How Life Changes After An Eating Disorder

  [caption id="attachment_726876" align="aligncenter" width="1068"] Shutterstock.com/Woman eating[/caption] They say you never fully heal from an eating disorder. That concept could seem bleak, but it may not mean exactly what you think. You can get back to a wonderfully balanced and loving relationship with your body after an eating disorder, but you may never look at certain things the same way again. Suffering from an eating disorder and surviving one teaches you a lot about human behavior, and you'll pick up on things you didn't before. Here is how life changes after an eating disorder. [caption id="attachment_706179" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You hate weight talk

You cringe when people talk about wanting to lose weight. You don't want anyone to have a small portion of the body anxiety you used to have.     [caption id="attachment_711691" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You dislike health magazines

You don't like magazines with tips on "secrets to losing weight" and "how to get your perfect body." You don't like the words secret or perfect, really. [caption id="attachment_719795" align="alignleft" width="429"] Shutterstock[/caption]

You won't give advice

If somebody asks you for advice on how to be in shape you'd prefer not to be the one to give it to them. Advising someone to diet feels like enabling an eating disorder. [caption id="attachment_626731" align="alignleft" width="457"] Shutterstock[/caption]

You know who has one

You can tell who is struggling with an eating disorder: you pick up on the small behaviors like eating very very slowly and canceling plans a lot. [caption id="attachment_694509" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You treat yourself more

You never want to restrict yourself again. If you want a trip, an experience, a cupcake, a dress--you get it.       [caption id="attachment_701049" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You love spontaneity

You never want to live a life again where you just eat and sleep and exercise at the exact same times every day, so now you try to live life as spontaneously as possible. [caption id="attachment_697222" align="alignleft" width="468"] Shutterstock.com/Menu[/caption]

You don't like calories on menus

You like just to eat until you're comfortably full and not think about calories. You'd rather not think about those things. [caption id="attachment_721837" align="alignleft" width="420"] Shutterstock[/caption]

You like flexible clothes

You never again want clothes that cease to fit if you just put on seven pounds. You want clothes that work with your fluctuations. [caption id="attachment_704394" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You love new restaurants

For too long you ate the same thing at every meal because you knew it kept you thin. Now you're free, and you want to try as many new foods as possible. [caption id="attachment_714821" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You love happy people

You love people who love themselves. You like to be around people who talk positively about themselves and others. [caption id="attachment_705856" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You enjoy your body

You think of your body as an experience rather than an aesthetic object. You think about how nice it feels to dance and run in it. [caption id="attachment_617033" align="alignleft" width="420"] Corbis Images[/caption]

You see bodies differently

You used to see only very thin, and everything else, and everything else was wrong. Now you see all the gorgeous shapes and sizes of bodies and how they can be attractive in their own rights. [caption id="attachment_710487" align="alignleft" width="420"] Shutterstock[/caption]

You worry about having a daughter

You know how hard it was for you to recover down your disorder and it makes you worry about bringing a daughter into this world of waif-like models. [caption id="attachment_701571" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

Celebrity diets annoy you

You don't understand how anyone would read what a celebrity eats every day instead of the news or a book.       [caption id="attachment_626809" align="alignleft" width="500"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

Sometimes you revert

Every so often you see a twig-thin actor, and you revert, for a moment, to thinking that that looks good and that you should look like that. It’s like PTSD—don’t be too hard on yourself.

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