overcome starvation mode?

hi everyone,  I am 5'3-5'4, 24, and recovering from anorexia having eaten about 105o the past few months and maintaining at about 90.  I had initially gained from 86-107 in about 5 months by upping my intake to about 1200, I then relapsed back to where I am now.  The past few days I upped to about 1200 and desperately want to recover.  I am starting to believe that I gained on so little bc I was still in starvation mode.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can increase, what rate to add, what to add...?  I don't want to weigh myself bc it is a neg. trigger for me but then I don't know how to rate my progress?  Also, when i gained it all went to my stomach, yuck. I had seen a nutritionist and therapist for moths but I don't think that at that time iI was really ready to recover so I did not really progress.  The nutritionist used the Diabetic exchange to make my meal plan but did not give me a cal # and I don't remember the exact breakdown but I think it came to about 1500.  I am hesitant to follow that plan now bc it was given to me when I was about 8 lbs lighter.  Any suggestions would really be appreciated, thank you so much in advance!

amy

Hi Amy,

I'm 25 and 5' 1" and have been hovering at 90lbs. (currently 88.5 which isn't good)

I have a medical condition that has made maintaing a healthy weight difficult and frustrating. To the point that i gave up and now slipped back down to a very unhealthy weight.

My suggestion to you would be to only weight yourself ONCE at most once per week. if you want to go two weeks that's fine. I think the most important thing is to just maintain a balanced higher calorie diet to get your body used to consuming more than it's been used to.  Also don't set an imposible goal for now, set something very simple like "ok I am going to gain 2lbs" and just aim for that. Then when you get there add another 2lbs, etc.  If you make it seem impossible you'll get frustrated and want to quit.  Also if you feel "yuck" about how your body is regaining it's strength and health try some non intense exercise such as yoga, pilates, etc.  But remember that when you exercise your body needs some more energy for stamina and you will be able to go through your exercise routine better becuase you'll have more fuel. 

Just remember that although this seems impossible now, and at times it can be frightening, take each day at a time and don't give up. Although I don't have AE I know how frustrating and devestating weight can be, especially for young women.

I hope I was able to help.

~Tiff

Hi Tiffany, thank you for your kind reply and for your advice.  I am sorry to hear of your difficulty and wish you the best of luck.  All I can say regarding food but nothing about your condition, is that it tastes good and I am finding when I eat more, I feel better.  ALthough I am scared that I'll start to like it too much and then just not be able to start eating, but I gues that's another story. 

So I like your idea of weighing once a wk, I assume at the same time and stuff.  Do you have any suggestions of how to raise my intake, how much, how often?  Also, I really don't get this BMS thing, when I do the calculator I get 1200ish, someone else did it for me and they got 1500, someoen else got 1700 so I'm really confused w/that.

oh well, thanks again and best of luck!