Is your recovery back-to-school-proof? If your eating disorder thrives off of a rigid structure, changes in your schedule can throw a wrench in your recovery. You may have established a routine over the summer with set meal times and a consistent meal plan that will be hard to adjust once you return to school.

While recovery is all about learning flexibility and letting go of rules, this structure can support you in the initial stages. When your routine changes with increased academic and social pressures, it can be challenging to remain on track.

Here are some tips for managing recovery when returning to school.

Write Lunch and Snack Times into your Schedule

As soon as you know your daily schedule, add in snack times as needed. If you don’t have a set lunch break for the day, write that in too. That way, eating is scheduled right alongside classes and activities and isn’t an afterthought.

Meal Prep

If you have to pack lunches, don’t save it for the morning (unless it’s something that needs to be assembled day of, like a sandwich). If you are running late, it will be too easy to make an excuse not to eat that day. Instead, plan ahead. Carve out time to meal prep, or make a batch of lunches on Sunday. Sometimes having a go-to list with a lot of variety and options for meals and snacks that you can pick from can really help you pack and plan more easily for what to take for school.

School and other responsibilities can be overwhelming, but using some of these tips can help you prioritize recovery through it all.

Identify Places You are Comfortable Eating

Eating in front of others can be intimidating, especially if you’ve gotten used to eating at home or only with other clients in treatment. To take some of the anxiety out of eating in public, identify at least two different locations where you can go to eat lunch and snacks. These locations may be a specific classroom, outdoor area, or another corner of the campus.

Choose Lunch Buddies

With the right friend(s), having others to eat lunch with can support you in your recovery. After all, social eating may be something you have withdrawn from in your eating disorder. Find others you can eat with consistently who won’t make unhelpful comments or comparisons.

Keep Snacks On Hand

If you participate in extracurriculars, your schedule may be unpredictable at times. Some days, you may have to stay on campus later than you expected. Plan ahead to make sure you don’t go too long without eating. Keep snacks in your bag and/or locker, and be sure to carry some cash in case you need to purchase a snack.

According to Ashley Ellis Eid, LMFT an eating disorder therapist at Kindful Body, “Skipping a meal or snack can make the eating disorder feel stronger. You’ve worked hard on your recovery, so keep up the great work! If you have gotten off schedule, it is important to remember to make the next right decision. Have that next meal or snack- keep moving forward in your recovery. That is what separates a lapse from a relapse and helps you to continue to make progress.”

Reminders for Recovery at School

Your worth does not depend on your academic performance.

Stress can harm your physical health. Have a game plan for managing stress with unwinding activities, breaks, and mindfulness.

Comparisons: There will be students who brag about skipping breakfast. There will be people who never eat lunch. And sometimes, you might be the only one in a group who is eating a snack. Just because they aren’t eating, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Everybody has different needs. Going long periods of time without eating causes discomfort and can exacerbate binge eating.

Kindful Body offers flexible online therapy to support your recovery during the school year.

Join Our Meal Support Coaching Program

We hope this blog helps ease any stress or negative feelings about returning to school. If you need extra support to make this transition, we are here to help! Our team of eating disorder therapists and registered dietitians have worked with many students who struggle with similar hurdles.

Kindful Body just launched a new Meal Support Coaching Program to help others find freedom with food. This program is ideal if you are interested in exploring how your eating patterns, meal balance, and self-care could improve the quality of your life.

This meal support coaching program is for you if you:

Obsess over what you should or shouldn’t eat
Feel that you are a “food addict” or an emotional eater
Find yourself in the “all-or-nothing” mentality - either strictly following a diet or feeling completely out of control around food (with no in-between)

We offer offer additional mental health support, including anxiety treatment, low self-esteem issues, emotional eating recovery, nutrition counseling, binge eating disorder, body image, trauma therapy, and grief counseling. Kindful Body offers eating disorder treatment in Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland/Berkeley, Walnut Creek, San Mateo, Orange County, CA, or anywhere online in California. Learn more about us by checking out our blog and FAQs page!

How to Manage Recovery When Returning to School