Commit to Your Recovery
Lasting Recovery Can Be Yours
Once you have admitted your addiction, recovery can actually begin for you.
It’s a HUGE step you’ve taken and I commend you – really! Next, a promise you have to make to no one other than yourself is,
I commit to being a non-bulimic. I will stick with this to the end and do whatever it takes to live a bulimia free lifestyle.
Allow me to point something out to you. If you’re still binging and purging, you’re committed to being a bulimic. What I’m asking you to do is to look at the payoffs and costs of this behavior are having on your life, health, and happiness. And choose differently.
Choosing to be a bulimic may have been something you didn’t even realize was happening to you. Maybe you wanted to loose a little weight. Maybe your first binge came about because you needed an outlet for something painful that happened so you overate, felt badly and threw up. Or, maybe you just did it because you read about it somewhere and thought it would never turn you into this nightmare crazy person who thinks about food all the time.
If you step back and look at all of the pain it’s now causing you and trust that you can go back to being happy like you were long before you had this addiction, you will take on a new life. Your being committed to bulimia is running the show. You will pay dearly in terms of the emotional and physical costs of this addiction.
Commitment = Actions
So what does commitment to bulimia recovery mean? Has there ever been a goal in your life that you really wanted to achieve that took some time to prepare or plan for? Maybe you wanted to run a marathon, get a college degree, or save up and take a nice vacation. Whatever the goal, you first decided you wanted it. You committed to it by way of your actions and being willing to do the work it took along the way. And eventually you had the payoff of completing your goal.
In the example of running a marathon, if you were not committed to completing it, you would stop yourself when you had to run your first 5, 10, or 20 mile training day. Commitment looks like everyday action because it is those things we do every day that give us the outcomes we have in life. If you commit to the marathon, you do the training and you complete the race. The results are yours to enjoy.
Avoiding Relapse
Relapses in bulimia recovery occur because of a lack of commitment. I relapsed many, many times over 15 years because I never made the commitment to being a non-bulimic. I would let circumstances and events trigger me back into bulimia.
Once I committed and actually told another human being (and then another and another – eventually) it became my word, my integrity and my determination to never go back. I was in the marathon to the finish.
If you ask anyone who’s completed a marathon did they ever want to give up or have a bad training run, they’d say, “ab-so-lute-ly”. That’s what training looks like. It’s almost life’s little way of testing our commitment. Getting back up, sticking to our commitment to overcome bulimia makes the difference.
You will be Tested Along the Way
Sorry for some bad news, but I guarantee life will not get any easier just because you want to stop being a bulimic. I guarantee it will get better. Anyone you ask who has recovered will say their life is transformed by giving it up.
Your goal to learn how to stop being bulimic cannot hinge on only being recovered if it only means life will be easy.
Unrealistic thinking.
Instead, your work is to put the tools and coping mechanisms in place to support a recovery lifestyle. One that addresses issues head on, allows you to heal and mend whatever in your heart needs healing and to cope in new ways with stress, anger, anxiety, and depression.
Transformation takes place on the inside and that will make your life seem transformed on the outside.
Own Your Recovery
Recovery cannot be a forced upon you. No bulimia support groups or even loved ones can force you into it. It does not matter how much someone else wants you to recover and love yourself, it only matters what you feel inside that will allow you access to recovery. Just like training for the marathon, recovery starts with you to be willing to do the work.
Owning your recovery means going to whatever lengths it may take to achieve your end result (within good reasoning, of course!). Here are some ways to empower your bulimia recovery marathon:
– Get educated about bulimia – learn about the common causes, triggers and treatment options
– Change your lifestyle completely – transform your life from the inside by learning to love your self again
– Change your environment – create a positive new physical world that builds upon your recovery
– Find a solid support system – bulimia support groups, friends, family, coaches, counselors, mentors, sponsors and anyone else that can provide love, feedback and guidance; this includes an internal support system built upon a healthy coping foundation and self love
Your journey begins with the first step and you’ve already taken a big step in that direction. If you’re ready to continue, commit to being a non-bulimic and let your every day actions determine the outcome of your life.
Browse this website for additional resources, information on bulimia recovery and how you can keep your daily commitment to your recovery. Read my bulimia recovery blog for additional inspiration and ideas to get you started and you’ll also find videos I’ve published on my YouTube Channel.