I interviewed my friend
Claire over the phone who was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa around 6 months
ago. She has recovered really well since her lowest weight at 41kg for a girl
of 173cm in height.
Claire and I have been good friends since year 7 and it was
halfway through year 12 when I noticed she was losing a lot of weight and
towards the pointy end of our HSC was when she was diagnosed. I asked if she
could describe what a day in her life was like just before she was diagnosed,
she said:
"Well, the first
thing I did when I woke up (as sad as it sounds) was I felt for my hipbones to
see if they were there. After this I instantly thought about what I'm having
for breakfast, and everyday for 4 months it was 1/3 of a cup of rolled oats and
2 egg whites which was a total of 150 calories. My calorie goal for everyday
was to consume less than 600 calories a day. After I finished my breakfast I
would go to school, but on my mind constantly would be what I would be having
for lunch. I always skipped recess and drank excessive amounts of water which
caused my sodium levels to fall to dangerously low levels."
If I were to pretend I was
a practising dietitian helping Claire in her recovery, I would advise that
Claire slowly increase her calorie intake to a healthy level in order to aid
gradual weight gain. As a SMART goal I would ask Claire to eat 1000 calories
per day during Week 1, 1400 calories per day during Week 2, 1800 calories per
day during Week 3 and 2200 calories in week 4.
This is a measurable and
realistic goal as I don’t want to frighten her with a high calorific
consumption too early since she was so used to consuming 600 per day. After a
month I would consider her progress and adjust to a higher calorific intake if
more weight was still needed to be gained.
