Expert: Meg - 11/28/2005

Question
I think I'm only in the early stages of anorexia (less than half a year) but I'd like to get out of this cycle as soon as possible.

I have questions concerning recovery...
Should I simply start eating more? That seems to be the only answer my family and friends have been giving me lately but there's always that underlying fear of gaining too much weight. Do you have any tips on how I gain weight more healthily? I wouldn't consider myself an athlete, but I play tennis twice a week for about an hour to an hour and a half each time. Also, can you tell me what type of meals/snacks I should eat and maybe how many per day?
Oh, and by the way, I'm only 15 so please keep in mind that I'm still growing and such.

Answer
Hi Jane,

I'm really glad that you wrote and hope that I can help (or at least point you in the right direction).  And, I think its very cool that you are self aware enough to know that you have a problem and that its best to take care of it now rather than getting any sicker.  That is a definite sign of maturity and I'm quite sure that you will be able to get healthy and beat this without losing any more time.

First of all, I highly recommend that you consider visiting a nutritionist/dietician.  Even one visit can be very beneficial as they can formulate a healthy plan that is best for your particular body.  Additionally, a nutritionist can help you come up with a plan that is healthy and will include all of the food groups and meet your needs but help you feel a bit more in control and not like you will suddenly gain a lot of weight.  I know that for me, knowing that I could learn to eat healthfully and still not get "fat" (as I feared) was invaluable in starting to recover.

That said, I can certainly give you some general tips as well as some good nutritional websites that hopefully will be of some help.  You are very right in knowing that at 15, it is extremely important for you to not only eat regularly but also get all of the important nutrients that you need for your body to grow and so that you can concentrate on school/activities/life.  So, this is yet another good reason for you to work on stopping this now (as you are!).

In general, it is a good idea to get your body back onto some sort of a regular eating schedule (at least 3 meals a day-although I've known girls who would rather have 5 mini meals throughout the day as to not overwhelm their stomachs at first).  This consistancy I feel is really important in getting your body healthy again.  Additionally, I'm not sure what your diet consists of but I know that often, when we begin to restrict many food groups are cut out and food choices often get quite limited.  It is really important to work on encorperating a variety of healthy foods back into your diet and including proteins, carbohydrates, fat and all of the nutrients back into your diet.  There are obviously many ways to do this (which again is why speaking with a nutritionist can be so helpful-in that you can be part of developing a food plan that is customized for you).  

While your family is correct that you will probably need to eat more in order to get back to being healthy, I think we both know that this is kind of simplifying things.  There are usually some other underlying issues that are at the root of a person developing an eating disorder and its likely that you may need to work on identifying what that is for you as well.  Otherwise, it can be difficult to break the patterns and learn to make healthy choices consistantly.  So, you may want to look into speaking with a therapist or attending an eating disorder support group as well.  Again, I think this all really depends on how you are doing and how much support you need but I wanted to mention it as there is definitely more than "just eating" in terms of getting better.  I'm going to put the Something's Fishy Website on Eating Disorders link below and it is a really wonderful resource not only for finding support groups, nutritionists and a lot of information for both you and your parents but it also has some good peer support boards.




Here are some helpful websites:

http://www.something-fishy.org/
http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/healthyeating.html
http://www.4girls.gov/nutrition/moreinfo.htm


I hope this helps at least a bit and invite you to please write me again if anything is not clear or if you need more specifics on something.  You sound like you have a really good head on your shoulders and your parents behind you-which is excellent.  I wish you lots of strength in fighting this.

Take good care, okay?
Meg