Trying to lose weight after recovering from an ed

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charliebitesback
charliebitesback Posts: 18 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm a 5'3" 18 y/o female who has recently recovered from atypical anorexia and now I'm at a very near risk of becoming overweight at 130 pounds. I would like to be nearer to the low to mid 120's but every website I've visited and every person I've talked to tells me that in order to do this I have to eat 1,200 cals a day, a number I refuse to eat as I've been down that road. Basically, I am just very confused. I'm eating near 1,600-1,800 now and I'm wondering if I will see any losses at this number over time.

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  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
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    Just try to build muscle instead of actually lose weight. Stay at your 1600-1800 and just do some cardio and add weight training. You will lose weight without consciously doing it. Throw your scale away and JUST measure your 1600-1800 on the FOOD scale. You will look a lot better and feel much better with some muscles.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    I'm older than you are, but otherwise we have very similar stats (I'm 5'4" and 130 pounds). The lowest I'll go when trying to lose is 1500 calories, and that's pushing it -- there's no way I'll go to 1200. You don't need to.

    How recently did you recover? How long have you been eating at 1600-1800? (I'm wondering if that's your maintenance number, or if you just recently switched to that range in order to try to lose). Based on your stats, you might be able to see losses at 1600-1800, but they'll probably be slow. That's okay, though. Slow is good.

    Have you been cleared by your doctor to exercise? That's kind of an important question, because it can be dangerous for people in ED recovery. If you have, focusing on exercise might be more beneficial than focusing on food. (I'm assuming that exercise isn't a trigger for you, but that's a HUGE assumption.) I'd recommend keeping your calorie intake a little bit higher and adding in exercise, but only if that's safe for you.
  • charliebitesback
    charliebitesback Posts: 18 Member
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    AliceDark wrote: »
    I'm older than you are, but otherwise we have very similar stats (I'm 5'4" and 130 pounds). The lowest I'll go when trying to lose is 1500 calories, and that's pushing it -- there's no way I'll go to 1200. You don't need to.

    How recently did you recover? How long have you been eating at 1600-1800? (I'm wondering if that's your maintenance number, or if you just recently switched to that range in order to try to lose). Based on your stats, you might be able to see losses at 1600-1800, but they'll probably be slow. That's okay, though. Slow is good.

    Have you been cleared by your doctor to exercise? That's kind of an important question, because it can be dangerous for people in ED recovery. If you have, focusing on exercise might be more beneficial than focusing on food. (I'm assuming that exercise isn't a trigger for you, but that's a HUGE assumption.) I'd recommend keeping your calorie intake a little bit higher and adding in exercise, but only if that's safe for you.

    I've been recovered for about 8 months now. I've been cleared for exercise and discharged from OP for a while. I don't really know what my maintenance intake is at the moment because I've been eating mostly intuitively for a while and I quit counting calories.
    Thanks for the comment, it really helps.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    First of all, that's wonderful! Congratulations :)

    If you've been eating intuitively and it's working for you, I don't think I'd necessarily want to go back to counting calories. Adding in exercise might be a better way to go. If you have any interest in lifting, I'd highly recommend it. It has a ton of benefits for women, including things like increasing bone density (this is a huge deal for women as we get older, and can be really beneficial for people with ED histories). If you kept your intake where it is and added lifting or some other kind of exercise, you'd start to see an improvement in your body composition (more muscle, more bone density, probably a little less fat). However...and this is a big however...you might see the scale number go up even as your measurements shrink. If you're just relying on the scale to gauge progress, this can be scary.

    Do you take measurements? They would be really helpful. It took me a long time to learn that I don't really care about the number on the scale as long as my jeans still fit. Nobody sees the number on the scale except me.
  • StepB1987
    StepB1987 Posts: 30 Member
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    AliceDark wrote: »
    First of all, that's wonderful! Congratulations :)

    If you've been eating intuitively and it's working for you, I don't think I'd necessarily want to go back to counting calories. Adding in exercise might be a better way to go. If you have any interest in lifting, I'd highly recommend it. It has a ton of benefits for women, including things like increasing bone density (this is a huge deal for women as we get older, and can be really beneficial for people with ED histories). If you kept your intake where it is and added lifting or some other kind of exercise, you'd start to see an improvement in your body composition (more muscle, more bone density, probably a little less fat). However...and this is a big however...you might see the scale number go up even as your measurements shrink. If you're just relying on the scale to gauge progress, this can be scary.

    Do you take measurements? They would be really helpful. It took me a long time to learn that I don't really care about the number on the scale as long as my jeans still fit. Nobody sees the number on the scale except me.

    I like how you said you don't care about the number on the scale because no one sees it except for you. Also I like that you go by if your pants still fit. My mom has been trying to tell me that eventhough I'm 28 lol. I too had anorexia in the past and am still addicted to counting calories eventhough I eat when I'm hungry...most of the time I go over what I think I should have, and I get upset but not for long because food is like fuel for the body. Without it our body will sputer and break down just like a car. I'm still trying to make myself not get on the sale though or count calories, its more of an ocd thing for me which is frustrating.I don't know the point of this post so I'm sorry, I just felt like responding.
  • StepB1987
    StepB1987 Posts: 30 Member
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    charliebitesback wrote: »
    I'm a 5'3" 18 y/o female who has recently recovered from atypical anorexia and now I'm at a very near risk of becoming overweight at 130 pounds. I would like to be nearer to the low to mid 120's but every website I've visited and every person I've talked to tells me that in order to do this I have to eat 1,200 cals a day, a number I refuse to eat as I've been down that road. Basically, I am just very confused. I'm eating near 1,600-1,800 now and I'm wondering if I will see any losses at this number over time.

    If it helps, I also had anorexia and I do muscle strength in exersizes. I walk 30 minutes a day broken down into two 15 min sections, then I do leg lifts ,squats,and planks.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    StepB1987 wrote: »
    AliceDark wrote: »
    First of all, that's wonderful! Congratulations :)

    If you've been eating intuitively and it's working for you, I don't think I'd necessarily want to go back to counting calories. Adding in exercise might be a better way to go. If you have any interest in lifting, I'd highly recommend it. It has a ton of benefits for women, including things like increasing bone density (this is a huge deal for women as we get older, and can be really beneficial for people with ED histories). If you kept your intake where it is and added lifting or some other kind of exercise, you'd start to see an improvement in your body composition (more muscle, more bone density, probably a little less fat). However...and this is a big however...you might see the scale number go up even as your measurements shrink. If you're just relying on the scale to gauge progress, this can be scary.

    Do you take measurements? They would be really helpful. It took me a long time to learn that I don't really care about the number on the scale as long as my jeans still fit. Nobody sees the number on the scale except me.

    I like how you said you don't care about the number on the scale because no one sees it except for you. Also I like that you go by if your pants still fit. My mom has been trying to tell me that eventhough I'm 28 lol. I too had anorexia in the past and am still addicted to counting calories eventhough I eat when I'm hungry...most of the time I go over what I think I should have, and I get upset but not for long because food is like fuel for the body. Without it our body will sputer and break down just like a car. I'm still trying to make myself not get on the sale though or count calories, its more of an ocd thing for me which is frustrating.I don't know the point of this post so I'm sorry, I just felt like responding.

    I've never had a full ED, but I went through years of super disordered eating patterns and trying to maintain a too-low weight. Getting out of that mindset is really rough. The first time I tried to purposefully gain weight, it completely freaked me out that I fit into the same size clothes while the scale went up. A friend explained that I was strengthening my bones and tendons, along with putting on muscle, and it was like a lightbulb went off. I care very much that I have strong bones and tendons, because I don't want to start breaking things in 30-40 years, but that extra weight isn't visible to anyone else. If the scale goes up but my measurements stay the same or decrease, nobody else will ever know unless I tell them. The scale only shows one data point; it's not the full story.
  • popupvideo
    popupvideo Posts: 50 Member
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    Take your time and keep experimenting with what works for you. You are in a very delicate stage so just try to combat any binge eating and introduce weight training, circuit training, and light cardio into your weekly routine. Don't try to lose it all at once. The goal is to create a healthy relationship with food so you don't go down the wrong path again. I am also recovering from anorexia and am now 5'5" 135 lbs. I know how hard it is to stop eating after restricting for so long.

    Congratulations on recovering and feel free to add me if you would like a friend also trying for that healthy relationship with food.

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