Expert: Joanne - 2/23/2008

Question
I have had anorexia for 12 years.I am no longer severely underweight and was at a weight I was ok with, but I was not eating enough.  I increased my calories w/the help of a nutritionist and gained 4 pounds in a week.  I'm very scared.  When will the weight gain stop. Is there a way to lose the 4 pounds and maintain my eating, as my weight was ok before?  What has ben your experience w/refeeding?
Thanks

Answer
Kay

Initially you will find that you may gain weight rapidly, but this does usually settle within a few weeks.  Once your body is used to being fed regularly and enough, your metabolism should speed up, burning the excess calories as a fuel rather than storing them as your body is likely to be doing now.  At the moment, your body is rebuilding itself and repairing the tissue damage that will have been caused, and also storing some calories so that if you were to starve it again, it has something to work with.

Soon, your weight should stabilise, and possibly even fall slightly, but you need to stick at the meal plan given to you.  If you try to diet and lose the weight already, you are likely to send your body back into starvation mode, meaning that it will continue to store what you eat, and it will be longer before your metabolism recovers.  Sadly, it is this initial weight gain that usually ends up with people becoming yo-yo dieters for life/returning to eating disorder behaviours more often, siply because they are not giving their bodies time to adjust to being fed properly again!

Joanne