Expert: Meg - 1/22/2011

Question
Hi Meg,
I'm currently recovering from anorexia which I suffered from for about 5 years. I have been eating healthily and sensibly for almost a year now and doing light exercise from time to time. I have chosen to stay out of gyms due to the fact I struggled with over exercising in the past and don't want to fall back into old habits.
Despite this, I have gained a huge amount of weight in this one year going from 89lbs to 145lbs and it is forever going up and up. (im 5"10). The thing that is worrying me the most is that nearly all of this weight gain has gone straight to my stomach. Could you advise me on if this is likely to level out? And if so, how long roughly will it take? Or will I be stuck with this problem from now on. It's very distressing for me because no matter what I eat or do (I am in no way restricting calories), it doesn't seem to change. Is there anything I can do?
Thank you,
Alisha.

Answer
Hi Alisha,

Sorry for taking a day to get back to you, I went away for the weekend.

I am so happy to hear that you are taking such positive steps towards recovery.  It sounds like you have come a long way and I commend you.  

As far as weight redistribution, it sometimes takes awhile for ones body to even out and it sounds to me like your is still stabilizing.  I have seen (in my own case and in others I've known) that it is common to get more weight around the midsection at first, probably because one's body is still trying to safeguard itself from starving again.  Almost always, this problem seems to eventually correct itself as long as you can take continual good care of yourself and let your weight stabilize while maintaining healthy eating habits.  And, given that your body suffered from heavy restriction for five years, it makes sense that it might take awhile for it to trust once again that you will keep eating and giving it the nutrients it needs.  

I wish I had a more conclusive time frame but every person is different.  I do know that the absolute best thing you can do is to maintain a healthy continual routine, this allows your body to recover and your metabolism to get healthy in the fastest possible time.  

If you still feel that your stomach is giving you trouble down the line, you might want to look into simple (non-gym) exercise that is light and won't cause you to go overboard (like yoga) but you are wise to not do that until you feel you can not get sucked back into the ED thinking.

I hope this helps and I'm sorry that its not more exact.  It really sounds like you are on the right track and I encourage you to keep up the great work!  It's worth it.

Feel free to email again if there is anything else I can help with.

Best,
Meg