normal weight-minimums or hunger cues?

I hope it is okay that I ask a question here. If not you can delete it

I'm recovering from AN, within the normal BMI range (lower end) and gaining 1kg/week on average on the minimums.
I wanted to ask: when 'should' I start eating by my hunger cues? I read the FAQ etc. but am not sure what the advice is: Should I eat the minimums until I stop gaining on them (at my set point) or should I start eating by my hunger cues once my starvation symptoms faded away? What happens if I keep eating the minimums?

Of course its ok This is a difficult question as it is very individual, but I think you have to answer yes on all (or most) of these questions to be ready to eat after hunger cues;

1. Are your starvation symptoms gone? (such as feeling cold, no period etc)
2. Does your hunger cues lead you to a non-restrictive intake?
3. Are you doing better mentally?
4. Do you FEEL ready?

If your hunger cues lead you to 2500+ calories and you feel mentally ready to follow them and do not restrict you can eat by them if not, you should wait a little bit until you feel ready xx

Thank you for your answers! @Amalie and @jennysrecovery

I'm just wondering if I stop gaining in case I reach my set point weight and keep eating the minimums...?
My starvation symptoms are almost gone, I think. But I feel like I mostly want to start eating by my hunger cues because I'm afraid that the weight gain won't stop if I keep eating the minimums.

Some just keep on eating for example 3000 until their gain stops. I ate 3000 until I reached a so-called 'healthy' weight, then gradually started eating after hunger cues. Gained a little on hunger cues, then it stopped. My hunger cues then probably lead me to more in the 2500-range on average, 3000 on some random days; especially those around ovulation.

The weight gain will stop! For many realrecovered eating by hunger cues means eating the minniemums as their mentabolism sped up. Maybe you can try eating after hunger cues but control if you ate enough? But it is possibe that you may overshot your set point weight as your body has to repair a lot of damage and it needs much energy for that! But if so you will lose to your set point after your body has completely repaired itself.

This is a great idea, I will try to listen to my hunger. And I think make sure it's 2500-ish(?)

You don't know how your kind answers helped me! I've been worrying about that for weeks now!❤️

No worries, let your body do its job! <3

jennysrecovery wrote:minniemums

love that^^ minniemaud minimums = minniemums <3

aoiua wrote:

jennysrecovery wrote:minniemums

love that^^ minniemaud minimums = minniemums <3

ohh haha that was actually by accident xD but wow that fits perfectly :D

Why does it seem like so many recovered girls eat around 2500 calories, not 3000? I know that you are weight restored, but Your Eatopia still claims that 3000 calories is what healthy, young girls eat on average?

Everybody's differnet! Some need 3000, some 2800 and some 2500!

Yes, everybody is different. Some eat 3000 and maintain, others 2500 It depens on age, gender, activity levels, metabolism etc. It is also normal to vary your intake.

Amalie wrote:Some just keep on eating for example 3000 until their gain stops. I ate 3000 until I reached a so-called 'healthy' weight, then gradually started eating after hunger cues. Gained a little on hunger cues, then it stopped. My hunger cues then probably lead me to more in the 2500-range on average, 3000 on some random days; especially those around ovulation.

So we can eat according to hunger cues and intuition after reaching a healthy weight (I'm thinking of BMI 20-21 as that's about where my natural weight seemed to be) with period? How do you know if your hunger cues lead you to a non-restrictive intake? What is a non-restrictive intake? I'm 5'3", 21 years old, and female. Not a fan of working out or sports in general so probably only semi-sedentary or lightly active. If I recover on 3000 will I be likely to be able to maintain on 2500-ish? I see the number 2000 everywhere (even calculators give me not much more than that when I enter my projected post-weight restoration stats) but that seems miserably low to me.

eline wrote:Why does it seem like so many recovered girls eat around 2500 calories, not 3000? I know that you are weight restored, but Your Eatopia still claims that 3000 calories is what healthy, young girls eat on average?

Not everyone follows MM. There are a number of points that are particularly controversial, one of which is the minimums + no exercise for life thing. I think it's been pretty well-established in scientific studies and corroborated by anecdotal evidence that recovering anorexics need more calories than normal people with the same stats for a certain period (usually 3-6 months) even after weight restoration due to ongoing repairs, but it's not necessarily the case that you need to stay on minimums either at that intermediate stage or beyond. It's a highly individual matter but from what I know, while many professional doctors/dieticians and treatment programmes do recommend amounts similar to the MM minimums, they usually suggest some lowering or following hunger cues (which in many cases do not lead to minimum levels though in some cases they do--again it's highly individual).

Healingmel just said exactly what I was about to say. Also check out this: http://www.scienceofeds.org/2014/05/07/hypermetabolism-in-anorexia-nervosa/

Amalie would you please answer my questions too? How to determine whether my intuition/hunger cues are leading me to non-restrictive intake levels? Should the appropriate levels be roughly determined by numbers given by scientific studies? Like according to the link you gave me (very helpful, thanks!), in the 3-6 months after weight restoration a recovering anorexic typically needs 50-60 cals/kg to maintain so a 50kg person would need 2500-3000 cals per day, which is quite close to minimums for gaining. So does that mean I should still count calories after weight restoration and not rely on hunger cues? Or should I work out some kind of meal plan or 'acquaint' myself with what 2500-3000 cals looks like and make sure I eat that for 3-6 months? Also 3-6 months seems a rather indeterminate period of time so that doesn't tell me when I no longer need as many calories, but I wouldn't want to have to weigh myself as I think that would be just too much stress. I guess my question is how to decide when is the time to eat intuitively (and that includes the question of how to decide if im eating enough).

And then I'm also freaking out that after 3-6 months my caloric needs will start decreasing (to below 40 kcal/kg so less than 2000 kcals for 50 kg) but i'll be used to eating 2500+. And 2500+ doesn't even seem a lot to me, it seems pretty normally if i think about it (like 3 meals of 700 cals each plus a 400 cals snack seems reasonable to me?) and to have to maintain on less seems to mean having to restrict.

Sorry I'm totally anxious about the whole recovery/maintenance thing. Thanks for your help! xx

Keep on eating the minimums until you have a bmi of ~20 as there is a lower risk of relapsing. Then try to eat after hunger cues but make sure you ate enough (at least 2500cals) in the end of the day. (But I'd say when you staywd sedentary the whole day sth like 2400 is also okay but not much less) 2500 is what any average person needs and as your mentabolism sped up during recovery I'm pretty sure you will be able to maintain on tht amount of calories! Just eat enough until you have found your set point, your hunger cues should have be pretty normal then, and you will maintain your weight but maybe check every few days if you eat enough in the beginning xx
Hope it's not too confusing I just wrote down what came to my mind