What Recovery Experts Want People To Know About Rebuilding Health After an Eating Disorder

Highlights Recovery from an eating disorder looks different for everyone, and there’s no set timeline. Small changes, like thinking less about food or trusting hunger cues, can signal meaningful progress. Experts say slips aren’t the same as relapses and don’t erase the progress you’ve made. Long-term recovery is possible, even after years of struggling.

For millions of people, their relationship with food and body image is far more complicated than simply eating healthier or losing weight. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, nearly 31 million Americans will have an eating disorder during their lifetime.

At the same time, body image concerns are widespread, with up to 84% of women reporting body dissatisfaction and a desire to lose weight.

Eating disorders also have a direct impact on healthy aging, as the Association reports that “Over 3.3 million healthy life years worldwide are lost yearly because of eating disorders.”

While eating disorders can take many forms—including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder—the recovery journey is unique for every person.

Below, we spoke with eating disorder recovery experts to better understand what healing looks like, why it’s rarely linear, and how to protect the progress you’ve made.

There is no set timeline for recovery after an eating disorder

“It is fair to say that recovery looks different for everyone,” says Cynthia M. Bulik, PhD, a clinical psychologist, professor, and founding director of the UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders.

For some people, she says, recovery reaches a point where disordered eating thoughts and behaviors no longer dominate their lives, even if they still occasionally think about weight or appearance. “Their thoughts, self-concept, esteem, and life are not dominated by disordered eating thoughts and behaviors,” she says.

Dr. Bulik adds that others take their recovery “well beyond the typical” by developing a healthier relationship with food and body image than they had before their eating disorder. Others, however, may continue to experience challenges. “Unfortunately, for far too many, they teeter on partial recovery—still very weight preoccupied, still very rigid in their eating and exercise, and still somewhat imprisoned by their eating disorder,” she says.

For many people, the fear that they may never eat “normally” again can also impact progress—but it’s a very “common and understandable” fear, says Marci Evans, MS, CEDS-C, LDN, a registered dietitian and certified eating disorder specialist. “An eating disorder can completely take over one’s brain, life, and identity. So it makes sense that it’s hard to imagine things going back to ‘normal,'” she says.

That said, she emphasizes that people in recovery don’t need to be able to “envision” or even “believe” it’s possible—rather, they just need to focus on the next step in front of them: “Every step counts and makes a difference in moving them forward to the life they want to build.”

Recovery is happening, even when it doesn’t feel like it

Evans explains that rebuilding a healthy relationship with food can come with challenges, but even the smallest steps can signal big progress. “One of the first signs is that the amount of time a person spends thinking about, worrying about, obsessing over, or feeling guilty about food slowly starts to decrease,” she says. “Another sign is that there starts to be more room for food to serve a more multi-dimensional role in their life.”

Instead of viewing food as something to control, people gradually begin to see it as a way to celebrate and connect with others culturally and socially. Over time, Evans says, she also sees people become more comfortable with “imperfection” around eating.

As recovery progresses, an individual doesn’t just rely on their brain to dictate what and how much to eat. Their body starts to become part of the conversation, too, as they begin listening to their appetite, sensory preferences, and hunger and fullness cues.

Slips are not the same as relapses

Dr. Bulik says it can be helpful to think about recovery through the lens of “slips” versus “relapses.” A slip is a temporary return to old thoughts or behaviors that should not be viewed as a failure in recovery, she says.

For example, someone may slip back into restrictive eating, excessive exercise, or a few episodes of binging and purging. “Every slip does not automatically signal an impending relapse,” she says. “In fact, slips can be excellent learning opportunities—what triggered it? What was the mindset that kept me from using the skills I have learned? Why wasn’t I able to be self-compassionate and say, ‘You’ve overcome this before; you can do it again; this was just a rough patch’?”

One way to distinguish a slip from a relapse, Dr. Bulik says, is whether you’re able to recognize what’s happening and return to the recovery strategies that have helped you before. This can include going back to treatment for “booster” sessions, or referencing your notes and journals to guide you back to the recovery path.

“If you descend into that trap and can’t navigate your way out, then the slip has become a relapse, and you need to seek help again,” she adds.

Healing continues beyond treatment

According to Dr. Bulik, even after significant healing, it’s important to recognize situations that may increase the risk of returning to old patterns.

She draws on her own experience to explain this, referencing a broken back she suffered at 18: “I have recovered from that injury, but I have to be very careful because it remains a vulnerable spot for me. I am at much greater risk than other people of back injuries. It is part of my health legacy.”

She uses this example to help patients understand that trying to erase their history with an eating disorder can backfire later on. “Acknowledging that your history of an eating disorder does make you vulnerable in the future doesn’t mean that you still have one—but it does mean that you are more likely to fall back into that space, just like me being vigilant about my back,” she says.

Small habits can help protect your recovery

Recovering from an eating disorder doesn’t mean living in fear of relapse. Instead, both experts say it’s about recognizing situations that could make recovery more challenging and continuing the habits that support your health, including:

• Be thoughtful about the content you follow on social media. Most people posting nutrition-related content are not eating disorder-informed and often have little training in the science of nutrition, Evans cautions.
• Stick to the practices and principles that supported recovery. This includes regularly fueling your body with a balanced diet and resisting the urge to cut out food groups. “Cutting out, in the name of health, is rarely sustainable and can compromise not just physical health but also psychological and emotional well-being,” says Evans.
• Avoid prolonged periods of undereating. Dr. Bulik cautions that people recovering from anorexia should avoid prolonged periods of undereating or remaining in a calorie deficit, as it can increase the risk of relapse.

Eating disorder recovery is always possible

Recovery from an eating disorder isn’t just possible—it can happen at any time.

“I have seen patients convinced that they would never get better, who have been dismissed by therapists and labeled ‘lifers’,” says Dr. Bulik. “Sometimes [they have] 10, 20 or more years of an eating disorder behind them, but have still managed to achieve a level of recovery that allows them to live life fully and experience joy.”

One reason for this, Evans says, is that our bodies are incredibly resilient—but only if they’re fully nourished. “It is not possible to think your way through recovery. While an eating disorder is about something more than the food, nourishing your body is the only way out of one. So one of the most boring and essential parts of a sustained recovery is not perfect eating but consistent eating—one meal, one snack at a time.”

About the experts Cynthia M. Bulik, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders in the Department of Psychiatry, and founding director of the UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders. She has written more than 800 scientific papers and 60 chapters on eating disorders and is the author of Crave: Why You Binge Eat and How to Stop, The Woman in the Mirror, Midlife Eating Disorders: Your Journey to Recovery, and Binge Control: A Compact Recovery Guide. Marci Evans, MS, RDN, LDN, CEDS-C, has dedicated her career to counseling, supervising, and teaching in the field of eating disorders. She is a certified eating disorder registered dietitian and supervisor, adjunct professor, co-developer of the Simmons University Dietetic Internship Eating Disorders Specialty Track, and certified intuitive eating counselor.

For daily wellness updates, subscribe to The Healthy newsletter and follow The Healthy on Facebook, Instagram, and Google. Keep reading:

• “Here’s How I Knew I Had an Eating Disorder”: An Individual’s Story Living with “Common Misconceptions”
• 11 Silent Signs You Could Have an Eating Disorder
• I’m a Nutritionist: Here’s What I Ate in a Week for Less Than $8 a Day

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