I am a 16 year old recovering anorexic.

When I was about 14 I decided I wanted to lose some weight. So  I started to. And then it got out of control and I became obssessed and went from about 148 to 114 in about 3 months (I'm about 5'4). I would burn off every calorie I ate and was obssesed. My period stopped. Then, I started to chew and spit and binge and purge, which actually caused me to gain most of my weight back. This went on for about a year. So, recently I decided I decided I wanted to lose weight again. So I started to eat around 150 calories a day and burn it off (like old habits!), and then I just went down to 40 to 0 calories a day for about a month. This caused me to go down to 102. The other day, while going up the stairs, by heart felt as if it would stop. I couldn't breath! I knew I had to stop this. So, I confessed to my mother and just really out of the blue decided to start eating again. Now, I am terrified of gaining weight and really really don't want to. I've searched a whole lot on the internet to see how many calories I should be eating throughout the day (considering that I do power walk 4 miles everday) and the amount I should be eating varies on websites from 1,300 to 2,000. It's so confusing! And, is my BMR lower since I was only eating 20 calories per day? But I was eating 20 calories per day for only about a month? Help!

[Patricia Pitts, PhD]

You are professional help.  You are in the throes of your eating disorder.  Your login: mindovermatter is quite telling.  In order to deny your body's physical needs and emotional needs, you need to focus your mind over your body.  Unfortunately, this way of approaching losing weight gains control over you.  Often individuals become obsessed as you.  The attention is on the details versus on the real issues.  Speak to you parents and ask them to help you get professional help.  You and your parents could visit the bella vita website to learn more about anorexia and learn of various treatment options.

Best,
Dr Patricia Pitts, PhD
The Bella Vita
Los Angeles, CA