Anorexia Recovery Trust Nutritionist or Cals?

E.A.T. you know, they talk about girls starving themselves & it's making them fat.

The method you're talking about is called MinnieMaud if you want to look into it more. Maybe you could bring it up to your nutritionist the next time you speak to her. I think it would be better if you had your nutritionist's guidance and assistance to start MM if that's what you want to do! Whatever method you go with, absolutely keep seeing your nutritionist!!

E.A.T. you know, they talk about girls starving themselves & it's making them fat.

I do not think that is really answering her question nor is it very helpful to someone in Jess's position.

I can't really advise you but do you already log your food? If not, do you feel like you can do that without getting obsessive and restricting? Maybe the fear of that happening is why they never gave you a calorie goal before.

You need to realize that it'll take a tremendous amount of calories to not only recover weight but also repair the physiological damage experienced. So do not underestimate how much energy your body requires for this process to be successful. I'm a former personal trainer who has worked with a few recovering anorexics and their teams have told me that many girls (depending on age, height, absence of period, etc.) are on 2500 to 4000 calorie plans - minimum.

I second pretty much what everyone says (except for that eat comment- that was just rude)!

Good luck Jess!

Jess,

You're in treatment and you're working with a dietician that you like. Hang in there and listen to what she tells you. You've come a long way, just keep moving forward.

If that meal plan is from your dietician, it looks like it could be pretty flexible and actually add up to a good amount of calories. I'd recommend asking your dietician about the calorie range she's aiming for; it's entirely possible she wants you to work your way up to eating 3000 calories a day, but just hasn't mentioned it to you yet (maybe she thinks you'd worry about that number, thinking it's too high.) If she knows that you're totally ready to eat the calories you need she might speed things up, or at least explain the plan more to you.

Jess,

You're in treatment and you're working with a dietician that you like. Hang in there and listen to what she tells you. You've come a long way, just keep moving forward.

:drinker:

Thanks everyone and I meant dietitian not nutritionist. She is very qualified and works for my school. I mean I am gaining on my meal plan now. Here it is.

B-fast: 2 starches, 1 dairy, 1 fruit, 18g almonds (usually 100 cal instant oatmeal with 1/2 english muffin, 3 prunes, Activia light, almonds)
Lunch: 3 starches, 3-4 oz protein, 1 cup veggie (steamed or 2 cup raw), 1 fruit, 1 dairy, 2 T sunflower seeds
(usually 1/2 cup tuna on fat free tortilla with 1/2 cup peas, 2 cups raw slaw, pear, 1 cup milk, 2 T seeds)
Dinner: 3 starches, 3-4 oz protein, 1 cup veggie (steamed or 2 cup raw), 2 T olives (usually fish, sweet potato, 1/2 cup peas, 2 cups spinach, olives)

Snack 1: 370 cal bagel and 30-45 cals spread
Snack 2: Fruit, starch, and dairy
Snack 3: Fruit and dairy

This sounds like an overall good plan.

If you are concerned it is not enough calories just ask the dietitian next time you see her.

I think that is amazing progress, your dietitian knows your history better than anyone here. I encourage you to stick to the plan that is working and keep working with your dietitian. Talk to her and explain that you want to understand more, logging on MFP may or may not be helpful for you, I feel it may be a distraction right now.

I think you can bring up the topic to your dietitian and see what she says. 2500 to 3000 calories seems like a lot but recovering anorexics are often put on diets that consist of that amount or higher. When I was recovering and in refeeding, there were days I ate that much but most of the time I was at around 2000 calories.

So far, I would just keep on doing what you're doing!

You will maintain on 2000 eventually!

I don't have any advice on your situation (calories wise)

but I do want to say just keep going. You can do it & will do it.

Keep it up.

I think part of anorexia recovery is learning to trust and let go of your need to control what you eat. I could be wrong, but IMO, following what your nutritionist plans for you seems like the best road to recovery. Talk to her about your options though and the plans you've heard about, let her know you might be interested and talk about why the plan might or might not work for you.

You're not wrong. That's pretty much eat. The idea is called intuitive eating. Basically, you want to learn to eat when you're hungry, and stop when you're full. If you are recovering from anorexia, this is not as easy as it sounds. But it might be, in the long run. Someone who has been restricting is, naturally, going to be really hungry when they start eating again. This can be scary to the recovering anorexic. But the longer you restrict, the more food you're going to need. And yes, some may need around 3,000 or 4,000 calories a day. The idea, though (and this is often how it works) is that the more you eat, the more your body (and metabolism) repairs itself, the easier it will get and the less you'll have to eat. Until you can eat a normal maintenance amount and your weight gets steady.

Not all recovering anorexics are going to need the same amount of calories. It depends on many variables:
How long they were restricting (someone who was restricting 3 months, for example, may not need to repair their body as much as someone who was restricting for 12 months)
How much weight they lost
Whether they reached the critical BMI
And other health complications

The best thing to do is not bother reading the things online. Speak to your doctors. Recovery from eating disorders is a team effort. The team is there to help you understand why you are on the meal plan you are on. While those tips are good for someone who cannot afford treatment, if you can afford treatment... speak to the professionals. Good luck OP. Recovery is worth it.

Thanks everyone and I meant dietitian not nutritionist. She is very qualified and works for my school. I mean I am gaining on my meal plan now. Here it is.

B-fast: 2 starches, 1 dairy, 1 fruit, 18g almonds (usually 100 cal instant oatmeal with 1/2 english muffin, 3 prunes, Activia light, almonds)
Lunch: 3 starches, 3-4 oz protein, 1 cup veggie (steamed or 2 cup raw), 1 fruit, 1 dairy, 2 T sunflower seeds
(usually 1/2 cup tuna on fat free tortilla with 1/2 cup peas, 2 cups raw slaw, pear, 1 cup milk, 2 T seeds)
Dinner: 3 starches, 3-4 oz protein, 1 cup veggie (steamed or 2 cup raw), 2 T olives (usually fish, sweet potato, 1/2 cup peas, 2 cups spinach, olives)

Snack 1: 370 cal bagel and 30-45 cals spread
Snack 2: Fruit, starch, and dairy
Snack 3: Fruit and dairy

It looks like your meal plan is set to eat between 2500 and 3000 calories. However, it also looks like you are making low calorie choices in each of your food exchanges (based on the examples you gave). I'm assuming you are still in a stage of recovery where you are writing your food choices down, so your dietician should be able to see it and hopefully will discuss that. I think each of us who have had this in the past know why a professional would avoid discussing numbers (such as calories) since it can be such a focal point for obsession. At this point you should just be thinking about one day at a time. If you start worrying about the lasting implications of a long-term eating disorder, you will drive yourself nuts.