Expert: Reverend Abbott - 8/30/2006

Question
Hello, I have been mild/moderate anorexia and bulimic for about 6 years. I have been on diet pills for 4 years straight. I have not purged for 3 months and I do not have the desire to purge anymore, I have gotten pretty much past that. I still restrict my food intake to about 1000-1200 calories per day. I'm 5'3 and weigh about 110-112 lbs. I am somewhat active, I walk about an hour per day. I sit the rest of the day due to a desk job that I have. I am working on recovering from my mild anorexia problem right now. I have now finally gotten off of the diet pills and I notice that my hunger is intense! It is very scary for me! It has been nearly impossible to keep only a 1000-1200 calorie diet while off of the diet pills. I do not want to gain weight. I used to be about 102 lbs, but have increased my weight to 110-112 but that is all I want to be right now. I am comfortable at that weight and do not wish to weigh more, at least not at this time in my life. I am very nervous about my hunger. It seems as though I want to eat about 2-3 hours! Also, small portions no longer satisfy me. I've been off the diet pills for about 2.5 weeks. Does the hunger pangs subside after a certain amount of time of being off the diet pills? How do I know what calorie content that I should stay at without gaining weight? Since I am used to keeping  food journal (I usually keep one daily, stating the foods that I eat and amount of calories that I eat in one day) she says I can continue to do that since it makes me feel comfortable. I'd like a ballpark calorie content that I should aim for to keep me nourished, but without gaining weight. Can you help me with this? THANK YOU.

Answer
If I could back in time and meet myself - it would be YOU. I did all these things and let me tell you this: Those 'diet pills' were nonsense. They weren't doing anything (YOU were!). You could have been taking jellybeans and gotten the same result. Seriously.

I can also promise-promise-promise you that what you're doing now won't do anything but contribute to weight gain and a really slow metabolism. You've got another 30 years of eating disorders and weight problems ahead of you.

That is - if I were going back in time and talking to ME.

Hopefully you'll skip right to the end and avoid all that pain, frustration and ill health!  Plus, the heart condition, kidney failure, liver disease and bone degeneration (yup, that's me - at the age of 30!).  All for a number on the scale.

So, I've got a site - to help everyone NOT be me.

You can be the weight you are supposed to be and NOT have to be on a diet, take anything or join anything.

www.GetTheReal.info

Stay smart!