How many calories will I be forced to eat in recovery for an eating disorder?
Saturday, July 24th, 2010 at
7:09 am
Amanda B asked:
I’m seeking help for an eating disorder. I currently eat about 900 calories a day. I am 5’7 and weigh 95 pounds.
I’m seeking help for an eating disorder. I currently eat about 900 calories a day. I am 5’7 and weigh 95 pounds.
Tagged with: Eating Disorder • How Many Calories
Filed under: Eating Disorders
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hmmm..they’ll probably make you eat 3 large meals and snacks inbetween. they don’t care what’s in the food, they just want you to gain weight.
eat about 1100 to 1300 cause you don’t want to forces your self to hard you will just make it worst, take one step at a time and then later on try 1400-1600
Tthey’ll try to give you mental help so you won’t be so obsessed with the number of calories.
They’ll make sure you eat a balanced diet with a healthy number of calories. Don’t worry, you wont get fat (by normal standards, idk about your standards) All you need is a willingness to get better, and you will be able to eat a meal without focusing on how many calories are in it.
In recovery, your metabolism will speed up drastically, and you will have to eat far, far more than 900 calories every day. In my experience (I’ve been to several treatment centers for my eating disorder), I’ve generally started with a more ‘normal’ meal plan (approximately what a normal person might eat, about 2000 calories) to a much larger meal plan as my metabolism sped up. I’ve been on meal plans as high as 4000 calories, but in general, it’s unlikely that you would be put on such a high meal plan, but it wouldn’t be uncommon for the expectation to be for you to eat 3000 or more calories. However, things are different when you’re working with an outpatient team rather than inpatient, and each person’s meal plan and experience in recovery is very different.
Your treatment team will, however, expect that you eat at least three normal-sized meals every day, include foods from all different food groups, challenge yourself with fear foods and you may be put on a meal plan that works from points or exchanges rather than calories.
I hope that this information has helped, and try to focus not on the calories, food and weight, but on your mental health and happiness. Remember that the food and numbers are only the problem that’s on the surface, and it’s most important that you resolve the underlying issues so that you can then make the change to healthier coping mechanisms.
If you need any advice or if you have any more questions, my email is
Best of luck in recovery!
It depends on the individual. Everybody burns calories differently. Males do tend to burn off energy faster than females, they say. Males might need 2500, females 2000 withought excessive exercise just to stay healthy. It is different for everyone. Restrict rigid exercise, just moderate. Avoid eating too much sugar or fat or you will gain weight so suddenly that it will be all fat tissue. Eat smaller meals 5 to 6 times a day, instead of 3 large ones. A doctor told me that if you eat about 2000 or 3000 calories more than you need, you might put on about half a kilo or so. Experiment. Do not get too obsessed with numbers, though, it might worsen obsessions with eating normally.