Male with AN struggling with recovery

History: suffering from depression and AN for the past 9 months. I am 23 years old, 5'11'' and currently *edit*. I bottomed out at *edit*. Before this began, I was between *edit* since about 16 years old. I've been seeing a treatment team and have plenty of support but am still finding it very difficult to recover. I am preoccupied with food all day, every day. Planning meals, trying to balance intake, restricting now to eat later, avoidance. All of these never used to cross my mind.

I am looking for some advice, opinions, and reassurance from others who have been in this situation. I like pretty much any type of food. However, I will find myself only tasting or grazing instead of having a full meal. Extreme anxiety surfaces with eating out. I've become obsessed with checking out menus or recipes.

Also, the physical symptoms (nausea especially) have been improving but still bothersome. I often use this as an excuse to not eat. The lack of energy hasn't improved. I would love to get back to lifting weights and jogging. When is this recommended??

Does anyone have any suggestions of foods or ways to enjoy eating again? I feel that getting past the OCD-like attitude will be very beneficial. I just can't seem to do it. What are some strategies you have used successfully??

Hi surfrx,

Welcome to the forum. 9 months is a relatively short time to have anorexia. It's a good thing that you're in treatment already because people with eating disorders have a higher recovery rate if the disorder is treated within a short period of becoming ill.

Until you get a physical done by a doctor it's wise to avoid exercising again. People with an ED often have imbalanced electrolytes and that's dangerous when combined with exercise. Your treatment team will be better able to advise you when exercise can be started again. Most of the time it takes a while for a person to recover mentally as well because exercise will trigger some of the OCD stuff related to the eating disorder. Many users on this forum have spoken about being triggered back into the disorder after exercising got out of control.

With regards to eating, whenever I restrict too much and then have to re-feed, I use smoothies. They're an easy way to get optimal nutrition and you can customize them however you'd like. Starting with solids right off the bat makes me nauseous and reluctant to eat again. I worked with a dietician at one point in my treatment who helped me develop a menu that was less likely to trigger my disorder. Do you have access to one?

One of the strategies I used to overcome the fear was CBT. Maybe your treatment team is already doing this with you because it's a widely accept form of treatment for people with eating disorders.

Hope to see you around, and that you find the support you need here!

23 year old, male, have been anorexic for four years. i dont exercise but i do mental exercise
trick is, when you think more, solve puzzles, riddles, do math, read, read, read...your mind exercise, consumes glucose but doesnt burn fat

so you get hungry (by doing mental exercise) and the urge to eat returns and since you havent burnt much fat, the food helps you gain weight

First, my complaint. I just had the worst malted milk shake of my life. I don't have AN. Reading the 3 posts above this, it seems to me they all deal with self control and problems with self control.

It's possible to work on self control by working on controlling your thoughts. A simple concentration exercise to work on that is simply counting breaths, keeping your mind on them for as long as you want without losing count. A bit more interesting is to keep your mind on what you're doing by running a constant series of sentences through your head, each starting with the words, "Now I am...." etc. etc. If you try either, I'd like to know whether it helps with your eating disorder.

If you want to talk with me further or ask questions post your reply in the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Forum in "requested post/What is ocd? That's where I'll see it and answer.

Rusty,

While eating disorders do carry a component of obsessions and compulsion and some sufferers experience co-morbid OCD, they are different disorders that require different treatment. I respect there are some overlaps in symptoms and certain treatments work for both disorders, mostly because of the anxiety component. They really, really are different at the core, however.