Eating Disorder Recovery When You Feel Stuck: 5 Strategies for Chronic Anorexia & Bulimia

What happens when you’ve spent years working on eating disorder recovery, but anorexia or bulimia still shows up? Long-term eating disorder recovery can feel exhausting, especially when you understand your patterns but still struggle with restriction, bingeing, purging, compulsive exercise, or persistent food and body image thoughts. Knowing why something happens doesn’t always make it easy to change. In this solo episode, Dr. Marianne explores what it means to feel stuck in recovery from chronic anorexia and bulimia and shares five practical strategies for approaching long-standing eating disorder patterns differently. Through the fictional story of Tiana, a woman whose eating disorder has shifted between anorexia, bingeing, purging, and compulsive exercise over many years, Dr. Marianne examines how recovery can continue even when progress doesn’t look dramatic. What You’ll Learn You’ll learn how to recognize eating disorder recovery progress beyond complete symptom elimination, identify smaller places to interrupt the binge-restrict cycle, and create an eating plan that actually works when your capacity is low. Dr. Marianne also discusses why persistent eating disorder behaviors may serve important functions, how neurodivergence can complicate eating and recovery, and why you don’t have to feel completely ready before taking a recovery-supportive action. The episode includes practical strategies for mechanical eating, low-lift nourishment, binge eating and restriction, purging urges, compensatory exercise, body image distress, and getting back to regular eating after a difficult day. Chronic Anorexia & Bulimia Recovery Can Still Change Living with an eating disorder for years or decades does not mean every part of your recovery will always look the same. Sometimes getting unstuck means eating breakfast after a binge or purge instead of compensating. It might mean keeping easy foods available when executive functioning is low, eating lunch before extreme hunger hits, or recognizing that one difficult meal does not have to become a week of restriction. For people with ADHD, autism, or other forms of neurodivergence, eating disorder treatment may also need to account for sensory needs, interoception, hyperfocus, executive functioning, transitions, and nervous system regulation. Recovery doesn’t always happen through one major breakthrough. Sometimes meaningful change starts with making the next recovery-supportive choice easier to access. Work With Dr. Marianne If you’re struggling with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, ARFID, or a long-term eating disorder, Dr. Marianne offers neurodivergent-affirming, sensory-attuned, trauma-informed eating disorder therapy and coaching. Learn more about working with Dr. Marianne, explore the ARFID & Selective Eating course, and find additional eating disorder and neurodivergence resources at drmariannemiller.com. Follow Dr. Marianne on Instagram @drmariannemiller for more conversations about eating disorders, ARFID, autism, ADHD, body image, and neurodivergent-affirming recovery.