you can continue to do this. But once you have to go back to uni, work, or other full-time outside employment what happens to your routine.
The work force is a loaded place for eating disorder recovery, it can become a trigger for the eating disorder to sneak back in.
Most of us work 9-5, some jobs don’t allow time for a tea break but only a lunch break. So how do you cope? By planning ahead. You can’t go into any environment that breaks with your usual routine without planning.
I know it sounds like your back at preschool, but seriously the ED you had is only waiting for the smallest slip in your armor and out it comes. You being to eat less, then skip a meal at night because you are too tired. Skipping breakfast cause you now don’t feel hungry. Not eating the right nutrition. And before you know it … losing weight, slipping back down hill. Then come fears, anxieties and wondering what to do to try and halt the ED train.
That brings us back to planning. Know that it is going to be difficult to be out of routine and your usual safe zone. Your mind and body will forget to function or find it all very confusing. Make sure you eat 3 solid meals a day, with plenty of the right nutrition. That is a must and non-negotiable. Fight back against the undercover eating disorder before it comes out. If you are allowed a break before or after lunch, then pack small items to nibble on – nuts, cut up fruit, biscuits, nutrition drink – something that requires little preparation so you have time to eat. Don’t just put your hands up in the air and give up.
Having an eating disorder in your present or past means you can no longer just fall into something different without planning.
It’s one of the downsides of a mental health illness but no different to anyone with a form of chronic illness. You have to plan ahead or put in barriers to protect yourself so you can live the life you want, without the illness getting in the way.
