Nourishing Your Body After Restriction: What to Expect in Eating Disorder Recovery
Beginning to nourish your body after a period of food restriction can feel both hopeful and frightening. Whether restriction was intentional dieting, “clean eating,” over-exercising, or part of a diagnosed eating disorder, increasing your food intake again is a significant and brave step in healing your relationship with food and recovery.
Many are surprised by how their body responds in early eating disorder recovery. It is common to worry that something is going wrong when, in reality, most physical and emotional changes during this stage are signs that your body is healing and learning to trust you again.
When you have been under-eating, your body shifts into survival mode. Metabolism slows, digestion becomes sluggish, hormone production is disrupted and energy is conserved for essential functions like breathing and keeping your heart beating. As you begin eating more consistently, your body can start to reverse those adaptations. This can mean feeling hungrier than expected or thinking about food more often (which can feel really scary!). Increased hunger in recovery is not a lack of control. It is a biological response to previous restriction. Your body is asking for the nourishment it has been missing.
It is also very common to experience bloating, digestive discomfort, or temporary water retention when restoring adequate nutrition. During restriction, digestion slows down. When food intake increases, your digestive system needs time to adjust. The body may also hold onto fluids as it repairs tissues and restores balance. Although uncomfortable, these symptoms are typically part of the normal recovery process and improve with consistent eating and proper nutrition.
Energy levels can fluctuate as well. Some people expect to feel immediately energised once they start eating more, but early recovery can actually bring waves of fatigue. This is because the body is using energy to repair muscles, regulate hormones, support brain function, and rebuild systems that were compromised during restriction. Healing requires fuel and rest. You might also be working in conjunction with a psychotherapist, exploring and processing a lot of emotions. Feeling tired does not mean you are doing recovery wrong. It often means your body is finally getting the resources it needs to recover.
Alongside physical changes, food guilt and anxiety may intensify at first. Thoughts such as “Am I eating too much?” or “What if my body changes?” are common in eating disorder recovery. These fears are part of unlearning rigid food rules and challenging diet culture beliefs. Over time, with consistent nourishment and support, these thoughts lose their power. A healthy relationship with food is built on regular eating, flexibility, and trust rather than control.
If you are navigating recovery from disordered eating, professional support can make a significant difference. Working with a GP, therapist, registered dietician or registered nutritionist who specialises in eating disorder nutrition can provide reassurance and structure during a time that can feel uncertain. You do not have to figure this out alone.
Nourishing your body after restriction is not just about increasing calories. It is about restoring metabolism, supporting mental health, improving hormonal balance and rebuilding trust with your body. With time and consistency, many people notice more stable moods, improved concentration, better sleep, stronger digestion, and increased energy for daily life.
Recovery is not linear, and it is not always comfortable. But the discomfort of healing is temporary. Your body is resilient and designed to recover when it is consistently nourished. Choosing to feed yourself adequately is an act of self-respect and self-preservation.
If you are at the beginning of your eating disorder recovery journey, let this be reassurance that what you are experiencing is often part of the process. Your hunger is valid. Your body’s responses are understandable and you deserve consistent nourishment, support, and peace with food.