When you look at the photos of young girls who died of anorexia, horror seizes. A tribute to fashion for the perfect figure finds its fans. Only here the view of those who want to lose weight and lose weight to death and those who understand that this is a mental illness differ from each other. The Medical Encyclopedia characterizes an eating disorder as a type of anorexia: anorexia nervosa.
Who is affected by anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa affects people who are too concerned about their diet and appearance. This disorder is persistent voluntary fasting to maintain excessively low weight inappropriate for age and height. The reason is the groundlessness of the fear of getting fat. It occurs in both sexes, but adolescents, maturing girls and women are most often affected.
The symptoms are continued dieting even after reaching a weight less than appropriate for height and age and despite excessive weight loss and emaciated appearance and weight loss - calorie counting becomes an obsession. As a rule, the diagnosis is made in the late stages of the disease. Anorexia nervosa should be diagnosed with Simmonds disease, adrenal insufficiency, neuroses with anorexic syndrome, depression, schizophrenia.
Sad consequences
Anorexia nervosa eventually leads to pathological changes in the body: cessation of menstruation, changes in body hair, muscle weakness, dehydration, anemia, low blood pressure, weak heart rate, constipation, mouth ulcers, tooth decay, metabolic disorders, decrease in body temperature. Prolonged anorexia often disrupts the functions of the heart, liver, bone marrow and causes a decrease in calcium in the bones (osteoporosis) and changes in internal organs, as a result of eating a small amount of food and insufficient intake of microelements and vitamins useful for life, etc.
Treatment includes gradually changing the diet, under the supervision of a physician, to ensure adequate caloric intake and gradual weight gain; individual, group or family therapy. Life-threatening weight loss requires hospitalization. Unfortunately, sometimes it is too late, the organs undergo changes, and even if doctors snatch such patients from the “paws” of death, they will forever remain disabled.
After discharge from the hospital, patients need long-term contact with a psychotherapist. In one third of the girls, even after treatment to restore body weight, menstruation does not occur, as a result of which they urgently need treatment from a gynecologist-endocrinologist.
A bit of math
Calculation of body mass index (BMI) (the ratio between weight and height). BMI is a rough guide, as people can differ in bone density and muscle mass in total body weight.
BMI = Weight (kg) / Height (m) squared.
- 16 kg/m2 or less Pronounced weight loss
- from 16 kg/m2 to 18 kg/m2 Insufficient (deficit) body weight
- from 18 kg/2 to 25 kg/2 Norm
- 25 kg/2 to 30 kg/2 Overweight
- from 30 kg/2 to 35 kg/2 Obesity 1 degree
- from 35 kg/2 to 40 kg/2 Obesity 2 degrees
- from 40 kg/2 and more Obesity 3 degrees
His calculation: Divide your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared. Example: BMI \u003d 68 kg: (1.72 m x 1.72 m) \u003d 23. (from 18 to 25 is the norm).
Symptoms of anorexia
Symptoms of anorexia are a combination of primary and subsequent signs by which you can recognize the onset of this terrible disease and try to prevent its development.The standard of female beauty in the modern world is thin, graceful and slender girls, shining with their beauty on fashion catwalks and from the screens of Hollywood films. It is no wonder that most teenagers, especially the fair sex, with all the fervor of youthful maximalism, strive to resemble their famous idols in everything. Therefore, they consciously and purposefully refuse food, go on strict diets and simply starve themselves in order to achieve aristocratic pallor and physique like that of well-known stars. But such a mockery of one's own body does not pass without a trace, most often it leads to the development of such a disease as anorexia.
What is such a disease? Why does it occur and how does it start? What are the first signs of the disease and what should you focus on?
Anorexia and its varieties
The very name "anorexia" is borrowed from the Greek language and literally translated as "no appetite." It manifests itself in a complete refusal to eat, which leads to a rapid weight loss and entails mental disorders and nervous disorders, the main manifestations of which are a phobia of fullness, a manic desire to lose weight, unreasonable anxiety about increasing body weight, as well as a false painful perception of one's physical body. forms.
Approximately eighty percent of patients with anorexia are adolescent girls from twelve to twenty-four years old. The remaining twenty percent are women and men of more mature age.
The worst thing is that this disease leads to very sad consequences and in twenty percent of cases ends in death, the vast majority of which is suicide. Anorexia is considered an occupational disease of models, where it accounts for approximately seventy-two percent of cases. Timely qualified medical care leads to a complete recovery of patients only in forty to fifty percent.
Unfortunately, this disease has become so deeply embedded in everyday life, has spread so widely among the population, that in some countries it is forbidden at the legislative level to give work to excessively thin models or anorexic models with unhealthy thinness.This disease has several varieties.
According to the mechanism of development, anorexia happens:
- neurotic - when food refusal is caused by a strong negative emotional background, pathologically affecting the cerebral cortex;
- neurodynamic - when the decrease and loss of appetite are due to the impact on the brain of strong non-emotional stimuli, such as, for example, strong and intense pain;
- neuropsychiatric - otherwise neurological, nervous, psychogenic anorexia or cachexia, which occurs against the background of a purposeful and conscious refusal to eat and is considered as a severe mental disorder - one of the varieties of self-destruction, classified by several degrees of severity.
In the countries of the European Community, the use of sibutramine was suspended in 2010, when the European Medicines Agency published the results of studies on the risks of side effects of the drug: the drug should not be taken by patients who have ever had diseases of the cardiovascular system - it can cause tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, increased blood pressure , as well as convulsions, dizziness, dysmenorrhea and over 20 other side effects.
Motivator from the 40 kg community
fluoxetine
He's a prozac. This is not a weight loss drug, but a strong antidepressant, one of the side effects of which is loss of appetite. A person suffering from depression, when taking fluoxetine, will notice an improvement in mood, a decrease in anxiety and fear, and normalization of sleep. A pronounced effect will appear after a week of taking the drug. In the event that fluoxetine is suitable for the patient. If not, then the impressive list of side effects of taking fluoxetine is not at all the worst thing. At one time, the pharmaceutical company that produced Prozac hid the fact that more than 2,000 people committed suicide while taking fluoxetine drugs. Despite the fact that before that, suicidal thoughts did not bother them, despite the depression.
Aspirin or turmeric? 8 Contraceptive Methods You Shouldn't Try!
Hellish cocktail: ephedrine, caffeine, aspirin. Ephedrine is a psychoactive poisonous alkaloid, a raw material for the production of drugs containing methamphetamine and ephedron. The storage, use and sale of ephedrine in Russia is prohibited, but this fact does not stop anorexics. It is impossible to find ephedrine in its pure form, but ephedrine-containing preparations are easy: for example, cough syrup "Bronholitin". The standard composition of the cocktail is 25 mg of ephedrine, 250 caffeine and 250 aspirin. The girls take this mixture three times a day. Allegedly, it helps to burn fat at lightning speed. At the same time, naturally, it adversely affects the cardiovascular system.
Community motivator 40 kg
Laxatives and diuretics
The principle of action of these drugs is clear: the former help to empty the intestines, the latter have a diuretic effect - this creates the illusion of weight loss. Naturally, neither the amount of muscle mass nor the amount of fat from taking these drugs does not change. But problems with the gastrointestinal tract begin from the constant use of laxatives. Diuretics, on the other hand, cannot be used at all without a doctor's prescription: they remove potassium, calcium and magnesium ions from the body. It is very difficult to restore their balance without medical supervision and subject to a half-starved diet.
Underweight is a reason to see a doctor to determine the causes and ways to correct weight.
Body mass index (BMI) calculator
With this online calculator you can calculate your body mass index, BMI (from the English Body mass index - BMI). With the body mass index, you can check the correlation between your body weight and your height and find out if you are overweight or, conversely, if you are underweight. To calculate your body mass index (BMI), fill in the fields in the calculator that correspond to your height and weight. Enter your height and weight to the nearest tenth, then the calculation result will be the most accurate.
Signs of anorexia: psychological changes
Despite the conspicuous low weight, the main symptoms of anorexia are still psychological. It is in the mind of a girl with anorexia that the most significant changes occur, which lead to a mental disorder.
Anorexia starts normally. The psychological impetus to start losing weight is ridicule or harsh statements from classmates / classmates. Sometimes comments about being overweight can be especially traumatic if they are spoken by a guy who has a crush on a girl. The girl's self-esteem is reduced, and after such ridicule, she decreases even more: she begins to think of herself as unattractive and inferior.
At some point, the girl decides to lose weight.
She believes that if you change your appearance, you can immediately become attractive, popular among peers and among the opposite sex.
With such motivation, the girl quickly brings the weight back to normal. Well, if she managed to lose weight reasonably, and avoid harmful diets, taking laxatives, weight loss drugs and inducing vomiting.
What is stopping her from losing weight?
Self-esteem in anorexia is very strongly related to body image. The first successes in losing weight cause real euphoria: the girl feels more beautiful and more successful than before. She sees the envious looks of her friends, the interested looks of the guys, and this is a powerful incentive for her to continue working on her body. Work on the body usually continues in weight loss - the girl is used to this, and her mind has already firmly linked weight loss with popularity, success and happiness.
An anorexic patient perceives the image of her body distortedly: with an extremely low weight, she continues to believe that in some places, for example, on the hips, there is fat left that needs to be eliminated. To convince her is actually useless - neither to parents, nor to a psychologist.
| Learn more: What are the characteristics of teenage anorexia? |
In addition to the obsessive desire to lose weight, an anorexic patient usually communicates less with friends, her circle of contacts narrows. Thoughts and hobbies are related to food: cooking, diets, calories.
The mood of an anorexic patient may be depressed or change frequently. Frequent manifestations of depression, sleep disturbances.
Physiological symptoms of anorexia
The physiological symptoms of anorexia vary depending on the stage of anorexia. With a decrease in weight significantly below normal, all systems and organs of the body suffer, but violations are not always noticeable in the first stages of anorexia: a healthy young body has a margin of safety. The first visible signs of anorexia are:
- problems with the menstrual cycle
- constant weakness
- hair loss, brittle nails
The functioning of the endocrine system is disrupted, the concentrations of hormones, primarily sex hormones, change.
With a lack of protein in food, the body begins to destroy muscle protein, including the heart muscle. This leads to various negative consequences ...
| Read more: physiological disorders in anorexia |
When to see a doctor for anorexia?
As with most diseases, the rule is true with anorexia: the sooner treatment is started, the easier and faster the patient can be cured.
If in the first stage of anorexia you can do without medication, only outpatient treatment, then in the last stages the patient is in intensive care, with a body weight below 35-40 kg and the risk of death. According to statistics, the mortality rate for anorexia without therapy is 5-10%.
Anorexia? We are ready to help you!
| Video (click to play). |
In anorexia, there is a pathological desire to lose weight, accompanied by a strong fear of obesity. The patient has a distorted perception of his image, namely, anxiety about an imaginary weight gain, even if this is not observed. A similar disease is bulimia, with the difference that there is no significant weight loss. And while anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive overeating are to some extent considered separate from each other, many problems overlap.
Usually patients suffering from anorexia achieve weight loss in two ways:
1. Restrictions - weight loss through strict diets with a decrease in the amount of food taken every day and excessive exercise.
2. Cleansing - i.e. by various procedures: gastric lavage, enemas, artificially provoked vomiting after eating.
There is no one reason that can affect the occurrence of anorexia. Usually all three factors are involved:
1. Biological (biological and genetic predisposition)
2. Psychological (family influence and internal conflicts)
3. Social (environmental influence: expectations, imitation framework)
The vast majority of those suffering from anorexia are adolescent girls, although it can affect a person of any age, including boys and men. In developed countries, every second girl out of 100 aged 12 to 24 suffers from anorexia. Anorexia is considered to be a female disease that manifests itself in adolescence. As a percentage, we can say that 90% of cases of patients with anorexia are girls aged 12-24 years. The remaining 10% are older women and men.
Anorexia is sometimes taken into service by girls as a radical, potent means for losing weight. And most importantly, it does not require any costs. All you have to do is stop eating. Most girls with anorexia do not realize that they are underweight. Even if they weigh less than 40 kg, they may feel "too fat". This perception of their body is due to the exhaustion of the body and insufficient nutrition of the brain, so it is almost impossible to convince them otherwise. This makes it difficult to provide timely assistance to patients with anorexia. Some of them know that they are malnourished, but the fear of food is extremely deep. Fear does not disappear, even if the weight is reduced. Moreover, fear and the desire to starve increase as the weight decreases. In other words, the distorted perception of one's body becomes more pronounced the more weight is lost. At the same time, self-esteem of the individual is also distorted, and becomes directly related to the ability to refuse food and achieve weight loss. Weight loss is seen as a sign of success and self-discipline, while weight gain is seen as failure and loss of self-control. Gradually, extreme concern with nutrition leads to the fact that girls become very picky about food, carefully select foods for their diet, at first they avoid mainly carbohydrates and fats, then almost all foods are among the “forbidden” ones. Refusal to eat may look obvious or veiled. Often, refusing to eat looks like a person has already eaten somewhere, sometime, with someone, so do not eat with everyone when they are offered to him - that is, he convinces others that he has already eaten or will eat later, but not now, together with everyone, under someone's gaze. Patients hide not only their illness, but also the feeling of fatigue, chills and weakness that anorexia causes.
Symptoms of anorexia
1. Denial of maintaining a weight minimum, no matter how low it may be.
2. Constant feeling of fullness, in particular certain parts of the body.
3. Eating method: eat standing up, crush food into small pieces.
4. Sleep disorders
5. Isolation from society
6. Panic fear of weight gain
Anorexia nervosa is a severe mental and physical illness characterized by the loss of significant body weight (usually 30 percent or more of body weight, which is appropriate for the age and height of the individual). Anorexia nervosa is primarily associated with a fear of gaining weight on the one hand and a feeling of low self-esteem on the other. Mortality, mortality in anorexia nervosa today reaches 20%. The most common cause of death is exhaustion, impaired electrolyte metabolism. In about half of cases, the cause of death is suicide - this once again suggests that severe emotional disorders occur in anorexia nervosa.
Most of the violations are reversible if normal nutrition and weight can be restored. Anorexia is mainly treated on an outpatient basis. Only with persistent refusal of food and a growing decline in nutrition (cachexia) resort to inpatient treatment. Therapy may include drugs to correct iron and zinc deficiencies, as well as antidepressants. In the hospital, additional high-calorie nutrition is prescribed, with a stubborn refusal to eat, parenteral nutrition (intravenously). The approximate duration of the active phase of treatment is three to six months.
The methodology used by the Weight Management Studio allows you to fight anorexia, a disease much more severe than obesity. The main factors that allow success is a change in metabolism, which leads to a general change in the endocrine state of the body, which in turn affects the change in the psychology and emotional state of the patient. The Zvyagintseva diet used by the Weight Management Studio contains game elements, such as constructing a menu from letters according to formulas, which causes anorexia patients to become interested in working with food. In the future, they are instilled with a healthy proper diet and lifestyle. The final result is not only a return to the corridor of healthy weight, but also the formation of the correct psychology of behavior when eating, i.e. Zvyagintseva's diet works simultaneously with both the physiological and psychological components of anorexia. The Zvyagintseva diet is a unique diet that allows you to both reduce and gain weight, as well as reinforcing healthy eating habits and the art of managing your weight. This is achieved by individualizing the diet for a specific person, his type of habits, taste preferences, health status. This ensures its effectiveness both in the fight against obesity and anorexia.
Yuri Babalov
In preparing the article, materials from Wikipedia, psychologist Pchelina M., and psychologist Akopyan R. were used.
Always great at counting calories in food, but their ideas about what the diet should be, as a rule, are completely wrong. Most of them believe, for example, that fats and carbohydrates should be completely eliminated from the diet. Therefore, at the beginning of therapy, clarification and advice on a balanced healthy diet is required. It is extremely important to convince the patient of the need for a varied diet.
In stationary conditions, it is desirable to conduct an initial observation for 1-3 days in order to study patient's eating habits. With severe cachexia, feeding through a tube is recommended; this procedure usually improves the condition quickly.
An example of adjusting weight and nutrition in anorexia nervosa
Patient aged 17 178 cm tall and weighing 36 kg, upon admission to the hospital, she reported that in recent weeks she had completely stopped sleeping. She was troubled by obsessive thoughts that the next day she would have to eat half an apple or a whole apple and one or two tablespoons of yogurt (daily diet!). These thoughts led to severe sleep disorders. The patient was tube fed and as she gained weight, the sleep disturbances and obsessive thoughts disappeared.
Weight gain should be gradual, but not too much fast. Too fast weight gain is unfavorable prognostically and makes it difficult to work out and normalize the perception of one's own body (Remschmidt et al.).
The figure shows body weight dynamics(BMI) with inpatient treatment lasting 12 weeks. Patient V. gave a rapid weight gain. However, a follow-up study (3 months after discharge) showed that in patient Y., whose weight increased gradually, the success of therapy was significantly more stable. Patient V., on the contrary, experienced a new, critical weight loss.
Of these observations(Remschmidt et al.) it can be concluded that in the process of inpatient treatment, one should strive for optimal, desired weight gain, which, along with other factors, is important for prognosis.
Most of the patients need detailed instructions regarding the amounts of food, the time and duration of their intake, preferably in the form of a meal plan.
According to plan, reception write happens 6 times a day. Due to this, the portions are not too large and are tolerated by patients normally. The number of calories consumed is guided by weight gain; according to this increase, an increase in activity is planned.
IN first phase of treatment well established operant methods aimed primarily at weight gain. Both eating habits and weight gain are subject to operant conditioning. Operant reinforcement of weight gain proved to be practically effective. Reinforcing weight gain has a number of advantages (Steinhausen): patients can take responsibility and make their own decisions about eating behavior; the typical fight between staff or parents and patients over eating behavior is reduced; the reinforcing criterion can be precisely and relatively independently controlled in certain time intervals.
In practice with patient a behavioral plan resulting from the deprivation of reinforcements in a hospital setting is agreed upon; reaching a certain weight gain, the patient receives additional privileges that act as a positive reinforcement.
Operant reinforcement of weight as a goal of behavioral therapy is fraught with the danger of manipulation by the patient. The usual ways of such manipulation are drinking water or eating large amounts of food before measuring the weight (up to the danger of provoking a bulimic attack). Reinforcement should be phased out before the end of therapy.
Treatment are planned in such a way that the patient gradually increases her own control over food intake and achieves the desired behavior, first in the hospital, and then at home. The sustainability of this behavior can be tested by lengthening the treatment holidays.
Along with behavioral psychotherapeutic interventions in the first phase of treatment, they include the establishment of a supportive, empathic contact. But problems and conflicts are not directly discussed yet, since many patients in a state of extreme weight loss cannot yet accept psychotherapeutic proposals; this is due to cognitive changes caused by starvation and cachexia.
Video anorexia - documentary
In case of problems with viewing, download the video from the pageReduxin
In any pharmacy, you can safely buy the drug "Reduxin-light" - this is not a medicine, but a food supplement (BAA), the main active component of which is linoleic acid. Quite another matter is the drug "Reduxin". This is a prescription drug. The active substance is sibutramine, an anorexigenic drug. The drug artificially causes a feeling of fullness, due to which the patient, suffering from obesity, ceases to exceed the daily calorie intake. True, sibutramine can only be used in complex therapy, under the constant supervision of a doctor, and if other methods of combating obesity have not worked, and the patient has a high risk of developing diseases associated with overweight. Anorexics, of course, do not have obesity, but there is a lack of body weight. And this body, already weakened, is forced to deal with the side effects of sibutramine.
In the countries of the European Community, the use of sibutramine was suspended in 2010, when the European Medicines Agency published the results of studies on the risks of side effects of the drug: the drug should not be taken by patients who have ever had diseases of the cardiovascular system - it can cause tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, increased blood pressure , as well as convulsions, dizziness, dysmenorrhea and over 20 other side effects.
fluoxetine
He's a prozac. This is not a weight loss drug, but a strong antidepressant, one of the side effects of which is loss of appetite. A person suffering from depression, when taking fluoxetine, will notice an improvement in mood, a decrease in anxiety and fear, and normalization of sleep. A pronounced effect will appear after a week of taking the drug. In the event that fluoxetine is suitable for the patient. If not, then the impressive list of side effects of taking fluoxetine is not the worst thing at all. At one time, the pharmaceutical company that produced Prozac hid the fact that more than 2,000 people committed suicide while taking fluoxetine drugs. Despite the fact that before that, suicidal thoughts did not bother them, despite the depression.
Popular
ECA
Hellish cocktail: ephedrine, caffeine, aspirin. Ephedrine is a psychoactive poisonous alkaloid, raw material for the production of drugs containing methamphetamine and ephedron. The storage, use and sale of ephedrine in Russia is prohibited, but this fact does not stop anorexics. It is impossible to find ephedrine in its pure form, but ephedrine-containing drugs are easy to find: for example, cough syrup "Bronholitin". The standard composition of the cocktail is 25 mg of ephedrine, 250 caffeine and 250 aspirin. The girls take this mixture three times a day. Allegedly, it helps to burn fat at lightning speed. At the same time, naturally, it adversely affects the cardiovascular system.
Community motivator 40 kg
Laxatives and diuretics
The principle of action of these drugs is clear: the former help to empty the intestines, the latter have a diuretic effect - due to this, the illusion of weight loss is created. Naturally, neither the amount of muscle mass nor the amount of fat from taking these drugs does not change. But problems with the gastrointestinal tract begin from the constant use of laxatives. Diuretics, on the other hand, cannot be used at all without a doctor's prescription: they remove potassium, calcium and magnesium ions from the body. It is very difficult to restore their balance without medical supervision and subject to a half-starved diet.
diets
The most popular two-week anorexic diet contains virtually no food at all: 6 apples and 2 cucumbers - this is the only solid food that is allowed to be eaten in 2 weeks!
1 day - green tea;
Day 2 - 4 cups of kefir;
Day 3 - 1 bottle of mineral water;
Day 4 - 1 apple;
Day 5 - 4 glasses of milk;
Day 6 - green tea;
Day 7 - 4 glasses of milk;
Day 8 - 2 apples;
Day 9 - a liter of kefir;
Day 10 - 2 cucumbers;
Day 11 - green tea;
Day 12 - a liter of milk;
Day 13 - 3 apples;
Day 14 - mineral water.
Community motivator 40 kg
On the so-called “drinking” diet, you can’t eat solid food at all. Only liquid. 10 days. For the most persistent - 14.
Between diets, girls switch to “healthy eating”: thin slices of whole grain bread, 20 grams of dark chocolate (99% cocoa), a pinch of oatmeal, seasoned with grated green apple for sweetness - the usual menu for the day.
self-torture
Naturally, the body is still trying to fight hunger, and girls, despite taking drugs, have “breakdowns”. What they call "gluttony", but which in essence is an attempt to eat a normal portion of ordinary food - after all, after a long fast, eating more than a normal portion is problematic. It hurts.
Motivator from the 40 kg community
And after failures always comes punishment. That is, self-torture. Posting photos of yourself with the caption "I'm fat" in a sit down is the mildest possible punishment. You can also put a photo in an album for criticism and get a dose of insults. You can punish yourself with a dry fast. Dry means you can't even drink. No food, no water.
When obsessive thoughts about food arise, anorexics are advised to imagine something terrible instead of food: worms, rotting corpses, or excrement. Do unpleasant things. Punish yourself with hard physical work.
And the last way - cuts. Anorexics cut themselves (mostly legs, many then post photos of cuts on their thighs on the net). In fact, the problem of self-harm is not the problem of anorexia. Self-harm is an unhealthy attempt to eliminate emotional pain, intense anger, and frustration. It can bring short-term relief both on an emotional and physical level: on the one hand, there is a feeling of control over one’s own body, on the other hand, a cut provides a surge of adrenaline, which, in turn, makes past experiences irrelevant. But not for long. Then again comes the feeling of guilt, shame and the return of previously experienced emotions.
WikiHow is a wiki, which means that many of our articles are written by multiple authors. When creating this article, 36 people worked on editing and improving it, including anonymously.
Number of sources used in this article: . You will find a list of them at the bottom of the page.
Anorexia is a serious disease that affects millions of people. If you have anorexia, it is extremely important for you to gain extra weight. To get rid of this disease, you should change your attitude to nutrition, as well as determine what types of foods are most useful for you.
Steps
Increasing your calorie intake
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Prepare for the physical consequences of the recovery process. Many anorexics have an aversion to food and a fear of being overweight, and these feelings are exacerbated by treatment. Often such people, having gained some weight, are disappointed and do not want to continue treatment. Try to overcome these physical effects, remembering that they are temporary.
Change your attitude towards food. Many people suffering from anorexia believe that the diet consists of constant malnutrition, and therefore they develop this disease. Try to view food not as a necessary evil, but as an integral part of a healthy lifestyle - this will help you gain weight and improve your health significantly.
Consult with others. Anorexia is a very dangerous disease that you are unlikely to be able to get rid of without the help of a psychologist, simply by gaining weight. There are many psychotherapeutic approaches that have proven effective in treating eating disorders, and the right counselor can help you get rid of the problem.
Make an appointment with a doctor who specializes in nutrition. As already noted, anorexia is a serious condition, and you are unlikely to be able to completely get rid of it without professional help, just by trying to eat more and gain weight. For weight gain, qualified assistance from a nutritionist is extremely important. Gaining weight is important, but there are some factors to consider that can be harmful to your health. Your doctor will check you regularly to monitor your health as you recover.
- Eat more often. Remember to eat regularly, with extra snacks between meals; eat as soon as you feel hungry - this will help you recognize the signals of your stomach. Get in the habit of lightly snacking on healthy snacks throughout the day. By doing so, you will increase the number of calories you consume without overloading your stomach.
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Accustom yourself to normal portions. Gaining weight after anorexia will be difficult because your perception of portion size is skewed. Getting used to normal portions is not easy, but an important element of the recovery process.
- Sometimes in the course of getting rid of anorexia, people experience a strong craving for fast food and sweets, caused by an acute feeling of hunger in the early stages of recovery. You need to fight this feeling, because your body, weaned from proper nutrition, requires healthy and natural foods, not unsupported calories.
- At the very beginning of the recovery process, eating can be painful, accompanied by stomach cramps and nausea. These are normal and the symptoms will lessen over time. If the discomfort is so strong that you are unable to eat, talk to your doctor about how to reduce its intensity.
Eat food rich in nutrients. Eat high-calorie foods that contain enough nutrients to replenish your body's energy costs. At the same time, although some foods, such as fast food, are high in calories, they are less healthy than other, more natural, high-calorie foods.
Increase your calorie intake whenever possible. If you have the opportunity to add 50-100 calories, take it. The extra calories contribute to weight gain.
Drink high-calorie drinks. A significant number of calories can be obtained from drinks containing high-calorie nutrients. Drinks induce less satiety than solid foods, so they can be consumed in large quantities without feeling full.
Changing attitudes about weight and nutrition
Changing eating habits
Pay close attention to your food intake. How you eat is just as important for weight gain as what you eat. Mindful, intelligent eating is practiced in Buddhism and aims to fully experience the taste of food and enjoy it. The ultimate goal is to satisfy the physical needs of the body, primarily hunger, and not to eat for the sake of eating or just out of boredom.
Eat throughout the day. Anorexia is often associated with poor eating habits. Your body needs sources of energy throughout the day, especially if you are trying to regain the normal weight lost due to anorexia. To gain weight in the right and healthy way, eat regularly, with 3-4 hour intervals between meals.
