Expert: Meg - 6/6/2006

Question
How many calories should i be eating to gain a pound a week
and also I am getting lined up with a nutritionist I am seeing a doctor today

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Followup To

Question -
Dear Meg...I am going crazy, I have these thoghts every day...and immense fear of fat...I want to gain weight but I am finding it diffiuctl.  For about 2-3 months I have been working alot and consuming barley nothing for example this would be a day..no breakfeast..lunch maybe half a slad afternoon a V-8 and for breakesft mere vegetables...In the last month I have noticed my weight drop from 96 to 88 pounds...but now I am really trying to get better...it is hard to fight the feelings...please help me...I eat 3 meals a day now...for breafest a piece of fruit...for lunch a bowl of vegetables...carrots lots of diffenet things and for dinner vegetables and protein...will i be ablt to naturally gain the weight back eating that much per day...or should i not be concered about fat right now...i can my body back in shape later...I feel like this is totally consuming me...I was 105 pounds before all this started can i get back to that?

Please help me....
thanks Kate
thanks Kate














Answer -
Hi Kate,

I'm glad that you wrote to me and that at least some part of you knows that what is going on is a problem.  That is sometimes difficult and I commend you for reaching out and taking even little steps to fight this.

First of all, it sounds like you are at a extremely low weight and possibly in medical danger.  Although this is probably not what you want to hear, I would really recommend letting your physician know what is going on so that he/she can moniter you in case you do have any health problems.  Hopefully, that will not be an issue but I want to put that out there as its easy to think that one's own situation isn't "that serious" (I know I sure felt that way) when in actuality, it sounds (from what you wrote) like you are pretty deep into your eating disorder.

Its great that you want to get better and healthy-and you sound like a very determined person and I have no doubt that you can-if you are willing to work at it.  

Some of the thing you mention, especially how you feel like this is consuming you remind me so much of when I was really sick-and my heart goes out to you as I remember what a scary place that was.  Kind of like being pulled between two worlds...You are right that the feelings are hard to deal with and because of this, and how deeply this obsession can go, its usually adviseable to seek some form of professional help to fight this.  Should you want to consider this, here are a few links that you might find helpful:

http://www.something-fishy.org/treatmentfinder/

This is a good, fairly comprehensive treatment finder that has not only psychologists and counselors but also support groups, nutritionists and day programs.

http://www.anad.org/site/anadweb/content.php?type=1&id=6998

Good, free support groups.  This is really an invaluable resource and they  have branches all over the country.

http://fishyvb.something-fishy.org/
Helpful  online support board


Just off the top of my head, your meal plan still sounds fairly sparse and restrictive to me-and my guess would be that I do not think that you will gain any of your weight back with this meal plan.  Again, I would recommend finding a nutritionist who can develop a plan with you that is tailormade to *your* body and needs.  Additionally, if you are going to work on this without the help of a nutritionist, I would suggest slowly adding more foods into your diet until you are at a healthier range and eating enough for your body to be fully functional again.  

I think that you should not be concerned about fat right now, to answer your question, and that you should just eat balanced meals and snacks so that your body can regain its health.  That said, I feel that most likely, it is going to be rather challanging to just "not be concerned about fat" anymore-which is why a therapist or other form of help can be very beneficial.  

Yes, I think you can get back to where you started and be happy, healthy and have a very full, ed free life.  But, it takes some work and making behavioral changes as well as figuring out how you got into this boat in the first place.  Again, this is why professionals can really help speed your recovery quite a lot.

For now, I hope that you at least have a few ideas as to how to move forward and that you can see that  your health is at risk-but that you can turn this all around.  

Please feel free to write again if anything in this email is not clear or if there is anything else AT ALL that I can help with.

I really have been where you are and I promise there is a way out and that you deserve to get there-and be free of this all.

Take care, okay?  And let me know how you're doing.

Best,
Meg  

Answer
Hi Kate,

Good to hear from you again :)

First of all, that is excellent that you are meeting with a nutritionist this week. That will really help you figure out what is best for your body in terms of recovering and getting healthy.

As far as how many calories you need to eat in order to gain a pound a week (which is a very healthy goal, so kudos to you!), you will need to eat about 3500 calories more than you are eating now in order for this to happen.  So, this adds up to about 500 more calories a day.  That said, sometimes our bodies react a little bit differently after going through starvation so I'm really glad that you will be working with a nutritionist who can help you navigate through this and make sure that you are able to balance things out.

Let me know how it goes and take care.  Feel free to write again if there is anything  else I can help with.

Best,
Meg