former anorexic with dead metabolism: help please?

boneabolitionist
boneabolitionist Posts: 1
edited November 8 in Health and Weight Loss
I know it sounds a little sketchy, and I would like for you all to know that under the good-to-go from my therapist, I am attempting to lose weight. I am in NO WAY at all trying to disguise any sort of disordered habits, or "ease into them" so to speak. The reason I am trying to lose a little more weight because, like a lot of recovering anorexics, bulimics, etc., I overshot my weight goal. I feel lethargic and uncomfortable at the size I am now, and I'm only trying to lose weight in order to KEEP myself from falling back on extreme measures. I hope I explained that well enough, and that you all know there's absolutely no psychological struggle here - mentally, I'm in a great place!

now that that's out of the way, my metabolism is HORRIBLE. As I'm sure a lot of you know, extreme dieting really lowers someone's metabolism, and my extreme was EXTREMELY extreme. For real.

So the reason I'm asking this instead of reading older metabolism raising posts, is because I don't want to raise my metabolism, per-se, I want to actually get one back again. It's totally shot, gone, nowhere to be seen. I add cinnamon to a lot of things, take a green tea pill daily and drink green tea on top of that (whenever I can stomach it, that stuff is nasty) and I'm doing the 30 Day Shred to try and gain muscle because I hear that helps with metabolism as well.

What other things can I do? Thanks everyone for reading this, if you did!

Replies

  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Have you looked into a weight lifting program? How about bodyweight exercises? They can be adapted so that you are being much more challenged than doing 100 squats with Jillian.

    Figure out what calorie level you maintain at and if you still need to lose weight after lifting weights, eat only slightly under that amount.

    Stop worrying about the green tea and the cinnamon.
  • michael_m1989
    michael_m1989 Posts: 37 Member
    edited December 2014
    I think it might be wise to see someone who specializes in "Metabolic Damage". There are trainers out there who understand and can help with this. Most people don't understand that this is a real issue and that your metabolism can't always just bounce back. I don't think tea alone is going to help, it will take a long time, but with some work you'll get back to it!
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Don't cut back too far on the calories. Follow the dietician's plan.

    Exercise your but off and lift the weights. You don't have to lift big, heavy weights and you don't have to go into the Scary Guy Room if you don't want to (but if you want to, you totally should!) - just lift enough so that it isn't easy. It's good for your muscles AND good for your bones, which you know were suffering while you starved...and it reminds your body that you're using it, so it had best pick up the pace.

    Most people's metabolisms bounce back, given enough time.

    Be very careful while you lose. Be on the lookout for all those old feelings to return so you can nip them in he bud. Don't skip meals. (I know you probably heard all that, but I had to say it, lol.)

    You'll do great. :)
  • thingofstuff
    thingofstuff Posts: 93 Member
    I agree, don't sweat supplements! Weight training and healthy exercise practices are generally the best way to feel good and make a lifestyle change instead of going between one extreme and another.

    If you are an obsessive person like me, one thing I would recommend is having a friend or trainer keep you accountable for how long you exercise. During the worst of my ED, I was in that rebellious teen phase where I didn't tell my parents anything and was exercising with different teams/people throughout the day and they were social groups that never overlapped so no one knew how much I was actually exercising (and not eating) until I started blacking out at evening practices. Fast forward years later to things being under control, I was really scared of strength training at first (that whole..my god if I bulk up I'll crawl into a hole and shrivel away), but it's actually really rewarding and relaxing for getting toned. People say, "gain 5 pounds of muscle and look 10 pounds lighter", and it is TRUE, plus eating whole foods and lots of protein and not starving yourself is much more enjoyable I've found. I also always suggest cardio kickboxing, it's great for the soul and the thighs, along with ballet barre.

    Other than that, I wish you all the best!

  • ggluvbug1
    ggluvbug1 Posts: 87 Member
    commenting to follow....
  • smille01
    smille01 Posts: 32 Member
    How far into recovery are you? My biggest piece of advice: time. I'm about two years into recovery. I had a baby during recovery, and after he was born I lost my 'overshoot' and baby weight the healthy way. I thought my metabolism was destroyed also, but I really think it just needed time. I'm at my lowest weight of my adult life, and without an ED.

    Out of curiosity...are you familiar with youreatopia? I ask because you used the word 'overshot.' If not, ignore this comment :)
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    boneabolitionist wrote: »
    I don't want to raise my metabolism, per-se, I want to actually get one back again. It's totally shot, gone, nowhere to be seen.
    You have a metabolism or you're dead. You can't kill it. Is it part of ED to feel like you don't have one? It's not logical to feel that way, unless you were just speaking in hyperbole. Every move you make and breath you take requires metabolism.

    If you overshot your weight goal that would imply you were eating over your maintenance amount. That alone should've reset any metabolic adaptation to deficit eating.

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Exercise.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    I agree with the suggestion of a lifting programme - focusing on the getting strong and body recomposition, alongside a decent programme (ideally a trainer who understands your recovery position)

    For books try Strong Curves or New Rules of Lifting for Women

    your thermogenic reaction will recover over time, give it a couple of years
  • sheepotato
    sheepotato Posts: 600 Member
    I agree with the suggestions to start lifting, gaining some muscle tone (and you can not get bulky without really trying) will make you a lot happier with how you look.

    Recovery takes a long time even after the therapy ends, so try not to set to aggressive of goals at first. Be kind to your body, you've put them through a lot. It might be a good idea to try just eating nourishing foods at maintenance with lifting and some cardio at first. After you've reshaped a bit then you can reevaluate your weight loss goal and try to find a healthy weight that you feel best at. (I'm saying this because I've seen what extreme calorie restriction can do to people's bodies and sometimes it's loose skin, not fat that's making them unhappy.)

    Since you drink real green tea I would ditch the green tea pills, I'm not sure what they are touted to do but you don't need them.

    Whatever you decide, take care of yourself.
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