Recovering from anorexia & bulimia

[happygirl214]

I have recently started recovering from bulina and my weight has shot up 6lbs in a week. will this weight drop off once my eating is back to normal and the purging stops? please help. . . .!!

[ss547]

Don't worry, weight gain can be a sign that you are recovering! I gained 15 lbs in the beginning of my recovery from bulimia and then as I started eating meals and snacks regularly (that I figured out with my nutritionists help) and stopped using bulimic symptoms my weight balanced out to my body's needs. I remember the weight gain scaring me a lot too at first but my recovery team reassured me that the number is not what I should be worrying about and my recovery is about me not my weight. Just keep that in mind that the number shouldn't control you or scare you. Maybe you should try blind weights if it bothers you which is not uncommon in the recovery process. Talk to your therapist about these issues so you can express your feelings in a safe environment which can support you. Try to think of this concern with weight gain as your eating disorder voice and try to have a conversation with it. I remember doing this in my journal quite recently actually:
ED: look at all that weight you've gained, what are we going to do with you
ME: nothing because there is no WE, there is a me and I want to be healthy and free of you, and my weight is what makes up the body that you have denied me for years and I feel stronger and better now than I ever did with your commands!

I know its really hard to not think about the food and the weight and the body image stuff but you need to try to think about your future without your eating disorder, what kind of life you want to have, what kind of freedoms you wish for, and how your social life and relationships will change once you are done with your relationship with food and weight. I haven't lost all the weight I gained during recovery but I don't want to because this is the healthy me that I have worked so hard to get and I recognize that so I don't let the scale measure my worth anymore...

Dont give up!

[Zoelula]

Great response, happygirl! I agree 100%!

[Patricia Pitts, PhD]

Dear Happygirl214,

Weight fluctuation can be caused by many different things, including weight fluctuation. Sometimes after recovery your metabolism needs a little time to get back to normal and this can also cause weight gain. Following up with a nutritionist and a therapist can help you understand the causes behind this and help support you in your recovery. The Bella Vita offers free support groups Mondays at 6pm in our Los Angeles and Woodland Hills locations. If neither of those are in your area you can go check out ANAD for support groups offered near your location. You may want to go to The Bella Vita website and subscribe to our newsletter! It has a bunch of helpful tips and articles.  Best, Dr Patricia Pitts, PhD  The Bella Vita  Los Angeles, CA

[YogaRunner]

Throw out your scale or do blind weights if you are being weighed during treatment. As you become healthy, your weight will return to what is best for your body. If you are severely underweight, you may need those new 6 lbs that you gained. If they are extra pounds that you don't need to be healthy, when your diet and exercise level are normal, your weight will return to normal as well. I struggled for years with bulimia to stay at a very thin weight, but once I finally recovered (with the help of a therapist) I am now at the same weight without any of the food issues I had before. My weight went up a little in the recovery process with all of the anxiety and learning how to eat, but it settled back down to about the same weight I was before. Weight also fluctuates daily based on how much water you are retaining. Eventually you will accept that the weight number on the scale is not the measure of how attractive, healthy, or valuable you are.