Settling for a Mediocre Eating Disorder Recovery

There is a sad and self-fulfilling myth out there that you can't completely recover from an eating disorder. We have to fight this pessimism!

"Recover-ED," Not Just Limping Along

My friend, Jenni Schaefer, is speaking out on full recovery. She is "RECOVERED" and says it with a smile. She doesn't live her life accommodating her eating disorder or hiding or running from it. She lives fully and devotes herself to spreading the word to others that eating disorder recovery - FULL recovery - are the real goal of eating disorder treatment.

Jenni's new video, posted on YouTube, is a joyful celebration and a straight-talking call to attention: "Don't Settle." She encourages people currently recovering from anorexia or bulimia to embrace a full, complete, and lasting recovery and to do the hard work of letting go of the good and the bad parts of the illness.

Good AND Bad Parts of Having An Eating Disorder?

I used to recoil at the idea that there could be anything good about an eating disorder. All I could see was destruction and loss and isolation. But in time, I came to see that the eating disorder offers sufferers a bargain - a devil's bargain - that had it's attractions. "ED" took away sharp emotions. He offered an identity and a clear goal every day. He offered weight loss: one of our society's objects of worship. And he held others - and their concerns - at bay.

Jenni says it straight: you don't get to keep the parts you like and only lose the ones that are bad.

If you've never read Jenni Schaefer books or heard her sing or been to one of her inspirational talks, I highly recommend them. She is an inspiration to so many and helping people all over the world see the world as she does: from a full recovery, and with optimism!