What I eat in a day

I thought it would be a good idea to share with you all what I eat on a typical day now that I am recovered. I don't eat exactly the same amount of calories every day but I know about what I eat and I never eat any less then 2200 calories. I eat relatively healithily, not because I am scared of typically unhealthy foods, but because I enjoy healthy foods as well as nourishing my body. I find I feel much more energetic and happy when I eat nutrient rich foods so thats why I chose to eat them most of the time. I thought I would share with you what I haveveaten over the last 3 days, so that you can get a good idea of what I usually eat :)

Tuesday

Meal 1: 1 large bowl of raspberry oats (equivalent to 2 typical portions) made with half a cup of soy milk, 1 cup if water and 1 scoop of protein powder

Meal 2: 1 vanilla and banana shake made with 1 banana, 250mL soy milk, 2 scoops of herbalife vanilla sport f1 shake mix and 8 ice cubes

Meal 3: 3 rice cakes topped with tomato and cheese, 3 rice cakes topped with egg (1 boiled egg mixed with mayo), 1 apple, 1 strawberry Chobani greek yoghurt

Meal 4: 1 herbalife protein bar and 1 banana

Meal 5: went out for dinner and ordered chicken schnitzel with gravy and vegetables

Meal 6: 1 yoplait forme yoghurt and 1 peach

Wednesday

Meal 1: 1 large bowl of oats (equivalent to 2 typical portions) made with half a cup of soy milk, 1 cup if water and 1 scoop of protein powder with 1 diced pear

Meal 2: 1 herbalife chocolate shake made with 1 scoop of dutch chocolate f1, 1 scoop if creamy vanilla sport f1 and 300mL almond milk

Meal 3: vegetable lasagna and salad (lettuce leaf mix, diced beetroot, cherry tomatoes, fetta cheese, olive oil)

Meal 4: 1 tub of chobani plain greek yoghurt mixed with 1 scoop of herbalife chocolate rebuild and blueberries (picture below)

Meal 5: 3 scrambled eggs cooked with 1 diced tomato and 60g of feta cheese with vegetables (baby broccoli, beans, pumpkin and carrot)

Meal 6: herbalife protein bar, watermelon and salt and vinegar rice wheels

Thursday

Meal 1: 1 chocolate and banana shake made with 1 banana, 250mL soy milk, 2 scoops of herbalife f1 dutch chocolate shake mix and 8 ice cubes

Meal 2: 1 large bowl of oats (equivalent to 2 typical portions) made with half a cup of soy milk, 1 cup if milk and 1 scoop of protein powder

Meal 3: 3 rice cakes topped with tomato and cheese, 3 rice cakes topped with egg (1 boiled egg mixed with mayo), 1 yoplait forme berry yoghurt, watermelon and 2 pieces of herbalife chocolate

Meal 4: 1 small packet of salted popcorn, 1 protein  bar and grapes

Meal 5: honey soy chicken stirfry with hokkien noodles and vegetables (broccoli, carrot, beans)

Meal 6: Herbalife mug cake made with 2 scoops of chocolate f1 mix, 1 scoop of protein powder, 1 egg and 1/4 cup of milk microwaved and topped with greek yoghurt

Throughout the day I also snack on little things spontaeously like herbalife chocolate, grapes, rice cakes etc as I am walking through the kitchen (i.e. I have eaten 14 pieces of herbalife chocolate (which is actually higher calorie then normal chocolate) over the last 4 days. I drink atleast 2.5 litres of water per day which I add herbalife products to like Aloe, herbal tea, active fibre complex, hydrate or drive. I also take quite a few supplements as part of my nutrition program (i.e. 3 multivitamins, 3 cell-U-loss, 2 joint support, 1 chitosan fibre, 1 probiotic, 2 NRG's).

I currently have the best relationship with food I have ever had and I couldnt be happier. I no longer take anti anxiety medication and just feel so wonderful everyday, knowing that I am fueling my body with delicious and nutricious foods. In order to recover, you need to have a good relationship with food and you must be able to trust your body to tell you what it needs. Food is not something you should ever be scaredbof, it is simple fuel for your body and something that should be enjoyed. If you have any questions about my intake, feel free to leave a comment below.

Food diary

I Herbalife shake made with 250mL lite Soy milk, 1 banana, 3 strawberries, 6 ice cubes, 2 scoops of vanilla nutritional mix and 1 dash of cinnamon

2 portions of honey roasted nut oats made with 125mL soy milk, 250mL water, 1 scoop Herbalife personalised protein powder, 1 tsp vanilla essence

Baby spinach, cherry tomatoes and scrambled eggs (2 eggs, 1/4 c soy milk) on two slices of wholegrain toast and topped with tomato relish + 1 small cookies and cream protein bar

1 packet of salt and vinegar Mini rice cakes, 1 apple and 1 Chobani Strawberry yoghurt

Beef cannelloni with boiled veggies (sweet potato, carrot, broccoli and peas)

Herbalife microwave mug cake (1 egg, 1/4 cup of milk, 1 tbs protein powder, 2 tbs cookies and cream nutritional shake mix) topped with natural greek yogurt

Throughout the day I also make sure I stay hydrated with plenty of water,  herbalife peach tea and herbalife Aloe concentrate I also take 4 different supplements, 3 times per day :)

Eating healthily and exercising

A common misconception is that people who eat healthily and work out want to lose weight. I have received various different comments over the last couple of months about what I eat and the exercise I do. People say things like 'you dont have to go to the gym, you are already skinny' or 'why do you only eat healthy foods, you dont need to lose weight.' 

What these people fail to realise is that I dont eat healthily or exercise because I am trying to lose weight. In fact I am actually trying to gain weight at the moment. I do these things however because I love and respect my body and want to keep it healthy and strong. 

Eating healthy foods does NOT necessarily cause weightloss if you are still getting enough calories. It just means that the foods you eat nourish your body and make you feel more energetic, instead of harming your body and making you feel lethargic and slugish.

Similarily, exercise does NOT lead to weight loss as long as you are fueling your body with enough energy. The health benefits of being physically active are endless and include things like disease prevention and more efficient respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic functioning. As well as improving your physical health, exercise also has the ability to improve mental health.

I suppose an important question to ask yourself if you have had an eating or exercise disorder before is 'why am I exercising?' or 'why do I eat healthily?' If the honest answer is because you enjoy these things and want to nourish your body and allow it to be healthy and strong, then I see no reason why you shouldn't be doing these things. 

If however your honest answer to these questions are more 'disordered' reasons, then I would question whether you should be eating healthily or exercising, as doing these things will most likely be destructive to you and your mental health.

Today's visual food diary

BREAKFAST: Herbalife shake made with 3 scoops of vanilla nutritional mix, 1 scoop of personalized protein powder, 1 cup if almond milk, 1 banana, 7 strawberries, cinnamon and sweetner

MORNING TEA: 1 sachet of berry oats, 1diced apple and 150ml of almond milk, 1scoop of protein powder and cinnamon

LUNCH: Pasta salad (80g of pasta shells, 5 slices of diced ham, 1 boiled egg, capsicum, 2 tbs of  fat free mayo) served on a bed of baby spinach with a cup of hot peach herbalife tea

AFTERNOON TEA: 1 banana and 1 large protein bar





TEA: Vegetable Lasagna with lightly salted vegetables (carrot, broccoli, peas and sweet potato)

DESSERT: 1 red berry layered Danone Greek Ultimate Yoghurt with a large pear

Today's intake

Morning shake (6:00am)
2 scoops of french vanilla nutritional shake mix, 1 scoop of personalied protein powder, 250mL of almond milk, 1 banana, 3 strawberries

 

Morning snack: (9:00am)
Cup of herbalife peach tea and
1 portion of uncle toby's oats prepared with 150mL almond milk and mixed with 1 apple and cinnomon

Lunch (12:00)
Salt and pepper calamari with brown rice and quinoa and mixed vegetables

Afternoon tea (3:00pm)
1 tub of diced peaches, 1 protein bar and 1 boiled egg

Tea (6:00pm)
Beef and vegetable soup and 3 slices of buttered toast

Supper (8:00pm)
1 yoghurt and 2 kiwi fruits

Herbalife

Ever since starting my recovery I have really started to learn the importance of looking after your body. While I have done a much better job of this over the past 12 months then I had previously, I have decided that I would like to take that a step further and really start to nourish my body. I am hoping that this will improve my energy levels and get my body functioning optimally so that I can feel happier and healthier.

I have decided to start a Herbalife program which I hope will help me to feel more energetic and which I also hope will help me to fuel my body. Its by no means a weightloss program, but instead a wellness program which I may transition into a muscle building program if I decide to in the future. If you would like to find out more about Herbalife, follow this link. I have decided to start off with a protein plus starter pack as well as a herbal peach tea which is really supposed to help with your energy levels.

I have also joined a gym which I hope will allow me to grow fitter and stronger whilst taking the herbalife products and of course eating lots of good foods too. I am defintely not planning on taking the herbalife products instead of eating, I just plan to incorporate them into my diet. For example I might have a tea with my breakfast, and a shake with my lunch and add the protein powder to things I already eat ie. My morning oats or other snacks.

I have made my consultant aware of my history of anorexia and she is really excited for me as she believes Herbalife will really help me. She too was once really underweight and Herbalife has really helped her to transform her body and life. She asked me to write 20 goals and also do some before shots so that we can use them to see any progress I make. Here they are :)

1. Increase my confidence

2. Learn to eat more intuitively 

3. Cut back on sugary processed foods 

4. give my body the nutritious food it deserves

5. Get stronger

6. Gain some weight (in the form of muscle)

7. Become more energized 

8. Tone my muscles

9. Get fitter

10. Do a fun run for charity

11. Have a well balanced life 

12. Develop a healthier relationship with food

13. Stop counting calories

14. Learn to listen to my body

15. let myself rest when I need to

16. Develop a more positive body image

17. Prove to other sufferers that full recovery from anorexia is possible 

18. Increase my positivity and enthusiasm 

19. Run 10 kilometers

20. Visit the gym regularly  (atleast 3-5 times a week)

Making eating a priority

Something I have learnt through my own recovery is that in order to get better, you really do need to make food a top priority. 

For example while it may not be normal to set an alarm so you can get up early to eat breakfast, it may be essential to ensure you get enough energy in throughout the day. 

Even now that I am no longer trying to gain weight, I feel as though I dtill need to make a very special effort just to get enough food in each day so I dont lose any weight. For example because I cant make my breakfast early due to not wanting to disturb other people in the house who are sleeping, I make myself a pre breakfast snack (or atleast have a supplement drink) instead of morning tea and then I have breakfast at my old morning tea time.

Also, even though others may not eat if they dont feel hungry, we cant do that. I eat atleast a bare minimum number of calories over 6 meals no matter how hungry I may be. This is what I had to do while I was gaining weight and that is what I dtill do today to ensure I don't lose any weight.

The point I am trying to make is that in order to have a successful recovery, you will have to make eating a top priority. You cant just not eat because your busy or because your not hungry. Food is our medicine and in order to recover we need to have our medicine in the correct amount and also often enough. 

Eating more both in and after recovery

You may find, that in order to gain weight early on in your recovery, you dont have to eat that much food. As time passes however and as your metabolism gets faster, you will most likely have to keep increasing your intake in order to keep gaining weight.

As explained ithe science of eating disorders website;

'Weight restoration is a crucial component of anorexia nervosa treatment. It is a challenging process for a multitude of reasons. Adding to the complexity and the challenge is the fact that during weight restoration, individuals with anorexia nervosa tend to require increasingly more calories to maintain the same rate of weight gain.'

Even though continuously having to increase your intake can be really hard, I think that you shoud consider this as a good thing as it means your metabolism is repairing and functioning properly again. Even after you reach a healthy weight, you will most likely have to eat more then others around you in order to just maintain your weight.

This was also explained in the same article;

'After achieving a healthy weight, individuals recovering from anorexia nervosa still typically need to eat more calories to maintain their new healthy weight — more than healthy individuals of the same weight who do not have eating disorder histories'

This is why I have to take particular care to ensure I am always eating plenty now, even though I am only trying to maintain my weight. It also explains why I accidentely lost some weight a couple of months ago, even though I was eating the same amount as those around me. To be honest, I enjoy having a fast metabolism now and am glad that I am now able to eat so much, without gaining weight.

If you find you are able to keep gaining weight on a low intake of food in your recovery, I would reccommend increasing your calorie intake anyway. Otherwise there is a chance that your metabolism wont repair which will mean you will be stuck eating small amounts of food forever. And eating normal portions once you are weight restored may lead to weight gain.

Eating extra sometimes

One of the hardest things to learn for me in anorexia recovery is that there really is nothing at all wrong with eating more than usual sometimes. Eating extra food does not necessarily lead to weight gain and it does not make you greedy either.

We need to remember that our bodies are amazing enough to use up the energy we give it, even if sometimes this is a little more than other times. It is only when we consistantly give our body a lot more energy then it needs, that weight gain occurs.

I only started to actually believe this when I experienced it myself first hand. Somedays, usually on the weekend with my boyfriend, I eat a considerable amount more than I usually do and on these same days, I usually exercise less too. I dont gain weight however, as I first feared I would.

Obviously my body just puts the extra energy to good use or perhaps it does get stored and is then used later. Either way I dont experience any noticeable weight gain and chances are, you wont either. So dont worry about eating a few extra calories here or there or exercising less somedays either.

So if you go out with friends and enjoy something delicious with them or just feel like a treat, dont be frightened to just do it. Food really isnt something to be frightened of and it isnt something that will hurt you. Food is simply what fuels our bodies and provides us with the energy we need to live happy and healthy lives.

If you still dont believe me and are frightened you will gain heaps of weight if you eat slightly more then you usually do, then please just give it a try anyway. It may seem scary but it is the only way you will see that eating extra sometimes cant hurt you.

In fact, I believe that understanding this fact really is an essential part of the recovery process and you wont be able to make a full recovery until you realise this. So no natter how anxious you feel about eating extra, I highly suggest you try to do it sometimes anyway as this is the only way you will be able to overcome this irrational fear.

Eating more regularly again

After deciding that I simply wasnt ready to try and eat intuitively again yet (due to accidentely losing a bit of weight) I have started eating 6 meals each day again. I have also staryed roughly counting my calories for each meal again, to make sure I am eating enough too.

The truth is, when I was eating less,  I didn't really miss the extra food at all and didnt feel very hungary at all which made ne falsely believe I was eating enough. I have found that my appetite has returned now that I am eating more again which is great! I suppose I have just started making food and eating one of my main priorities again, instead of just eating when I have time or am hungary.

For example, I have started getting up at 6 in the morning and having a supplement drink and piece of fruit, before having breakfast at 9 and then lunch at midday. Where as before I wasnt eating breakfast until 9 (which was my first meal of the day) and then only having lunch.

I dont know if I am eating enough yet to gain weight but I atleast know that I will not lose anymore weight. If I still haven't gained any weight after a week or so of eating what I am, I will have to increase my intake again so that I can get back to the weight I was a month or so ago.

The extra food is giving me more energy and I already feel as though I can think more rationally and clearly. I guess this just demonstrates the importance of eating to keep us happy and healthy. We should always keep in mind the fact that food really is medicine for us!

Getting anorexic thoughts more often

I am still feeling much better and no longer consider myself to be 'suffering' from an eating disorder anymore, however I admit I still do get anorexic thoughts sometimes. Lately, I feel as though I have been getting more and more of these anorexic thoughts regarding eating and exercise and the only explanation I can think of is that it is due to the few kilos I have accidentally lost over the last month or so.

I really didnt mean to lose this weight however it just seemed to happen as my eating routine was changed quite a bit when I moved  to Launceston. I also wasnt keeping a check on my weight as I was before I moved so had no idea I was actually losing weight. I suppose that this just goes to show how sensitive my body still is to change and that I really do need to make an extra special effort to ensure that I am giving my body the energy it needs.

Obviously my weight has fallen slightly below my healthy natural set point weight, which has caused me to have more unhealthy thoughts. Most likely due to my brain chemistry not being as stable as it was when I was a few kilos heavier. The types of thoughts I have been having have not been about wanting to lose weight or be smaller than I already am. They have more been about being frightened I am eating too much or not exercising enough, which will lead to weight gain.

I have been trying my best to challenge these thoughts and am trying to do the opposite of what they tell me to do but it is proving to be quite difficult. I know in my heart that I need to change something, as otherwise I can see things spiralling out of control and I really dont want to risk having a relapse. I know that I really am yhe luckiest girl in the world to have found my wonderful boyfriend and I love my life so much, I really dont want anything to ruin that.

So I think that my best option is to try and regain the weight I have recently lost. This will hopefully get me back to my healthy set point (the weight where I am able to think most rationally and healthily). This will also mean that I will be doing exactly what my anorexic thoughts arent telling me to do, which I know from experience will make me stronger again and my anorexia weaker again. I dont expect this is going to be easy however I have done it once, so I know I can do it again! I am strong enough to do this!

Afterall, even though gaining weight seems a little scary, I  was perfectly happy with my weight before I lost weight, so there is no reason why I cant be perfectly happy at that weight again.

Back to work

I cant believe the weekend is over already and now I am going back to work for another week. I really feel as though I could do with a day resting after working all weekend but that will just have to wait for Thursday as that is my next day off work. After a good nights sleep last night, I am not really feeling too tired. In fact I am feeling quite energized! I just ate breakfast and when I finish writing this post I am going to get ready and take Tess for a walk.

Breakfast: Toast with Cashew Spread and Vanilla Oats

At the moment I am really enjoying getting outside and taking Tess for nice long walks but I don't feel as though I HAVE to do this which is good. Afterall, it is so easy to get addicted to exercise or to use it as a compensation tool for eating and I really don't want to do anything like that. Ass long as I am exercising purely for enjoyment and health I am happy but I do not think that it is healthy for me to exercise if I don't enjoy it.

I am feeling quite healthy at the moment. My skin is good which I think is a refection of my overall health and my mental health seems to be quite good too. I would like to eventually stop taking my anxiety medication as I don't think I really need it anymore. I think that becoming weight restored has allowed my mind to get much better too and this has allowed me to start thinking more clearly. It really is amazing how much eating more and gaining weight can help you in all aspects of life, including your anxiety levels.

Today I am working at the bank which should be ok. It is only a 7 hour work day which is good as I do find working at the bank quite exhausting. I suppose the reason why I find it quite tiring is because there is always so much to learn and you have to be actively thinking all the time. There is just so much to do and so much to learn but I know that I can only do my best and that I cant stress myself out. Afterall, stressing out isn't going to help me at all, it will just make learning everything more difficult.

I hope that everyone had a fantastic weekend and that your week ahead is fantastic too! Remember you can do anything you set your mind too, as long as you believe in yourself! x

Cant forget to eat

In a way, I think it is a good thing that I am thinking about food so much less lately as this just means that I have so many other things to think about and food isn't necessarily always on my mind anymore. In saying this however, I know I still need to be careful not to cut my intake down through forgetting to eat.

I have always suggested to my readers that being busy is not an excuse not to eat enough and I still believe this 100%! It really can be hard sometimes though, as I dont always feel hungry and I often feel as though I am only eating for the sake of it and that I am not listening to my bodies hunger cues at all. 

I am starting to feel ready to start eating intuitively, however I am worried that if I only listen to my hunger cues, I wont be eating enough as I really am not getting hungry lately. Perhaps if I continue eating the same amounts for my main meals but just try to eat intuitively for my snacks that would be ok? thThe other option is probably to eat as I currently am on the days I am working throughout the week but then trying to eat intuitively on the weekends. As my weekends are usually pretty crazy at the moment anyway. 

I think that it is incredibely important that I keep in mind the fact that I am still in recovery from an eating disorder and that recovery still needs to remain my biggest priority. Even though my mind is getting better every single day I know I am not quite fully recovered yet and I refuse to stop fighting until I reach full recovery.

On that note, I am hungry at the moment so I am off to make myself some breakfast. Have a good day everyone. X

I love food

I have always loved food, even when I was starving myself I still loved food. Most of the time I really look forward to all of my meals (as long as I am in control of what I am eating) and I am generally happy when it is meal time and I know that I can eat again. I did not feel this way when I was in hospital or when my parents were in control of what I ate however. In these instances I absolutely dreaded meal times and did not enjoy a single thing I ate. When I didn't let myself eat food, I tried to satisfy my love of food by cooking food for others, watching others eat and also watching television shows about cooking and eating food.

One of the reasons that I decided I would increase my intake to real recovery amounts was because I wanted to ensure that my metabolism repaired properly, so that I would be able to eat normal amounts of food in the future without continuing to gain weight. I am so thrilled that my metabolism is working efficiently again (although it is probably ruunning a little too fast at the moment) as I know that this means I will be able to enjoy lots of delicous foods in the future without having to worry about unwanted weight gain. I believe that this will allow me to stay happy and healthy and live an eating disorder free life in the future.

I highly reccommend eating large amounts in recovery for everyone, but especially for those who love food like I do and those who want to be able to eat lots of lovely foods in the future without gaining lots of unwanted weight. Also, for someone who loves food, eating large amounts in recovery can actually be quite fun (if you can try and block out what your anorexia is trying to tell you). Here are two delicious meals I ate tonight. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every single bite of each meal which is something I never thought I would be able to do again in my life, when I was really sick.

 Beef canneolli, corn on the cob, broccoli, peas and carrots

Hot lemon pudding with vanilla icecream

So if you anorexia is still stopping you from enjoying food, don't let this worry you as one day it will eventually get easier and you will be able to truly enjoy food again one day. All you need to do is keep believing in yourself and keep fighting for recovery. If you push yourself trough every meal, whether you enjoy it or not now, eventually you will truly be able to enjoy eating again. Trust me, it will happen (as long as you keep eating!) :) x

Food is our medicine

I know I have talked about this on my blog before but I think that it is an incredibely important message to get out there as realilsing it really is esseential to recovery, so I am going to talk about it again. In the years I spent losing weight and also mantaining my weight, people tried to tell me that food was my medicine and that through eating, would come recovery but I didn't believe them. I could not see how eating food would change the way I felt towards my weight and food and I was convinced that I would never be able too eat proper recovery amounts.

I just couldn't see how gaining weight would make any difference to what was going on inside my head and gaining weght just seemed far to difficult.  The best decision I ever made was when I committed fully to my recovery and decided to give eating real recovery amounts a go. Since then I have been able to develop a whole new attitude towards recovery.

Through giving my body the energy it needs through food, my mind has started to repair which means that I can think a lot more clearly and can fight my anorexia much more successfully. Now I have the ability to think for rationally and clearly and I know that this is only because my brain is repairing.

I know how scary the prospect of increasing your intake to a proper recoevry amount may seem, but unfortunateely the only way you can overcome this fear is by doing it. Try not to think about the weight gain or any of the other things that eating more may bring. Just think about the fact that food is your medicine and that you WILL NOT be able to successfully recover unless you increases your intake to proper recovery amounts.

Please trust me when I say that the weight gain really does get easier as it continues as your mind is also getting better from the extra food and you can therefore handle it more than you would have otherwise. Some people regain their weight while eating lower amounts (i.e. 2000 calories) and I honestly think that the weight gan would be a lot harder for them, as their minds are not repairing at the same time so their anorexic thoughts are still as strong as ever.

Through repairing your mind with food, you are able to better accept your body and learn to accept it the way it is supposed to be. Ihave gained 10 kg throughout my recovery so far and I can honestly say that I like my body just as much now as I did when I was 10kg lighter. I think that this is because as my mind repairs (due to eating the extra food) my body dismorphia has also improved so I am starting to see my body more accutrately.

Also whenever I do feel self conscious about my body, the non anorexic part of my mind is strong enough to tell me that there is nothing wrong wrong with my body and that they are only anorexic thoughts I was having. Eating recovery amounts does not only let your mind repair but the rest of your body too.

Your heart and other organs are all damaged whilst you are starving yourself and the only way they can repair themselves is if they have the energy neccessary to do so. The body truly is a wonderful thing if you think about it. The way that it is able to undo a lot of the damage we have done to it is truly remarkable so I think the least we can do is provide our bodies with the energy they need in order to do this.

The Food Intake Guidelines

Here are the guidelines for when 2500 calories applies as a minimum daily intake for recovery:

1. You are a 25+ year old female between 5’0” and 5’8” (152.4 to 173 cm) and,
2. The regular menstrual cycle has stopped and/or,
3. You have other symptoms of starvation: feeling the cold, fatigued, foggy headed, hair loss, brittle nails, dull skin and/or,
4. Even if you were only underweight/dieted for a very short space of time (a few months) these guidelines apply. And remember “underweight” is relative to your body’s optimal weight and is not a clinical measurement.

Here are the guidelines for when 3000 calories applies as a minimum daily intake for recovery:

1. You are an under 25 year old female between 5’0” and 5’8” (152.4 to 173 cm) or an over 25 year old male between 5’4” and 6’0” (162.5 and 183 cm) and,
2. The regular menstrual cycle has stopped and/or,
3. You have other symptoms of starvation: feeling the cold, fatigued, foggy headed, hair loss, brittle nails, dull skin and/or,
4. Even if you were only underweight/dieted for a very short space of time (a few months) these guidelines apply. And remember “underweight” is relative to your body’s optimal weight and is not a clinical measurement.

Here are the guidelines for when 3500 calories applies as a minimum daily intake for recovery:

1. You are an under 25 year old male between 5’4” and 6’0” (162.5 and 183 cm) or female with young children or an equivalent and unavoidable level of activity.
2. The regular menstrual cycle has stopped and/or,
3. You have other symptoms of starvation: feeling the cold, fatigued, foggy headed, hair loss, brittle nails, dull skin and/or,
4. Even if you were only underweight/dieted for a very short space of time (a few months) these guidelines apply. And remember “underweight” is relative to your body’s optimal weight and is not a clinical measurement.

If you are taller than the guidelines listed above, then add 200 calories to the guidelines that match your age and sex. If you are shorter than the guidelines listed above, then you may eat 200 calories less than what is suggested for your age and sex, however these are all minimum guidelines and everyone is expected to eat well above them for a good portion of the recovery process in any case. Please see this this blog post for more details: Extreme Hunger I: What Is It?

*REMEMBER THESE ARE MINIMUM GUIDELINES, YOU MAY NEED TO EAT MORE IF YOU STILL FAIL TO GAIN WEIGHT EATING THESE AMOUNTS!