How can I do it without gaining loads of weight?

rg4u

I used to starve my body, as well as purge when i ate too much. I got down to a weight of 83 lbs at 5'3''. I then went into treatment and gained weight at over 3,000 calories a day. My metabolism seemed to have sped up. However I would also do a lot of jogging in place per day. But then when i was discharged I was afraid of maintaining that intake and I did not want to feel like I needed to do the excessive jogging in place so I decreased my calories slowly to 1200 per day (bad I know.) I was still moderately active. I didn't lose any weight however which scared me. Then recently I stopped having time to be active, as I am in the middle of an intense semester at school so I lowered my intake to about 1,000 calories. I still am not losing. I'm assuming I am deeply in the starvation mode everyone talks about.

My question is, I KNOW i need to increase my calories. Right now I weigh 108-109 lbs. But how can I do it without gaining loads of weight? I am 21 years old and people my age need a ton of more calories usually to maintain their weight but I feel like I lost my ability to do that with my starvation and purging.

Hopeinanguish

Honestly, your situation is so unique that I wouldn't take the advise of anyone on this website. I highly recommend seeing a nutritionist that specializes in helping people who have been through what you have. I'm so sorry you went through that and wish you the best of luck with your recovery!

CassieLEO

Hunny, you should really be asking your health care team about this. ALL those people you probably hated to listen to before. Just trust them to take care of you to finally beat this horrible disease you have. You can do it!!!

JennLifts

If you eat at maintenance, you shouldn't gain weight. Obviously 1200 isn't maintenance. But I switched my intake over night, and was fine.

Jenscan

Honestly, your situation is so unique that I wouldn't take the advise of anyone on this website. I highly recommend seeing a nutritionist that specializes in helping people who have been through what you have. I'm so sorry you went through that and wish you the best of luck with your recovery!

This. Please seek professional guidance.

gatorflyer

At that few calories, your body is in starvation mode and you'll never lost the weight. You have to take in at least 1200 calories and if you're doing lots of exercise, you will need more. Remember the calories are helping to fuel your body, and your body needs that fuel to properly function, to increase your metabolism, which in turn will help you burn more when you work out or even in general. Common recommendations is to eat back half of what you burn in exercise calories, but that works for some and not everyone. You really need to get your calories to at elast 1200 or you will just stay in this frustrating rut.

Pronoiac

Get an accurate assesment of what your daily calorie intake should be based on age, weight, and activity level minimum (there are even more accurate methods). Then just add 10%-15% to that evry day. Make sure you have at least a modest level of physical activity each week though to keep building lean tissues.

CandeesLand

What does MFP say when you have your settings at maintenance? It takes your current height and weight into consideration. Try it for a couple weeks and keep an eye on your weight to see what it does, if your not getting the desired effect, just change it up again. You could even try adding maybe 50 cals a day until you get to maintenance, just so your body can get used to it more gradually.

Christinichka

I agree seek medical advice. But if you slowly increase your calories, and your calorie burn you should be fine. And yes, you should be eating more calories. At least 1200.

jenseye

I think you should speak with a health professional ASAP.
You don't want to take any chances with your health and there is obvisouly an issue at hand.
Please take care of yourself!

BigBoneSista

Unfortunately you have a very bad relationship with food.

Up your calories in 50 calorie increments every two weeks while implementing some sort of exercise regimen. It can be just a daily walk for 30 minutes. Let the added calories be in form of green veggies & lean protein.

You may gain a few pounds because you've been starving yourself and now your body is going to try to harvest some of those calories BUT bare with it because you will eventually start seeing the results you want to see. You have to allowed your body to reverse the damage you've caused.

pftjill

As a personal trainer-I was taught in school-people with this problem need to seek professional help. I didn't get a degree to help this-nor did most people on here. I would go talk to a doctor. It seems like you still have stuff you need to talk out!!

Barneystinson

As a personal trainer-I was taught in school-people with this problem need to seek professional help. I didn't get a degree to help this-nor did most people on here. I would go talk to a doctor. It seems like you still have stuff you need to talk out!!

^^ This.

AngieM76

Hunny, you should really be asking your health care team about this. ALL those people you probably hated to listen to before. Just trust them to take care of you to finally beat this horrible disease you have. You can do it!!!

I agree with this. With your situation, you need to seek the counsel of your doctor and a nutritionist.

brneydgrlie

1) DEFINITELY speak to a healthcare professional right away.

2) There should be absolutely no need for a grown woman to lose weight at 109 lbs. Why are you trying to?

3) The minimum amount of calories needed for your body to function properly is 1200. And this is 1200 NET, meaning after you subtract any calories burned by exercise. Anything lower for an adult is unhealthy - especially without medical supervision.

4) If you are gaining weight on 1200 calories a day, your body is trying to TELL you something! It NEEDS those calories!

5) And if you were in a medical facility for the purpose of recovery and gaining weight, you should not have been finding time to do things like jogging in place to lose the calories you were supposed to retain. This, and the rest of your post, tells me you should find a counselor ASAP, because you are still fighting against recovery.

FabOma08

Total agreement with everybody except the one that obviously didn't read your post! I've watched my daughter go through this struggle for years and as much as I wanted to help her the fact is this requires professional advise. We all wish the best for you and are here to support you, but please don't take anything you get from here as a replacement for the real deal!

Papillon22

I agree with the aboe posters. In this situation it'd be best to talk with professionals.

I wish you the best of luck

stuffinmuffin

Honestly, your situation is so unique that I wouldn't take the advise of anyone on this website. I highly recommend seeing a nutritionist that specializes in helping people who have been through what you have. I'm so sorry you went through that and wish you the best of luck with your recovery!

Completely agree. This could affect your future health, fertility etc so please, please take care of yourself and ask a medical professional. And a big hug for having the courage to share your difficult struggle with food with us and I wish you all the best on this journey. x

katema62

Hi
If you are just moderately active you should be able to take in 1500 to 2000 calories a day and not gain weight. You may not want to decrease your calories that drastically. If you take in few calories your body will want to keep what you have in order to survive and of course no weight loss. The only way to increase metabolism is to stoke the fire by eating and moderate exercise.

But if you eat certain foods high fiber carbs, protein, and fats like avocadoes and olive oil and eat 5 times over the course of the day to build up to 1500 calories while just doing some lite walking 20 mins a day you should be able to maintain your weight. Don't give up carbs either we need them for fiber, mood, and good colon health.

As you gain weight which may happen a bit don't be scared your body will adjust to the extra calories. Remember when you do not weigh enough for your body type or low BMI your body Does Not need that many calories. That is why a bigger person can eat 3000 calories a day just to maintain their weight. Over exercising at this point will cause you to eat more and though you can take in more calories it will be hard to truly reset you metabolism. Figure out if 110 is where you want to be then over the course of two weeks watch your intake to 1500 to about 2200 or figure out your BMI and adjust your calories for maintenance. Take it slow with exercise and see where your body feels comfortable. i just think over exercising or eating too few calories is not a lifetime commitment that is manageable. Give yourself one day a week to have the things you want so as not to create a habit of bingeing on bad foods. Then the next day adjust those calories...going without the things you love creates a hostile environment within your body. We all deserve to have the things in life we love. Having mental mind games over food should not be one of the fights. Remember its the quality of the food that matters. Good luck!!!

frogmama

MFP is a great place for support from people who are working on maintaining or losing weight. However, it is just that! A group of non professionals, brought together for a common purpose. After reading what you have been through, I would be a bit leery about seeking advice here. Your case seems to be quite unique. You have already had the help of professionals that know the specifics of your situation. I would strongly recommend that you seek help from them. You want to have a healthy body, not just a thin one! Again, I'm not a professional, just one of those on MFP that is trying to help

rg4u

Wow I am seriously touched by all of your caring replies. I do work with a counselor as well as an MD right now but i guess I've just been afraid to let them know that I am slipping. However as per most of your suggestions, I will bring this up at my next appointment.

I will aim to increase my calories slowly and if I do gain, what the h*ll! Let my body settle where it feels comfortable!

barbiex3

i think that if you just increase your intake to 1600 you'll be fine. You may gain weight at first because your body thinks it's being starved right now and when you increase it your body will cling to it, but in about a month you should be weighed out.
I know this situation is hard. My best friend in high school suffered from annorexia, and she was put into inpacient treatment for 6 months. It was hard for her to adjust to a normal diet as well.
I wish you the best of luck =] !
don't worry so much about the numbers anymore. maybe throw the scale away :0 or hide it for awhile. you need to focus on how you feel not how the scale tells you to feel!

SoCalSwimmerDude

Blah to anyone giving advice other than "see a pro". :explode:

Hollycat

Recovery from anorexia and bulemia are not the focus of this group. You need to seek the assistance of your health care team while you are recovering and be honest with them about what you've been doing.

Hollycat
:flowerforyou:

Jenscan

Wow I am seriously touched by all of your caring replies. I do work with a counselor as well as an MD right now but i guess I've just been afraid to let them know that I am slipping. However as per most of your suggestions, I will bring this up at my next appointment.

I will aim to increase my calories slowly and if I do gain, what the h*ll! Let my body settle where it feels comfortable!

BINGO! You're doing the right thing. BE SURE to bring it up... you MUST tell them. Let us know how you're doing!

LorinaLynn

I'm in complete agreement with those that said to check with your physicians and nutritionists. We're all armchair quarterbacks. We'll cheer you on, but we're not qualified to coach you in this.

That said, I can toss an anecdote your way. Years ago, I wanted to lose a little weight, and just believed "you gotta eat less." I was eating maybe 700 calories a day most days, with a higher amount on the weekends. I was incredibly frustrated that the weight wasn't coming off. I knew logically I could not possibly eat any less without doing harm to my body. So I gave up. I figured my body was where it wanted to be, and that was that. I could maintain my weight, which was in the healthy range for my height, and eat whatever I wanted. The other option seemed to be starving myself to lose at absolute most a half pound a week.

That line of thinking was wrong. During the last six months on MPF, I realized that my body needed way more food than that to lose weight. I'm losing more weight more regularly now at 1500 calories (plus exercise calories, so loser to 1800-2000+ depending on my day) than I did eating just 700. And more than the weight loss, my body is changing. Getting stronger. I can feel the difference in just the past few weeks... it's awesome. I can do "manly" pushups instead of ones from the knees. I can run longer and faster. I can hold planks longer. It... it just rocks.

Now really, you shouldn't lose any more. And in the process of getting stronger, you might end up weighing more, but that's just muscle. You want muscle. Lean, healthy, strong, sexy muscle.

Now get in touch with your health care providers and figure out a plan to up those calories. You're not going to get fat. You're going to be powerful. You got this. :flowerforyou: