Expert: Joanne - 4/5/2008

Question
Hi there.
I have been trying to recover from my anorexia for some time now (I'm 22) and am having abit of a struggle.
My weight hasn't really changed that much in the last year despite my efforts and i recently started seeing a dietitian.
She increased my suggested intake in 3 bursts in the last 3 months...though in that time i  only gained 1kg (then got an upset yummy an lost half of that again - typical).

Anyway when i saw her about 10 days ago now she said i needed to add in to more snacks (previously i was only having 1 fruit snack). She gave me a list of items as ideas which consists of things such as choc bar, muffin, ice cream, biscuits, cake, crisps (you get the idea).

The thing is i can-not see how it is HEALTHY for me to eat that twice a day. I mean yes i need to gain weight but all that 'junk foods' not so great for me surely?
I dont want to be having foods i cant have regularly once i am recovered (which is why for along time i stayed on ensure as 'medicine'.
I'm not really getting 2000 cals a day an 70 of fat as guidelines state..so logically it does seem OK..but my head, an every health related article you ever read does agree about this 'junk food'.

I really could use someone else perspective on this.
Thank you for your time
Kel

Answer
Kel

I think you need to sit down with your dietician and talk about this.  It is important in recovery to try and eat these foods on a regular basis, especially if they are foods that you are fearful of as you need to be able to eat things without worrying about it (I believe you are truly recovered when you don't fear eating anything!)

I think, with your dietician's agreement, that you should be aiming to have some of these foods as snack once a day, or once every other day, possibly alternating crisps and savoury with sweet foods.

Good snack ideas are bagel with peanut butter, youghurt with fruit, granola bars and a handful of dried fruit.  Nuts are a good snack.  They contain so many nutrients and their calorie value is a bit higher than some other 'healthy' foods!  When you are having your normal fruit snack, try to have milk or yoghurt with it, or a bit of peanut butter on crackers or something.

I think your dieitican obviously has ideas, but does she have experience with eating disorders?  Some people that don't think the best way to recover is simply to eat a lot of high calories foods all the time, but it is so much better to eat a lot of healthier high calorie meals.

If she wants you to try her way, I think that you shouldn't ignore it as she obviously has a plan, but if she is not so sure, or you think that your recovery would be better doing it a healthier way, then you need to tell her so that she can sit down and work out exactly how much of these foods you should be eating in order to gain weight!

Please do not rubbish what she has said though, and do try to eat some of these 'junk foods' to help increase your weight, but also to make sure that you develop a more 'normal', healthier attitude to food!

Joanne