Anorexia/Eating Disorders/Scared of weight

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Expert: Jeanne Rust, PhD - 12/20/2010


Question
Hello!

Christmas is arriving and I've been battling anorexia for 6 years now. A year ago I was on my perfect weight 74 and I was happy and looked pretty. For some reason I started restricting again and with that off course the weight loss, insecurity, scared everything. I've now got a dietician and a therapist to help me but one thing keeps bugging me.

I love cooking, always have, and I took that away. I still eat 3 proper meals a day but exercise too much. I know all this.

My fight at the moment is, is that I lost 5 kilo's in 6 months and I want to start eating 'the bad' things again. The dietician says I should eat more and see what happens. I'm just so afraid the weight gain will be so much that I will restrict again. I bake cakes for everyone else without ever trying a piece for myself. I hardly ever relax and I now weigh 67.5 and am 1.82 meters long and I know and wnat to get back to 68 at least but what if that means 1 week of the food I want and then I have to slow down again?

I want to gain weight and eat my own bakings but not too quick.

Thanks for your answer!!!

Astrid

Answer

Jeannie Rust, PhD
Dear Astrid,

When someone is recovering from an eating disorder, baby steps is the only way.  There is nothing your could eat, or any amount you could eat today that would make you blow up like a balloon.  This is what anorexics are so afraid of when they start to eat again.  

The most important thing you can learn to do right now is to figure out when you're hungry and when you're full.  Pay attention to the clues inside of your body.  Also did your dietitian give you a meal plan?  How many calories is your meal plan?

When you sit down to a meal, at the beginning of the meal, ask yourself how hungry you are on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being really really hungry and 10 being really really full.  So at the beginning you m;ight say, oh, I feel like I'm at a 2 today.  I'm really hungry.  Then when your finished, you can say, Oh boy, I'm really full.  I think I'm an 8.  I think I can eat just a little more.

This process is called intuitive eating.  Intuitive eating combined with your meal plan will help you be on the road!  When you make a cake, ask yourself if you can have a piece of cake.  The eating disorder voice will tell you No.  See if you can get in touch with the healthy voice that has you seeing a therapist and a dietitian.  This is the voice that will give you permission.

Please let me know how you do!

Warmly,
Jeanne Rust, PhD
CEO/Owner
Mirasol, Inc.
www.mirasol.net
www.edrecovery.com
888-520-1700

Jeanne Rust, PhD

Expertise

I have been treating eating disorders for over 25 years and I have a doctorate in clinical psychology. I am an expert in anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders and in co-occurring disorders as well -- depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, etc. I was the official eating disorder therapist for the University of Arizona athletic department and love working with girls and women of all ages! 12 years ago I started my own treatment centers in Arizona where we treat adolescents and adults. I love working with people and have been helping people online since 1994. My hearts go out to the people out there who are unable to find help, who aren't sure whether they need help, and who don't have much of an understanding of the terrible consequences, emotionally and physically, that go hand in hand with the eating disorder. I view eating disorders as coping mechanisms that people use when they are under stress. I believe that eating disorders most times have many similarities whether it is anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating. The good news is that people can heal from an eating disorder and learn to create the lives they would like to live.

Experience

I have 25 years of experience in treating eating disorders of all kinds. I also do consultations for people who are starting treatment centers.

Education/Credentials
Northwestern University -- BA Masters in Counseling Doctorate in Clinical Psychology -- Saybrook institute

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