Tips for Back to School in Eating Disorder Recovery
It's August, meaning millions of students plan to return to school. Whether you are a student returning to high school or college, your schedule will become more hectic. For some people, this change of routine is overwhelming. School comes with physical, emotional, social, and mental challenges and can cause unhealthy stress levels due to the pressure to perform. The change of routine can add an extra layer of difficulty when in eating disorder recovery.
By: Elizabeth Low
Here are four tips for staying recovery-focused when you go back to school:
Prioritize Self-Care for Recovery
Many people use food to cope with stress. This can manifest in undereating, binging, or imposing food rules on yourself. When it comes to eating, try to eat foods that you enjoy and that make you feel good according to your hunger and preferences. When it comes to movement, try to focus on the positive feelings associated with it, as opposed to a means to alter your appearance. Moving your body has many other benefits that have nothing to do with changing how your body looks, such as reducing stress and improving mood and sleep.
Reevaluate Your Expectations in School
It is normal if your routine during the school year looks different than it did over the summer during the transitional back-to-school period. Not everything will be perfect, and that is okay. It is okay to work with your support system and treatment team to make changes to benefit you and your recovery. You can protect your relationship with food and your body without being strict with yourself this fall. There is freedom in not having a rigid routine and being flexible when possible. Examine your expectations of yourself as you go back to school. Where can you cut yourself some slack?
Do Not Compare Yourself to Others
It is so easy to compare yourself to others. When interacting with your classmates for the first time since the end of the last school year, you may compare yourself to how they look or what they eat. However, comparison often leads to negative thoughts about yourself. Do not compare your body or your diet to others. Each person is unique and does not have to be like anyone else.
Surround Yourself With A Supportive Circle
The people you spend time with significantly impact your attitudes toward body image and food. Surrounding yourself with people who are not on fad diets and do not talk about their bodies or food often leads to a healthier relationship with food and body image. Build your support system with this in mind - try surrounding yourself with people with diverse interests and hobbies to keep conversations unrelated to food.
Getting ready for school can be challenging due to the expectations from others or even the ones we put on ourselves. However, with all the academic stress and other issues that come with returning to school, it is necessary to take care of yourself. Remember these tips when you go back to school, and remember that you can always choose recovery.
Join BALANCE Intuitive Eating/HAES Content Creator Korie Born (she/her) on Friday, August 25th at 12 PM EDT for our free webinar, Back to School and Eating Disorders: Tips for Success Tips for Success, created with your needs in mind. Click here to RSVP and be part of our effort to create a supportive school environment for everyone.
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This post was written by BALANCE Blog Contributor, Elizabeth Low (she/her).
Elizabeth graduated from San Jose State University with a sociology degree concentrating in social interaction and a minor in psychology. She understands firsthand the difficulties of having an eating disorder and body image issues. In the future, she plans to pursue a career in dietetics. She would love to help individuals have a healthy relationship with food and their body image. She hopes to actively counteract social messaging linked to disordered eating, overexercise, and body dissatisfaction.
References
“10 Principles of Intuitive Eating.” Intuitive Eating, 19 Dec. 2019, https://www.intuitiveeating.org/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/.
Boot, Kaitlynn. “Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Body Image in College.” Glam, 15 Mar. 2023, www.glam.com/1228563/tips-for-maintaining-a-healthy-body-image-in-college/.
Miller, Kathryn, et al. “Exposure to Body Focused and Non-Body Focused Others over a Week: A Preliminary Investigation of Their Unique Contributions to College Women’s Eating and Body Image.” Body Image, vol. 28, Mar. 2019, pp. 44–52, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2018.12.003.