Meal Planner For Anorexia Recovery

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that usually requires psychiatric treatment. It disproportionately affects girls and young women but can be found in both genders at all ages. Diagnostic criteria include a disturbance in the perception of body shape or weight, a refusal to maintain a minimally healthy weight, an extreme fear of gaining weight and a lack of menstruation in a formerly menstruating female.

Anorexia Treatment

At the center of anorexia treatment is individual therapy. Depending on the mental health professional and the individual's needs, this may involve cognitive-behavioral therapy or psychoanalysis. Hospitalization is often required. Medication is occasionally used, and family therapy is explored when needed. Group therapy is sometimes utilized. The patient must learn and practice normal eating behaviors; this is often fraught with stress and small relapses, but a return to normal weight and the development of a healthy eating pattern is possible.

Inpatient Meal Planner

Inpatient recovery involves close monitoring during mealtimes. Typically the individual isn't given a choice as to foods served at first. Instead, she is given three nutritious meals a day and is expected to eat a certain percentage of the food. Requirements are generally 75 to 80 percent, but this varies by the program. She is typically forbidden from using the bathroom for one hour after meals even if she doesn't have a history of purging, as anorexics who have never vomited may be tempted to vomit in such a restrictive setting.

The inpatient dietitian designs a diet that will help the person with anorexia slowly gain weight while replenishing nutrients she has depleted over the past months or years. The dietitian may avoid serving foods that she knows will likely trigger a negative response, such as fried or fatty foods.

Outpatient Meal Planner

Outpatient meal planning often involves the guidance of a dietitian or nutritionist as well as the individual's psychiatrist or other mental health professional. The goal of meal planning is to ensure adequate nutrition while not overfocusing on food. The individual may be encouraged to eat the appropriate number of calories for her height, weight and age at first, with a goal to gain weight deferred to the second or third week of recovery. Depending on the dietitian's advice, salad vegetables and other low-calorie foods may be forbidden for the first few months. Mealtime should be kept as stress-free as possible. A typical meal planner includes three small to moderate-sized meals and one to three snacks. Fluids are also encouraged; recovering anorexics be expected to drink one liter of fluid each day.

Setting Reasonable Expectations

Recovering anorexics should be monitored, but making a big deal about every meal can be counterproductive. Ultimately the individual must be accountable to herself and her therapist for her eating behaviors. She may be required to document her intake as well as the percentage of food she eats during each meal. It is important for family members to understand that anorexia is as much about control as it is about food and that the recovering individual needs to find opportunities to feel in control of her life without resorting to extreme calorie restriction. Treatment typically takes many months, and it may be a year before a normal eating pattern is evident.