Expert: Joanne - 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
Dieticians recommend eating around 1500-1800 calories per day in order to maintain weight.  It is possible that you will gain in the beginning, but once your metabolism recovers and begins working at its full potential again.

At the lower end (1500 calories), it is possible to lose weight and this is weight that will most likely stay off if you go back to 1800 calories as it is safe and 'good' weight loss.

Are you receiving any therapy while you are attempting to recover?  If not, I recommend looking into maybe talking to someone as for some people it can mean the difference between really beating the eating disorder and not.

I hope that this has been of some help to you.  If you have any other questions, please feel free to come back!

All the best
Holly