Veganism & restrictive eating disorders

[dawn-c]

Hi there!

I´m wondering if anyone here has experience with going vegan after recovering from a restrictive eating disorder. I´ve been vegan before (3 years in total but that´s now 4 years ago, I´m currently flexitarian) but after suffering from anorexia I´m not sure whether I should go back. I´m not fully recovered yet, but almost weight restored. I´m considering going vegan again because I remember why I used to be vegan and the arguments are so strong. What I´m worried about is that by going vegan I´ll be more prone to falling back into anorexia patterns - like when I check ingredients of a product I´ll probably also look at the calorie chart, and the whole "fear foods, safe foods" thing would come up as well as I just got used to not having "forbidden foods" apart from usually meat.
If anyone has tried this I´d be so grateful if you could share your experiences on these questions:
1. How long after your recovery until you became vegan? Were you fully recovered?
2. Did veganism affect your recovery (positive or negative)?
3. How strict were you with your veganism?
Thanks so much for the help!

Dawn

 

[amberfunk]

I was anorexic and bulimic when I was younger which started in middle school and went into highschool. I've been recovered for about 7 years I think possibly longer. I've been vegan since May. It hasn't negatively affected me. I actually feel better than I have in years. I have lost weight but I needed to lose it since I was actually overweight and not because I was actually restricting.

 

[veganwoman]

I had eating disorders which left me with severe chronic health probs. Veganism has helped since now more than ever a healthy diet is what I need to eat due to illnesses and helping animals is a huge win.About 4 to years after recovery I became vegan .I'm not 100 percent. I will eat sugar sometimes and if I need to take a supplement with gelatin I will swallow that.

Sorry bout your eating disorders guys.

 

[Soffiare]

Hello!
I'm not currently vegan and while I'm not fully recovered I believe that veganism would help me reconcile with the food I eat and to add more variety. However since we have/had eating disorders I think we should take it easy, and be alert if we are restricting

 

[heilo]

I just posted about the temptation to quit veganism due to my ED. It's extremely hard to navigate and feels like a tornado when I try to think about it and reason with it.

https://veganforum.org/threads/wanting-to-quit-food-waste-less-vegetables-after-going-vegan.2492/

 

[Deleted member 2819]

I wish I understood what you all were going through. I can’t comment as I don’t feel qualified. Wish you the best of luck in finding the answers you’re looking for.