Crash Diet :(

There is hope for sure. It is hard work and it takes time, but you can get your metabolism back up to burning like a furnace. The process is called reverse dieting. Check out these videos that talk all about it. They are made by Layne Norton. He has a PhD in nutritional science, is a natural body builder, and is a fitness competitor coach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5C3uqA1yRI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3gTGLulLnI

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Allan

You're 5'8" and 130 lbs. you're having trouble maintaining because you're underweight.

I agree you may be underweight. You must have incredibly tiny bones to have dropped to this weight at your height, or you may have lost a tremendous amount of metabolically active muscle tissue. I think your body knows what it needs. Feed it with good, fresh foods, and exercise, and see where you settle out. That is probably a healthy weight for you..where you settle out. Of course, 130 may also be...not knowing what your body structure looks like makes it difficult to ascertain.

I'm 5'7" and when I was in the throes of crash dieting that turned into eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, laxative abuse, and compulsive exerciser, body dysmorphic disorder), I managed to get down to 130 lbs. I had zero breast tissue, prominent backbone, sunken hips with jagged prominent hip bones, and all my ribs and chest bones were visible. My collarbone was very prominent as well, and my elbows and knees were larger than my limbs above and below them. I was malnourished and caused severe permanent damage to my heart. I wish I had known then what I know now.

FYI: 5'8" and 130 pounds is technically not underweight if you are using BMI standards. I am teetering on the borderline with a weight of 126-127 at 5'9.25" tall. (And I definitely don't have tiny bones!) My question for you: how many calories are you eating being in maintenance? I get in around 2,000 a day BEFORE exercise. You should be eating somewhere near that.

Up your calories slowly over time. I doubt you are getting anywhere near 2K.

Go to the doctor. If you are eating and still feeling lightheaded thats kinda weird.

Yup, same happened to me. I severely restricted and had a full blown eating disorder. I lost like 4st which is about 56lbs but because in the last year of my ED I binged like crazy it's caused me gained every bit of it back my metabolism is only just back to normal after 5 years of having an ED x

My mother started starving herself and then ended up getting overweight because her body was perpetually in starvation mode - means everything she ate was stored in case she starved again. It's a natural reaction of the body.

You need to seek the aid of a nutritional specialist to help you set a healthy weight goal, reach that goal, and do so in a manner that will not force you to a very young heart attack. Poor nutrition will first attach your muscles and metabolism. After that the body starts to tap into any resources for nutrients and energy that it has available. Mom had a stroke and heart attack and the specialist said it was due to her eating habits of tea and half piece of toast for breakfast, half an apple for lunch, and a few bites for dinner amounting to about 900 calories per day.

At your age, you should be eating closer to 2000 calories and out being active all day long.

Mom finally realized she had to eat to lose weight; eating micronutrient rich foods boosted her liver and metabolism so she was no longer harming herself. She took it slow so her body did not automatically turn all those great veggies into fat. It worked and now she is a healthy size 6, 120 at 5 foot tall and more energy than all her grandkids.

Learn to eat and be healthy. Seek that nutritional specialist. Your parent's health insurance should cover it till you are 25 or so.

You're 5'8" and 130 lbs. you're having trouble maintaining because you're underweight.

Actually, she is not underweight.
I am 5'10 and my minimum before hitting underweight is 130 Ibs and I am 131 currently with a BMI of 18.7.

You're 5'8" and 130 lbs. you're having trouble maintaining because you're underweight.

I agree, as others have - I am 5ft 3in and 130 is around the goal weight for me, and I feel like it's the low end for my height.

OP, whether or not your BMI is in the healthy range, if you're having negative symptoms from your diet (fatigue, dizziness, bingeing), it's a sign that what you're doing is not healthy for you.

Go to this site and figure out your approximate TDEE:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

That's the number of calories you'd need every day. Up your calories slowly (100-200 more per day, every week, until you hit your goal). If you start upping your calories slowly, in a controlled way, you should be able to get some control back and stop feeling so dizzy, tired and starving.

You don't have to put it all back on, whether you lost it through crash dieting or more slowly. If you keep eating at 1000 calories per day, though, I'd bet money that the binges will get out of control and you will start to gain more than you want. Your body is telling you to feed it.

Binge eating is a perfectly normal reaction to returning to eating normally after a long period of extreme restriction. I would consider 1000 cals or lower extreme restriction, especially given your time frame. Your body is trying to replace the nutrients and energy you deprived it of. You will likely gain some weight back, and probably should before you work on maintenance.

You're probably not underweight as previously suggested... but that doesn't mean you're not undernourished. One does not have to be underweight to be undernourished. Been there, done that. Considering how extreme your diet was, you should focus more on recovering from the crash diet before you think of maintaining. Then, once the physical symptoms ease up, think about maintenance.

Lorjon,

I suggest getting professional help for this. You crash dieted to get to a certain place, and ow you are engaging in intense exercise to stay there. These behavior point to either an eating disorder or the propensity for one. You are also having physical symptoms after crash dieting. Please see a doctor.

You're 5'8" and 130 lbs. you're having trouble maintaining because you're underweight.

I agree, as others have - I am 5ft 3in and 130 is around the goal weight for me, and I feel like it's the low end for my height.

that is a BMI of 23, thus not really the low end for your height, given healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 25

Someone of 5'8 is considered to have a healthy BMI between the weights of 121.7 and 164.4, depending on build, of course. Thus the OP, with a BMI of 19.8 is definitely not underweight.

I think BMI is not a good measure at all. Some of those low end weights are just...no.

Hey guys! I’m actually a guy . Oh and I only ate 1 meal a day for about four months for my crash diet. So I guess Im getting two perspectives...should I slowly increase my caloric intake to repair metabolism or should I eat at TDEE for a while to repair my metabolism?

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