It's a long, hard road but it is possible to be successful, just like a previous poster had said, it may be about how you define your own success. I was hospitalized when I was 12 for anorexia. It wasn't until I was in my early 20s that I began to feel more comfortable with confronting my issues and stopped waging an endless battle with my body. I'm 25 now and have no more intrusive, obsessive thoughts about food/body. Counseling and finding healthy outlets for my anxiety (including writing). It may have also been my personal/cultural circumstances as well since in my family (first generation Asian Americans & my mom became a single parent with 4 kids), stability became dependent on me getting better. And so I felt a deep sense of obligation to work on my recovery for my family. So I accomplished my recovery in steps. First success was getting out of the hospital. Then success was eating meat again. Then it was putting away the scale...and on and on. I do hope that you find your measures and motivations for success because its possible, not easy, but possible.