Journal Prompts & Affirmations for Eating Disorder Recovery
Seeking support for your eating disorder isn’t easy, and it takes a lot of courage to reach out for help when you’re struggling.
Regardless of where you are in your recovery journey, you’re going to have days that you feel like giving up and going back to your disordered eating behaviours. This is a normal part of recovery, but it can feel distressing if you’ve worked hard to break free from your eating disorder.
Luckily, there are self-care strategies that you can use to take care of yourself throughout your recovery journey, such as affirmations and journaling. This post will share affirmations for eating disorders that you can use throughout the day, plus eating disorder journal prompts to help you reflect on your struggles and successes.
Affirmations for Eating Disorder Recovery
Affirmations are short phrases you repeat to help change your unconscious beliefs. At first, it may feel strange to talk to yourself that way, but when used in combination with your other recovery tools, affirmations can help you find strength on hard days.
Here are 20 affirmations for eating disorder recovery that you may like to try:
- I am not perfect, and that’s okay.
- I am proud of who I am.
- Small progress is still progress.
- My worth as a person is not determined by the scale.
- I can trust myself and my body.
- I will be kind to my body today.
- I will not define myself by my past.
- I am strong, I am a survivor, and I am safe.
- I deserve happiness, love, and support.
- I deserve to eat food I enjoy.
- I will trust my own process and recovery.
- I am not a burden when I ask for help.
- My body is my home, and I’m going to take care of it.
- Food is not the enemy. It provides the nourishment that my body needs to survive.
- Relapses and negative thoughts are just minor setbacks, not failures.
- I will not punish myself for making mistakes.
- I deserve not to obsess about food and weight.
- I am not defined by my eating disorder.
- I will not demand perfection of myself.
- I will ask for help if I need it.
The affirmation you choose will be personal to you and your unique experience. Try to choose one that speaks to your current needs in recovery and repeat it to yourself throughout the day. Alternatively, choose an affirmation and write it on a sticky note. Place it somewhere visible to remind you of the affirmation throughout the day.
Eating Disorder Journal Prompts
Journaling can help you understand your eating disorder better, make sense of your relationship with food and your body, and regulate your emotions, but sometimes it can be hard to know what to write. Here are 7 eating disorder journal prompts designed to kick off the journaling process.
- How does your eating disorder help you? How does your eating disorder harm you? Which does your eating disorder do more – help or harm?
- Describe a time when you had a neutral relationship with food. Do you remember what changed your relationship with food? What type of relationship with food would you like to have? How can you achieve that better relationship with food?
- Write a list of ten foods you’d like to try.
- Explore a moment when you’ve felt proud in your recovery journey. What did you do? What helped? How did you feel?
- What does recovery mean to you? What motivated you to pursue recovery in the first place?
- Make a list of some common negative thoughts you have about your body. Next, write out how you would speak to a friend saying these things about themselves. Notice whether there’s a difference between how you’d talk to a friend and how you talk to yourself. Could you start to talk to yourself more kindly, as you would to a friend?
- Write a breakup letter to your eating disorder.
Some people may find it helpful to bring their journal to a session with their therapist or dietitian to discuss what they wrote about and to process any difficult emotions that came up while writing.
Final Thoughts
Eating disorder recovery has its ups and downs, but there are several tools you can use to support yourself on difficult days. Affirmations for eating disorders can act as small reminders that you are stronger than your eating disorder, while eating disorder journal prompts can help you reflect on your relationship with food, your body, and your eating disorder itself.
Are you stuck trying to navigate eating disorder recovery? You’re not alone. The therapists and Registered Dietitians at Journey to Health have experience in guiding people through eating disorder recovery in an inclusive and compassionate way. Click here to set up a free consultation call to learn more about our services and support, and to see how we can work together to help you in your recovery journey.
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