anorexic weight gain recovery- help!

vaironika

Its always so motivating to hear from someone whose also recovering from anorexia! im glad that you have found a turn-around and got in to a healthy lifestyle! Yayy its great to hear that almonds arent complete fat busters and could help me put on the right weight if i dont abuse it, however today i ate about 4 tbsp of homemade raw almond butter :S I don't know why but i was just driven to eat so much of it and it i didnt even like the taste that much, i just kept eating.. i think my signals are all messed up, any experience with binge eating on dense fatty foods in your recovery process?

stefosaurusrawrrrr

I have been in recovery from anorexia for over 2 years now. I've been weight restored for about a year and am working on the mental aspect of my illness now :]

One thing I DO want to say is that calorie counting in recovery AND worrying if something is "healthy" or not are both disordered behaviors. I am not saying DON'T do it, because I am aware that it's hard to meet calorie requirements for recovery, but if you can see a dietician/nutritionist, they can put you on the right track. I was on a ~3,000 calories/day mealplan. Typically you need anywhere from 2,000-3,000 calories a day in recovery, because your body needs the extra calories in order to repair itself. My mealplan was by exchanges instead of calories, so I didn't have to worry about counting them, because that almost always triggered a relapse.

The binge eating is very normal, I did it too. You've deprived your body for so long and you're right, your hunger signals are no longer working properly (my dietician told me that they tend to "shut off" when you restrict for so long). It takes a while for them to normalize, but so long as you eat regularly (try to eat on a schedule, usually 3 meals with 3 snacks every day) they will return!

Also, professionals don't recommend exercise (not even weight lifting) until you reach a specific weight, usually quite close to your 'goal weight'. This is because it's (obviously) harder to gain weight while exercising, because you need to eat more, which can be difficult when recovering from anorexia. I think there is way too much focus on being super healthy in recovery and eating healthy foods. This is a GOOD thing, but it can also get to the point where it is obsessive (ie. worrying that you've eaten too much nut butter or something).

I don't know, it bothers me when people get caught up in "got to gain weight by building muscle and eating super healthy foods!" because that doesn't lead to a normal relationship with food. All my therapists/dieticians/doctors told me NOT to worry about that until I had reached BMI ~17.

Please talk to a professional, because there are a lot of factors in recovery that can be harmful, for example, refeeding syndrome. It's also totally normal to be super bloated for a while (do NOT restrict again just because of this!). Don't worry, it's just water weight as your body gets used to the larger amount of food. The weight gain will also redistribute overtime (it takes a LOT of time) so don't freak out if you find that you've gained a lot of weight around your stomach.

Feel free to add me if you want to talk

IronGirlShae

So happy to see someone recovering from ana on here. Congratulations on starting your beautiful new life!

My mother has had some health issues, and she is severely underweight (she will not tell us how much she weighs but she looks emaciated) She has no appetite and every time she does chores any weight she put on during the week falls right off. She smokes and drinks a good deal of white wine (probably almost all her calories for the day) and I have seen her eat about 300 cal a day. She looks terrible....her skin is like paper ans she bleeds so easily. I am so so so so happy that you are turning your life around. I see how many issues my mom has from being chronically underweight and its terrible.

She goes through times of craving stuff too (chinese food for a month straight) and we are always just happy she wants to eat! She takes Ensure shakes since her stomach can't hold much food. They started making lots of different ones with more protein, or the clear juice like ones. Those might help you too!

rotill

I just want to congratulate you on the decision to turn your life around and start recovering. And I want to add that on top of the fat, you need protein. The number one source of that for vegans is tofu. Try to intruduce a little of that in your food for variety. With smoothies, healthy fat and vegetable protein, you and your doctor should have a good start to rebuild your strength.