I binged; now what should I do? I recently slipped on my eating disorder recovery and binged. It's a difficult thing to admit to the world, but I did. It can be extremely hard to bounce back after a binge. It can feel like a total failure and like it's the end of the world. Guess what, it's not. Here I share the lessons I've learned from my recent binge.

Eating disorder support keeps you from feeling alone in the world. Connecting with others who are experiencing or have experienced the same things as you is a great way to get through these feelings of loneliness caused by the eating disorder. Learn about how to find eating disorder support.

Remember this binge eating recovery tip for the new year: Take small steps every day. The dawning of the new year tends to make us feel that once midnight strikes we need to make big changes right away. The issue with this can be that it is all too much, too soon. This is the same when it comes to your binge eating disorder recovery. Small steps every day will help achieve the lasting changes you desire.

Have you thought to celebrate your binge eating disorder recovery over the holidays? Often times we become so entrenched with stress during the holidays that we forget to celebrate what's really important. When we get caught up in the superficial parts of the holiday season, we completely ignore what truly matters to us. Celebrating your binge eating disorder recovery, your body, and your progress is just as important as all the other good stuff this season has to offer.

I believe that slips are part of the binge eating disorder recovery process. Setbacks in mental health recovery teach us important lessons as well as prepare us for challenging times in the future. If you use slips in binge eating disorder recovery as a tool for learning instead of something that brings you down, there is important insight that can be taken from what initially feels like a setback.

Food is often out into two categories, good and bad, but food is not "good" or "bad." Having these judgmental thoughts around food leads us to believe we are either "good" or "bad" for eating certain foods. This disordered eating pattern of thought leads us deeper into our disorders. I have been working a lot lately on seeing food as a neutral party which does not have a "good" or "bad" label attached. Here I share the importance of not judging food as good or bad for successful eating disorder recovery.

What do you do when the flu attacks during binge eating recovery? We know that recovery is challenging enough on its own, but throw in having the flu and binge eating disorder recovery gets even tougher. Being ill can effect your appetite and mood, among other things. Both of these components are important when it comes to staying on track with your recovery. Here's the good news, having the flu doesn't have to hinder the binge eating recovery progress you've already made.

Halloween can make it extremely difficult to avoid a binge while dealing with binge eating disorder. This celebration is centered on a food which can, for many, be triggering: candy. However, it's absolutely possible to avoid a binge during this time. Let's enjoy this spooky, spirit-filled time without all the food worries this year.

For 20 years, every bingeing relapse caused me so much guilt, I returned to binge eating. Until recently, I considered every bingeing relapse a disaster and myself as a failure that would never get better. Binge eating is one of the most difficult aspects of my life to discuss because I feel guilty that there are hungry people and I overeat. I also feel ashamed that I allow myself to lose control like this, so when I have a bingeing relapse, all of these emotions intensify. It was not until I stopped thinking in terms of success and failure that I began making progress, and I’d like to share ways I have retrained my brain to navigate my recovery and learn from a bingeing relapse.

I often missed the essential steps to binge eating disorder recovery because, when I binged, I felt overwhelmed with shame, guilt, and sadness. It did not occur to me there may be more below the surface. I attributed overeating to lack of self-control and used it as a way to berate myself for days on end. But when I started journaling, I began to see in black and white how I spoke to myself, my mood instability, and how much pain I was in without even acknowledging it. Because of journaling, I uncovered three essential steps to binge eating disorder recovery.