How would increasing my intake after restricting affect me?

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bluecat145
bluecat145 Posts: 144 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I've been eating about 900-1000 calories a day recently and I'm, starting today, going to eat 1200 calories no matte what. I was diagnosed with anorexia in October and though I was weight restored (5'4 88lbs to 120lbs) I began to relapse and now I'm 101-103lbs. I'm realizing now that I'm heading down the same miserable road again and I want to stop it.
I would like to know, hopefully from someone who has experienced similar things, what I should expect with the increase. I am not decreasing my exercise (walking 2 miles a day). Will I gain weight? How much and how fast? I don't need exact answers, but I know that if I don't have an idea of what will happen, I'll panic and get worse.
Any help is appreciated. I currently do not have a nutritionist (I'm trying to get a different one), so I can't ask one.

Replies

  • merde_il_pleut
    merde_il_pleut Posts: 17 Member
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    You will probably gain some weight, maybe a few pounds, but it'll be nearly all fluid and glycogen.
  • artlover47
    artlover47 Posts: 76 Member
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    I'm no expert, but 1200 still looks like it would put you in weight loss mode, even at 101 pounds. I think you need to be eating more like 1450 to maintain if you are lightly active and walk daily. You can check out some weight maintenance calculators online, but I think 1200 is still too low. I hope you can see a nutritionist soon and get a professional opinion. I can't say how fast any gains would occur after restriction, though...please don't panic. At 101 you are underweight and need to gain a bit to be healthy. You are smart and realize that, and it is great that you are searching for advice and support. Maybe someone who has battled similar eating disorders and recovered can be more helpful in answering, but while starting at 1200 is good, working up to more calories from there would probably be best. Best wishes!
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    You might even continue to lose weight, but if you think that's something doable go ahead and start there and adjust after a week. Try adding calories every week...hope you find a good nutritionist to help you!

  • MargueriteMuguet
    MargueriteMuguet Posts: 230 Member
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    Hi, I was in the same position as you. So my weekly calories used to be around 950. I was afraid of everything you are too. I upped my cals so that my weekly average was 1050 cals.
    I didn't look at a day to day but just at the average of the week. So some pressure was off, but I was still in control. It turned out that I averaged around 1200 pretty easily and had lost minimal weigt.
    The next week I continued to average around 1200 and gained the same amount of weight back. But my measurements were the same.

    So at that point I realised that 1) i could still up my cals slowly ([50-100]) without feeling overwhelmed, out of control or gaining wight. Everything was fine and this helped unblock alot.
    2) i used to research everyones opinion or personal story but this was/is my OWN. What I do will impact my life, body, weight etc. So I started to do what felt right for ME and took a step back when I read other people s experiences. Because they will differ greatly.
    3) i was in counseling at that time and that really opened my mind to love and appreciate my body and everything I was capable of doing, so I only wanted the best for me and that meant taking in enough food :-)

    I wish you all the best on your own journey and I have complete faith you will get where you are the best version of you :-)

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