Expert: Melissa - 6/2/2008

Question
i am 5 3, 96 pounds and feel huge but i know i need to gain weight for my
health and to live for my daughter, i have been in every kind of therapy and i
have decided to just do it once and for alll. I AM SCARED crapless about
gaining tons of weight and today i was starving and food tasted so good, it
was my daughters bday and everyone wanted me to eat so i ate and ate and
ate like 6 cupcakes with tons of icing and a bunch of other stuff, is is possible
that i gained tons of weight from that, isnt 3500 a pound, i mean i know it
sounds stupid but thats what ed's do to ya! I couldnt possibly have gained
that much i still feel bony and although i ate all that and am half-temptedto
restrict now i am still hungry and i want burger king, is the reasoning for this
hunger that i have deprived myself for so long? is my body just wanting
more? i am scared to eat all this but i know i need to to survive.Hey it tasted
good but the guilt will be there 2morro.

Answer
Mandy,
As you probably know, you are depriving your body from the nutrients it needs. Being underweight and deprivation can cause cravings and bingeing. It is also more then likely the reason you are obsessing over the food you are eating. You sound very torn between your emotional and physical hunger. Meaning you aren't sure if you should be hungry or are really hungry or if you just feel like eating. That's actually pretty normal amongst even individuals without eating disorders but it can be taken to the extreme when you have an eating disorder.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that you are going to need to get back in touch with your body and learn to trust it again. If your body is hungry, it's hungry. Period. You can't reason that away by trying to figure out if you "should" be hungry. If you start eating regularly with a meal plan, you should notice your cravings and your bingeing decrease significantly.
Good luck.
Melissa