Embarking on the road to recovery from an eating disorder is a courageous and transformative journey. It’s a journey marked by challenges, setbacks, and ultimately, triumphs as you reclaim your relationship with food, body, and self. Yet, as you navigate the complexities of recovery, there often comes a pivotal moment: getting back into exercise. Surprisingly, there’s a noticeable absence of guidance and support tailored specifically for individuals in this stage of recovery. That’s why I’m here today—to fill that gap and provide you with practical tips and strategies to reintroduce exercise into your life safely and mindfully. From setting realistic goals to prioritising self-care, we’ll navigate this journey together, supporting you every step of the way as you embark on the path to renewed strength, vitality, and well-being.

Start slow

Begin with gentle, low-impact activities such as walking, yoga or swimming to ease back into physical activity. If you go in full pelt to HIIT and running, it could very well damage your physical health, as well as mental health. Post “all-in” recovery, it is very important to do gentle exercise and remember that there is value in things like pilates and yoga too – not every workout has to be so sweaty! It’s all about moving your body, in whatever way that works for you.

Listen to your body

Following on from the last point, paying attention to your body’s signals is crucial for getting back into exercise. If during your eating disorder you pushed yourself to the limits every single day, more than once a day, exercised every day, you have to be honest with yourself that you won’t be able to do that now. And that’s a good thing, by the way. We shouldn’t be pushing ourselves to our breaking point every single day with the goal of shrinking ourselves – but unfortunately a lot of us (too many of us) do. Listen to what your body wants. Maybe it’s craving a more intense workout today, maybe it’s wanting some low impact yoga. Listen to its needs.

Don’t compare

Don’t sit and scroll on socials, comparing yourself to what other people are doing, be it fitness influencers who are training for marathons, or fellow ED recovery people who are doing more (or less) than you. This is your journey, no one else’s.

Be cautious of ‘pseudo-recovery’

When I first started recovery, I actually entered ‘pseudo-recovery’. I changed my morning 2-hour gym sessions with a one hour walk and half an hour of yoga – all good low impact alternatives and good for recovery, but I was still doing too much, as I added in another 30-45min walk in the afternoons. I wasn’t having ‘rest days’ and I was still pushing myself too hard, even though I was focusing on low-impact exercises. Pseudo recovery is something that a few of us do go through, and so it’s about recognising what your body actually needs and how to get there.

Embrace variety

Try different forms of exercising like hot Pilates, yoga classes, swimming, dancing, Zumba etc. There are so many to do – the world is your oyster! You might find a completely new form of exercise that you love one that doesn’t put that pressure on you to get a PB or train every single day for hours.

Exercise is good

Realign your relationship with exercise. You may be feeling scared of exercise at the moment, if you had exercise addiction as part of your eating disorder (like me). It can be daunting to go back to the gym or start running again. Trust me, I’ve been there. But you have to also remember that exercise is good for you – it is essential for wellbeing and health. Ok, sure, right now in ED recovery it is the opposite of being crucial for health; it’s actually what stripped away my good health! In the long run, for most people, though exercise is good.

How many times a week should you be exercising?

This is completely different for everyone in ED recovery, depending on your treatment status, past relationship with exercise, and the type of eating disorder you are recovering from. For those suffering from past exercise addition, what helped me was to focus on exercising 3-4x a week. This involved a variety of exercises – walking, yoga, weights (no HIIT). To distract myself from feeling the urge of exercising the other 3-4 days of the week, I’d schedule in social time, study time etc., to make sure I wasn’t doing too much. Again, though, this looks different to everyone. There are no shoulds. I’m saying this as a guide, but seek your treatment team for more on what kinds of exercise you can be doing that won’t hurt your recovery progress

As you journey through the process of reintroducing exercise into your life after recovery from an eating disorder, remember to approach it with compassion, patience, and self-compassion. Listen to your body’s cues, honour its needs, and celebrate every victory, no matter how small. Embrace the journey of rediscovering movement as a form of self-expression, joy, and empowerment, rather than punishment or obligation. And above all, remember that your worth is not defined by your exercise routine or the size and shape of your body. You are worthy of love, respect, and acceptance exactly as you are. With courage, determination, and the support of your recovery community, you’ll soon find yourself embracing exercise as a joyful and fulfilling part of your life, nourishing your body, mind, and spirit with every step, stretch, and breath.