If you are in the midst of recovering from an eating disorder (or any degree of disordered eating), summer can be a good time to challenge yourself a bit when it comes to your recovery journey.

While summer certainly isn’t always this way, oftentimes we might have a little more energy, space in our routines, and motivation to intentionally focus on something like our mental/emotional and physical health. Maybe you are a student in transition between semesters or school years, and your schedule is more open compared to the fall and winter. Maybe your job is a little less busy this time of year.

Any way you slice it, I encourage you to use the mood-boosting effects of all the sunshine, longer days, and summer outdoor-beauty to lean into your recovery more intentionally before the fall is here!

Today I’m sharing 5 recovery challenges to consider this summer. If you are walking through anorexia recovery, working on your relationship with food, or trying to prevent a relapse, then this blog post is for you!

5 Recovery Challenges to Consider This Summer:

1. Explore a fear food.

What are the foods that you enjoy, but don’t allow yourself to have? It can take some honesty to really dig into this question.

Sometimes we may convince ourselves that we “don’t really like these foods,” when it may have more to do with the fears we have about what they may do to our bodies. (Whether or not these fears are grounded in reality).

Consider making a list of the foods that you truly do enjoy, and would eat more often if you knew they would have no negative effect on your body or health.

Then, I’d recommend choosing one of these foods to focus on exploring in the next month or two, coming up with some sort of challenge for yourself.

Ideas for exploring and challenging your fear food(s) might be:

–> Going out for ice cream with a friend. It might be helpful to go with someone who understands what you are going through so that you can process how you are feeling before/during/after.
–> Going to a gathering or picnic and eating whatever is served there.
–> Adding peanut butter to your breakfast each morning, dressing to your salad each day, or an “off-limits” dessert in the evening once a day or once a week.

To take this challenge to the next level, I recommend exploring why you fear the food(s) you do, whether this is grounded in reality or not, and whether how you are relating to them currently is ultimately serving or harming your overall health. (This is something that can be helpful to process with a therapist or RD).

I also recommend making a plan to help with managing any distressing feelings that come up after/during your food experience. (For example, a plan to avoid over-exercising or other compensatory behaviors, a plan to process your feelings with a friend or engage in a distraction activity, etc.)

2. Share your story with someone.

One of the most powerful and healing tools in recovery is to share your story with someone. I recommend choosing a trusted friend, family member, or mentor. Even a professional/confidential relationship (i.e., therapist or RD) can be a good place to start.

Is there someone who comes to mind that you feel comfortable and emotionally safe around? What about someone who you would feel relieved if they knew what you were (or have been) going through?

I’d encourage you to share your story in a one-on-one conversational setting. However, if this feels overly daunting, writing a letter is another courageous step of faith!

3. Reach out to an RD or therapist.

If you are not already working with an eating disorder-specific dietitian and therapist, summer can be a great time to get this support in place before schedules and routines ramp up in the fall.

Both a dietitian and a therapist can be invaluable to your healing. If you are only working with one of the two, maybe adding on an RD or therapist is a key missing piece in your recovery.

When looking for or trying out a therapist, I recommend finding someone who is able to help you dig beneath the surface. In other words, not focusing *just* on the symptoms and compulsive behaviors, but helping you explore why you’ve developed these behaviors, what purpose they are serving you, and how you can get to the root of what is really driving you emotionally. Oftentimes this involves exploring core wounds/fears, family dynamics, and core reasons for the emotional avoidance strategies.

When looking for or trying out a dietitian, I recommend finding someone who will go beyond *just* meal planning and snack ideas. In my work with clients, I seek to also help clients explore the thoughts, feelings, and fears behind their disordered eating and exercise behaviors. Most of us “know” what to do (or if we don’t, learning what to do is the relatively easy part). It is removing the emotional and psychological barriers to actually changing our behaviors that is the real work/challenge.

4. Dial back your exercise (or take a break altogether).

If you are currently exercising more than is (physically/mentally/emotionally) healthy for you right now, summer is a good time to challenge yourself to decrease your exercise or to take a break altogether from your usual routines.

As someone who has struggled with an exercise addiction, I know how hard this can be!

It can be helpful to daily remind yourself that exercise is always something you can come back to later on, and that it will be so worth it to take any needed break in order to engage with it in a truly healthy way.

If you are feeling overwhelmed thinking about making any changes to your exercise, you might consider just taking a break or adjusting things for the next week. See how that goes and then go from there.

In my experience and in working with clients, I’ve found it can be helpful to come up with an alternate routine to take the place of your typical/more intense exercise routine. If you are used to running or going to the gym every morning, you might consider a walk outside and a restorative yoga routine.

If exercise is something that feels overly obsessive and compulsive to you, taking a break can be beneficial not only for your physical health but also for your mental and emotional health.

5. Begin a new recovery-focused daily habit. 

Especially if you happen to have extra space and margin in your schedule this summer, I encourage you to take advantage of that time to implement a new recovery-focused daily habit.

This could be anything that resonates with you.

Some examples could be:

–> Listening to a recovery-focused podcast each day.
–> Writing in a recovery-focused workbook each day.
–> Reading your reasons for recovery each morning.
–> Journaling out your thoughts/feelings each morning and/or evening.
–> Doing a 15-min mindful yoga practice each morning, while listening to uplifting music.

See this post for more ideas on staying motivated in your recovery journey!

If you have been struggling with an eating disorder for a long time, and if full recovery feels really far off or next to impossible, know that each “seemingly small step” you take truly does add up over time. Whenever I’m faced with a problem that feels overwhelming, or in journeying with my clients in their recoveries, I try to consistently bring us back to focusing on ONE step and ONE day at a time.

What might it look like for you to “micro-down” your focus in your recovery?

Maybe it’s focusing on one meal or snack at a time.

Or one day at a time of walking and stretching instead of going to do your usual gym workout.

One recovery-focused habit of writing out your feelings, calling a friend when you want to restrict, or attending your next therapy or nutrition session.

You CAN do this — you CAN be free from food, body image, and exercise obsessions.

Consider taking a few moments now (or bookmarking this page for later) to journal out your next steps — your next step right now, and a possible summer recovery challenge you want to consider :).