How to be OK with my body and appearence following an ED

LegacyUser

Basically what the title states :P

I am a 22 year old female, who suffered with purging type anorexia for nearly a year, until a few months ago. I have never been ok with my body ever, but I was definitely more comfortable with it when I was going through that phase. I was never underweight during that period but actuallly maintained a rather healthy BMI. Since sort of recovering (we all have our off days) I've essentially regained all the weight I lost. I still have a healthy BMI but its not far off the overweight section of the scale. I just generally dont like how I look or feel. I have 0 sexual experience, I guess partly because of how unhappy I am with how I look.

Does anyone have any experience with this, or have any advice hey could offer?
Thanks

Airyfairy12

I cant say I know any woman who's totally happy with their body, regardless of size or shape we all have things about ourselves we wish we could change. Maybe instead of focusing on body appearance just try to focus on balance and good health.

Ive also always struggled with self acceptance but one thing that helped me when I was in my early 20's was to limit what I exposed myself too. Like I used to buy a cosmopolitan or Marie claire magazine in the bus station every week and read it on the bus, I could literally trace a huge amount of my insecurities back to these magazines as I would feel really ugly after reading them so I stopped buying them and simultaneously stopped feeling so awful about myself and how I looked, Ive never bought a single womans magazine since. I also unfollowed models and anyone else with an unobtainable body/life on social media and again my general happiness improved, we dont realise the effects the media can have on us until we cut it out. So maybe unfollow any instagram models or famous celebrities that make you feel insecure. You mightn't even be aware of it as it happens subconsciously, the point of these models is to make you feel ugly and useless so you buy what theyre advertising and you give into consumerism. Companies make money off of your insecurities.

Do you have a food addiction or do you binge on food? You might want to speak with a dietician and discuss a healthy meal plan if excessive weight gain/lose or weight spiraling up and down is a problem for you, you could also benefit from some counselling and maybe learn some healthy eating habits, maybe you didnt learn correct eating habits at home growing up?

.. I was friends with a girl all through school, she was quite over weight but her mother would prepare her lunch everyday, she would have large sandwich rolls caked with butter then huge amounts of potato salad and then filled with meats ect, a packet of biscuits,crisps and then money for soup ect in the school shop, go home and have a massive dinner waiting for her while also munching on snacks throughout the day. She has struggled with her weight her entire life even now at 30 and its simply because of the excessive eating habits she learned at home. I dont know your situation and maybe this doesnt relate but it could be something to think about, if you learned bad habits it can be very difficult to create new, healthy ones.

Also exercise is great, not just for your weight but for your overall well being, its really good for your mental health and can genuinely make you feel better over all. Dont go overboard, just aim for an hour or 2 a week, 20 minutes a day. Keep it healthy and balanced.