Your relapse prevention plan

At one point you'll feel you're doing well. You call yourself recovering -or you might even call yourself recovered. And of course, especially when you start doing better, your attention to the problem might get less. You're slowly taking your life back and you're excited. You're not as vigilant as you were when you only just started your road to recovery. Although of course this is a good thing, more than ever this is a time to be careful!
Recovery is a gradual process. There isn't one specific moment at which you can say 'now I'm recovered'... You'll just gradually realize you're doing well and come to consider yourself recovered. Some say that this never really happens, because Anorexia will always be your weak spot. Although I agree with this analysis, I don't think it means that you can't be recovered. It does mean that even once you are a recovered Anorexic, you still have to be careful.

In the beginning, you think about your recovery all the time. It's the first thing on your mind when you get up and the last thing you think about before you fall asleep. After a while, it gets easier and you don't think about it all the time anymore. Still, it's on your mind a lot. Eventually, as your new and healthy way of life drowns out your old habits, you spend less and less time thinking about it. That's how it works with every new skill you learn. In this case, the upside of this mechanism is that it gets easier. The downside, however, is that you might forget and could accidentally slip back into your old habits.
To prevent this, you have to be prepared. You have to be aware of this danger before you encounter it, and try to make sure it won't happen. To help yourself accomplish this, to help yourself maintain the progress you've made, you can set up a relapse prevention plan. If you do it well, you won't need it. That is, the more time and effort you spend on making this plan, the better prepared you'll be and the greater the chance that you won't have a seriously relapse.
The goal of this plan is not to make you do perfectly every day. You WILL slip up, it happens to all of us. The difference between a slip and a relapse is that with a slip, you can pick up just about where you left off. You don't let it get out of hand. A relapse takes longer and is more serious. The power of a relapse is in its sneaking up on you. Which is where the plan comes in. The relapse prevention plan is all about preparation. You're preparing yourself for what might happen and setting yourself up to beat the odds.
When making this plan, it's important to not just think about it. You need to spend time writing it down and making it into something nice as well. Why? Because thoughts are there one moment but gone the next. Of course you're writing down things that you already know. They are things you think you'll never forget. But think ahead one year, or two, or five... do you really think everything that makes so much sense to you now will be so readily available? Think again. Generally, life gets in the way. Things happen, time passes and other things will become important. Again: that's a good thing. But you are trying to prevent that good thing from allowing Anorexia to mess up your life again, a few months or years in the future. Your relapse prevention plan should consist of several distinct parts.

Warning signals
Which are your warning signals, the things that you should be alert for? Warning signals are emotions, thoughts, behaviors or sensations in your body that are a precursor to a relapse. This means that 'not eating at all anymore' isn't a warning signal. When it's gotten to that, it's too late. Warning signals are those things that will help you distinguish between a bad day and a relapse. Warning signals can be about food and weight, but they can also be more general.
Examples of emotional symptoms: feeling down, insecurity, not enjoying things you usually do enjoy, being easily hurt, anxiety about going out to dinner, withdrawing...
Examples of thought-symptoms: worrying all the time, thinking negative thoughts about yourself, remembering what you've eaten so far, being unable to concentrate...
Examples of behavioral symptoms: snapping at people, looking at the amount of calories in food, cancelling appointments, skipping meals, weighing more often, dressing in unrevealing clothes, lying...
Examples of bodily symptoms: a growling stomach, headaches, trouble sleeping, feeling cold all the time, dizziness...
It's important to be very specific. 'Not feeling my usual self' can be a useful warning sign, but it might be too vague to recognize. Ask yourself how you will know that you're not feeling your usual self. Do you feel this in your body, for example because you're very tired? Or do you get crabby a lot?
Warning signals are different for everyone. You might recognize yourself in (some of) the examples above, or you might not. What's important is that you think about what warning signals are specific for you and what might help you to catch yourself in time, when you're not thinking about recovery so much anymore.

Risky situations
Which are the situations that are especially risky for you? As long as things are going well and nothing special happens, you're all right. But there are situations or circumstances that might make it harder for you to do eat well and take good care of yourself
Examples of risky situations: the holidays, fighting with friends or family, summertime, stress at school or at work, going out to dinner instead of eating at home, starting a relationship, moving...
Again, be specific. Look into that crystal ball of yours and imagine what might trip you up.

Actions
What can you do when you've noticed some of the warning signals in yourself, or if you find yourself in one of your risky situations? There are the actions you need to take when you're threatening to relapse. They can range from small to very serious and again, need to be very specific. When you find yourself needing to take action, you won't have the energy to come up with much. You'll need to look at your list and be able to do what it says without having to think about it anymore!
Examples of actions: talking to friend A (phone number ... ...), writing down how I feel, eating at set times whether I'm hungry or not, weighing only once a week, standing up for myself, doing something relaxing, seeing a professional...
Again you'll note that some of these actions are aimed specifically at eating disordered behavior and some of them are more general. Most likely, you'll need a combination of both. And you'll need to think about what would work for you. Imagine yourself, two years from now, in a risky situation. What would help? And: what wouldn't? What should you NOT do?

After you've thought all of this through and written it down, there is one more step to take. You need to make this relapse prevention plan unquestionably and absolutely yours. That is, it needs to look nice and make you feel good. Maybe you're structured and like lists -then your plan needs to look structured, too. Maybe you're creative and like pictures -then your plan needs to have images in it, too. Create your plan in such a way that it looks good to you! Because you'll need to put it somewhere where you'll encounter it a lot. You can hang it on your wall, put it in your diary, have it on your desk... wherever you'll be sure to see it. The plan is no use if you've seriously relapsed and then think: wait, didn't I make a relapse prevention plan once? Simply by coming across it a lot, you'll be reminded of what you're doing and will be less likely to actually need it.

So: get started!!! Reading about this isn't enough, it won't help or do you any good. You need to act.