can you share your recovery experience so far?

[LoveSpell]

Hello everyone I am looking into recovery from anorexia. I am scared as to which approach to take as their seems to be conflicting advice like one dietician says steady weight gain on 2500 and maybe add a few sweets her and there. and then there is the gwenyth owlyn site that says to eat 3000+ and eat even when you are full and you can eat as much junk as you want. I am so confused I hear some people say gwenyth is legit but also some who are really depressed because they end up overshooting and become obese but believe that they are overshooting but others think its because they are not eating right.
Can you share your recovery experiences? It doesnt mean you have to be fully recoverred. or even if you relapse or in relapse at the moment. I just kind of want to know some things like what approaches people took, how much weight they gained, what kinds of foods they ate, was it balanced or eat whatever you want, calorie counting or not, did you relapse?, were you able to lose the weight again ( i heard some couldnt go back to losing weight)
thank you so so much for your answers!

[MorbidAbyss]

Tw... Hi, I am just now starting a recovery process. It was against my will, which terrified me. I was released from the hospital weighing 68 pounds standing at 5-9". So of course I got a 10:14. Which is my medical rights takin away and givin to my social worker. It has been a blessing. I can walk and and clean and make my bed. I was miserable. Now that I am taking in nutrients. I couldn't imagine turning back. It will be a long road, but hope to achieve the goal of recovery. I will gladly share the experiences I under go during this process. But at the least estimate, will take 3+ months. With (hopefully) no chances of relapse!

[silverfighter]

Hello everyone I am looking into recovery from anorexia. I am scared as to which approach to take as their seems to be conflicting advice like one dietician says steady weight gain on 2500 and maybe add a few sweets her and there. and then there is the gwenyth owlyn site that says to eat 3000+ and eat even when you are full and you can eat as much junk as you want. I am so confused I hear some people say gwenyth is legit but also some who are really depressed because they end up overshooting and become obese but believe that they are overshooting but others think its because they are not eating right.
Can you share your recovery experiences? It doesnt mean you have to be fully recoverred. or even if you relapse or in relapse at the moment. I just kind of want to know some things like what approaches people took, how much weight they gained, what kinds of foods they ate, was it balanced or eat whatever you want, calorie counting or not, did you relapse?, were you able to lose the weight again ( i heard some couldnt go back to losing weight)
thank you so so much for your answers!

I have no idea who this Gwyneth person is, but I know that I had to eat about 3000 calories per day to restore my weight. I did not count them purposefully, but because of years of calorie counting and exchange systems in treatment, I knew. I actually had my best recovery in an intuitive eating program where I learned to listen to my body. I had food from all categories (except meat, long-term vegetarian here) but nothing was completely off limits. The amount of weight I needed to gain depended on how small I was when I finally decided to do something about or was forced to do something about my weight loss. Anywhere from 20 to 60+ pounds, depending on the stage of my illness. I would say that until 2008, I wasn't really trying to recover, just restoring weight intermittently until people would leave me alone again. I relapsed in February after over 2 years of symptom-free recovery and went back into recovery in June. I didn't really have to restore much this time, just let my body restabilize my weight. Just like weight loss is not a straight line purely mathematical process, gain is not either. I have no doubt I could lose weight again if I wanted to do so...but I think that to do so I would have to be willing to give up my recovery. And I don't care enough about my weight to allow that to happen, which is one way that I know my recovery is solid.

Honestly, I think even thinking about losing weight again at this stage is setting the expectation that the recovery weight will not be okay...

mel

[chiquepea]

I'm following Gwyneth's guidelines and it has been totally positive so far.

Remember that those who overshoot will only overshoot temporarily and will return to their set weights in the year following.

Honestly, I have a treatment team who want me to go to their day unit, but they'd have me eating far less than I currently am. They believe me to be eating too much, despite my eating to my hunger. I still see denying my hunger as restricting. Gwyneth's method is scary at first but I think the reason it is so successful is because you have to dive straight in and not look back. You immerse yourself in a world which is essentially opposite to your ED world. In a short space of time you end up challenging nearly all of your ED behaviours rather than slowly crawling along at a snail's pace. I went from obsessive calorie counting, being incredibly scared of high calorie foods to the point that I'd wash clean bowls before using them in case there was 'calorie contamination' and quite frankly I was a mess of a person. I'm almost a month in and I've eaten doughnuts, cakes, chocolate, ice cream.. things that I never thought I'd eat again. And I've gone out for dinner several times. I don't calorie count at all any more. The change in me is miraculous.

I just think it's the best way to go, really. Not only do you restore your weight but it makes you much more normal about food and in a really short space of time.

I am a million times happier than I was a month ago. I owe this woman my life.

[DefinitelyImperfect]

I am definitely more a fan of the "slow and steady wins the race" plan. I am currently in treatment and am on a weight-restoration meal plan. I can not say how many cals it is. I know that I could add them all up (they use units, not calories), but do not think that would be healthy for me. However, I do not think that it is much over a normal maintenance amount even with the two meal replacement drinks thrown in, and do know that I am not gaining weight quickly (or at all, apparently, hence the extra drinks). Since I have had this ED for almost 20 years, there have been multiple recovery attempts. I have even gained on what would be a maintenance amount of calories for a healthy person (though the weight gain stopped once I got to a healthy weight). The idea of following a plan like Gwyneth's ... well, it would be a very bad idea for me, personally.

The thing is, recovery is extremely individual. Find what works for you and stick with it, and don't be afraid to ask for help. I do know for sure that recovery attempted alone is not likely to succeed. Good luck and take care

[LoveSpell]

hi definitelyimperfect,
um may i ask have you tried the gwyneth approach and failed (relapsed) because you found it wasnt right for you and now you are now trying the steady approach or you only tried the steady approach? thank you so much everyone for sharing!!!

[itaka]

I'd like to say that I just started recovery but in all honesty, I haven't taken the plunge yet. I'm a bit confused as well but I think I'd go for the higher calorie one (the 3k+ one) but still watch the junk food intake. I mean, our goal is to get HEALTHY. And 3'000 healthy calories (rice, pasta, meat, home cooked meals, fruits and vegetables, oils, nuts, etc.) will do our bodies far more good than 3'000 calories of burgers and fries. Our bodies have a lot of repair to do, so I'd like to think that by putting lots of nutrients (and the occasional junk) our systems, our bodies will be able to heal better. But you'd be best off if you asked your doctor or nutritionist.

[chiquepea]

^ That's actually not true. Your body's craving calories and doesn't give a shit where they come from and 'junk' or processed foods are actually great because they're easily digestible!

You should just eat whatever you crave and not deprive yourself in favour of being 'healthy' because that's disorder in itself. You should eat what you fancy

[Trying_2b_Happy]

It's nice hearing so many different viewpoints about the process, as I am about to enter into recovery soon I think as well. I know that I have a major sweet-tooth, but I also get worked up about fast-food and junk. I just feel happier mentally thinking that if I have to eat a lot, that at least it's good for you too! However, this might go down the tube once I start the meal plan thing, no clue yet. Just be sure to stick with it :')