Anorexia Recovery and Bloating );

Trying to recover from anorexia, and to eat more calories. Other people who are also trying to do the same, do you usually feel super bloated after a meal? and also what do you eat to make your calorie intake higher? /; I'm so full it makes me feel a beanbag walking around );

I recovered from anorexia 8 years ago.  Feeling bloated, puffy, big, especially after meals is normal.

As far as what to eat to make your calorie intake higher?  If you are having a hard time with eating more food try shooting towards calorie dense foods like nut butters, nuts in general, some breads are also higher in calories, skip the lowfat/cal foods, dried fruits, higher cal cereal (like raisin bran).  If you are still struggling, drink nutritional drinks like ensure.  Your body will need the extra nutrients to recover better and faster.

Thank you! Was really freaking out before about the bloating feeling after meals and wondered if it was just me (:

When i tried recovering from anorexia i was about 110lbs. After a little less than a week of eating "normally" (working my way up from 1000cals a day) i shot up to 118 and was so bloated--emaciated african baby with a giant belly status. However, after another 3-4 days of eating the same amount, i dropped down to 108 (mostly lost the water weight that turned me into a balloon) There are a few explanations as to why this happened:

1. After starving yourself for long enough, your cells essentially "starve" from lack of protein and are unable to draw fluid out of your body tissue, so the tissues retain water. After a little over a week of eating more, my cells were healthy enough to extract the water out of my tissues, and the bloat disappeared.

2. Starving yourself slows your metabolism down.once your body goes into starvation mode it's super hard to lose weight because your metabolism has slowed down in order to make your body gain weight so that you can survive. When you increase your caloric intake after statving yourself for long enough, the energy from the food will boost your metabolism, sending it into crazy fast mode. You basically turn into an energy machine and burn calories off way faster than normal.

3. Laxatives and diuretics. They dehydrate you, so your body retains water in order to reverse that. Stop taking them, drink a lot of water, and your body will rehydrate and return to normal.

Sorry for the super long post. I hope this helps! Also make sure you're drinking enough water, it makes u feel bloated for awhile but in the end it helps you recover faster. I found that eating foods that were high in calories but didn't make me feel full and huge were easiest, and if your legs get puffy try running them under your bathtub faucet, rotating between hot and cold water every few minutes. Stick with it, it'll get way better amd be worth it in the end.