“You look so much healthier!!!” Must.Remember.This.Is.A.Compliment. (repeat as necessary)
OMG!!!! So much this! For those of you in the early stages of recovery that include weight gain, please please please keep this in mind.
You will get told this. Many times. By many people. Believe me when I tell you, it is a good thing. It won’t feel like it is, but it is. The ED voice is going to mock it, telling you that what people are really saying is that you are getting fat. That is not true. Remember that. The ED feels threatened. It is loosing its hold on you. It knows it. It will begin to use all the tricks in the book to keep you by its side. Don’t fall for it. Stay strong. Keep working your recovery.
One of the things I did was tell people not to mention my weight. To keep it to themselves. Not everyone did this, mind you. So when I got told how much healthier I was looking, I would tell myself that healthy does not mean fat. It means healthy. I was no longer looking sick. And that was a good thing. It wasn’t always easy. It was very hard to let go of something that I had for over ten years. I remember my grandmother telling me once how she was happy my face was “looking round” again. At the dinner table no less. That meal ended rather quickly and in tears. (That also was years before I was ready to commit to recovery.)
People who have never had an e.d. don’t know how it feels to recover from one. “They know not what they do.” Don’t take it personal. Keep chugging along with your recovery. Eventually you will be happy when someone tells you that you look healthy. I promise.
love and light, kelly