Has anyone recovered from an eating disorder?

I've struggled with eating disorders since i was 11, i sort of recovered from anorexia which i had for four years when i was about 16, and now i'm 18 and am really struggling with bulimia and overeating. I could really use some advice, if anyone out there has come out the other side? Or perhaps has some ways of dealing with it? i'd really appreciate it. thanx

I had anorexia a few years ago and I had serious issues to start eating "normally", because I was obsessed with being thin and I thought that any type of food would make me fat. Then I realized that the best way to stay thin was by eating, but just the right types of food. I realized that if I had the discipline to stay on a no-food diet then I could survive on a healthy food diet.

When I started my recovery I did gain weight. It is scientific fact and it is due to the fact that the body was not used to have those amounts of food. It learned to survive on a very slow metabolism so I could stay alive. So when I started eating more, my body thought "wow I am getting nutrients and things that I need, and who knows when I'll be getting them again, so I better store them". So, the body will store these nutrients as fat. But don't freak out. You have to show your body that it was not a one day thing. That you are going to give it what it needs everyday. Then your metabolism will stabilize and it will speed up.

So, try to eat right. Do not skip breakfast, have lots of fiber, veggies & fruits during the day. Try to avoid as much as possible refined flours, saturated fats & refined sugars (seriously, everything has them and they are really bad for you). Eat whole grains and nuts.

Do cardio exercises 3 times a week and do strength training 3 times a week too, so you can regain muscle. When I started my recovery, my arms and legs where massless, seriously. Now I have a strong lean body:)

This is my sample menu for a day:

8:00 am 1 cup of fiber max cereal w/ 1tbs of sliced almonds and fat free milk. Sometimes I put apple or strawberries there. I take my one a day vitamin supplement, one omega-3 gelcap and one caltrate capsule too.

11:00 am One apple

12:30 Lunch. 1 cup of whole grain brown rice topped with steamed veggies and tofu/chicken of fish seasoned with curry. One apple or grapes.

3:30 An orange or an apple

6:00 Dinner. I have a salad (with nuts on it, lots of them) without dressing or I just squeeze a lime on it. And I have like 4 oz of fish or chicken. Just steamed or grilled with steamed/sauted veggies.

If I get hungry later on I have more apples, grapes or any type of fruit around. If during the day I crave for something sweet I have some fruit, if I crave for something crunchy I have baby carrots, celery of jicama. I drink tons of water and decaffeinated tea during the day.

I do understand the overeating that you mentioned. I also tend to do that. My way of dealing with it is by avoiding any bad food at home. When I crave for food I just have healthy options around, so I eat them and sometimes I do overeat them, but overeating baby carrots is a million times better than overeating potato chips, or cookies or something like that. I guess the body still remembers that you were starving at some point and it still tries to prevent it.

I hope this helps a little. You will be fine, you can definitely recover:)

Best of luck:)

My ex girlfriend overcame an eating disorder..with therapy and Over Eaters Anonymous she was able to recover. She has a eating plan and is doing fine....good luck!!!
I used to binge and purge back in the 1970s when I was a teenager. Then one day, I thought it would be so much easier to just eat to fuel my body with what it needs, nutritiously that is. Never had a weight problem since, and all those unhealthy cravings disappeared too! (No, I'm not a health nut hippy or anything!)
see a out of state doctor.''
any habit is hard to break and the more you get with family and friends go swimming and movies the good things in life and replace the eating with family fun and games.
My twin sister has suffered with Bulimia with anorexic tendencies for years. It is safe to say that she has been in remission (guess that what you would call it) now for over 8 years. She almost died twice and she finally found the right counselors to help her. This isn't something you can get over by yourself you need help from the professionals. My sister got help from an in house treatment center for eating disorders called Remuda Ranch in Arizona. We live in GA and they actually sent a person here to fly back with her. Its a great place if you are ready to make a commitment. The first time my sister went into in-house treatment she was forced and so she just went through the motions and went right back to it again. I wish you lots of luck.
My ex-girlfriend had bulimia. She saw a psychotherapist who was able to talk to her about her past. It was all about her low self esteem from things that had happened in her life. Don't think that if it stops it won't come back, it will just change form into some other type of addiction, you need to see someone to help resolve your inner issues on whatever traumatic experience has happened in your life or whatever is going on at the moment causing you to harm yourself.