Disclaimer: While I’m based in Asia, I offer virtual eating disorder recovery coaching to clients in the UK, Ireland, and worldwide. I pride myself on transparency and trust—so you’ll always know what to expect and how our sessions work, no matter where you are. Rest assured, my location doesn’t limit the quality or depth of support you’ll receive—my commitment to your recovery remains the same, wherever you’re reaching out from.
If you’re reading this while considering recovery from anorexia, you are brave. Being here matters more than you realise. Through both lived experience and my work in anorexia recovery coaching, I’ve seen how heavy this stage can feel. Reflecting on my own recovery journey after almost 30 years of anorexia and disordered eating, I want to share some things I wish I had known—and truly believed—when everything felt impossible.
What an Anorexia Recovery Coach Wants You to Know at the Start
As an anorexia recovery coach, I’ve seen how isolating and overwhelming the early stages of recovery can feel. Many people believe they must feel “ready” or confident before taking action—but that isn’t true. Anorexia recovery coaching begins with small, imperfect choices that gradually weaken the eating disorder’s voice and rebuild trust in yourself. You don’t need certainty to start; you only need the willingness to take the next step.
1. Taking Responsibility is Powerful
Eating disorders are intensely isolating. It can feel as though no one truly understands, and that others are constantly urging you to do things you don’t want to do. But the real battle is not between you and the world—it’s always between you and your eating disorder.
No one chooses to have an eating disorder. The shame you might feel about its effects on you and loved ones can be overwhelming. This shame may fuel more self-loathing, which in turn strengthens your eating disorder and increases doubt about recovery. Still, choosing to take responsibility for your eating disorder and your recovery is empowering.
It may feel like you are powerless over your eating disorder – but this is simply a thought, not the truth. Nobody chooses to have an eating disorder, but you do have a say in whether you listen to and act on its voice. Your eating disorder will insist that you can’t change your behaviour, but its power only comes from your attention and actions. The more you choose to act on what is opposite to it, the less power it has.
Only you can choose to begin recovery. Healing happens through small, consistent steps that rewire your mind and habits. Others can support you, but the decision to take those first steps is yours—and that’s where the journey begins. And I should caveat this by saying you don’t need to believe you are ready for, or will achieve full recovery, to start taking action. That belief will come as you gain confidence and evidence that you can do the things your eating disorder claimed were impossible.
2. It may feel like you can’t ever recover, but the same traits that are keeping you in your eating disorder can be turned into your greatest asset for recovery.
Anorexia requires relentless discipline and fierce determination, which can harm your physical and mental health. But the strength you use to maintain an eating disorder is the same strength you can use to overcome it. That grit can be your engine for recovery. You’ve shown how capable and disciplined you are—now, direct that strength toward recovery. Letting go of discipline around food, exercise, weight, and your body is not letting yourself off the hook or being lazy—no one will judge you for it. Channelling your mental energy into recovery is truly brave and courageous.
3. Recovery is hard; living with an eating disorder is harder
There are many stories online describing how hard recovery is—and that is true. What often goes unspoken is how hard it is to live with an eating disorder every day, year after year.
My journey to recovery was probably the most challenging and painful thing I have ever had to do in my life. Giving up my main coping mechanism of 30 years sent my nervous system into intense overdrive, and there were days when the anxiety of eating, gaining weight, and not using disordered behaviours made me literally want to crawl out of my skin.
However, the thing I realise now is that period, although intensely painful, was short-lived. And once I got through that, I reaped the rewards of recovery, which were far greater than I imagined.
If I had stayed in my eating disorder, that pain may not have been so intense, but instead, I would still be in this state of feeling like I was in emotional and physical freefall. When you have an eating disorder, there is a relentless need to abide by its rules and demands, and the increasing physical and mental exhaustion that comes with that. There is the shame and loneliness that comes with it, the inexplicable self-loathing, the guilt -guilt for not abiding exactly to the eating disorder, guilt for the exhaustion, guilt for not recovering. This constant lose-lose cycle. The incessant mental noise leaves no room for anything else.
Eating disorders don’t get better with time; they get more entrenched, your world shrinks smaller, and your body simply can’t keep up with the years of abuse.
4. Recovery Builds Lifelong Resilience
Recovering from an eating disorder is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But through the struggle, I built a resilience that now helps me face any challenge life throws my way. The strength you cultivate in recovery will serve you far beyond food and body image—it becomes a source of courage for everything ahead.
5. Recovery is more than weight gain and food; it means reclaiming your life
When you’re deep in an eating disorder, recovery can seem like it’s only about gaining weight or eating more. It’s hard to imagine tolerating a different body, and letting go of control will help. In the middle of recovery, fears about weight and food may seem even more real—you look different but still think the same, making this stage very hard. Still, it’s worth pushing through. On the other side, you’ll find that recovery is about having the physical and mental capacity to experience life fully and more authentically.
What Anorexia Recovery Makes Possible
Recovery is like turning a black-and-white movie into colour. It means connecting more deeply with friends and family. You can enter situations without constant anxiety about weight or food, and cope with life changes with flexibility. Anorexia recovery means the freedom to make choices and the confidence to try what your eating disorder said was impossible. You get the headspace to be creative and curious. It means spontaneous lunches with friends, sharing food, and laughing together. Saying yes to dinner or coffee without obsessing or compensating, going on holidays without strict routines, and trying local cuisine without anxiety. It means enjoying meals with your family and seeing their happiness.
If you’re at the start of recovery, I want you to know this: there is hope, even on the hardest days. You’ve already survived so much. You are capable of recovery—and one day, you’ll look back and be proud of how far you’ve come. Find extra support with Healthy Self Recovery.
Finding Support That Makes Recovery Possible With Anorexia Recovery Coaching in England
If you’re seeking anorexia recovery coaching in England, support can help you take meaningful steps forward even when fear and doubt are still present. Recovery does not require certainty or confidence to begin—only compassionate, consistent action with the right guidance. At Healthy Self Recovery, the focus is on helping you rebuild trust in yourself and reclaim a full, engaged life beyond the eating disorder. Follow these three simple steps to get started:
- Reach out to book a free discovery call.
- Begin receiving support with a compassionate eating disorder recovery coach.
- Start recovering with confidence and support!
Additional Services Offered at Healthy Self Recovery
At Healthy Self Recovery, I support individuals navigating anorexia recovery and eating disorder recovery coaching, particularly when questions around identity and self-trust feel overwhelming. My approach focuses on helping you separate your sense of self from the eating disorder, reconnect with your values and strengths, and develop practical ways to respond when the eating disorder voice resurfaces.
Because identity work can feel vulnerable, I prioritise consistent, compassionate support throughout the recovery process. Sessions may include gentle accountability, space to process emotional shifts, and guided exploration of interests as you rebuild confidence and direction. All work is collaborative and designed to complement any other supports involved in your recovery.
I offer online eating disorder recovery coaching to clients across England, the UK, and internationally, providing flexible support that fits your life. Together, we work to strengthen self-connection, nurture a steadier relationship with body and mind, and build a life that feels authentic and sustainable.
About The Author
Marianna Miles, CCIEDC 2061, is a Registered Nutritionist (Dip ION) and qualified eating disorder recovery coach who brings both clinical training and lived experience to her work. She supports clients across the UK and internationally, providing consistent, compassionate guidance throughout the recovery process. Her work centres on restoring body trust, developing realistic and nourishing eating patterns, and fostering a more balanced, confident relationship with food and self-care.
