If you could eat anything you wanted right now, calories were non-existent, you accepted your body and it wouldn’t change no matter what you ate or how much you moved, what would you have? 5 tubs of Ben and Jerry’s? 100 homemade brownies? Boxes upon boxes of cereal? A bucket of peanut butter? Oreo milkshakes on tap? McDonalds? Then pizza? Then a takeaway?
If the thought of food freedom sounds like a ✨dream✨ then I’ve got some pretty cool news for you… YOU CAN EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT! Yes, you can. In fact, if you’re fully committed to recovery, you NEED to eat whatever you want. When you’re physically hungry, thinking about food, emotionally hungry or just fancy something, you NEED to eat! You need to have more than, more than enough.
Yes, your body will probably change. But if you’re dreaming of food, there’s a reason. Your body is telling you it’s not happy or satisfied, regardless of what you weight. And if you’re scared, you need to think why. Is it internalised fat-phobia? Is under-nourishing yourself a form of self-harm? Has diet culture brainwashed you into thinking certain foods are “bad”? Do you have an unreasonable regard for smaller bodies?
It doesn’t matter the reason. Whatever it is, you have to battle through the thoughts and do what scares you the most. Educate yourself about your fears and do the opposite of what your head tells you.
❌ Can’t have a chocolate before 9am?
➡️ Do it. Have two. The limit does not exist.
❌ Can’t have a 3 course meal at lunch time?
➡️ Do it. And have a big ol’ snack when you get home too. The limit does not exist.
❌ Can’t have a milkshake and a burger?
➡️ Do it. Get extra toppings, sides and a pudding after. The limit does not exist.
The only way you can completely be free is breaking all the stupid ED rules and doing the opposite of what it tells you.
I know for some it will seem completely impossible and the worst thing you could ever possibly do. But has anyone ever said recovery was easy? Safe?
Sure it can be enjoyable at times but to be honest, most of the time it’s hell. Of course it’s hard! You’re battling something that is literally trying to kill you. It’s been a part of you for what seems like a lifetime.
But it doesn’t have to be. You can take control of your life again. Society has this stupid thing of making us hate ourselves at every possible opportunity. If you’re in recovery (or even if you’re not) you need to just pop on your blinkers, focus on yourself and do what you need to do. There are no rules. None.
The main message of this post is just that there is never, ever too much food in recovery and in the wise words of Cady from Mean Girls (aka LyLo): “the limit does not exist”.
You can have whatever you want, whenever you want and however much you want. If you’re reading this and it seems too far off at your point in recovery (I’ve been there), just know that one day it WILL be possible if you put the work in now. You CAN reach complete food freedom, where timings mean nothing, you can trust your body’s hunger cues and food is NOT scary.
I used to lie awake at night, too hungry to fall asleep, and fill my mind with all the foods I would eat if it was my last day on earth. Which restaurants I would go to, which flavours I would get (all of them) and would fantasise over each and every bite.
Only now can I see that, if I had only had one day to live, it would be pretty tragic if I spent it eating.
With unlimited food comes an unlimited life. When your body and brain know food is abundant, it can prioritise other things. Better things, life things. Your obsession with food isn’t a real obsession, its just hunger.
Here are my mantras for food in recovery, which I hope will help you too:
⭐️ THERE IS NEVER TOO MUCH IN RECOVERY
⭐️ NO FOOD IS BAD
⭐️ YOU NEED MORE THAN, MORE THAN “ENOUGH”
⭐️ SHOW YOUR BODY FOOD IS ABUNDANT
⭐️ THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST!
leith’s recovery 