I am far from my goal weight, and have yet a long journey, both physical and mental, to recovery. At times it is painful, and I fear I will never get out of this deep dark hole..but there's other days when I feel strong, and thank God most of my days are of the latter kind.
Looking into the future, what are the next steps to follow when you reach your goal weight? Exercise and calorie-wise? How do you avoid relapse and restricting? How do you overcome bingeing (for those that binge during refeeding)?
You see, in refeeding I always thought we had to establish a healthy and normal relationship with food. learn to enjoy and appreciate it. But my calorie requirements at the moment are far from normal. I don't eat like a normal person when it comes to the quantities and the types of foods.
So actually, this refeeding process is not teaching me much when it comes to normal habits. How will I learn those when the time comes?
You say you have a long way to go.... That's good because it gives you time to get used to eating regularly and normally. Time to establish a good eating habit. The quantity you're consuming in order to gain weight may seem like a lot right now but, as you get nearer a healthy weight, you'll need more energy just to maintain. So by the time you get to a healthy weight, you'll probably find you only need to tweak your intake down by relatively little in order to continue normally.
As you progress and as your nourishment improves you may find that a lot of the desire to restrict diminishes. A stronger body and a well-nourished brain is more rational and less anxious than a starved one.... better able to cope in other words. In the time between now and getting to a healthy weight, also work on building your confidence and your self-esteem... find as many ways as possible to love the new you and admire your achievements
Having said that, expect to relapse from time to time. Don't expect perfection. Bad habits run very deep but if you anticipate that they will occasionally return, you can deal with them more easily. If you see slip-ups as temporary blips rather than some sort of terminal failure they're less likely to make an impact. Most 'normal' people over-indulge on food at times.... that's another thing to understand.
Good luck... keep going. Things only get better.
