I'm having difficulty recovering from anorexia?

[megankxthleen]

Right now, I'm 5'4", 100lbs, and I haven't gotten my period in about two months. I need to gain weight, but eating 2000 calories a day is becoming to be a struggle. I fight with my parents all the time, who want me to eat bread for breakfast (with two tablespoons of peanut/almond butter) and lunch (two pieces with lettuce, wo tablespoons of hummus, and avocado), at least two eggs, and a milkshake with ice cream before noon, among ither things. They obviously don't trust me to feed myself and threaten to put me in a treatment center if I don't eat what they make. I know how serious this is, but I can get those calories on my own without being force-fed, which might be why I'm having such a hard time. Even if I want an acai bowl with banana, granola, and blueberries, "that's not enough" for a 5am breakfast and I have to have an egg and a rice cake with peanut butter, and lunch is a whole other story. I'm just really struggling with this, and if I don't feel like a certain thing and want to swap it out for something else, we end up screaming and get nowhere. I want to be healthy, but gaining weight makes me extremely uncomfortable, especially with everything I'm being made to eat.

[GoldMeddle]

As a guy who is currently trying to gain weight (I don't suffer from anorexia, but I am very underweight) I can relate to some of this. Feeling too full to eat but needing to eat is very uncomfortable. I can give you some suggestions and advice however.

First off, eating more of something is the worst way to gain weight. Sure, eating 8 eggs gives you 1000+ calories, but eating eight eggs also makes you sick. Whereas if you ate two eggs on toast with butter, you would get 600 calories but wouldn't feel ill. There's no point eating so much one meal if you have to skip the next meal and your calorie intake overall is lower. You should point this out to your parents.

This has never worked for me, but you can try dividing up the meals into six instead of three. Doctors have suggested I do this before.

There are ways to add calories without feeling the effects. Get a panini grill (20-40 bucks) and grill the bread with olive oil. This should add a good 100 calories to the lunch overall.

Drinking calories can also sometimes help. I have tons of digestive issues so I can't eat too much fruit, but in your case drinking a smoothie with breakfast might be a better way of getting calories.

Those are my suggestions. This last point isn't a suggestion, but a reality. Gaining weight is uncomfortable. it is. I've learned to eat a whole new meal even when I'm completely full from the last one. It's tough, but here's another thing to keep in mind- a lot of time when you think you're stuffed with food you'll actually feel better if you eat more. Sounds weird, but this is what I've discovered in the past.

I know it sucks, but honestly you just have to power through. Try doing some stuff during the day or doing mild exercise (consult with your doctor first- exercise to build muscle might be a good idea). That will increase your appetite.

Good luck. Sorry about your parents. Maybe you guys should see a family therapist. That's what my family did. It helped somewhat.

[martyfellow]

You should have your parents consult a professional psychologist, one with experience with anorexia, and have the professional design a diet plan.

Your parents are too emotionally involved to make objective, much less scientific, decisions about your diet.

[megankxthleen]

I just went to a dietician the other day who soent three hours with us and set up a diet plan. They're strictly following it, but this doesn't make me want food or think of it as I once did. It makes me nervous to think about the protein, 3 carbs, grain, and fat I need to have for breakfast tomorrow and almost double that for lunch - in a 40 minute time period during school.

[martyfellow]

OK, you should follow it. You aren't THAT thin yet, given 5'4'' and 100 lbs, you won't have to eat this much for more than a couple of weeks to get back to a healthy weight, anyway.

[Philophile]

Can I also suggest that in conjunction with a dietician, you perhaps look into seeing a psychiatrist (even better, one that specializes in food/eating disorders). Part of the hurdle is your relationship with food. So, while you have a dietician helping you with your diet, a psychiatrist can perhaps help you with the mental hurdle that you might be struggling with.

[Anonymous]

I agree with what @martyfellow said. On the one hand, obviously your parents care a great deal about you, otherwise they wouldn't be so involved and invested in getting you to eat/getting you healthy. However, in this case, their care is actually detrimental to your gaining weight/getting healthy.

They're trying to encourage you to eat, yet at the same time they're negatively reinforcing the action of eating (their actions/words are saying that food is an absolute chore that you have to do "or else," rather than something that can be enjoyable or that, at the very least, doesn't have negativity attached to it. By forcing you to eat, all you end up doing is arguing with each other; it's a cycle of negativity. All that negative reinforcement will only make the situation worse and much more difficult to your recovery... we can see that now just in how you're describing the situation.

I agree that they need to hand this matter over to a professional (if they haven't already), one who can tailor the exact type of plan (caloric intake, schedule, etc.) for you so that your parents won't say "that's not enough."

I wish you all the best.

[megankxthleen]

Thank you, but that's exactly why they're saying that it isn't enough - we went to a dietician who spent three hours with us, and gave me a meal plan following a 2,000 caloric intake.

[Jupiter35]

i don't have anorexia, but I am literally too lazy to chew food. I prefer those boost shakes over solid food sometimes. I keep my period regular with Iron supplements. Walgreens has a really good brand that does not make you nauseas. Bargain with your parents and see if they let you substitute meals with shakes.

[megankxthleen]

They will, but I can't stand the taste of them. Ensure has made me nauseous in the past, so I'm hesitant to try anything else like that.

[Jupiter35]

You can always blend it with berries or bananas and ice to knock out the taste.

[QooLipBite]

There are natural supplements that your doctor can prescribe to you that are extremely safe (you should speak to your doctor about this).

They're called peptides. I have taken these before for natural bodybuilding enhancing benefits and honestly, they work amazingly.

What they do is they stimulate your pituitary gland to produce your own growth hormone as well as enhancing your appetite which is PERFECT for your condition.

The natural growth hormones will almost guarentee a weight gain for you as your muscle cells and tissue grow. Added to that, your appetite is increased which makes you naturally crave high packed calorie foods. They also have anti-aging benefits, metabolism effects etc.

Honestly, I wish I could be in the same situation as you where I am FORCED to eat :DD Because at the moment, I have to force myself NOT to eat otherwise my physique will just deteriorate which is SHIT.

ENJOY food.

[FakeName123]

I think your parents are meaning well, but choosing the wrong means for it. Thus you really should sit down with both of them and talk about it. Say that you understand why they do that, but them pressuring you makes it even more difficult to eat.

In the end what you need to learn again is to not only enjoy food, but life itself. Somewhere along the way you lost both and your aim absolutely must be to regain those.

[Drooogie4]

You dont need 2000 calories a day.
They shouldn't push like that. You aren't dangerously underweight, just a little. As long as you're eating throughout the day, you're fine. Eat 1-2 decent meals a day and snacks. And eat healthy. Then the weight you're gaining is healthy weight.
The diet theyre pushing is unhealthy and unsustainable.

[megankxthleen]

I went to a dietician and she spent three hours with us. I need to gain at least half a pound a week

[megankxthleen]

The dietician told me that since I haven't gotten my period, I NEED to gain weight, because that signals something is wrong (body fat percentage) and gave me a meal plan following a 2,000 calorie diet until I gain the weight back. She said that ny current weight is dangerous and that I really should not lose anymore.

[Drooogie4]

You do need to gain. But forcing 2000 a day is a lot. Im surprised as a dietitian, that she recommended what she did

[megankxthleen]

Well it says on Google that the recommended intake is between 1800-2300 for 16-18 year old girls, so I'd assume that that's average.

[Lyndsielee666]

Are you seeing a nutritionist at all? You're 18 year old you don't have to eat what they're forcing you to eat. You can only recover if you want to, not by force. They know that right?

[megankxthleen]

We went to dietician, and they're trying to make sure I get the caloric intake she recommended, at 2,000 calories. I don't know if it's so difficult for me to eat the variety of foods at each meal that's required because I've been living on spinach, apples and broccoli for so long, or what it is.

[Lyndsielee666]

Have you tried the ensure plus drinks? They taste like ass and are pricey but if you put it in a smoothie of some sort it's manageable. When I was first recovering I had to drive them and use juice as a chaser 😭 Think about seeing a psychiatrist also, I know they suck and most the time don't help but it's good to have someone to vent to, even a friend will help. Are you afraid of the variety of foods they're having you eat? Because that's awhile different problem that force feeding won't help with.

[megankxthleen]

It's not that I'm afraid of the foods, just the amount of food that I need to eat in one sitting. And yes I've tried them - they're horrible! I might start making my own protein shakes with ice cream and protein powder, just to up the intake. As far as psychologists go, I think I just need to focus on my health and get out of my mind. I don't want to create more problems by going to a psychologist, by going further in-dept, and just tackle this head-on.

[RedHood7]

I think you gotta sort this through with a therapist. You parents are worried, but they might be overreacting. How fast are you gaining weight?
(Açaí is a good idea to gain some weight btw)

[Anonymous]

Drink 2 cans of Ensure Plus everyday.