Getting unwanted recovery advice

Today I went and saw my pharmacist as she wanted me to talk to her about by skin. My skin still isn't all that nice which has been making me feel really self conscious but hopefully I will be able to get on top of it now. I realised yesterday that my shampoo had possibly been causing some of my acne problems as my skin has only got really bad since I ran out of the shampoo I was previously using and changed products. I had never considered that what I was putting in my hair could have been giving me pimples but it only makes sence, that the oils move from our hair and onto the skin and the rest of our face. The pharmacist recommended some new skin care products for me that will hopefully help me and she also reccommended a multi vitamin and zinc tablets that I will start taking each day.

I was honest with the pharmacist and explained to her that I was currently intentionally gaining weight and eating a very high calorie diet and what she then told me surprised me a lot. She told me that just because I am thin does not mean I should eat junk food like cake and chocolate and that it was still damaging my body. She told me not to eat anything that came in a wrapper as it would be bad for my body and skin. While she is entitled to her opinion, I do not think that this was a very good thing to be telling a recovering anorexic.

I have already spent years denying myself of yummy foods and I really dont want to start doing it again. I want to recover from anorexia so that I no longer have to worry about what I am eating, and being super health conscious will not allow me to do that. I know that eating a chocolate bar as well as a pudding for dessert everyday may not be healthy for the average person,  but I believe that it is fine for me to do that, atleast until I am weight restored. And once I am weight restored I would like to think that I can still have those types of foods sometimes, as they are what I enjoy. Afterall, along with the unhealthier foods I eat, I also have a lot of healthy wholegrains, fruit and vegetables as well.




She also told me that I should be doing some toning exercises so that the weight I gain wouldn't just be 'horrible flabby weight.' She said that it would be much better if I just gain the weight in muscle, instead of fat. This I really dont agree with. I know for a fact that our bodies need a certain amount of fat so that they can function optimally and only gaining muscle weight is not healthy in recovery.

Something else she told me that I dont completely agree with is that I should try and eat as little as I possibly can, and just choose the right foods so I still gain weight. I dont believe that eating tiny amounts of high calorie foods is the best way to recover from an eating disorder and gain weight.  Recovery should be about learning how to eat like a normal person again and learning to enjoy eating. It should not be about eating the least amount of food as possible. 

My anorexia was delighted when the pharmacist told me all of these things which is exactly why I am not going to listen to what she has told me to do. While we would like to think that we can always trust professionals when they give medical advice, unfortunately this is not always the case. I would say that the pharmacist has very little knowledge about eating disorders and I therefore do not think she shouId be trying to give advice to people suffering from them. 

Fortunately I am in a good enough mindset so that I know better then to listen to what the pharmacist said to me but I can remember a time when I would not have coped with this 'advice' at all. Hearing these types of things would have once been very damaging to me and my recovery, as I am sure it would be to others as well. Please, dont just automatically believe what anyone tells you about eating disorders and recovery. Even the professionals dont know everything and while we should listen to them as much as possible, it is not always sensible to do so (like with what I experienced today). If you have any doubts about anything you have been advised of in regards to your recovery, dont be afraid to get a second opinion, just in case. 

The same goes with advice and information that I give about eating disorders and recovery. what I share on my blog as well as the advice I give in emails is only based on what I have learnt through my own experiences and research. Just because something did or did not work for me in my recovery, does not necessarily mean that it will be the same for you. I love trying to help others but please always remember that I am not a professional and may not always have perfectly accurate answers to your questions. While I cant promise that my opinion on a topic will always be the best one, I can promise you that I would never make up information or intentionally share misleading information. :)