Thread: 23f anorexic-needs help with diet please = [

Welcome to IM! First thing you should do is read the stickys there is a wealth of info there for you. The first thing you are going to learn is that you are not eating enough. The second thing you need to do is throw your scale away, it is clearly bringing you nothing but pain and it doesn't really mean squat. Also, an eca stack when you are only taking in 500 cals a day is absurd. You are beautiful and believe me when I tell you that you don't need to get any skinnier.

I agree that you aren't eating enough. I can almost guarantee you that if you start eating better and get your ass to the gym that you will see results in a short period of time. You already look pretty good so you dont have too far to go.

Stop the EC stack, and start adding more meals into your daily diet. i.e., tomorrow shoot for 3 or 4 meals instead of just 2. Eventually you should get to 5 or 6 a day. Your metabolism will speed up, you'll have more energy, and you'll be able to kill the weights in the gym.

For the specifics of what to eat, etc... check out the stickied threads at the top of this forum.

thanks all for your comments and sweet replies-i appreciate you trying to help. i do understand as soon as i start to eat more it will speed up my metabolism and ill feel great. i did read the sticky and i think ill try the cutting diet from jodi i just hope the proportions are right for me

Hi, NJ. You're in a tough spot, and I congratulate you for having the guts to say "enough" and try to change your life. You can do it, but it may be easier in slow steps.

What can you eat? By that I mean not only what's "safe" for you, but also whether anything disagrees with you at this point. (After I had been restricting my eating for some time, I found I could barely tolerate fat at all at first, for instance, it gave me stomach cramps.)

What do you plan on doing at the gym, and when? That too, I'd caution you -- don't go overboard. I got "exercise bulimic" for a while after I started eating again, and that caused me some joint damage which I'm still feeling.

Right now, two things I would advise trying to add in as soon as possible are calcium supplements if you aren't already taking them, and essential fats, such as fish oil or Udo's oil. The essential fats made a huge difference almost right away in my health, even while I was still not eating enough.

Oh, and dump the ec stack. In combination with serious restricted eating and (I'm betting) longterm use, that can cause bigtime problems with your thyroid and adrenals -- in short, burning out your metabolism further.

EAT, eat, eat !!!

what foods do you feel comfortable eating ?

well i was planning on a 4-5x a week plan with 30 mins of cardio included i joined an all ladies gym and they suggest i do weights every other day as far as my diet how does this look
a.m.-4 egg whites on ww toast(no butter) or am i allowed?,1/2 cup oatmeal(not instant)

meal 2(snack)
cottage cheese(how much?) and 1 whole grapefruit

meal 3(lunch)
4 oz grilled chicken breast and alot of asparagus i love asparagus does it matter how much? 3 oz sweet potato(butter allowed???)

meal 4(snack)
handful of almonds or 1 cup diet sf jell-o

meal 5(dinner)
4 oz chicken breast + veggies or salmon
please chage around or add any thing u like

Originally Posted by Akateros

Hi, NJ. You're in a tough spot, and I congratulate you for having the guts to say "enough" and try to change your life. You can do it, but it may be easier in slow steps.

What can you eat? By that I mean not only what's "safe" for you, but also whether anything disagrees with you at this point. (After I had been restricting my eating for some time, I found I could barely tolerate fat at all at first, for instance, it gave me stomach cramps.)

What do you plan on doing at the gym, and when? That too, I'd caution you -- don't go overboard. I got "exercise bulimic" for a while after I started eating again, and that caused me some joint damage which I'm still feeling.

Right now, two things I would advise trying to add in as soon as possible are calcium supplements if you aren't already taking them, and essential fats, such as fish oil or Udo's oil. The essential fats made a huge difference almost right away in my health, even while I was still not eating enough.

hahha if it was up to me ide eat everything i do love food just scared of it

Originally Posted by LAM

what foods do you feel comfortable eating ?

Originally Posted by NJFASHiONiSTA

well i was planning on a 4-5x a week plan with 30 mins of cardio included i joined an all ladies gym and they suggest i do weights every other day as far as my diet how does this look
a.m.-4 egg whites on ww toast(no butter) or am i allowed?,1/2 cup oatmeal(not instant)

meal 2(snack)
cottage cheese(how much?) and 1 whole grapefruit

meal 3(lunch)
4 oz grilled chicken breast and alot of asparagus i love asparagus does it matter how much? 3 oz sweet potato(butter allowed???)

meal 4(snack)
handful of almonds or 1 cup diet sf jell-o

meal 5(dinner)
4 oz chicken breast + veggies or salmon
please chage around or add any thing u like

Butter is fine in meal 1, you need some sort of fat in that meal.

For the 1st snack, what % fat cottage cheese are you using? Im thinking around a cup and a half, though.

Lunch looks good... and yeah, eat as much asparagus as you want. You should try to get some sort of fat source in there, though. How about fish oil?

Snack 2 is alright...

Dinner looks good. Again, though, get some fat in there.

See if you can stick to this meal plan with this much food for 8-10 days. You dont have to add it all in at once, just go slow. Eventually, however, youre gonna want to build up to 5 or 6 complete meals, not just 3 meals and a couple snacks. Each meal should have carbs, protein, and fat.

Honestly, i think you should stop worrying about losing weight right now and just worry about resetting your metabolism and getting some proper eating habits back in your life. Once youre comfortable around food again, and realize that its not your enemy, you can worry about moving your weight around.

your suggestion sounds great to me when you say fish oil im lost how would i incorporate that in my diet is that like a pill or something im new to this please explain p.s. may i add 1 reg egg to my breakfest too?? what % fat of cottage cheese am i allowed?

Originally Posted by Monolith

Butter is fine in meal 1, you need some sort of fat in that meal.

For the 1st snack, what % fat cottage cheese are you using? Im thinking around a cup and a half, though.

Lunch looks good... and yeah, eat as much asparagus as you want. You should try to get some sort of fat source in there, though. How about fish oil?

Snack 2 is alright...

Dinner looks good. Again, though, get some fat in there.

See if you can stick to this meal plan with this much food for 8-10 days. You dont have to add it all in at once, just go slow. Eventually, however, youre gonna want to build up to 5 or 6 complete meals, not just 3 meals and a couple snacks. Each meal should have carbs, protein, and fat.

Honestly, i think you should stop worrying about losing weight right now and just worry about resetting your metabolism and getting some proper eating habits back in your life. Once youre comfortable around food again, and realize that its not your enemy, you can worry about moving your weight around.

Fish oil is a pill that you can use as a fat source. I think your doing the right think by eating hun, I just want you to know that!!! Your a very beautiful girl too and you look great as is, so I'd just concentrate on building some muscle!!

First of all, let me just tell you that you are beautiful. You certainly do not need to lose weight.

Considering you weigh around 100 pounds, I would shoot for about 1500 calories per day. You should probably gradually work your way up to that point. If you plan on weight training, then go for about 125-150G of protein per day, maybe 125-150G of carbs, and eat another 35-40G of good healthy fats. Adjust this based on your body, but this should be a decent guideline to get started with.

thanks so much, you guys have made me feel really great and i will defintly keep every1 posted on my progess or any questions i might have!

Originally Posted by NJFASHiONiSTA

thanks all for your comments and sweet replies-i appreciate you trying to help. i do understand as soon as i start to eat more it will speed up my metabolism and ill feel great. i did read the sticky and i think ill try the cutting diet from jodi i just hope the proportions are right for me

Let me help you out here:

a) Don't think about a cutting diet! The last thing you need to do is eat a diet that is calorically defiecient. this is were you have been stuck at for sometime now already.

b) No, the proportions of the diet Jodi has listed will not help you because your calories are so low already and you have probably compromised your metabolism so much that your set point is really low.

c) what you need to do is focus on healthy eating and slowly bringing your metabolism up to a normal level. You need to "re-set" your metabolism so to speak.

d) write up a sample meal plan using the ideas form the stickies and everyone will help you refine it.

e) hang in there. there are lots of people here that can help you and lots of people here that can help support you. ask questions. read stickies and journals. Feel better knowing that you are on the right path to a healthier you.

how about 1 cup of 2% cottage cheese?

and yeah, you can add a regular egg to your breakfast. a little butter on that sweet potato too.

I just checked all this food into fitday (www.fitday.com), and it comes out to around 1500 calories... which is just about perfect. 1500 cals should be roughly the amount of cals your body needs to maintain its weight (once your metabolism speeds up). So go slow, add in food, and remember that the eventual goal is to have 5 or 6 even meals, each with roughly the same amount of calories.

one more tip: stop taking the ec stack.

i have posted a meal plan its somewhere above what do u think?

Originally Posted by P-funk

Let me help you out here:

a) Don't think about a cutting diet! The last thing you need to do is eat a diet that is calorically defiecient. this is were you have been stuck at for sometime now already.

b) No, the proportions of the diet Jodi has listed will not help you because your calories are so low already and you have probably compromised your metabolism so much that your set point is really low.

c) what you need to do is focus on healthy eating and slowly bringing your metabolism up to a normal level. You need to "re-set" your metabolism so to speak.

d) write up a sample meal plan using the ideas form the stickies and everyone will help you refine it.

e) hang in there. there are lots of people here that can help you and lots of people here that can help support you. ask questions. read stickies and journals. Feel better knowing that you are on the right path to a healthier you.

Originally Posted by NJFASHiONiSTA

i have posted a meal plan its somewhere above what do u think?

Sorry, missed it the first time

Fist, what is the timing of these meals? Are you eating every three hours? I would guess not since you are only getting 5 meals in, unless you get incredible amounts of sleep to which I say "God bless you....you are my idol"

a.m.-4 egg whites on ww toast(no butter) or am i allowed?,1/2 cup oatmeal(not instant)

Need some fat. I'd drop the bread for now. Oats are great (even better when they aren't instant). To increase fat I'd throw in 2 whole eggs.

meal 2(snack)
cottage cheese(how much?) and 1 whole grapefruit
Go with full fat cottage cheese. How much? I'd start with 1c. Grapefruit is good. Other alternatives could be to put some strawberries or and apple in you cottage cheese.

meal 3(lunch)
4 oz grilled chicken breast and alot of asparagus i love asparagus does it matter how much? 3 oz sweet potato(butter allowed???)

The amount of asparagus matters not. As far as green go you can eat them at every meal. You don't have to count fiber into your daily caloric intake and it is a free food so eat as much as you want. Butter is okay (no magerine). I'd think about maybe supplementing with some Omega 3 here. Either caps (fish oil or flax caps) or flax seed oil itself. If you use the caps it will take about 10-15 (depending on what type you by) to equal 1TBSP of flax.

meal 4(snack)
handful of almonds or 1 cup diet sf jell-o

This is not a meal. Almonds are a fat source so you need some protein in here. I'd go with another 4oz of chicken. Egg whites maybe. Tuna is good. 4oz of turkey can also be subsituted for the chicken. Not to keen on Jell-o.

meal 5(dinner)
4 oz chicken breast + veggies or salmon
Again, a fat source is needed. If you aren't eating the fish you may want some Omega 3 supplement here as well. Veggies are good.

What do you eat post workout?
What do you eat before bed?

I would also suggest going slowly and making gradual changes. If your body is used to eating 500 calories a day, you will most likely experience gastrointestinal problems, bloating, and weight gain initially, with an increase in food. Also, psychologically, you might freak out with the initial weight gain and then restrict again.

yeah, add slowly, don't go nuts or you will get a nasty repound effect

ok sounds great is tofu good for you? also when i take the 1 tbsp of flax seed oil with meal 3(lunch) can i take 1 pill of omega 3?

what you need to do is focus on healthy eating and slowly bringing your metabolism up to a normal level. You need to "re-set" your metabolism so to speak.

This is the number one key point here. Add slowly or you WILL gain what you don't want because your body is not use to that amount of food and it will hold it and store it because it doesn't know when its going to get any again. Starvation mode.
You need to re-set as Funky and Monolith keep saying.

well i definatly dont want to gain so going slowy is the key currently for the past week i have been eating breakfest egg white sandwich and then dinner salad or a normal meal--so im thinking what approach to take should i start w/the new healthy breakfest and dinner and 1 snack then how long later should i add in lunch and the other snack?

Have you considered therapy? Eating disorders are never about the food.....I think therapy is your first place to turn to, not a restricive 'diet' plan.

I don't think therapy is right for her, unless she feels she needs it. I wouldn't even consider 500 calories a day an eating disorder, just very, very little food. When I think anorexia I think of like 0 or 100 calories a day, maybe eating nothing for days in a row.

Sounds like she's got the right mind state now and is just trying to learn all she can to get back to being healthy.

Originally Posted by derekisdman

I don't think therapy is right for her, unless she feels she needs it. When I think anorexia I think of like 0 or 100 calories a day, maybe eating nothing for days in a row.

.

Calorie levels can vary with anorexia. Anorexia also stems and is perpetuated by deeper psychological issues.

As for therapy, whether you have an eating disorder or not, the amount of benefit you can receive will vary from person to person. An individual must also be ready to admit that they have a problem and be willing to accept that they need help (in that form)