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Hey,

I just wanted to post this for all the lovely people out there who are struggling with eating disorders.

I phoned Beat recently, for some support of my own, and wanted to share what they told me as I found it really hopeful and encouraging and super helpful!

It *is* possible to recover fully... There is a life without the thoughts, not only a life when you can eat well, healthily, but a life without having to constantly fight these eating disorder thoughts. The helpline advisor who I spoke to told me this came from her heart, she’d got through this, lives a life without these thoughts. Sometimes when you start to get to this point, you may feel angry, angry at having ‘wasted’ your time with your eating disorder, but then you realise that you aren’t doing that anymore and now you can get on and love life, make up for that time.

Your eating disorder *isn’t* a part of you... It can really feel like it defines you sometimes, like it is a part of you, a dark shadow. But it really isn’t. This is the voice telling you this, don’t listen!

Recovery is a bumpy road... Relapse is normal, it’s okay to. You aren’t alone, remember that. Try to keep in mind the place you managed to get to before, the world and life without an eating disorder. It may be three steps forwards and two steps back, but you are always one step ahead of where you used to be.

Food is fuel... Food isn’t evil, food isn’t amazing, in fact, it’s pretty neutral. Try to think of food as fuel, we need it to get through, to keep our body going. You *do* deserve food and you deserve to feel well.

You can do it!!