How to recover from an eating disorder AND lose weight?

As some of you may know, bulimia is probably the worst idea possible in regards to weight management. Vomiting is hardly effective in keeping ingested calories from being absorbed (10-50%, if you're lucky) and it makes your life hell and causes tons of nasty health problems to boot. (I say this lightly, but I'm serious here)

Being a binge/purger has only made me gain weight. And, I would love to get back down to an acceptable weight without continuing this or starting something worse. I have ceased the binge/purge cycle for about a month, but have noticed I'm eating far less than I should. Somewhere around 800 calories/day. This is not good...and I'm afraid my attempt at recovery has just shifted the eating disorder in a different direction.

I see a psychologist, but her advice is ridiculous. Mostly she just preaches "Eat organic, get your nutrients", but telling me how to eat is hardly effective, since I already know what I'm 'supposed' to do.

So yeah...this is rather complicated. I'm wondering if I just need a psychologist who can actually help me with all the emotional stuff behind this, and talk about something beside her "Amazing Organic Diet". I don't want to go to a treatment center, if I can help it. I just wish there was a way I could stop the purging without taking my calorie intake down so low. I know, it's ridiculous. But, if anything I've become aware of what I'm doing and I need a way to resist the impulse to binge/purge as well as the alternative: starvation. I just want to be healthy and happy, and...thin.

Find another psychologist and talk to your doctor. Sometimes antidepressants like Prozac are prescribed to help with bulimia. First worry about your eating disorder. You'll find if you switch over to a proper diet and a regular exercise plan, you'll naturally lose weight.

simple thing i can advise you..

Get your friends in your place..or go somewhere else...change of atmosphere can help you get back to your eating habits especially if its with a crowd..

or simply get inspired with a special someone..that will bring you xcitement..get prettier..youl never know..your into the same route again..

IT'S JUST A MATTER OF 'POSITIVE THINKING..

I think you need to change psychologists. Giving you a diet plan is not addressing the root of your problem. All eating disorders have a root cause. I am glad that you know you have a problem and that you know you aren't getting through it correctly. Please seek additional advice. My ex mother in law was anorexic and died after she starved her vital organs to the point that her stomach rejected food. i know this isn't the same as binging and purging but the underlying issue for her was control. You need to find out what your issues are and approach those as a resolution to your eating disorder.

my sis has struggled w/ her weight since she was a child. she joined overeater's anonymous in january of this year and has been extremely successful. OA is for anyone with an eating disorder. i have watched her try EVERYTHING - crash diets, binging/purging, using drugs, etc and nothing has ever worked for her until OA. she gets a lot of support from others who really understand what she's going through. she also has a sponsor who she can call whenever she needs to. she looks better than i have ever seen her. and most importantly, she is mentally happier now. OA is something i would highly recommend to you. i wish you the very best... don't stop trying to overcome your bulimia.

and, btw, your psychologist sounds like a nut case. why isn't she addressing the real issues in your life? you don't really have a food issue... the bulimia is just a symptom of underlying problems. OA is structured to help you examine the real problems... please look them up in your local yellow pages...

good luck/God Bless!

What si your weight and height?

I suffered going back and forth between anorexia and bulimia for nearly twenty years. It almost killed me and with the damage I have done to my body, it still could. What had to happen for me to be thin AND eat without throwing it up was to quit obsessing about it. I got the impression from reading your question that you have not reached this point of calling a truce in your war with food and your body. You are screwing with your metabolism (and since everything in the body is connected somehow, you are therefore screwing with all of it). You need to eat. Every day more than once. This is the reality of life. If you eat a vegan, whole-foods diet while making sure you get all the nutrients you need as your psychologist says, and eat a little bit every 3-5 hours but not within 3 hours of going to bed, and do light-moderate cardiovascular exercise every day and weight training at least 3 times/week, you can not go wrong. Maybe you'll be thin and maybe you won't. But you won't be fat and you'll be healthy.
I also recommend Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. It saved my life.
I hope you can also recognize how much progress you've already made. Eating disorders suck so much because you have to face food every day. I imagine other types of addicts having to develop a healthy relationship with their drugs of choice would yield a success rate unmeasurable by modern science. So give yourself credit for that. You are TRYING. That in itself is huge.

Firstly, your "psychologist" is not a clinical dietitian and should not be doling out diet advice.
You really need a therapist who will treat the core and cause of your eating disorder. Call a psychiatric hospital and get referrals to 3 psychologists who specialize in eating disorders.
There are also clinical dietitians who specialize in them, too; make sure the person is a "registered dietitian". The psych hospital can refer you.