Expert: Jeanne Rust, PhD - 8/17/2009

Question
Hi Dr. Jeanne,

First of all, I want to thank you for being sharing your expertise and kind words with people who write to you asking for help. I have read some of your previous answers and am very impressed by your polite manner and willingness to help out complete strangers!

I'm pretty sure you might get this question quite a bit, but I'm searching for answers and would love to hear your advice.  I am 20 years old and am in recovery from a 5-year battle with anorexia.  Since my lowest weight of 95 lbs. at age 18, I have steadily gained 25 lbs. on a restricted diet of 700-800 calories a day.  

Several weeks ago, I began talking to a nutritionist who explained that my body is fighting for survival by hanging on to extra body fat.  Her help has inspired me to try to reboot my metabolism and strive for a healthier lifestyle where I am eating and exercising enough.  Over the past two months, I have slowly increased my daily caloric intake to 1800 calories per day, as recommended by my nutritionist.  I exercise consistently (running, swimming, and biking 5 days a week for at least an hour, and strength training 2 days per week).  

I would like to know, based on your experience, how long it takes for one's metabolism to recover, and if it will ever be possible to drop the extra pounds.  I realize that I should not be focused so much on the number on the scale, but I feel that it would help me muster up the patience necessary to continue to be healthy if I had a better understanding of how much time I need to give my engine to start burning effectively and normally.  

Thank you very much for your time - I truly appreciate your dedication to helping people like myself in the E.D. recovery process.

Hope you have a great day,

Chelsea

Answer
Dear Chelsea,

Thanks so much for writing!

Congratulations!  You're doing beautifully in your recovery.  You're doing exactly whaqt you're supposed to be doing!  Your metabolism will recover -- usually anywhere from 2 months to a year.  Just patience.  If you find yourself gaining too much weight, your nutritionist can help you adjust your meal plan.

If you just keep doing what you're doing, as time goes by, the number will become less and less important.  One of the things we "recover from" with an eating disorder is not having to have things happen instantly -- like when we were active in our eating disorder!  The world really does change -- or rather your world has changed as you've entered a completely different space for you.

It's like getting a new suit -- ssssa recovery suit -- it takes awhile to get use to the way it feels!

Please let me know how you do -- I'm happy to answer any questions you have any time!

Warmy,
Jeannie
www.mirasol.net
www.edrecovery.com