Introduction, scared, and needing some tips!

irunsf85

Hi everyone! I'm very excited to be a new member of this group and am hoping that it will help me reach my goals. For years, I was a yo-yo dieter who unfortunately developed a case of bulemia. I am trying to recover from it and I know it will take time but I am confident that I will be able to kick this illness by making healthier decisions and EATING. I think what led me to bulemia was restrictive eating and then being so hungry I'd binge. After binging, I'd feel so horrible that I would force myself to vomit up as much as I could. I hated myself every time I had an episode and especially hated the way I felt. Today, I promise myself NO MORE.

Anyway, I am a 26 year old female, weigh 120 lbs and 5'2". I just started EMTWL just a few days ago and I'm loving this whole concept of eating more; however, all these years of restrictive eating has made me extremely fearful of gaining weight with the increase in calories. My BMR is around 1300. I took an average from all the different calculators since every single one was giving me a different number. At the beginning of the year, I decided that I wanted to run a half marathon which I signed up for in July. Shortly after signing up, I decided I wanted to run a full marathon in November! I know... Ambitious, right? I run 25-30 miles per week but will be gradually increasing my mileage as I progress with my training. In most of the TDEE calculators, I select "Moderate Activity" because my runs will vary anywhere from 30 minutes to 2+ hours. I didn't want to select "strenuous excercise" because I didn't want to overestimate. I have a desk job but I do get up fairly often to use the bathroom a lot because I try to drink 2-3 Liters of water and the bathroom is actually a short walk. I think I walk about .25 - .5 miles a day just going to the bathroom alone! I'm trying to net about 1300 calories, which means I usually end up eating somewhere around 1600 calories. I'm looking to get down to about 105 lbs, which is on the lower end of the healthy scale but still considered healthy. I'm hoping I am on the right track here and am feeding myself enough but again, and extremely scared of what may happen!

Sorry for ranting.. Just very excited and perhaps maybe looking for some advice/tips/support if you guys have any.

DianeinCA

It's great that you've decided to take charge of your body! With bulimia, please see if there's a counselor you can talk to: EDs are NOT about the food. It's simply the easiest way to express what's going on inside.

however, all these years of restrictive eating has made me extremely fearful of gaining weight with the increase in calories. My BMR is around 1300.

I would take it slow increasing your calories (although 1600 a day/net 1300 sounds like a good way to ease into it). If you make yourself anxious...well, I think you probably know what happens!

At the beginning of the year, I decided that I wanted to run a half marathon which I signed up for in July. Shortly after signing up, I decided I wanted to run a full marathon in November! I know... Ambitious, right?

Hey, that's how these things happen: with a PLAN. It's totally great to have a goal and a plan to follow! I find it the easiest way to stay on target, myself.

Yay!

irunsf85

Hey Vendrazi,

Thanks! Today, I burned 600 cals from running and MFP is telling me I need to eat 1900 calories. That's A LOT. It's scary thinking I need to eat that much and I'm really hesitant to do so.

DianeinCA

Well...if you want to do EM2WL then yes, you do need 1900 calories today. It is hard to change habits (particularly really bad habits, and particularly really bad habits reinforced by our society).

If you've been eating 1200 or less for a long time, your body may need to readjust. But you can't stay at an artificially low level forever -- eventually something has to give. You might as well eat the calories your body needs right now.

But like I said...I personally would work up to it. Add 100 or 200 calories a week. Get used to how much better your body feels.

irunsf85

You know, interestingly enough... I went for my midweek "long" run this morning. Though it started off with me feeling a little bit sluggish, once I got warmed up I felt like I could keep going forever. Granted, I slowed down my pace a little bit because I didn't want to bonk my run like I have in the past. I ran 7.5 miles and if I had more time, I would have kept going and I wish I did! I'm not sure if this is a result of the increase in calories or the slowing down of pace. Regardless, I'm not sure I have ever felt so good during a long run.