Honest confession: my body image has been pretty rough lately. And yes, I know — I'm a recovered eating disorder therapist who just last week talked about how quiet my ED voice has gotten. So what gives?

In this episode I'm getting real about what bad body image actually looks like for me now, 11 years into recovery. How it's different from the eating disorder voice. What body dysmorphia really feels like from the inside. And the specific things that actually help me move through it — not the textbook DBT stuff, just what genuinely works for me right now.

This one is honest, a little messy, and I think a lot of you are going to relate.

This Episode Is Brought to You By Cozy Earth

Bad body image weeks call for a soft place to land at the end of the day. Cozy Earth makes the softest, most comfortable pajamas and the absolute coziest bedding — and comfort is something I don't compromise on anymore. Visit CozyEarth.com and use code RECOVERY for up to 20% off.

In This Episode:

• Why you can have a quiet ED voice and still have terrible body image — and how those are actually different things
• What body dysmorphia really is and how it shows up as a sensory experience, not just negative thoughts
• Why bad body image days are often a signal that something else is off in your life
• The wardrobe disaster phenomenon and what it actually has to do with body image
• Why body neutrality is more accessible than body positivity — and what it actually looks like in practice
• What I do instead of white-knuckling through a bad body image week
• Why clothing and personal style have genuinely been a game changer for my body image
• Somatic tools that help when you want to completely dissociate from your body
• How to talk about body image struggles in a way that actually helps you process them
• Why showing your body care — even when you don't love it — is what actually heals the relationship

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro 1:00 Life update — a weird season, turning 31, and learning to meet my own needs 5:30 This week's topic: my body image has been rough lately 6:00 How body image and the ED voice are actually different things 8:30 What body dysmorphia really feels like from the inside 12:00 The wardrobe disaster and what it signals 15:00 The sensory experience of body dysmorphia 18:30 Social media, idealized bodies, and wanting to dissociate 20:30 Body neutrality vs body positivity — and why neutrality is more accessible 23:00 Riding the wave vs actually doing something about it 25:30 Feelings change — they always have a beginning, middle, and end 26:30 What actually helps me: clothes, comfort, and personal style 29:30 Nuuly subscription — and why it's been a game changer especially for variable sizing in recovery 33:00 Zooming out: bad body image as a signal, not a fact 35:30 Somatic tools for when you want to crawl out of your skin 38:30 Orienting exercise — how to arrive back in your body 39:30 Body patting and butterfly taps 40:30 Talking about it — but in a specific way 43:00 Showing your body care even when you don't love it 45:00 Closing thoughts

Practical Tools Mentioned:

• Zoom out: when body image is off, look at what else is going on in your life — it's usually a signal, not the whole story
• Orienting exercise: find the farthest point you can see, then the closest, then no

Resources + Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @recoverwithchloe
• Recovery Skills Training: use code PODCAST for $57 off!
• Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on YouTube!

Episode Description

One of the most common questions I get — from clients, from Instagram, from people deep in the trenches of recovery — is this: does the eating disorder voice ever actually go away?

In this episode, I get honest about my own experience with the ED voice: what it sounded like at its worst, how it shifted through different stages of recovery, and where it lives now (spoiler: it's a lot more like an intrusive thought about tap dancing in a grocery store than a voice running my life).

This isn't a tidy yes-or-no answer, because recovery isn't tidy. But it is a real one — and one I don't think the internet talks about honestly enough.

In This Episode:

• What the eating disorder voice actually is — and why it can feel like a separate voice in your head (and no, that doesn't mean you're "crazy")
• The difference between ego syntonic and ego dystonic thinking, and why that shift matters in recovery
• My personal experience with the ED voice from its loudest point to where it lives now
• Why the voice often gets louder when you start recovering — and what that actually means
• The beach ball analogy: why trying to "shut up" the ED voice often backfires
• What actually moves the needle: building your own voice, not silencing theirs
• The near-relapse I've talked about before — and why it happened even without a constantly active voice
• Why "if I can't fully recover, why even try?" is one of the most dangerous traps in recovery
• Practical tools for when the voice feels all-consuming

Timestamps:

0:44 Intro & life update 3:22 Episode topic intro: the eating disorder voice question 7:19 What is the "eating disorder voice"? 10:56 Who asks this & why 13:39 My personal experience: the voice at its worst 14:38 Do I still have disordered thoughts? My honest answer 20:42 How I got to where I am today 28:06 The beach ball metaphor: giving the voice less space 32:24 My answer: yes and no 36:54 Practical tips if the voice is all-consuming 40:03 Outro

Practical Tools Mentioned:

• Name the voice: learn to label thoughts as "eating disorder thoughts" without immediately fighting them
• Hear it, don't obey it: practice acknowledging the ED voice and giving yourself permission to have a different opinion — even if you don't know what that is yet
• Identify the feeling underneath: fear, panic, sadness — and ask what you need that isn't an eating disorder behavior
• The "noise" technique: when all else fails, just say it out loud — noise, noise, noise

Quotes from This Episode:

"The goal maybe isn't to stop having an eating disorder voice entirely. Maybe the goal is to stop having it rule your life."

"It stopped being just about the eating disorder. I started writing more about meeting new people and discovering new parts of me."

"Even if your life can be 50% better than it is right now — that is so worth it compared to the 100% hell that is living with an eating disorder."

Keywords/Tags: eating disorder recovery, eating disorder voice, ED voice, does the eating disorder voice go away, quasi-recovery, restrictive eating disorder, disordered eating, food guilt, recovery mindset, anorexia recovery, bulimia recovery, Recovered-ish podcast, Chloe Cox, recovered-ish, eating disorder therapist, eating di

Resources + Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @recoverwithchloe
• Recovery Skills Training: use code PODCAST for $57 off!
• Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on YouTube!

hello, lovely friends. welcome back to recovered-ish.

today we’re talking about the part of recovery that i think catches a lot of people off guard:

how long it takes.
how messy it is.
and how discouraging it can feel when you’re doing “everything right” and still not feeling better yet.

because i think a lot of people go into recovery expecting it to feel hard for a little while… and then eventually click into place.

and when that doesn’t happen, it’s really easy to spiral into:
is this even working?
why is this still so hard?
am i doing recovery wrong?

this episode is the reality check i think a lot of people need.

in this episode, i talk about:

• why recovery often feels worse before it feels better
• the part of healing nobody really prepares you for
• why treatment is a beginning, not a magic fix
• how eating disorders create false safety
• why discomfort doesn’t mean you’re failing
• what actually keeps people going when recovery feels long and exhausting
• why you’re not behind just because it’s taking time

i also talk about the difference between wanting recovery and actually staying in it long enough for your brain and body to catch up.

if you’ve ever thought, “i’m trying so hard… why does this still feel awful?” this one is for you.

sponsor

today’s episode is sponsored by Cozy Earth — truly one of my favorite brands i’ve gotten to partner with.

if you want to romanticize your life a little and make your bed / pajamas / nervous system feel better, i highly recommend.

use code RECOVERY for up to 20% off
👉 www.cozyearth.com

support beyond the podcast

💛 Recovery Skills Training — my step-by-step program for eating disorder recovery
use code PODCAST for $57 off
👉 https://recoverwithchloe.thrivecart.com/recovery-skills-training/

follow along on instagram:
@recoverwithchloe

don’t forget to eat your food.

Resources + Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @recoverwithchloe
• Recovery Skills Training: use code PODCAST for $57 off!
• Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on YouTube!