Expert: Jeanne Rust, PhD - 1/9/2010

Question
QUESTION: hey,
i am a 16 year old girl. i am 164cm tall and weigh between 44.5 and 45 kg. i was diagnosed with anorexia about 2 1/2 months ago now and have been seeing a dietician for about 5-6 weeks.
i was increased from eating around 500 - 600 a day (less if i could) during anorexia, to eating between 800 - 1000 at the start of recovery.
since, i have been TRYING to boost my calories, but i have no idea roughly how many i should be having. the dietician is hoping for a 0.5 - 1kg gain per week, and i was wonderin how many calories approximately, that i need to repair any damage done and also to gain this weight...
the meal plan im on focuses on servings, not calories so im feeling a little lost as to what i need.
a rough guide would be so helpful, thankyou ;)

ANSWER: Dear Holly,

I can't give you a meal plan because I'm not a dietitian -- but I'm guessing that you could certainly go from 1000 calories a day to 1200, then to 1500, then to 2000 a day.  I know 2000 seems like a lot of food right now -- but if you take this slowly, you'll be able to keep up with the weight gain psychologically.

Are you going to continue seeing the dietitian  (I hope)??

Warmly,
Jeanne Rust, PhD
CEO/Founder
Mirasol, Inc.
888-520-1700
www.mirasol.net
www.edrecovery.com
@jeanniemirasol
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannerustmirasol

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi,
thankyou for the speedy reply!

i have a meal plan from the dietician, but its not a calorie one, its focused on serves per day.
yeah i am continuing to see her and everything, i just felt a bit lost because she hasnt told me how many calories or how MUCH i need to be eating to gain the weight. if i have no idea about calories, i dont know if i need to eat more to gain the weight. i dont want to show up next week having tried to eat more, only to maintain or lose AGAIN because i dont know how much i should be having....
it just really confuses me.

thanks anyway ;)

ANSWER: Hi, Holly,

Please do show up and tell the dietitian that you're really struggling with the meal plan.  Sometimes certain dietitians will have people eat by servings because they don't want them to get caught up in numbers -- but if you're up front with her and tell her that this way isn't working for you, she can find another way to do it.  If she can't, have her contact me!  

There are many ways to help people with increasing their food intake -- and sometimes it takes some experimenting to find exactly what is going to work for you!!

Warmy,
Jeannie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks heaps ;)

i will try and tell her, hopefully we can figure something out.
i thought about the getting caught up in the numbers and i can see how she wouldnt want that to happen, it just annoys me that i make a genuine effort against my ED, and then i lose weight, maintain or gain like, 100g. im sick of it, i want to know how much i need to eat to gain weight so that i can just get healthy again, fast!

:)

Answer
I will tell you, Holly, that you're much more that 1/2 way there ---when someone is as determined as you are, there is not doubt that recovery is right around the corner.

I'm curious, what would happen if you didn't weight?  I remember getting up every morning, going into the bathroom and saying, "Good morning, Mr. Scale.  What kind of day am I going to have today?"  I got sick of it too -- I just tried to follow my meal plan and not get caught up in the numbers too.

Jeannie  :o)