Quasi Eating Disorder Recovery
If you are reading this now then I want to start by saying congratulations for making it this far into your eating disorder recovery - it’s not easy to even make it halfway so well done!
You may be eating more than you had been, engaging in less disordered eating behaviours, and functioning better than before you started your eating disorder recovery. I know I got stuck at this point about 5 years into my eating disorder recovery journey, and thought “Is this as good as it gets.” And, like myself, mistake quasi eating disorder recovery for full eating disorder recovery, and so stop halfway.
But, you don’t have to stop halfway, if you’re asking yourself these questions it’s the right time to know everything about quasi recovery and the differences between it and full eating disorder recovery? And how to can you move past it into full eating disorder recovery? Read on to find out more.
What Is Quasi Eating Disorder Recovery?
For those who are unaware of what quasi eating disorder recovery is, essentially it refers to the mid-way eating disorder recovery state that many people get stuck at and that many treatment approaches might get us to. Quasi recovery is a point of no longer being at our worst, either mentally and/or physically, but also not reaching your full eating disorder freedom.
Quasi recovery is an often unspoken part of the eating disorder recovery journey, yet one of the hardest parts to move through. It is the part of eating disorder recovery where you may have started to physically rehabilitate (this could include weight restoration and/or behaviours), yet not recovered mentality.
You may be able to function well enough in everyday life, but you are functioning at the hands of an eating disorder. This may include partial restriction, fear of weight gain, disordered eating behaviours, and more which we will cover later on in the blog. You may not be relapsing into a full-blown eating disorder, but you are also not experiencing full freedom from your eating disorder. You may be feeling lonely, stuck and trapped in a disordered cycle. But, there is a way out.
Signs I’m Stuck In Quasi Eating Disorder Recovery?
Do you restrict certain foods from your diet by convincing yourself ‘that you don’t like them’ but you’re just scared?
Do you compensate with exercise after eating a fear food?
Do you eat without restriction but still count every calorie you consume?
Are you scared of further weight gain if you have reached your ‘target weight’ in your eating disorder recovery journey?
These are only a handful of warning signs that could suggest you are stuck in quasi eating recovery. The BIG question to ask yourself is “if you put yourself in someone else’s, shoes would they consider you eating disorder free?” If the answer is no and you’re struggling with an eating disorder mentality then you may be stuck in quasi recovery.
You may not be at your worst, physically or mentally, but you’re also not at your best – so why limit yourself when you can have FULL FREEDOM.
If you have any disordered food rules, restrict food from your diet, or are stuck in routines which bring up negative thought patterns, you may have more work to do. But what does full eating disorder recovery look like? Read on to find out more.
Why limit yourself when you can have FULL FREEDOM.
Why Quasi Eating Recovery Be a Hard Place To Be Stuck
It might be that your friends, family, and acquaintances have begun to comment that you appear “so much healthier” and it might be that you have tricked the world around you that you are entirely fine. This is a major reason why quasi recovery is a hard (and isolating) place to be stuck, because your support network may have started to dwindle - as people perceive you to be recovered.
Quasi recovery does not mean you haven’t made any progress or you are failing, it is more than you haven’t reached your full eating disorder recovery potential yet. If you educate those around you they will understand more about how to support you.
The first step to moving past quasi recovery is educating yourself about it, and sharing what you found with your support network. This can be a monumental moment in your eating disorder recovery journey and will help you keep going. It may be the turning point that will allow you to find full freedom from the eating disorder that you have been waiting to reach.
How to Move On From Quasi Recovery To Full Recovery?
Now, I am going, to be honest with you, moving past Quasi Eating Disorder Recovery is hard, but not impossible. It means letting go of all the disordered eating behaviours and rules that keep you stuck.
But how do you get yourself unstuck, follow the three stages below that will help you move past the point of quasi recovery. – and if you’re finding yourself in this state then here are some recovery points to hold onto.
Commit to Recovery (Again!)
Ask yourself this question, “how long have I been stuck in quasi recovery?”
Like myself, you may have been stuck in quasi recovery for years, because you’re scared to believe you’re not as recovered as you have made it out to be. You have to be honest with yourself and commit to making changes in your life to hop back on the eating disorder recovery train.
It will be a bumpy road, with ups and downs, challenges, fears and emotions, but it will all be worth it when you reach a fully recovered life.
Don’t feel like you have to go on this journey alone. Ask for support by finding yourself a team of medical professionals or a community of supportive like-minded people, like the Flourish with Ciandra community, to be your cheerleader to help you through the ups and downs.
Acknowledge It’s Not “All-or-Nothing”
You may be familiar with the term going “all in” with eating disorder recovery. When it comes to eating disorders, our cognitive patterns often attribute this “all—in” as an “all-or-nothing” journey, you’re either fully recovered or suffering from an eating disorder. However, quasi recovery is swimming in the grey area, which is why os is so hard to acknowledge and move past.
To move past the grey area, you have to fully commit to recovery again. This journey will be a long one, so don’t expect to be able to achieve full freedom overnight. Instead, celebrate every achievement along the way, you should be proud of yourself for even acknowledging your stuck in quasi recovery. Remember, the journey to full eating disorder recovery will be worth it in the end. You will not regret it.
Work Out What Full Freedom Is For You
This is an important step to working out why you want full freedom from your eating disorder. Everyone’s reasons are unique, however, these are some recovery goals that you may want too:
You want to forget the calories in food - so you don’t have to divide meals and snacks into set numbers of calories
You want to be able to eat even if other people aren’t - to be able to listen to your hunger cues
You want to be able to treat yourself - to not always have to pick the ‘diet’ versions of different foods
You want to accept your natural weight - it isn’t a measure of your worth
You want to be able to trust your body – it knows what it’s doing and it always has
You want to be able to view carbs as not the enemy - they are the human body's primary fuel source
You want to be able to ignore the media - diet culture is toxic
You want to be able to eat all foods - no food group should be off-limits
You want to be able to exercise because you love your body, not because you are punishing it
These are just a handful of goals and reasons to keep going with your eating disorder recovery. Defining your goals and reasons to push past quasi recovery can help you acknowledge why you want full freedom. Everyone with an eating disorder deserves to move past quasi recovery onto full recovery, but it’s worthwhile asking for a little helping hand to get there. So, are you ready to move past quasi recovery?
Need Help To Achieve Full Eating Disorder Recovery?
I regularly work with individuals who are stuck in quasi eating disorder recovery. Whether you’ve been stuck in quasi eating disorder recovery for a short space of time, or it just feels like food and exercise are taking over your life and you’ve been stuck for a long time, there is a way out. Anyone needs a little helping hand sometimes to push them past that final hurdle onto true freedom from their eating disorder.
If you’re stuck in quasi eating recovery and want help making it to full recovery, click the link below to book a FREE Flourish With Ciandra eating disorder coaching discovery call to find out more about the services I offer.
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