@monieelyse: My recovery does not look like everyone else’s, and that’s okay. 🩵 Traditional ED treatment has not worked for me. That doesn’t mean traditional treatment is “bad” or that it can’t be incredibly helpful for someone else. It means I am not someone else. I’m neurodivergent, and the way I experience food, sensory input, routines, rigidity, anxiety, and ED behaviors has to be taken into consideration when my treatment is designed. That’s why my ED specialized registered dietitian and care team have had to individualize my approach. For me, putting all of the emphasis on calories and numbers can become counterproductive. My treatment focuses on the actual foods I’m able to eat, expanding variety, challenging food rules and fears, working with sensory needs, increasing flexibility, and making nourishment more manageable. And I want to address something I know can be confusing when you see my videos: Some people may look at a meal I’m eating and assume I’m eating “low calorie” or still purposely restricting. I understand why it might look that way from the outside, but you are seeing one moment, one meal, or one food. You are not seeing my entire nutritional plan or the work happening with my care team, you especially don’t see my high risk of RFS or the times I have gone into the early stages of RFS bc I did, in fact, want to eat more. I am not choosing foods based on a desire to restrict or trying to show people how to eat as little as possible. My recovery is much more complicated than what can be determined from a photo or a 30-second video. I share a lot, but I still don’t share every single detail of my treatment publicly, because my recovery is not content for other people to dissect. It is inporrsnt for me to speak on, advocate for and to educate. And I will continue to do that. That does not mean nutrition isn’t being taken seriously. It doesn’t mean calories don’t matter physiologically. And it doesn’t mean I’m simply “eating whatever I want.” It means my care team is looking at the whole person and the barriers keeping me from being nourished, rather than assuming one treatment model will work for everyone. Some people may disagree with this approach, and that’s okay. You don’t have to recover the way I do. This is my recovery, my body, my brain, and my care team. 🩷 I will always advocate for individualized ED care, because sometimes the treatment that works isn’t the most traditional one. Sometimes it’s the treatment that finally meets the person where they actually are. 🫶🏼 #neurodivergent #neurospicy #recovery #recoveringoutloud #recoveryjourney

dandelion ❀˚࿔ :

this is so important! as someone who also has an ed and autism, being forced out of my comfort zone, out of routine ect never helped. being constantly told I had to gain x amount of weight and eat x amount of food just made me more overwhelmed and not comply, leading to me to deteriorate further. I wish all ed specialist where informed on the impact of neurodivergence on ed's, and its such a common comorbid diagnosis and makes a huge difference in actual process

Canada4207 :

Have a beautiful evening gorgeous lady🫶✨️❤️thank you for every post you put yourself out there 🫶🙏🙌💕

monieelyse :

My recovery does not look like everyone else’s, and that’s okay. 🩵 Traditional ED treatment has not worked for me. That doesn’t mean traditional treatment is “bad” or that it can’t be incredibly helpful for someone else. It means I am not that someone else. I hope this clears some things up of those of you who have sent me harsh and vile private messages.

MechanicWife :

I’m late in watching you in your recovery journey, but you have to know I’m so stinkin proud of you! I’ve NEVER been more proud of a stranger on the internet than I am right now! Sending love from Western NC 💜

snarkyswampwitch :

Thank you for sharing ❤️

LotusFlower :

it's interesting you mentioned not being calorie based goals. when I was trying to lose weight (always struggled with it) I would obsess over calories and developed an ED where I tried to eat less calories over time and counted every bite. for some that may be okay, but for me it caused me to obsess. now, at an older age I can't count calories to try ton lose or I fall into those bad habits. it's a trigger. I have to focus on the food choices and picking certain things over others.

Andrea ✨⚡️🪩 :

💕💕💕 Just keep habit stacking girl. One step at a time. Attaching food to things that are already in your routine as a next step. Then it won’t feel as overwhelming as when you do it as an independent action. Being ND already adds a considerable amount of complexity around your relationship with food…couple it with anxiety and the restriction/reward cycle. Phew! That’s a lot. Sounds like you’ve got the right person helping you. I also wanted to say how articulate your posts are. There will be many people inspired by your bravery and willingness to share. You’ve got this! 🥰✨

Zéa Joles :

Proud of you 🤍

MegC729 :

So proud of you for using your voice to bring this conversation to the table!!! Autism is too often dismissed as “just an ED symptom,” when, for many people, the eating disorder can be entangled with or intensified by undiagnosed and unsupported neurodivergence…sensory issues, safe foods, rigidity, interoception differences, overwhelm, and burnout. TREAT THE WHOLE PERSON NOT JUST THE BEHAVIOR!!

xcattackx :

Here I am learning again. Thank you for sharing your knowledge so clearly and with such genuine empathy.

Jenny :

Healing looks different for everyone. I love this, thanks for educating us

👑 Unbothered King 👑 :

Finding a food focused ED RDN is so not easy, but so nice when you find one! Proud of you!! 💕 Keep on keeping on! You got this! ❤️

Zoe Gabon :

Thank you so much for sharing monie!!! This is information that’s really important for people to know fr

tanyarichardson46 :

Alex :

Love the point about not making calorie counting the focus again. This angle of treatment sounds like it would have a more sturdy foundation and give you more ownership over your recovery. So glad you found someone skilled in the intricacies! ❤️

Jody :

😳😳😳