Little Victories TW: Weight

When I was in residential treatment, I had many breakdowns, as one does in residential treatment. During one of these breakdowns, one counselor told me not to forget about the little victories.

Little victories are what they sound like, small accomplishments. A little victory can be getting out of bed, telling your friends how you're doing and not just saying "I'm fine," doing your homework, going to class, calling your mom, walking outside, and so much more. It's easy to forget about the little victories because we as people get so focused on the big goals that we haven't reached yet. Little victories are possibly one of the most valuable lessons I learned during my time in residential, and I'm quick to share the idea of little victories with anyone.

A little victory I'm trying to focus on is weight restoration. Weight restoration is when someone who has lost a lot of weight gains back their weight. For me, weight restoration has been a pain in the ass. It's taken 10 months for me to weight restore. The first time I was in IOP, my weight never moved. It wasn't until I was in residential that my weight started to move up. The first day I couldn't see my ribs, I cried. I was so happy that my body was trusting me again, that it was living again.

Another little victory I'm looking at is meal completion. I didn't finish one of my meals last week in program and I freaked out. The last thing that I want to do is go back to my eating disorder. Relapse scares me more than anything right now. So yeah, I didn't finish my meal, and I cried because I was so mad at myself. But my therapist reminded me the next day that I wouldn't have been so upset if I wasn't taking this seriously. That reminded me that the fact that I ordered a chipotle burrito, something I haven't done since eighth grade, was a little victory. The fact that I sat with the burrito and ate as much as I could was a victory.

Me writing this is a little victory. The intention behind this blog post is to tell people about little victories and encourage everyone to look at their own. Reading this could be a little victory. Don't sell yourself short just because you didn't get to one big thing, you're doing so many things all the time that deserve recognition.