Expert: Reverend Abbott - 11/3/2007

Question
Hi me name is Barbara and I am 17 years old. I am currently 108lbs at 5'3. I used to be 80 pounds a couple years ago. I have had an eating dissorder since I got addicted to marijuana at 12. I sometimes go days without eating and I actually feel proud the longer I go. I dont want to be unhealthy in face when I do eat, I'm a freak about vitamins, protein, fibre ect. I want to start eating regularly, but I do not want to get fat. I can deal with being a normal weight and eating, but I'm worried that because I don't eat much my metabolism is really slow and then I will get fat. I know my metabolism will speed up as my body recovers and realizes that it's not starving anymore, but I just cant eat knowing that I will be fat. Is it possible to slowly speed up my metabolism by slowly starting to eat more? I'm not really sure what to do about this eating problem :(
thanks in advance,
Barbara

Answer
That sure does make sense to us doesn't it? To slowly increase food and have the metabolism respond in kind. It just doesn't tend to work that way.
 As long as the body (still nothing more than a biological organism) perceives famine (low calorie intake), it instinctively responds by slowing down to compensate.  It's what helped insured our survival throughout thousands of years when food sources weren't reliable, storeage was poor and winters long and harsh.

 Your best option is to eat normally, healthily - slowly increase your activity (be careful not to do too much of that either) and most of all, from someone who has been exactly where you are - distract yourself.  Whenever I began to get buried in the numbers again, I'd take up a new hobby.  I'd choose something I couldn't do very well at all (which was a lot of things to select from!).  The harder the distraction - the more I had to focus on that and not on numbers - food lists and all that.
 From quilt making, drawing with charcoals, creating dioramas (of '50's diners, markets and so on) - it got me through a tough time as weight came back on and I learned to accept it.

 I've been healthy now for more than 5 years and haven't had to make a quilt in a long time ;)

 Check my site for more eating options

www.GetTheReal.info