While eating disorder recovery is difficult during all seasons of life, it can become particularly challenging during the summer months. During this time of year, it is necessary to remember your goals for recovery and what recovery means to you.
By: Kaitlan Tracy
Here are some tips to help you maintain your goals in recovery during a potentially triggering time of year.
Be Prepared for Potentially Triggering Events
For many people, summertime is filled with fun outdoor events. With rising temperatures (in most locations) and more free time, many individuals enjoy leisure activities. These include anything from cookouts, boating, water sports, waterparks, hiking, etc. A common theme in these activities involves less or minimal clothing and food consumption. For individuals who have not struggled with eating disorders, this time of year can seem no different than the rest of the year. Someone without an eating disorder may perceive a day at the waterpark as an average, fun-filled experience, whereas someone in recovery may experience severe anxiety and body distress. What should be a leisurely family cookout on a Sunday could cause extreme emotional pain for someone with an eating disorder. Although difficult situations vary from individual to individual, navigating these events as someone in eating disorder recovery is extremely difficult.
Develop Healthy Coping Mechanisms
Developing healthy coping mechanisms is crucial to managing your physical and emotional health during these tumultuous times. Finding a coping skill that works best for you can be very beneficial. Here are some ways you can manage emotional triggers:
- Use Positive Affirmations: Practicing positive affirmations can calm anxiety and contrast the negative emotions that those in recovery often feel. These affirmations fight negative thoughts associated with body image, but they also remind those struggling that they are more than just an eating disorder. Practice using these phrases in your recovery this summer: “I am worthy of life.”, “I am becoming happier each day.”, and “My worth is not dependent on my size or weight.” Click here for other positive affirmations.
- Complete A Creative Activity or Pick Up a New Hobby: Sometimes, all we need is a distraction from our racing thoughts. Finding a creative activity can provide an emotional outlet for someone in recovery. Whether this is painting, writing, poetry, music, etc., each creative avenue has the potential for calming stress and anxiety levels while simultaneously giving individuals a healthy way to channel their emotions and feelings. Triggering events often cause us to feel compelled to resort to disordered eating behaviors for a sense of control. By picking up a new hobby, you can resist the urge to resort to old habits for emotional relief. Perhaps rollerblading or playing a musical instrument can not only provide relief, but can also help occupy your time. Additionally, those with eating disorders spend a lot of time thinking and worrying about food. Many individuals find themselves with more time and energy that they don’t know what to do during recovery, so taking on a new hobby can help occupy your time and find new interests.
- Reconnect With Nature: We often underestimate the effect that nature can have on our emotional and mental well-being. Reconnecting with nature can be anything you wish it to be. It could mean sitting outside for a few minutes, going for a walk, driving with the windows down, swimming in a lake or creek, etc. According to Gateway Foundation, reconnecting with nature has many health benefits to recovery that include but are not limited to the following, “reduced depression, reduced risk of relapse, better sleep, more energy, refreshed focus, etc.”¹
- Spend Time with Family or Friends: Surrounding yourself with comforting family and friends can make triggering times more manageable. While this is true for some people, spending time with family also has the potential to negatively affect someone’s mental health. If this is the case, focus on surrounding yourself with people who support and encourage you in recovery, regardless of whether they are family or not. A secure support system will celebrate your recovery milestones and provide a source of encouragement during hard times.
Surround Yourself With Supportive People
Ensuring you surround yourself with people supporting your recovery is crucial during triggering times. Communicate your needs with friends and families. Informing friends and family of potentially triggering events, phrases, or foods can provide them with the information necessary to protect your recovery.
For example, if the phrase “summer-body” is triggering for you, ask those around you to cease diet-culture talk. Tell your friend it is harmful to your recovery to use such language. Ask your relatives to respect your recovery by limiting weight-loss conversation in your presence. You may be afraid to present yourself as potentially “needy” or “bothersome,” but those who truly care about you and your recovery will respect those wishes.
Remember that a “Summer Body” is a Social Construct Created by Diet Culture
There is no such thing as a “summer body.” Your body is not seasonal and does not require forced change according to the weather or time of year. Understanding that body
fluctuations are entirely normal is a crucial part of recovery. I can promise you that the people who love you do not expect you to lose weight simply because the seasons have changed. The ‘you’ that people love is still you, no matter the time of year.
Summertime activities do not require you to change your appearance or alter the way you look. The cookout will not require you to lose weight, and the size of your swimsuit does not need to dictate how much you enjoy yourself during a lake day. A walk around your neighborhood will look the same, regardless of the amount of food you consumed during that day. Your spring, winter, and autumn body are just as worthy of attending these events as your “summer body.”
Wear Clothes that Make You Feel Comfortable
Let go of any clothing that no longer fits. This component of recovery can be challenging for people to accept and let go of. However, it is completely normal. Clothes are supposed to fit you, not the other way around. Letting go of clothing that no longer fits will reduce the number of triggers you experience during recovery. While it is beneficial to do this, getting new clothing may not always be this simple due to financial limitations. Try visiting consignment stores for cheaper clothing items or doing clothing swaps with friends. There are also thrift stores online, such as ThredUp, that provide less expensive avenues for obtaining clothing. Accepting these ideologies in recovery can be immensely helpful during triggering times.
Pack “Safe” Foods for Events centered Around Food
Food can elicit negative emotions and behaviors for anyone with an eating disorder. Often, people in recovery will have “safe foods,” or foods that the individual trusts and can eat without causing emotional distress or triggering unwanted behaviors. If you are attending an event where food may or may not be consumed, it can help pack snacks you know you enjoy and provide you with nutritional sustenance.
BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™ is here to help you use Summer 2022 to prioritize your road to recovery. This summer at BALANCE, you can gain tools to navigate all the pressures the summer months bring, reduce eating disorder thoughts and behaviors, and develop a more peaceful relationship with food and your body. Click here to learn more about summer eating disorder treatment at BALANCE, or schedule a time to speak with our admissions team here.
Our admissions team would be happy to answer any questions you may have about our programs and services. Book a free consultation call with our admissions team below, or read more about our philosophy here.
Looking for eating disorder treatment programs or services in the New York City area? Learn more about our options at BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™ here or contact us here.
This post was written by BALANCE Blog Contributor, Kaitlan Tracy.
Kaitlan is a current student at Purdue University studying Nutrition and Dietetics. Kaitlan grew up in Wabash, Indiana and spent the majority of her childhood dancing. While dance served as an emotional outlet for Kaitlan, the dance community fostered a toxic environment, enabling the development of multiple eating disorders. Through great effort, Kaitlan is now in recovery and has devoted her academic and professional career to assist others in their journey towards recovery. Kaitlan hopes to become a certified eating disorder registered dietitian and eventually own her own private practice. Kaitlan finds passion in raising awareness to generational trends of disordered eating in childhood development, as well as advocacy for body positivity within the dance community. Kaitlan enjoys spending her free-time dancing and choreographing in Purdue’s Higher Ground Dance Company, as well as running, painting, and working as a barista at a local coffee shop on campus. Kaitlan is grateful to contribute to BALANCE and put her passion for eating disorder advocacy into action.
Reference
- “Health Benefits of Spending Time in Nature during Recovery.” Gateway Foundation, 25 Aug. 2021, https://www.gatewayfoundation.org/addiction-blog/recovering-naturally-how-spending-time-in-nature-can-help-recovery/.
