What is
Recovery Writes?
Recovery Writes is a creative community for anyone and everyone who struggles or has struggled with disordered eating and body image.
In this safe and supportive space, we’ll explore the conversations we have with ourselves, with our eating disorders, and with those around us, and build a community of love for ourselves and for others.
Recovery Writes is…
A journal
A face of recovery (me!). I’ll share real-life stories from my own recovery to help you feel less alone wherever you are in your journey.
A resource
A place to garner inspiration to write your own stories, using the written word to explore your relationship with food and your body.
A community
A space to find writing prompts to help you get started, with hopes of forming a virtual support group to connect and share our stories.
Who is it for?
Recovery Writes is for anyone who:
has engaged or thinks they have engaged in disordered eating
is considering recovery
is currently in recovery
is living a recovered life
isn’t sure where they are, but simply wants to explore their relationships with self-image, body, food, and exercise
What will I do?
Once you sign up using the button below, you’ll receive free writing prompts that will help you put pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard.
These writing prompts are intended to help you discover the roles food, exercise, and body image play in your life, and hopefully help you work your way through these challenges at your own pace.
What if I’m not a ‘writer’?
Never written before? Don’t worry!
The writing prompts are simply guides to help you start exploring thoughts and feelings surrounding your self-image.
Anything you feel like (or don’t feel like) writing will be for your eyes only. Open a blank page and express yourself however you feel the creativity comes to you, whether through writing, doodling, list-making, bullet journaling, or painting.
Who’s behind Recovery Writes?
Hi, I’m Allie.
Welcome to Recovery Writes!
At age 21, I was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, which, over time, developed into bulimia nervosa, orthorexia nervosa, and exercise bulimia. My fixation on fitness and health had insidiously crossed the line into dangerous behaviors, but the thought of recovery—which to me meant letting go of control—was too terrifying to ever consider a reality.
By sitting myself in front of an open notebook, pen in hand, I have been writing my way through my recovery, finding the ability to put into words the thoughts and feelings that I wasn’t able to articulate in sessions with my treatment team.
Through writing, I’ve been able to be unabashedly honest, free of self-consciously stumbling over my words, and free to express myself at times when my mind and my mouth couldn’t quite connect.
I’ve created Recovery Writes to encourage others who are struggling with food and body image to find hope and solace on the page and to feel less alone while embroiled in the isolation that is an eating disorder.
When I’m not writing, I’m fawning over every dog I see, going for walks in nature, attempting crossword puzzles, or digging into a good memoir.
Eating disorders awareness & advocacy
In 2010, I was asked to share my story at a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
In front of a room of Eating Disorders Coalition (EDC) members and United States Congresspeople—including Representative Patrick J. Kennedy—I spoke about the injustices I faced in trying to find qualified and affordable treatment for my eating disorder and explained how the F.R.E.E.D. Act could help the millions of people with eating disorders access the care they need to survive the deadliest mental illness in the United States.