Episode Description
This is a replay of one of the most-listened-to episodes of recovered-ish. I'm taking the week off to prep for maternity leave, so no new episode this week — but this one is worth revisiting, especially if you're new here.
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 feels like a separate voice in your head
- Ego syntonic vs. 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
- The beach ball analogy — why trying to "shut up" the ED voice backfires
- What actually moves the needle: building your own voice, not silencing theirs
- 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 it: label thoughts as "eating disorder thoughts" without immediately fighting them
- Hear it, don't obey it: acknowledge the ED voice and give yourself permission to have a different opinion
- Identify the feeling underneath: fear, panic, sadness — and ask what you need that isn't a behavior
- The "noise" technique: when all else fails, say it out loud — noise, noise, noise
Resources + Connect with Me:
Keywords/Tags: eating disorder voice, does the ED voice go away, eating disorder recovery, quasi-recovery, ED voice recovery, recovered-ish podcast, chloe cox, ED recovery podcast, eating disorder therapist, recovery tools, ego syntonic, ego dystonic
Resources + Connect with Me:
