Expert: Joanne - 7/21/2007

Question
Hello there,please can you give me some advice?? Ive been in recovery from anorexia since the end of May this year. I devised an eating plan with my dietician which I m trying to stick to but it is absoultley terrifying me, I have been putting on weight continously since the end of May although I have been eating extremley healthy and exercising 3/5 times a week. The weight gain is starting to slow but continues to go up, I am currently up to 112 pounds and I am only 5 2 and a half. I have a medium frame and I am terrified that the weight gain will not stop .When will I stop putting weight on?? I dont understand how I can be eating so healthily yet the pounds keep going on, my dietician told me that it would stop when my body is back up to the weight it wants to be, well I cant cope with it being any heavier than its current weight, I feel disgusting enough now, I know some of the weight gain is down to muscle gain, but its the only way I can cope with putting on weight, I just think if its got to go on then at least it will be toned ! My periods have also not returned yet I am getting pains every month and I used to have periods when I was half a stone lighter than I am now, when is it likely they will return?? The thing is before the start of my recovery at the end of May I was eating regulary every day, it was only just enough to maintain my weight at the time,(after a long period of starving) but I feel as though my body still thinks it is being starved?? My dietican keeps telling me that my body must be still repairing itself , but how long does it take to convince itself that its not starving anymore?? I just dont understand, I am eating regulary, exercising , missing no meals and even have the courage to try some treats at times, so when will the weight gain stop?? Please help, I feel so frustrated and feel like giving up and feel like not eating again,but then I worry that my body will slow down even more!! I have struggled with my weight all my life and have been one of those people who used to be able to put on two pound by having one takeaway at the weekend !I am also scared that if I stop the exercise I will become even bigger, I feel like I just cant win, I am eating so healthy and being very active yet piling the weight on, sorry to go on, please can you give me some advice?I dont understand why my body obviously still thinks Im starving it when I am eating a normal amount of calories on most days.

Answer
Please listen to your dietician and do as she asks - she will have been involved in probably a large number of eating disorder cases, she'll know what works best!

Unfortunately, she is right!  Your body will continue to store what it can to repair itself and have a fuel store in fear of you starving again.  It just takes time for the body to realise that it doesn't need to worry about this any more - and everybody is different, so you can't put a time frame on it, sorry!

Your weight should stabilise and may even drop slightly once your metabolism is working to is best ability again, so please don't consider cutting back on food or dieting, and this will send your body back and take even longer to stabilise - hence why yo-yo dieters have so many problems losing weight.  They just keepy sending their body into starvation mode, eat normally, gain, send body into starvation mode once they gained, etc... meaning that they will struggle to get their metabolism to work well again.

I would just continue as you are doing!

As for your period, it should return when your body is happy that it has repaired itself.  Your period stops as a means of preventing you becoming pregnant when your body would be unable to nurture a foetus.

Anyway, hopefully this will sort itself out soon.

Please feel free to get back in touch if you have any other questions or anything you would like to discuss further.

All the best
Holly