Anorexic... Help

Hey there everyone,

I'm seventeen years old and I am currently suffering from Anorexia. After a lot of pain, therapists, and failed attempts at recovery I realized that the only way this was every going to work was if I actually wanted to recover.

I do want to get better, but I'm really afraid of the weight gain. It would be great if someone here who knew a lot about metabolism could help me. Like, at the moment I am not ready to accept any weight gain I was just wondering if it is at all possible to continue at my current weight and eat more while increasing metabolism.

 

I am currently 5'6, and 97lbs

I've been eating a diet of about 300 calories a day for the past year or so. I have the occasional binge (about 2000 calories) and I am aware of just how screwed up my metabolism must be seeing as even at 300 calories I fail to shed a pound. I try to burn twice that every day at the gym.

I really want to start eating normally, because maybe then, food will stop controlling my life. I know that eating normally will cause a lot of weight gain. I was wondering exactly how to condition my metabolism to start working normally, or if it is even possible for my metabolism will ever go back to normal. I really can't bear to gain any weight and I fear that doing so would cause my disorder to worsen.

Please help. Anorexia is replacing my relationship with everyone who loves me and I just can't bear it anymore. I just want to be happy and be able to eat like a normal person without becoming suicidally depressed. I'm really desperate right now and I could really use some advice.

 

P.S. please don't tell me to go and get professional help because I am and it's more focused on the psychological side of things. My question is about nutrition.

hia

first i want to say **hugs** i feel for you but its great that youve decided to take your life back no-one deserves to live with ana

i wouldnt call myself an expert on metabolism but im pretty sure if youre a person who weighs every day then eating more will cause the number on the scale to increase, however, this is likely to be superficial and the best thing to do is eat more and not weigh yourself and yes your metabolism will sped up

when i first started recovery the first thing i added was a pint of milk a day and i didnt gain a pound! do you think youd be able to try that??

xxx

That sounds good yeah. I love milk anyway! I think it'll be a lot easier to up my intake with some liquids. Thanks so much you've been really supportive.

 

When and how long did it take you to recover? Was it hard to deal with the weight gain? I could really do with some success stories just because I'm finding it hard getting the motivation for recovery.

First off, i know exactly how you feel. I've just realized that you YOURSELF have to WANT to recover. Everything around me is becoming ruined. all my relationships and its just draining the happiness out of me. it affects my parents so much and its just recently hit me that i have to take charge because the next step is hospitalization. its really come to that point where there's no other option so i, too, have decided its time to take charge and overcome the mental block of all of this.

to ease into things with your metabolism you should just take it one step at a time. what i'm doing instead of just packing on all the calories at once is introducing a different food from a food group (ie: bread, yogurt) and put it in a meal. if you slowly do things, no matter what the food really is, you'll start to adjust and i'm hoping i can stay adjusted. if you're still worried about messing up metabolism, i'm finding it might be best to 'trick' your body by eating really calorie-dense foods that are small portioned (nuts, supplement powders). i'm finding that part hard to do, but it might be of some help for you.

i really hope things get better for you; i know exactly how you feel and how much you want things to get back to normal. i wish it could be that way right now too. good luck

Hi,

I just wanted to try and ease your fears about gaining weight fast. This is what i know from experience...

I was like you when i started recovery; i was barely loosing anything at the 200cal/day i had been consuming for a long time.

When i started treatment i was terrified i would gain huge amounts fast because my metabolism was totally shot. I had convinced myself that my metabolism was abnormal and that i would never be able to eat the same as everyone else without gaining.

My first week and a half in treatment i had 900cal/day. I started getting terrible night sweats as my body 'rev-ed' up so to speak. i also lost 2kg (4 1/2 lbs) - i was thoroughly confused. I then up-ed it to 1600cal/day for another 2 weeks during which i gained barely anything (a pound or so).

After increasing to 2000cal/day i started gaining about 1lb/week but only for a bit less than 2 months, after which i increased to 2400cal/day which saw my body 'rev up' yet again (i felt like my body thermostat was broken!!) and i simply maintained for a month or so since i was hesitant to increase again.

I am now at around 3200cal/day and gaining about 1-2lbs/week - i actually jacked up the intake by 800cal/day in one go (from 2400cal/day) and although i saw a gain in fluid (which quickly went down) i didn't gain much 'proper' mass.

I never EVER believed this would be possible. Fast metabolisms during recovery was something other people had; not me (who could survive on one ensure a day and still not loose).

I am still amazed at the fact that my body has re-adjusted to the intake. It is hard that i have to eat so much (for me) now but it's worth it to know that my body's metabolism isn't defected and that recovery is possible.

This will all ring true for you too if you decide to take the recovery path. Your metabolism WILL re-adjust itself. You WON'T gain heaps overnight (large-er gains are always fluid shifts and will rectify soon enough).

Remember that our body's are amazing; they adjust to whatever your intake is to save themselves. Some guys did an experiment with prisoners by overfeeding them and found that the prisoners' body's adjusted to the intake -one man was eating close to 10,000cal/day and still not gaining!!

 

Good luck with everything; sorry i couldn't give you more useful advice,

 

:)

 

 

 

thanks SJ247-  just curious, how old are you?  im still sort of convinced that these fast metabolisms are linked w/adolescence, which im not, and activity, which i dont really engage in that much.

thanks!

Hi,

I'm almost 19 so your right, that could possibly be a factor. I have been sick for half a decade though so my body doesn't have the same levels of hormones and the like that a normal adolescent's does. 

As for activity i was required to be in a wheelchair for anything more than a few steps for the first couple of months of re-feeding and now (for the last 2 months) i am leading what is still considered by society as a sedentary life (sit all day apart from one 10 min walk).

Good luck with everything,

 

hey... I know how you feel. Im in EXACTLY the same boat I am 5'6 and I weighed below 100 pounds about 2 weeks ago. I have a therapist, a nutritionist (or dietician, whatever term you use), and my pediatrician who has been charting my weigh for about a year. I lost about 15 pounds my eight grade year, and I have to get weighed every week. Anorexia stinks. I can't stop feelinf guilty for eating a whole sandwhich, or eating peanut butter, or eating anything. I  feel strong when i don't eat for 6 hours, and I have to know exactly how many calories are in everything. I actually just got diagnosed with in, but truth be told, I think I've had it for about  a year. I used to eat exactly one serving of oatmeal with water for breakfast, an apple for lunch, and maybe a bite of chicken  and plain lettuce for dinner. I considered binging eating a whole sandwhich. I feel like somethings broken inside of me. Therapy dosent help because they dont know what its like to look in the mirror and break down in tears. I once bought a bathing suit from a store, but immediatly returned it after I looked in the mirror and noticed how fat I looked. Anorexia is this giant monster that kills everything inside of you, including my self confidence and my personality. I see every single rib, but I also see every inch of fat. I think the best way to overcome the monster is to admit to your self that you have a problem. It also helps when you find people like you who share the same worries. I don't know if you're Christian, but turn to Jesus Christ and he will heal you, day by day. I know that you have people who love you, and God loves you. I wish I could say that having anorexia is easy and easy to overcome, but its not.

I hope that helped.