I've been going back and forth about writing this, mainly because I was nervous about the backlash I would get from close friends and family who I still have yet to discuss my eating disorder with. But, I came to realize that I didn't have to discuss it with anyone.

My eating disorder shouldn't be a warning sign for friends and family to have to tread lightly on. Just because I'm working on my recovery doesn't mean I won't still be involved in group activities. I haven't shut myself off admitting I had a problem.

There weren't many people on my list to tell when I joined an eating disorder clinic. This is strictly my business and it's not for me to tell the world. What am I doing writing an article about it then? Well, I've learned a lot being there and I believe it will help many people understand exactly what an eating disorder is and how to offer support to someone who is going through their recovery.

Plain and simple: an eating disorder is different forms of purging or over-eating. Purging, without grossing anyone out, is when you eat a lot of food but you don't let it stay in your system too long. It becomes an addiction and a routine after every meal. Over-eating, which I doubt many people thought fell into the category of an eating disorder, has many subgroups. Ultimately, it's eating too much food at various times during the day and not being able to stop. Yes, you cannot physically stop because you don't think when you eat.

Think of it like this: have you ever ordered a pizza and sat in front of the TV to watch your favorite show or a movie and when its over or perhaps after an hour or so, you realize you ate the entire pie or much more than you usually do?

If that happens, it's considered mindless eating or distracted eating, which is a symptom of an eating disorder. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to suggest that everyone who does this has an eating disorder. Only that it's everyday things like that that can lead a person down the wrong path.

Another aspect of over-eating is not eating anything during the day and only eating at night. But when you do eat at night, your body is so starved of nutrients that you will literally eat everything in sight, causing you to overeat right before you go to bed.

That causes issues for your metabolism because it can't digest food properly, and if too much of the food you ate has empty nutrients, that basically turns into sugar and your body continues to feel starved, even though you over ate.

An aspect of purging that I was guilty of is over-exercising. Yes, there is such a thing. You eat a lot of food and then you exercise for 3 or 4 hours straight, trying to burn through those calories and tiring your body out.

Exercise is not meant to be an everyday activity, unless you're training for something or are a serious athlete. Regular exercise should be done in intervals of 45 to 75 minutes and 2-3 times a week. You have to mix-n-match cardio with arms and legs and it's pretty simple to create a routine.

So, now that the fundamentals are out of the way, what have I learned?

My eating disorder does not define me. It does not tell me or others who I am. It confused my brain with my identity, but it's exactly its name, a disorder. And there's a solution to disorders. There are ways to overcome disorders, so they aren't permanent. They don't stay put in your life forever even though it may seem like that.

At first glance, people with an eating disorder are not the people you'd think have one. We have generated a mask to hide away the guilt and shame of over-eating or purging. It's our sensitive area that we don't let anyone know about because it's our most vulnerable state of being.

Every recovery road is different and you can't compare two peoples recovery because what worked for one might not work for the other. And that's really the way it is. You need to have faith in what works for you and use it to your best ability during your recovery, which, I also learned, doesn't have an end date. You can't predict when you're recovery will end because you don't know how long it will take, and that is not a bad thing.

I also learned how losing weight is 20% exercise and 80% meal plan. What you put inside your body is much more effective in shaping your outside than just focusing on the cosmetics of exercising.

My eating disorder was specific to emotional over-eating. To make it brief, that type of disorder makes your brain associate different emotions with food and makes you want to eat whenever you feel a certain way. The standard mechanism to catch emotional eating is HALT, which asks the questions of actually being hungry or feeling angry, lonely, tired, bored or sad and wanting to eat. I'm telling you right now, it's not as easy as it sounds to do so.

Every disorder is different and it affects each person differently. But, one way that it helps your recovery is to have a team and a place to share your story. It doesn't have to be a professional team or a clinic; it can be your parents or your friends and a safe space you feel comfortable talking about the difficult stuff.

All I can say is that I'm still in my recovery stage and although I can see the exit of this tunnel, not everyone will so soon, and that's perfectly okay. The first step, though, is admitting there is a problem and the rest is a piece of cake.

For more information on eating disorders or to seek help, visit NIMH.