help please, unexplained weight on MP in recovery
I seem to have asked anywhere but noone wants to answer me. How sad :'(
Anyway, I'm recovering at the moment you see. 5'5 and about 102lbs (from 92 in about 2/3 months?). My dietician has put me on a MP of about 1800 calories and at first it was hard for me to gain weight (particularly because I didn't follow it too strictly... eek) but in the last month I have and in 3 weeks I gained 1.8lbs to 101lbs and she said this was not enough but still did not increase my cals... but the next day I suddenly shot up to 103.6lbs!!! Now it's gone down to 102...
It just doesn't make sense how when I was doing the same thing at first, I didn't gain but now I am gaining with no changes?! It's kinda unfair because I'm gaining but not even enjoying and branching out on my foods. Can you explain to me? Pleasee.
Thank youu.
hi there
if you read through the weight gain forum (which you have posted on before) it's hard to miss the fact that you need to be eating at LEAST 3000 calories in order to recover. You are a growing teen & 1800 is simply not enough for you & an average teen would lose weight on that!
i know you are following the meal plan that your dietician has prescribed you but this is not going to restore your metabolism correctly. I suggest you speak with her about increasing it to a much higher range as she may be unaware of the requirements of a recovering AN or perhaps she does not want to scare you?! does she have experience with ED patients or is she a regular dietician? sometimes dieticians who aren't specialised in ED's are used to working with weight loss patients.
Lastly, i think if you WANT to eat more then perhaps you should? the thought of venturing away from the meal plan can be totally daunting (trust me, i know!) but i think you need alot more than 1800 a day if you truly want to restore your metabolism & recover completely.
Good luck :]
I'm guessing that when you first started on the meal plan, your body was in a hypermetabolic state, which can happen when anorexics first start to refeed (it happened to me). Your metabolism kicks into high gear and burns so fast that you initially don't gain weight on the added calories. Then your body adjusts, the metabolism returns to a more normal pace, so you do start gaining.
I think there are lots of threads on here about the hypermetabolic state if you do a search.
I'm guessing that when you first started on the meal plan, your body was in a hypermetabolic state, which can happen when anorexics first start to refeed (it happened to me). Your metabolism kicks into high gear and burns so fast that you initially don't gain weight on the added calories. Then your body adjusts, the metabolism returns to a more normal pace, so you do start gaining.
I think there are lots of threads on here about the hypermetabolic state if you do a search.
rcj92 - yeah I have I didn't want to get screamed at again over the web it was pretty intimidating :P I know and some days I'm so convinced to get up to higher but I just want to stick to my MP you know? My dietician is experienced with ED but I think she just wants to take it step by step? That was my first proper increase with her so idk she might be keeping me on that to see how far that goes if that makes sense?
I don't see her until january though so i kinda hope that she notices that my weight hasn't gone up significantly and so puts me on a higher plan.
Thanks :)
***I don't see her until january though so i kinda hope that she notices that my weight hasn't gone up significantly and so puts me on a higher plan***
She isnt supposed to notice, YOU are supposed to tell her.
Original Post by 4happyjack:
***I don't see her until january though so i kinda hope that she notices that my weight hasn't gone up significantly and so puts me on a higher plan***
She isnt supposed to notice, YOU are supposed to tell her.
!!!!!!!
Original Post by 4happyjack:
***I don't see her until january though so i kinda hope that she notices that my weight hasn't gone up significantly and so puts me on a higher plan***
She isnt supposed to notice, YOU are supposed to tell her.
-blinks- What? Dieticians do the weight monitoring, not the patients, love. And I sure as hell would hope that a dietician wouldn't agree to being directed by a patient. While I agree that somehow she should voice that she wants her recovery to be sped up(1800cals is pretty low IMO), in the end she's the professional, not sheepysayquack(which is an adorable username by the way!!).
And, if she has suffered from an ED in the past, I doubt that she would like the idea of asking to eat more. It's just one of those funny things that you would only understand if you are anorexic.. asking for more food: infers that you are a fat cow. I remember throwing a fit because people served me less food, thinking that eating more would freak me out. It didn't, I just got so hungry but didn't want to ask for more. =P
In any case:
I understand your frustration. =/ For me, I gained 2lbs overnight(which wasn't temporary..) and over the course of 3 weeks? 17lbs. It was pretty agonising, but chin up, shoulders back.. You know that by the end of this all you'll be fitter and mentally stronger. If you can conquer this, life will be a piece of cake, eh? ;)
However, I do think that you should try to enjoy weight-gain as much as possible, by eating foods you had previously forbid yourself and discovering new delicacies. It might mean nudging over the 1800-mark, or it might not, but you should definately try to push away a few fear-foods in the process.
reinewen - thank you so much for that. the other posts and all the replies I've gotten on here have been so.. harsh that I just go back to my super low esteem and have been getting stricter on myself. :( I understand that I need to be at 2500 but ED doesn't really want to because I got told I would recover on 1800 even though I should be getting rid of stupid ED! And I should WANT to gain more than 1lb a week but it's so hard to think of it if I'm not eating humungous amounts like everyone else seems to be on here, I envy them.
Anyway, thank you again. I defeated my fear of starbucks peppermint mocha the other day. Today... I have an oreo cheesecake sitting in the fridge.... hmmm.... ;)
that's totally fine, I'd love to be of help where I can. =) I know how frustrating it is to feel like you don't have a right to speak up here. Sometimes it is definately kind of like being the black sheep, haha.
I think your dietician wouldn't want to scare you by increasing(and would figure that you are gaining weight, albeit slowly, so there's no need to), though by doing so you'd be getting over that fear of eating more and essentially killing two birds with one stone. It'd be worth telling her that you don't want to stick to such a low amount and that you feel a little shortchanged.
Have a piece of that cheesecake for me, will you? =o Sounds delish!! Good on you for taking the initiative in your recovery, a lot of girls in similar situations wouldn't have the guts(myself included, in months gone by!). Remember to pat yourself on the back for that. xx
