Expert: Joanne - 1/8/2009

Question
Hi
I am currently recovering from anorexia but am struggling to gain weight - i am eating about 2300 calories a day but am too active. the problem is i feel guilty for sitting down and a full day at school really scares me. My doctor has told me i must cut down. How do I get over this? What is normal? Is it healthy to sit all day? I am 165.5cm tall and weigh 45.5kg
Please help!


Answer
Anna

You need to gain weight, and you know that!  I'm pleased that you are eating so much, but do you not feel that eating so much is in vain if you are just burning it all off?  Your body is never going to recover until it has the energy to be able to do that, and at the moment you are using all your energy in other ways.

I have no doubt that it does scare you to do nothing, but nobody is asking you to sit ALL DAY!  What everyone wants you to do is just cut back so that your body can repair itself!  You should only need to exercise for 30mins or so a day, and not even at a high intensity.  At the moment, I wouldn't even recommend doing as much as that!  Nobody is telling you that you must sit and never move, but it is completely normal for people to spend a great deal of time sitting - whether at school or at work.  Very few people find themselves active all day, and most of them have very physcial jobs, such as labourers, etc, and they probably eat more than most people and also aren't recovering from anorexia!

You need to find a balance between school and activities, and also a balance between the calories you are eating and those you are burning so that you are able to reach and then maintain a healthy weight.

Make a list of what activities you do everyday, and then work out what you can cut out.  If you walk a lot, then you don't need to do formal exercise everyday.  If you play sports, then don't do other exercise.  Instead of walking alot, can you take a bus or something sometimes?!

You need to remember this is just so that you can improve your health.  In the future, once you are a healthy weight and can maintain a normal weight eating enough calories, then you can increase your activity level again, providing you adjust what you are eating accordingly so that you don't lose weight!

Please just do as your doctors advise, they are only doing it with your best interests in mind!

Joanne