Recovering from Extreme Diet

DeterminedTree
DeterminedTree Posts: 1
in Getting Started
Hi everyone! Im an 18 year old male and starting in about February I severely restricted calories to 1200 or less by only eating one meal a day. I went from an overweight 170 pounds (I’m only 5’8) to a healthy 130 pounds from February-July. When I started trying to maintain in July, I found that my sex drive had severely decreased and my sensations of fullness/hunger were totally messed up. Now, I am ALWAYS hungry and never full, no matter WHAT I eat (protein, fiber, carbs etc) and am always thinking about food and my next meal. I can eat and eat until I’m bloated and my stomach hurts but my mind tells me I want more. I thought these feelings would eventually go away through eating at my maintenance calories (from July to now, which is over 3 months), but they still haven’t. I don’t know what to do, and Im starting to become depressed. I’m in college now and it’s SO MUCH harder being around food, seeing people eat, and ALWAYS wanting more. I don’t need to gain weight, as I am at a healthy BMI for my age, body type, and height -- but I don’t know any others ways to recover than just to binge. I damaged my endocrine system and I’m hoping it isn’t permanent. Anyone else out there have any similar problems?

Replies

  • Dr_Mouse
    Dr_Mouse Posts: 14 Member
    Hey there,

    I know exactly what you're going through because I suffer with the same sort of mentality. Starting at around sixteen, I began to fixate on body image, "healthy" eating and exercise. By the beginning of this year, I'd developed the idea that I had to "diet" or eat below maintenance to achieve any sort of self worth. Like you, I reached a point where 1200 to 1500 was my daily calorie allotment, even though I exercised hard everyday and my body clearly needed more food.

    For the record, I'm 5'4", 18 year old female and weigh about 100. I'm also in college, and yes, being around food and seeing people eat, I am CONSTANTLY hungry!! But I know the hungry feeling is in my head, because my stomach can be full. I just want to eat All. The. Time.

    Perhaps the fact that you've severely restricted your calories has caused you to disregard your body's hunger signals. Sounds like you've suffered through binges (worst feeling in the world, I know). My only advice I can offer --because I too am struggling with this-- is to be very conscious of what your body/stomach is telling you and not your head. Learning how to trust yourself around food is a slow process, but an important one in the path to a healthy relationship with food.

    What helps me is listening to my body when I eat. Sometimes those feelings of satiety come as late as 20 minutes after a meal. You don't have to be stuffed to have eaten enough. I find that eating lots of vegetables/leafy greens helps add bulk to my meal, as does plenty of liquids. Hopes this helps. If you need someone to vent to, feel free to shoot me a friend request. I'm totally going through the same thing you are!

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