Expert: Nafeesah - 5/3/2009

Question
Hello,
First I'd like to thank you advance for taking your time to answer my question. I have been in treatment for an ED since this past Christmas. It has certainly been a struggle but I can honestly say I'm already in a much better place than I was 6 months ago. In the process of my treatment I have overcome a lot of fears and accomplished a lot of goals however I was not putting on weight. The past few weeks I have finally started to gain which has been a real mental struggle for me. My real question is why? Since beginning treatment I have no changed my eating patterns at all. I have always eaten the same type of foods, all measured out and nothing has changed about that. I have started to notice a bulge in my abdomen area that makes me very uncomfortable. I keep saying it just fluid retention but it has not gone away for a few weeks and I still have those extra 5 lbs. As you can imagine this discomfort leaves me fighting my ED even harder. Every meal seems to be more difficult to eat due to the discomfort and I was hoping each day would get easier not harder. I'm not interested in losing the 5 lbs as I know this is part of my recovery but how do I lose this uncomfortable feeling in my belly area? Even before I started down the destructive ED path I carried my weight in other places such as my thighs and butt. My belly has always been the tiniest part and now I can't seem to hold it in anymore. I'm very confused!!

Answer
Part of the recovering process from an eating disorder is that you will gain weight and that's because your hormones are getting back to normal. You should address the weight thing if it goes past a certain point and/or getting put of control with your doctor right away. I am dealing with a lot of excess fat in my belly area after having recovered from my eating disorder and it's still a problem area that I am trying to get rid of to this day after having recovered at the age of 27. Talk to your doctor and find out what this issue with your stomach being the way it is so you can get it treated.