Please Help URGENT!

Hi ,

Im a 19 year old boy with a severe problem. As a child i was introduced to fast foods, my parents tryed but could not get me to eat regular home made meals. I was wondering what can i do to fix this problem, because of the economy and my empty pockets i now feel my self withering away because i cant bring myself to eat these home made meals. I am now 115 and 19 years old, my little sister has bigger wrists than me, i would like to gain weight but my diet is not consistant(because i cant always go and a meal from mcdonalds)

What can i do to get help? Ive already been hospitalized because i only ate small meals like a bannana or an ice cream for a week and was dehydrated. When i speak to my doctor about this they brush it off as just a faze but im the skinniest ive ever been in my life. Im at the point where i now feel the symptoms of malnourishment. Please HELP!

You certainly need to go back to the doctor (or a different doctor) for a physical check-up and explain that you have a serious food phobia and an eating disorder.  Even if you can't get access to your favourite foods, few people would opt for starvation as an alternative.  We're programmed for self-preservation and a normal person would have found something else to eat in the home.  So this goes way beyond your parents having weaned you on junk.

Keep a diary of what you've eaten so that you can show how critical the situation really is.   Be open and honest.   Your problem is going to need some support from therapists and dieticians. 

In the meantime, you can obviously see that your diet is very poor and that you need to introduce new foods.   You're not a child any more and, even though you had a bad start diet-wise, what happens next is really up to the adult you.  Engage your family in the process.  I'm sure they're very worried about you.

Start with breakfast..... since this sets the tone for the rest of the day and stimulates the appetite.  Be persistent.... you won't enjoy everything straight away but it's important to try everything again and again. Add nutritious fluids such as milk, juices and smoothies as this is a good way to get more nourishment.

The next thing you have to get to grips with are vegetables and fruit.  Without these in your diet you are definitely going to be malnourished.  Little children prefer the sweeter vegetables - carrots, peas, sweetcorn - so maybe start there.  You already like bananas but cut up some things like apples, pears, melons, kiwi.... keep trying new ones.

Learning to cook could help you....  If you like MacDonalds you clearly enjoy fried potatoes, beef and bread and it's possible to rustle those up at home.  People who can cook are usually more creative and adventurous in their food choices than people who can't.  They're also better off.

Good luck but really do see your doctor again.   Eating disorders are very serious  (often fatal) if left untreated.

I agree that you need to see another gp for another opinion. Did they ever do bloodwork to see if there is a condition causing this? This sounds more severe then just liking fast food since your weight is low and you were hospitlized. What did the hospital tell you do? Do you live at home or can some help you finance wise? Do you work or can you get on some assistance from the state? I don't feel in the place to tell you how to eat because I am not sure the condition you are facing. Do you feel this has an ed issue around it? It does take awhile to adjust to new foods. I think if you can encorporate it in foods that you do like already it may help. Since your body is not used to a lot of foods it is going to be trial and error on how your body responds. I know for awhile since my body was not used to a lot of protein it actually made my stomach feel ill but once it adjusted I began to crave things

Original Post by abbi333:

Do you feel this has an ed issue around it?

I know you asked the question of the OP but that's my feeling...  There are legions of people with heavily restricted diets and they are often malnourished because their diet is so limited.  However... they are rarely underweight and hospitalised because they generally find ways to eat plenty of their chosen food.   If the OP was simply a 'fussy eater' that only ate junk food he'd be living on a ton of french-fries whether they were bought in a cafe or out of the freezer cabinet and heated up at home.  However he seems happy to eat nothing at all if he can't be specifically at McDonalds et al.... and that's disordered eating territory i.e. voluntary starvation to the point of severe ill-health, acute reluctance to eat in front of other people, irrational food phobias.

I think you may suffer from Selective Eating Disorder

http://www.fussy-eaters.com/