weight loss again

Question
Hi, my best friend was a fruitarian for a few years and she was very skinny. She was 5'1" and weighs 88 lbs! Her family convinced her to eat like them and she now four months later weighs 116 lbs. She is now very upset and refuses to leave the house. I really want to help her but she says she cannot stop eating "normal" now that she started since her cravings drive her. I was wondering if she went back to her fruitarian diet, will she be 88 lbs again? I don't want to see her depressed. She was super healthy even though she was super thin. Now that she's eating "normal," she gets palpitations, fatigue and sick a lot.  

Answer
Hello, Lee,
I did a lot of thinking about your letter.   I spoke to 1 friend who is very slim (dances for Boston Ballet) and another with a very slender daughter who is becoming a model.  Each told me that 88 pounds really is not a healthy weight, and even questioned whether an 88 pound woman would get her period, which is a very important part of development.  None of my friends who either are super thin or have super thin children believe that your friend was healthy before. She can get away with a lot at 19, but the longer she stays overly thin, the bigger the price she will pay.

She must feel "fat" at 116, and could perhaps lose 10 pounds and still be at a healthy weight.  But I really cannot say anything lower is even healthy.  Her family are really the people in the position to help her with that.

Your friend's eating habits are way to complicated for me to comment on.  "Normal" eating often sickens me, also, but not to the degree you imply for her.  She really sounds like her issues have to be dealt with by either a mental health professional or a nutritionist.  I most strongly recommend that she focus on why she is not feeling well and for the moment forget about her losing weight.  That seems to be a side-issue to her fatigue, depression and sickness.  If you truly do care for her, get her to a professional.  It doesn't have to be a years-long thing.  She just may need a tune-up to help her get her eating on the right track and then she will reach a weight she is happy at.

I do wish you success at being a good friend, Arlene  

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