All In Recovery For Eating Disorders

Sharing is caring!

Last updated on January 8th, 2025 at 09:23 pm

All in recovery is the approach in eating disorders that focuses on weight restoration and eliminating eating disorder behaviors by the fastest, most aggressive means possible.

While there is a generally accepted idea of what “all in recovery” looks like in eating disorders, this is not an officially recognized treatment strategy. 

Someone participating in all in recovery will likely focus on 

• All meals in ED meal plan completed at 100% consumption 
• All exercise discontinued
• Aggressive weight restoration
• Complete cessation of all purging/binging

The all-in recovery method does not focus on gradual behavior change or leave room for negotiation like some other recovery treatment strategies.

Let’s explore some of the end goals of all in recovery and, the challenges and potential health risks of this method. 

All In Eating Disorder Recovery Goals 

The term “all in” means to devote 100% commitment to a goal.  In eating disorders, this means that we are fully committed to recovering without holding onto any eating disorder behavior. 

Goals of all in recovery include: 

• Weight restoration as quickly as possible
• Cessation of all eating disorder behaviors immediately
• Fully committing to recovery practices above other activities 
• Disconnecting from eating disorder thoughts 
• 100% participation in therapy sessions and support groups
• Not negotiating with the eating disorder for behavior change

It is important to consider that you can be 100% committed to eating disorder recovery without following the all-in eating disorder treatment strategy. The process of achieving recovery will just look different. 

If the all-in method doesn’t work for you, this does not mean that you are failing at recovery. 

All In Recovery and Meal Plans

Because there is not an official consensus on what “all in” means in eating disorder recovery, a meal plan may or may not be used with this method. 

For some people who follow this method they are encouraged to: 

• Intuitively eat, meaning they honor their body’s hunger and fullness cues
• Simply eat as much as possible
• Eat the highest-calorie foods 

Some people following an all-in plan will still have a mechanical eating plan, but the goal is to exceed the meal plan recommendations. 

Pros of the All-In Method

You Can Weight Restore More Quickly

Weight restoration as quickly as possible is the goal for eating disorder recovery in general.  However, focusing on simply eating “as much food as possible” and “high-calorie foods” can sometimes lead to faster weight restoration than a custom meal plan. 

A person could potentially resume hunger cues more quickly because they are eating larger quantities of food.  Not using a meal plan can for some people make it seem like they have “permission” to eat more.  

Expectations are Clear

Eating disorders love rules. They also LOVE getting to the finish line quickly.  The all-in method offers both.  

Essentially the all-in method has 3 rules: 

1. Weight restore quickly
2. Stop all eating disorder behaviors 
3. Eat high-calorie foods as often as possible in large quantities 

For some people in early recovery, they are able to take these instructions and run.  However, the catch-22 is that this doesn’t deal with the restrictive behaviors. It simply replaces them with a new set of rules (which could be a precursor for an eating disorder relapse)

Your Brain Will Resume Normal Function Faster

A starving brain does not have the ability to make healthy decisions for our body. If you have an eating disorder, your eating disorder voice will always win any debate about food or your body. 

Re-nourishing your body as quickly as possible can give you the mental acuity necessary to focus on some of the other aspects of recovery.

You May Be Able To Minimize the Physical Risks of Eating Disorders

The longer malnourishment occurs in the body, the greater risks to the body.  By weight restoring quickly you might be able to: 

• Reduce or prevent decreased bone mineral density
• Preserve heart muscles
• Restore normal digestive hormones 
• Increase gut motility 

Cons Of The All In Method

I think a good translation for the “all in” method of eating disorder recovery would be the “just eat method.” 

Eating disorders are about much more than just food, and most people will not be able to “just eat” during recovery, even with professional guidance. 

All In Perpetuates Black and White Thinking

The hallmark of an eating disorder is that there is one right and wrong way.  Therefore, trying to treat an eating disorder with these same principles is likely to backfire big time! 

All in eating disorder recovery does not leave room for: 

• Difficult emotions that can lead to eating disorder behavior 
• Stressful life events that may impact recovery
• A harm reduction approach for extreme eating disorder behaviors
• Relapses in recovery 

Eating Disorder Recovery is Not Linear

There are a lot of stumbling blocks when it comes to recovery. That doesn’t mean that a person is doing anything wrong!  In fact, these challenges can be an important part of knowing how to handle difficult situations once someone is fully recovered. 

Presuming that recovery is linear is not only inaccurate, but it also deprives people of important learning experiences.  

“Fixing problems” is also one of the hallmarks of what keeps eating disorders alive.  An end goal can for many be seen as fixing a problem.  We should instead be focusing on how to experience the moment, nourish for today, and handle challenges as they arrive.

There is also no such thing as a “finished” recovery.  You will still have to make food choices every day. You will have to live in diet culture, and at some point, you will experience triggers. 

Starving bodies are Not Capable of Knowing How Much To Eat

Not following a meal plan in eating disorder recovery can be downright dangerous or even life-threatening.  

This is because when someone has an eating disorder, they don’t have normal hunger cues. 

Starving bodies do not: 

• Have normal hunger and fullness cues
• Allow for nonphysical hunger
• Have normal digestive enzymes and hormones
• Have adequate digestive muscles 

Therefore, if you are trying to simply eat as much as possible whenever you’re hungry as a recovery method it will almost always leave you malnourished. 

It Can Be Difficult to Build Appropriate Meals

An eating disorder meal plan will help you to recognize what an appropriate meal and snack looks like.  

Your eating disorder has likely distorted this, and you likely won’t regain the capacity to build appropriate meals without a structured meal plan. 

Weight Restoration Won’t Itself Isn’t Enough For Recovery

A full recovery will require: 

Eating disorders are about the food but they are not about the food.  If the only focus of recovery is weight restoration, eating disorder behaviors will come back in full force. 

• Celebrating non-scale victories 
• Identifying eating disorder triggers
• Challenging fear foods
• Working through emotional trauma 
• Navigating emotions 
• Working through body image issues

And so much more.  

Only focusing on weight restoration in eating disorder recovery is like putting a band-aid on the real problem.  

Health Risks of the All-In Recovery 

All eating disorder recovery will come with the potential for health risks. However, following the all-in method can sometimes put a person at greater risk for conditions like refeeding syndrome, because energy intake is increased so rapidly. 

Someone using the all-in approach who does not follow a meal plan may be unable to meet their nutrient needs if something like hypermetabolism occurs during the recovery process. This could leave them even more malnourished than when they started. 

A person with an eating disorder is likely experiencing starvation syndrome.  This means that the normal function of many body organs has been altered.  

All in recovery may have greater weight restoration symptoms including: 

• Gastroparesis
• Nausea
• Edema
• Bloating
• Fluid Shifts
• Extreme hunger

Someone following this type of treatment strategy should be carefully monitored by their healthcare team and have labwork done twice a week during the initial stages. Virtual eating disorder treatment may also be appropriate and ease access to care for many people in recovery.