Have any of you ever known someone with an eating disorder? I am pretty worried about my friend Jen who just had her first baby a month ago. She barely gained 15 lbs her entire pregnancy, and she weighs less now than before she was pregnant and she’s breastfeeding. She eats virtually nothing all day, maybe a yogurt, and then takes the baby on 2 or 3 walks. And she’s sleeping very irregular and is absolutely exhausted all the time—even for having a new born. She's probably 5' 7" and might weigh 100 lbs right now. (It's Jen Meacham--she was in Katie's class at Mercy.) She's always been tall and skinny, but given the tiredness and the not eating it has become very worrisome. She's looking very "Kate Moss" right now. I don't like seeing her so run down.
On the fat side of things....I ate a lot yesterday. Food was oatmeal, yogurt, a cookie, 100 calorie pack, laughing cow cheese, 5 crackers, banana, grapes, string cheese, and a LD bean burrito for dinner. I had a few spoons of Ben & Jerry's too. Mainly I picked the heath bar bits out of the ice cream.
Exercise was good BUT no pilates. I walked 12, 338 steps though. I did remember my situps. Today I am shooting for 5000 steps because there won't be time for the treadmill tonight since I am dishing with Amy & Katie.
2 comments:
If she has a four week old baby at home and is breastfeeding, then the irregular sleeping and exhaustion is par for the course. You just don't get to sleep for more than an hour or two at a time and usually never more than five hours total in a day (and that's a good day!). It's also really hard to eat with a newborn around until you master the art of cooking and eating one-handed. Plus you often just forget--keeping up with a newborn is about the most difficult thing in the world, and when you throw in the fog of exhaustion, it's easy to just lose track of what you're supposed to be doing for yourself. Showering regularly also takes a backseat.
Which is not to say that there might not be a problem. There are two things I can think to do--first of all, eat lunch with her (I'm assuming she's still on maternity leave? I hope? No new mother should go back to work that soon--that's just asking for health problems for everyone.). Get something tempting and healthy for both of you and go visit her, hold the baby, and let her eat. My work friends brought me pizza one day and it was the best thing I had ever tasted. While you're eating, tell her that you are worried about her health because of overdoing it physically while not eating enough. She might be able to put your fears to rest, or you might be able to make some suggestions--offer to go grocery shopping so she has food around that's easy to eat with a baby in tow. If you are comfortable with it, talk to her husband and see if he shares your concerns.
Another thing to look for is if her baby is growing well. If she's truly crossed the line to anorexia, I doubt she'd be able to produce enough milk to keep her baby growing steadily. Once those "maternal fat reserves" are gone (I'm still working on mine!) you pretty much only can produce milk from what you take in.
I don't doubt that a certain amount of it is truly related to just having a new baby and making all those huge life adjustments--but when we had the fondue party for her last Friday night, she barely ate anything. I think I saw her dip 2 pieces of bread in the cheese and that was it for the entire night. She didn't have any of the dessert fondue at all.
I think the baby goes back to the dr in the next week or so for another check up, so maybe that will tell if things are going ok or not. I just don't want to sit back and let everything seem ok if she really needs some help. She if off work for a while--I think she is planning to go back 3 days a week in June. The lunch thing is a good idea--I think she is going to visit 2 friends of ours today at lunch time so I'll see what they say about her eating, and I am thinking of taking a half day sometime next week to go spend the afternoon with her.
Thanks for all the info and suggestions.
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