50 Quotes To Stay Inspired in Eating Disorder Recovery
Written by CCTC Staff Writer
It’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of negative thoughts and patterns when working toward eating disorder recovery. During these frustrating times, it can be helpful to turn to the inspiring words of others for motivation. Here are 50 quotes to help you stay positive and motivated while on your path to healing from an eating disorder. Each carefully chosen quote will remind you that no matter where you may be in the recovery process, there is still hope for a brighter future free from the restrictions of your disorder. With courage and determination, anything is possible!
Staying Motivated in Eating Disorder Treatment and Recovery
Eating disorder recovery can be a long and sometimes difficult journey. It requires tremendous strength and determination to overcome the negative thoughts and behaviors that anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder use to keep you feeling sick and stuck. Staying motivated during the ups and downs of recovery can be challenging, but it is essential for success. To keep going, it can help to draw inspiration from inspiring quotes about eating disorder recovery. These reminders can bring hope and courage during hard times, helping to move forward in the recovery process one step at a time. Here are 10 quotes about recovery:
“Counting calories is not the answer, because eating is not the problem.” - Dr. Anita Johnston
“To stay in recovery, you must be responsible for finding your own motivation. Remember, motivation may not be easy to come by at first. It will probably be a very small, timid part inside of you. When you find it, let that part be in charge. Let the minority rule and lead you to a life you never dreamed was possible” - Jenni Schaefer
“Food is something I am going to have to face at least three times a day for the rest of my life. And I am not perfect. But one really bad day does not mean that I am hopeless and back at square one with my eating disorder. Olympic ice skaters fall in their quest for the gold. Heisman Trophy winners throw interceptions. Professional singers forget the words. And people with eating disorders sometimes slip back into an old pattern. But all of these individuals just pick themselves back up and do the next right thing. The ice skater makes the next jump. The football player throws the next pass. The singer finishes the song. And I am going to eat breakfast.”- Jenni Schaefer
“Recovery is a challenge, but it’s not as difficult as continuing to live the wrath of an eating disorder.” – Unknown
“When your healthy self is strong enough to deal with all that comes your way in life, your eating disorder self will no longer be useful or necessary.” - Carolyn Costin
"I'm on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all demons." - Demi Lovato
“Recovery doesn’t mean putting your life on hold. Recovery means holding on so you can live your best life.” - Brittany Burgunder
“Living with an eating disorder takes extraordinary fortitude. And when that energy can be circumvented in a different way, incredible things happen.”
“I am beginning to measure myself in strength, not pounds. Sometimes in smiles.” – Laurie Halse Anderson
The good news, however, is that also contrary to popular belief, full and lasting recovery from an eating disorder is possible.” – Unknown
For Feeling Your Feelings…
Emotions and feelings are incredibly complex, and for many of us, avoiding them can feel like much simpler than dealing with them. When we're struggling with an eating disorder, the emotional side of things can feel overwhelming and almost insurmountable. To tackle the problem, it's essential that we learn to accept our feelings - all of them - as a necessary part of our recovery. Ignoring or suppressing our emotions won't make them disappear; if anything, it will only provoke more complicated thoughts, feelings and behaviors related to the eating disorder. Learning how to properly process emotions is vital in order to establish a healthy relationship with food again. Embracing every emotion without judgment is key because it allows us to move forward in our recovery away from self-destructive habits and towards self-care. Here are 10 quotes to encourage you to feel your feelings:
“When embraced and accepted, negative emotions can be a powerful catalyst to positive change in one’s life and can lead to a deeper feeling of meaning and authenticity.” – Dr. Paul TP Wong
“Instead of resisting any emotion, the best way to dispel it is to enter it fully, embrace it and see through your resistance.” – Deepak Chopra
“The more you hide your feelings, the more they show. The more you deny your feelings, the more they grow.” – Unknown
“Feelings are like waves, we can’t stop them from coming but we can choose which one to surf.” – Jonatan Martensson
“Emotional pain cannot kill you but running from it can. Allow. Embrace it. Let yourself feel. Let yourself heal.” – Vironika Tugaleva
“Your emotions make you human. Even the unpleasant ones have a purpose. Don’t lock them away. If you ignore them, they just get louder and angrier.” – Sabaa Tahir
“To know ourselves better, we must slow down enough to feel our feelings and to hear our deeper thoughts.” – David D. Corbett
“Watch a movie that makes you laugh or listen to a song that makes you cry. Embrace your emotions and be proud of what you feel.” – Demi Lovato
“The toughest thing about learning to feel your feelings is that then you have to feel your feelings.” - Pam Houston
“Feelings are just visitors, let them come and go.” - Unknown
For Finding Peace With Food…
Developing a healthy relationship with food is essential to eating disorder recovery. When one has found peace with food, they can see it for what it really is - nourishment, sustenance, and pleasure that are there to help maintain physical and mental health. Food provides you the energy needed to go about daily life but also creates a sense of connection when connecting with others over meals. Finding peace with food goes far beyond just letting go of dieting and depriving oneself. It is having an understanding that every food item should be treated as both a source of nutrition and something that can be enjoyed.However, finding a sense of peace doesn't happen overnight but takes patience and determination; it's a process of learning balance and discovering what works best for yourself so that you can create a lasting relationship with food. Here are 10 quotes to help you stay motivated to find peace with food:
“Having a healthy relationship with food means you are not morally superior or inferior based on your eating choices.” ― Evelyn Tribole, Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works
“No food will ever hurt you as much as your eating disorder will.” - Unknown
“How much you eat at a single meal has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you’re a good friend, daughter, mother, sister, aunt, thinker, worker, citizen or overall human. Nothing you consume will ever diminish how valuable you are in those areas that count so much more.” - Unknown
“Making peace with food requires that you transition from a place of fear to a place of love.” - Dr. Anita Johnston
“Feeling guilty for eating when you're hungry is like feeling for breathing when your lungs need oxygen. We've literally been taught to be ashamed of our basic human needs. Refuse to feel the shame. You are allowed to eat.” - Unknown
“Your relationship with food is one of your earliest and most meaningful relationships. It’s also a relationship you will have for the rest of your life. It might as well be the best relationship that it can be.” - Unknown
“You have to make peace with food. You have to learn, and program your brain to understand: your body needs food.” - Callie Bowld
“You are meant to have the option to comfort yourself with food. You are not a robot eating battery pellets for energy.” - Caroline Dooner
“Flexibility in your food choices is healthy. Eating a variety of foods is healthy. Focusing on enjoying your food is healthy. Not stressing about your food is healthy.” - Unknown
“Your body is always deserving of food. You don’t have to earn it.” - Unknown
For Coping With Negative Body Image…
One positive step towards successful eating disorder recovery is developing a healthier body image. This means striving to think positively or neutrally about our bodies, and recognizing that we are individuals with diverse values and skills, rather than focusing solely on body shape or size. Here are 10 quotes to help you find some self-compassion when negative body image thoughts creep in:
“Stop spending all day obsessing, cursing, perfecting your body like it’s all you’ve got to offer the world. Your body is not your art, it’s your paintbrush. Whether your paintbrush is a tall paintbrush or a thin paintbrush or a stocky paintbrush or a scratched up paintbrush is completely irrelevant. What is relevant is that YOU HAVE A PAINTBRUSH which can be used to transfer your insides onto the canvas of your life — where others can see it and be inspired and comforted by it.” - Glennon Doyle
“If only our eyes saw souls instead of bodies, how very different our ideals of beauty would be.” – Lauren Jauregui
“And I said to my body, softy: I want to be your friend”. It took a long breath, and replied: I have been waiting my whole life for this.” - Nayyirah Waheed
"Hating your body will never get you as far as loving it will." - Unknown
“I don’t want to wait until I’m 73 to embrace my body. To look back and think of my beauty: How did I miss it? Let’s not wait another moment.” - Ashley Asti
“Speak to your body in a loving way. It’s the only one you’ve got, it’s your home, and it deserves your respect.” - Iskra Lawrence
“I’m not going to sacrifice my mental health to have the perfect body.” - Demi Lovato
“You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” - Louise Hay
“Know that you are worth so much more than the value you place on your body. It’s not the only thing that defines you.” - Molly Tarlov
“Your weight may change but your worth does not.” - Unknown
Related: Body Neutrality: Shifting Your Perspective
For Not Giving Up…
Eating disorder recovery is a difficult process that can be long and taxing. It requires commitment, dedication, and perseverance to walk the line between sticking to recovery and the comfort of your eating disorder. Especially when faced with discomfort and challenge, it can seem like giving in to relapse is a tempting option. However, it is important to remember that the ultimate reward for continuing down the path of recovery is a life full of joy, contentment and self-love, free from the grasp of your eating disorder. So when things get hard or you feel tempted to give in to relapse, take a moment to remember why you embarked on this journey and hold on tight. Here are 10 quotes to help keep you motivated:
“My worst days in recovery are better than the best days in relapse.” – Unknown
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The minute you think of giving up, think of the reason why you held on so long.” - Unknown
“Continue. Be loving and be strong. Be fierce and be kind. And don’t give in and don’t give up.” - Maya Angelou
“Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations.” - Unknown
“You are allowed to be a masterpiece and a work-in-progress simultaneously.” -Sophia Bush
“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” - Harriet Beecher Stowe
“You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can’t, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don’t give up.” -Chuck Yeager
“Recovery is full of ups and downs. There is no such thing as a linear life. But you can always turn your setbacks into setups to come back stronger.” ― Brittany Burgunder
"One thing I have come to notice in my life is that recovery for me has not been linear. It’s more two steps forward, three back, five forward, two back, so I’m always improving but there are setbacks within the improvement.” — Jonathan Van Ness
Recovery from an eating disorder can seem overwhelming and sometimes impossible, but it doesn't have to be. There are numerous resources and treatments available to provide the help you need to make a full recovery. The first step is to take the courageous action of reaching out for help. To learn more about treatment programs and services, reach out to us at Central Coast Treatment Center today.
Every journey is unique and challenging, yet with dedication and perseverance you are never alone in your path towards healing.