Recovery Requires Rest
It is no secret that recovering from an eating disorder is difficult and draining work. Every day from sunrise to sunset, you are battling an inner critic. Keep reading for tips to help you find a positive sleep-wake cycle amid a draining process like recovery.
Struggling to sleep: Anxiety/stress is the name of the game in eating disorder recovery, so you may have trouble falling asleep with the other food/body image noise that has increased as you silence the eating disorder.
Tips:
Find times to go to bed and to wake up that are non-negotiable. For example, if you know that you’d like to get 8 hours of rest, make sure that you are beginning to wind down at 10:30 pm and have an alarm set for 6:50 pm. Schedules vary so adjust as it fits your needs for the week. We can help you with this if you need it!
Make a list of activities that help you wind down. Reading a book, drawing, coloring, journaling, or listening to ASMR or easy listening music are great examples to get started. We recommend that you stay away from your phone or other electric devices and try to decrease the amount of blue-light exposure before bed.
In our previous blog post, we mentioned that eating at least 2 hours before bedtime can be helpful as well. If you are trying to digest your meal, it may be hard to go to sleep. On the flip side, if you are trying to sleep underfueled, your body is not going to find sleep as easily. It is waiting for you to eat so that it can do its rebuilding jobs while you sleep! A light bedtime snack can help in this case.
Try to remember that your body needs rest to function and do all of the things that you want to do each day. Make a list of things that you enjoy doing that your body needs rest to do every single day (hint: it’s everything!). Then, add some goals of things you want to do when you are more well-rested and fueled. This can help you feel more motivated to rest so that you can keep moving forward in your recovery when things are starting to feel overwhelming.
Struggling to stay awake: It can be VERY draining to think about food and your body all the time. We have clients who often feel like these thoughts are consuming them and making them feel worn out and weary.
Tips:
Make a list of activities that you find stimulating and enjoyable…things like cooking, playing with a pet, meeting a friend for a coffee date, drawing, flipping through a magazine, doing yoga are some great places to start.
Drink water! Staying hydrated, especially in the summer months, can be really helpful for staying awake.
Eat a snack. Snacking can be hard in recovery, but snacks are a great way to bridge the energy gaps between meals. Snacks can be big or small, and they can be adjusted based on your hunger cues. The best combo is a carbohydrate and a protein food.
Let yourself take a nap. After long periods of undernourishment and mental battles, you are rightfully tired, and your body is trying to catch up. Taking a nap is not going to completely throw off your sleep schedule as long as it is under 30 minutes. If you find yourself consistently needing naps longer than that, it might be worth considering that you are still undernourished or consult a medical professional about vitamin/mineral deficiencies.
Recovery has many peaks and valleys. You will find yourself in many different headspaces, so it is important to give yourself time to rest while also enjoying the moments you are awake. If you are looking for more support in your recovery journey, reach out to us! We are here to help you.
Written by Trinny Duncan, Student Intern and Peggy Pratt, PhD, RDN, LDN, CEDS-C