How do we keep moving toward accepting ourselves on hard days, when the pull of the eating disorder is strong, and the need to numb is overwhelming? This is a question I had to answer for myself and learned two keys: permission to have my emotions and small acts of self-kindness. Both have had a positive impact on my recovery, and I hope you find a gem here that resonates with you.

I remember my dietitian once telling me that there is more to life than rules about what you are and aren’t allowed to eat, that there are preferences if you give yourself permission to accept them. What the heck are food preferences, I thought. I only knew the world of strict, punishing food rules, thanks to the eating disorder. Here I share how I came to loosen my grip on food rules and began to explore what I actually, truly, deep down enjoy and dislike to eat—and in so doing, opened an unexpected pathway to self-acceptance.