Recovering From Anorexia - Meal Plan?

I am currently suffering from anorexia. I haven't had it for long, I only really started to restrict in January. Since the middle of January, I have lost 13 pounds. I am now 5'7'' 115 lb. and not happy with my weight. I am averaging 300-700 calories a day and I am starting a day program for recovery tomorrow.

 I was wondering if any other recovering/recovered anorexics would mind sharing their meal plans when they first started to recover? I don't want to gain weight and the thought of adding calories terrifies me.

I know it may seem alot and be really hard, but you truly do need quite a bit of calories to gain weight.  In the first week of my hospitalization, although i was eating ALOT more than usual, i lost nearly 1.5kg in the first week, on complete bed rest. Remember that all of the first amount of weight you gain will go straight to repairing what is needed most...muscles,tissue & most importantly, your brain. As your brain repairs, you will be able to see things alot clearer and it get's much easier... you start thinking for YOURSELF again:)

Slowly build up your caloric intake, you don't want to risk refeeding syndrome (sympoms is feeling faint and light headed after you eat), also watch your fluid intake at first... at this stage your heart might be quite weak, when in hospital i was put on a 1.2L fluid restriction, just check with your doc first.

As far as eating plans go, make sure you're including all the food groups! Focus most on carbs,protein,fruit & healthy fats (great for the brain), don't focus TOO much on vegies as these aren't as calorie dense.

Best of luck darling! We're all here for you x

Thank you teck, thank you tessafairy!

With your help, it is much easier...thank you, thats everything that I can say...youre great girls! I hope sometime, somewhere I”ll meet you!

I bought a package of integral biscuits...for Me...this feeling it was so interesting...i am fraternizing with it:) I would taste, but... a fruit not better?:D Everytime when im thinking about foods like these (almonds, cashews, peanuts), im just asking this question, and you know very well the answer...but Yeah, its better eating a fruit. But I have to overcome, I know...and I Will, like You, because it is necessary to have an organism, a body able to feed healthy, not a bone collection incapable even of taking those healthy foods at home... Am I right my girls?

Sure...:)

Here is a sample menu from when I was in inpatient treatment. They had us create menus before we went home. Not sure what this adds up to calorie wise. They didn't tell us how many calories to eat. It was more focused on getting enough from each food group. And I think this was just a maintenance plan. To gain, you would need to add a Boost Plus, Ensure, or something similar.

Breakfast: 2 Eggo waffles with margarine and syrup, 2 slices (1 oz) of bacon, Orange juice

Snack: Cottage cheese and wheat crackers

Lunch: Grilled cheese with margarine, tomato soup, yogurt

Snack: Carrots, apple

Dinner: Chicken (3 oz) and veggie stir fry with  1 cup noodles, pineapple

Snack: Caramel corn rice cakes

Hope this helps some!

Megan- hi, i know you said you didn't total the calories but then how do you know ur getting the rt amount?  i think it comes to maybe around 1700, altho i guess it depends on portions and such?

I guess I should have been more specific with the amounts. They didn't want us to focus on calories because that is what so many of us already did. I went back to calculate them though to see around what it would be.

Breakfast: 2 eggo waffles (2 grains) with 1 TBSP margarine (1 fat) and 1/4 cup syrup (1 other), 2 slices (1 oz) of bacon (1 meat), orange juice (1 fruit)= 592 cal

Snack: 1/2 cup 2% milk cottage cheese (1 dairy) and 5 keebler toasteds wheat (1 grain)= 180 cals

Lunch: Grilled cheese (2 large slices whole wheat bread and 2 slices of cheese, and 1 TBSP margarine=2 grains, 1 protein, 1 fat), 1 cupTomato soup (1 veggie), yogurt (1 dairy)=590 cals

Snack: 8 baby carrots (1 veggie), 1 medium apple (1 fruit)=120 cals

Dinner: 2 3/4 cups Chicken Stir fry kit (1 meat, 1 veggie, 2 grain), 1 cup pineapple (1 fruit)= 510 cals

Snack: 6 mini Caramel Corn Rice cakes (1 grain)= 60 cals

Total: 2,052 cals

       &nb sp;  Grains- 8, Dairy- 2, Meat-3, Veggies-3, Fruit-3, Fats- 2, Others- 1

** This was a maintenance plan. They gave us normal portions of food so we wouldn't be so overwhelmed and so we could see what a normal amount was. To gain, you were either tube fed or drank Boost Plus shakes.

No problem, anything to help since i know how hard it is starting out! Especially when you have no clue whatsoever to eat or anything. Hope you managed well today, and any time you just wanna chat, message me :)

thanks MEGAN, i know to gain you need  more.  im now at a bmi of about 18, maybe a little more having lost some weight w/o really realizing.  i gained on about 2800 then over the yr i slowly decreased, w/ and w/o realzing i guess.  i ended up averaging about 1550 during the week and closer to 1800 on wknds.  to maintain 117 (BMI about 20) or so which id like to get to at least, it says only 1730 calories which confuses me, thats with being lightly active.  i just wonder if where i am now, what i should be eating?

EDIT: duh, forgot to add, im 25, about 5'3.75 and btwn sedentary+lightly active i suppose

thanks

Hey, I just wanted to say--I'm pretty much the exact same as you. I started seriously restricting in January also, although I realize now that I've had AN thoughts for years. Since the first of the year I lost 24-25 pounds, averaging about 750 cals/day with 30 minutes of some kind of exercise every day. I'm also 5' 7", but I just started treatment a month or so ago, so my weight's around 120 now.

I'm not doing too well with the whole adding calories/concept of weight gain either, so my meal plan won't do you much good. I just wanted to let you know that you are most definitely not alone in your plight.

Oh, by the way--I don't know if your username's accurate or not but if so, my name's Katie too. c:

Im in the same boat. Im 5"7 and 110lbs. I dont know how to eat normally I dont know what normal is anymore. If I try to eat a muffin its hard. I keep to the same foods everyday.  Im not sure how much calories I eat because I dont focus on that as long as the foods are fresh and natural.  Do you guys eat sweets? different things everday? I also feel guilty if I havent been active for the day. Do you guys eat the same calories if not active? Should I even worry about how much to eat with my weight? im soo confused cuz I want to get better but Im scared my weight will go out of control! any advice?

You fully deserve, and need, help.  You are quite underweight--your bmi is 17.2  A healthy weight is above a bmi of 18.5, but it is recommended that those recovering from an eating disorder gain to a bmi of at least 20.  For you, that would be around 130 pounds.  

Have you seen a doctor/been diagnosed?  If your main obsession is healthy foods, not losing weight, etc you may have orthorexia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthorexia_nervo sa ).  When gaining weight, especially in the beginning stages, the main focus is getting the calories in.  In other words, its okay to eat anything you like, as long as you reach your calorie goal.  It's completely normal to feel guilty about eating/exercise.  But that's why recovery is so hard.  YOu have to fight for it, and sit with those feelings of guilt.  Try distracting yourself (call a friend, watch a funny movie, go get coffee, paint your nails, take a bubble bath, read a book, go to a museum, do crossword puzzles, etc).  You really shouldn't be "active" at this weight.  Have you gotten a dexa-scan?  It tests for osteoporosis or bone loss.  Really try your best to be as inactive as possible.  The minimum recommendation for girls to gain weight is usually  2500 calories, but most people need more.  Eat dense foods, so you eat less volume.  Here's a list that might help:

• nuts
• whole milk
• trail mix
• nut butters
• olive oil
• bagels
• pastries
• smoothies
• milkshakes
• ice cream
• dried fruit
• salad dressing
• cheese
• dark chocolate
• desserts
• cream cheese
• full-fat yogurt

You have to eat, no matter what happens... whats on your mind, etc... same story, 21 years, 5"8 92 lb, this the reason why we are here, to become healthy, full of energy, able to live a normal, happy life...We have to understand that counting calories, carreing about our bones look "healthy" are not the "healthiest" way to live...you have to overcome, so lets Do It, like me! You Can Do It!

ps: for ex look at the page of Teck5168, you can get some great ideas about refeeding, the only way to have a happy life!

I dont know what these girls are talking about......Im from england and i dont know if our hosptials work differently but in the way our units work is we start off at 1200 calories and get weighed weekly and until the weight stops going up our meal plans our increased by 300 calories so the nhext step is 1500 which is still ment to make you gain weight.......... and the meal plans go up to 4000 calories at this is for poeple who excericse in secret or have mega fast motabolisms..............Im not saying this to scare you but i jsut think you need to know the truth.........Btw i am anorexia aswell im not just some random person lol and ive been hosptialitized 3 times for my illness and they have never put me on 1500 calories straight away!

I am new to this site and I am glad I came across it because I also started restricting foods in January. Once I started restricting it soon got out of control and I could not stop the constant restriciting. I lost 25 lbs from January to April and was then diagnosed with anorexia. I am 5 ft 7in and currently weigh around 105. ....I started reading all the posts and they made me feel much better and helped reassure myself that I am not alone in this struggle.

I have started outpatient treatment with a nutrionist and I am making some progress. I recently just switched to a new nutionist who is much better than my first. I can be honest with her and she works with me to make sure that I at least somewhat like the foods I am eating, which i think is really important. It has been close to 2 months since i started to try and get better and I think I am now at around 3,000 calories a day and that number could still increase if I dont keep going up in weight. I am struggling with the idea of weight gain...i know it needs to happen but it makes me nervous. i dont have time to post my meal plan now but i will soon. just thought since i have a similar story i would share...and thanks to everyone who has posted postive advice/ shared stories just reading them has helped! goodluck everyone!

You may want to post your own thread so you get more responses since this is so old. Anyhow I am on weight gain too and it is scary but you haave to fight through the fears. For me I try to remind myself of the facts and I encourage you too. So for ex your weight and height is too low so though you are scared you need to. Also what the ed has taken away and what some goals are. I am not sure how long you have been on 3000 and if you are consistent which is very key. Does your N think you should increase and is your weight going up? Those are some things to look at. You can do this

Could post your meal plan? I am on early recovery too, so Im curious what are you eating, I need more variety in my New Life :) Thanks!

arrgh! I was sent to a phsyciatric ward where they put me on a meal plan:

breakfast- weetabix with 200 mls of whole milk AND three pieces of toast with butter and jam, 200 mls of water and 200mls of juice

snack- cereal bar and 200mls of whole milk

lunch- ham and lettuce sandwich with butter (teaspoon on each slice of medium brown bread) AND a full fat yoghurt on the weekend, on weekdays i have to have a hot pudding with custard, and 400 mls of water

snack- ANOTHER F*ing cereal bar with 200mls of whole milk

dinner- a really fatty meal like lasagne or pie or on a good day BBQ, 400 mls of water, and a full fat yoghurt or ice-cream and a piece of fruit.

snack- 2 digestive biscuits and 200 mls of whole milk

I never stick to it which is really bad, i often have low fat smoothie ice cream for my snack and i found some skimmed milk in the fridge, and i try not to have butter and i make my meals small which is probably why my periods aren't back yet, but i hate this meal plan so much! It makes me so bloated. Breakfast is the worst for me. However, my BMI is pretty good now so i will start cutting down.

I spent a large part of my summer going through inpatient treatment at the hospital, so this was my daily consumption while on bedrest. Now that I am out and about my food choices have changed and become increasedly wider and more appealing, but the meal plan the nutritionists at the clinic set for me gave a good example of what it takes to recover. The idea was to continue caloric increases to avoid refeeding syndrome, until a relatively stable diet was reached...once the increases stopped, a day for me looked something like this. It seems like a daunting amount, but that's the amount I need to gain even a little bit of weight.

Breakfast: a cup of wholegrain cereal, a cup of vanilla flavoured soya milk, a slice of wholegrain toast, two tablespoons of peanut butter, a cup of diced watermelon.

Snack: a large banana bran muffin, a cup of vanilla flavoured soya milk, a cup of grapes.

Lunch: vegetarian entree (consisted of: a cup of mixed beans, half a cup of lentils, a cup of mixed vegetables), an apple, a slice of wholegrain toast, a tablespoon of margarine.

Snack: a smoothie (consisted of: a cup of vanilla flavoured soya milk, a cup of strawberries, a banana), a granola bar, a cup of carrots.

Dinner: two hard-boiled eggs, a tossed salad, two tablespoons of oil dressing, a cup of rice, a cup of vanilla flavoured soya milk.

Snack: a wholegrain bagel, two tablespoons of peanut butter, a cup of vanilla flavoured soya milk, a cup of grapes.

sup?

I need to recover from anorexia. I need to add more calories. I eat around 2000 now but it (weight)) doesn't seem to go any direction but down. Since you went through recovery why does the body need so many calories to gain weight?  What do the recommend for exercise?  I do 2 miles / 6days a week (that is walking 1/4 mile and running 1 3/4 miles).  I'm active doing housework, etc. during the day.

Do you have any recommendations. Can  I do this with the help of my husband and friend or do  I need more support?  I weigh 85 pounds and am 5'6. Thanks for any helpful advice,

Tammy

Tammy,

Please! Stop exercising, right now. Your BMI is 13.7. Running puts so much strain on your malnourished body, you could die of cardiac arrest any second. You should do nothing strenuous at all, not even housework.

Your effort to recover is great, and so is eating 2000 calories. But you do need more than this. And I think you should not be at home in your condition.  At the very least, you have to be under daily medical supervision. Sometimes you have to accept that it is time to get help from the outside. I am sure your husband supports you as best as he can. So he should bring you to a Doctor tomorrow morning. Please don't hesitate anymore. Your life is in serious danger.

I wish you all the best. Never stop fighting.