Health is about adding MORE!

To me, diet is about taking stuff out of your life, like sugar, dairy, processed food, etc., and if you eat those things, you were unhealthy and bad. Health, on the other hand, is about adding things to your routine.  

Not sleeping well? Instead of cutting out things you enjoy like social media or television, focus on adding more activities that make you sleepy like a warm bath, hot tea, or reading before bed.  

Feeling bloated? Instead of restricting certain foods, try to add in more anti-inflammatory foods like green leafy vegetables, whole grains, and fresh fruits. Nourishing your body with these healthful foods will naturally satisfy your body’s needs without making certain foods forbidden.

For me, restriction only led to binging.  I could go several months of restricting but inevitably, binge.  Learning how to eat a balance diet, without restriction, is a challenge.  I fall back on old habits, especially since restriction is socially acceptable and widely praised as some moral achievement.  It is not.  It was not for me.  In fact, as I fell back into restricting, counting calories, and body checking over the last few months, I was actually falling back into my eating disorder. It’s a slow fall, more of a slide than a flat out fall. It was a dark time filled with self doubt and sadness.  Social media did not help. In treatment, I tried to remove any accounts that promoted restriction since it was triggering for me. But I held on to a few accounts that I just couldn’t let go of.  It’s like a former smoker hiding some cigarettes in the bathroom. There, just in case. One cigarette here and there until you are back to a full pack again. That is what these social media accounts were like for me. And I’d tell myself I could handle it and it wouldn’t affect me. But it did affect me. So I had to make a change. I cleaned out my social media from anyone that triggers my ED.  I wouldn’t hang out with someone that made me feel bad so why would I spend time online with these people?

Health is so much more than body size! To improve health, focus on adding more! Get MORE sleep, get outside MORE, surround yourself with MORE positive people (and social media accounts), and eat MORE regularly.