How to Recover From Bulimia

By: Jennifer Rollin, LCSW-C, Therapist & Founder of The Eating Disorder Center

On the surface, her life seems ideal. She is scared of the idea of other people discovering her hidden struggle.

Throughout the day, she restricts herself to small portions of so-called “healthy foods,” determined to follow her plan. But at night, she finds herself standing at the kitchen counter, consuming spoonfuls of peanut butter straight from the jar, emptying trays of cookies, cartons of ice cream, and eating slices of bread thickly spread with butter and jelly.

After emerging from this food-induced fog, she feels uncomfortably full, deeply ashamed, and frightened. She compensates through purging—either by vomiting or exercise. In that moment, she feels a fleeting calm, only to be overwhelmed by guilt, shame and physical discomfort.

She promises herself that tomorrow, she’ll commit to her “healthy diet,” and the agonizing cycle continues.


Tips for Recovery From Bulimia

The restrict/binge/purge cycle is draining, but it also serves a deeper emotional need for you.
Through therapy, you can start breaking free from this pattern and uncover the joyful life you deserve.

As a therapist specializing in eating disorders, here are a few of my insights on disrupting the diet/binge/purge cycle:

• Seek Professional Help From Eating Disorder Specialists: 

Reach out to an eating disorder therapist, a dietitian with the same focus, and a doctor for a complete medical checkup. Eating disorders are the deadliest of mental illnesses, and regardless of weight, they carry severe physical and mental health risks. If you’ve been attempting recovery on your own without success, there’s no shame in seeking support—doing so is a courageous choice.

• Try Putting Away the Scale:

Try an experiment by going one week without weighing yourself. Seeing your weight can trigger eating disorder behaviors for many. If you are able to totally stop weighing yourself—even better, however some find a gradual approach to reducing weighing to be easier to cope with.

• Work to Normalize Eating Patterns:

With professional support, aim to have at least three meals and three solid snacks daily, eating roughly every three hours. Share meal and snack ideas with your treatment team to ensure they’re nutritionally sufficient. Restricting during the day sets you up to binge at night, as your body reacts to perceived scarcity by stocking up when food becomes available.

• Gradually Expose Yourself to Foods You May Be Afraid to Eat:

When ready, start reintroducing foods that you typically binge on, perhaps with a supportive person nearby, i.e., you might start by going out for an ice cream cone with a friend (if that is one of the foods you commonly binge on). Labeling foods as “off limits” only increases the chance of binging on them later.

• Separate Your “Eating Disorder” from Your “Authentic Self”: 

As you increase your daily food intake, work with your therapist to differentiate the deceptive messages of your “eating disorder” from your “authentic self.” 

You can also start to explore what your “true values” are vs, the values of the eating disorder. For instance, the eating disorder may highly value the appearance of your body; however, your true values might be connecting with loved ones, enjoying your life, and helping other people.

• Consider Writing a Farewell Letter to Your Eating Disorder: 

This letter can help you examine the “needs” your disorder fulfills. Once you understand this, you can find healthier ways to meet those needs. For instance, if binge eating provides comfort or companionship, therapy can help you explore alternative methods to meet those valid needs. 

• Be Patient and Compassionate with Yourself:

Like a neglected friend, your body may need time to trust you’ll provide regular nourishment. If you binge, aim to be kind to yourself, analyze your triggers, and try not to engage in purging or next-day restriction. If that feels too difficult, sometimes individuals prefer to work on delaying urges to purge (i.e., waiting 30 minutes and trying some other coping skills first) as a way to start.

Ultimately, your eating disorder is a resilient part of you that is trying to meet your needs. You deserve to be kind to yourself throughout the recovery process. Beating yourself up for engaging in eating disorder behaviors typically adds to feelings of shame, which you may turn to those same behaviors to cope with.

• Take it Step by Step: 

Go one day—or even one meal or bite—at a time. Remind yourself you can make it through this day or moment without turning towards eating disorder behaviors. Even if you are not quite there yet, you can practice putting some space between ‘urge’ and ‘action,’ which is still a win on the path to recovery. When you’re triggered, practice reaching out to people rather than relying on your eating disorder.


Recovering From Bulimia Is Possible!

I’ve been there myself in the past, deeply struggling with an eating disorder. It was truly exhausting, miserable and consumed so much of my daily thoughts. At the time, I felt totally trapped. I am so grateful for the life that I have, now that I no longer struggle with an eating disorder. 

While everyone’s recovery journey is unique, it’s important to note that recovering from bulimia is possible. You don’t have to continue to feel so trapped and alone in this exhausting struggle.

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Schedule a FREE 15-minute consultation to explore how eating disorder therapy or recovery coaching can help you to find freedom.
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🌟 Available in MD, VA, DC, PA, NY, FL, and CA for eating disorder therapy
🌍 Offering recovery coaching worldwide

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The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping children, teens, and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington, D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, Pennsylvania, and California. We provide eating disorder and EMDR trauma therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland and Virginia. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com