How to Recover from Bulimia: An Emotional Eating Disorder

Do you eat large amounts of food in one sitting, whenever you feel emotionally withdrawn or in depression? After emotional eating, you feel guilty and shame about your action. It means you are suffering from Bulimia, a binge eating habit.

Nowadays it becomes a hot topic in the entertainment world. Netflix's most iconic series The Crown also shows us Princess Diana's Bulimia condition after she found out about her husband Prince Charles's infidelity.

Many people in the world suffer from this in silence, women suffer more than men. But there is a way you can stop that habit and reclaim your life.

But the question is how do you recover from it? What steps you should take to cure your binge eating habit?

What is Bulimia?

Bulimia is an emotional eating disorder, You eat lots of food in a short period of time and you have no sense of control over your eating habit.

After that sudden emotional guilt overwhelms you and you feel ashamed that you did a wrong thing to your body.

You started to feel ashamed about your body and go into purge behavior and try inappropriate ways to lose weight to get some relief.

Inappropriate ways you try like -

Forceful vomiting
Strict dieting
Vigorous exercise
Excessive use of laxatives and diuretics

But again you go into the habit of binge eating. And that binge-purge cycle continues till you do not take any steps.

Also Read: Are You An Emotional Eater? Then You Need To Know This

Steps to recover from Bulimia

Bulimia normally starts in childhood or early adulthood. The reasons are emotional stress, low self-esteem, dissatisfaction with your body, and extreme concern related to shape and size trigger that condition.

With proper steps and self-help care, you can control that condition.

1. Take Support of any self-help group

There are so many self-help groups, which help you fight that conditions. You should take the support of these groups.

It helps you to express your feelings without any judgment and they give you therapy to deal with the situation.

2. Avoid Your Triggers –

Usually, people with bulimia trigger easily any emotions that link to foods or body shaming like fat or figure.

In that case, you should completely avoid any trigger that affects you badly.

Avoid social media which promotes perfect body shape.

3. Love Yourself –

The most important thing is you have to start loving yourself, whatever your body shape is.

First, you have to respect yourself and accept who you are
Second, do not compare your body shape with others
Do mirror exercise – Stand in front of the mirror and say to yourself confidently – I love myself unconditionally. These 4 words work like a magic

4. Nutritional Counselling –

It is a must you have to take nutritional counseling from a certified nutritionist. They motivate you to adopt healthy eating behavior.

It takes time but slowly you can adopt healthy eating behavior.

5. Stop Checking Your Weight –

You should stop checking your weight on the weighing machine.

It is a habit of every bulimic patient they check their weight after every binge eating and then indulge themselves in purging behavior.

So it is best you should avoid checking your weight.

6. Positive Self Talk –

Positive self-talk is important. Positive self-talk helps you reprogramme your brain.

It not only helps you to fight bulimia but also helps you to control your food urges.

You can choose any mantra which connects to your belief system.
Mantras like – I am eating healthy foods and I love my body etc.
Say these mantras at night when you are going to sleep because it directly enters into your subconscious mind and it’ll help you to heal your food urges

7. Meditation –

Although it is not easy for people with chronic bulimia to adopt meditation at the first place. But after group therapy and counseling, you can try meditation.