98 lbs and struggling
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OP, I had a similar experience in university (anorexia/dramatic undereating with cyclical bingeing especially with increasing difficulty/being excessively busy...around 185lbs down to 140lbs @ 6'0'' my first year); best address the issue head & not ignore it. It's good that you are addressing the issue & realizing what you are doing is wrong. Not sure if you are @ that point of needing medical/mental health intervention (usually excessive denial, no behavioral modifications, arrhythmia, severe dehydration, erratic blood pressure & heart rate, etc.).
From personal experience, I found focusing on weight lifting/fitness, improving body composition/muscle as a good way to worry less about weight (looking purely @ #s is not healthy) & being less picky/restrictive/fearful of certain foods making one fat. Take it one step @ a time & good luck4 -
czmiles926 wrote: »I know the obvious answer is to just eat more but u feel really out of control whenever I eat more than I "should"
Hey bub. This line sent me into a tailspin. I remember holding my best mates hand tightly as she begged me to let her go to the toilet after eating because "I ate more than I should have". I sat with her through the worst of it, let her drop off to sleep in the classroom (she slept a lot in those days) and then reported it to the school nurse. The next day, she was admitted to an inpatient clinic for eating disorders - the anorexia nearly killed her in the end, but she's doing so much better now.
This kind of disordered thinking is more dangerous than you know, my lovely. So please, please - see someone. Tell the campus nurse exactly what you told us here today. Go to the clinic. If you can't say it, print this thread out and take it to them (sometimes words are hard). When your mind is fighting you this hard, your body sometimes doesn't stand a chance, so it's up to you to be its voice - use it. *hugs*5 -
First of all. Go to the university nurse and ask for help. Do what they say and if it's different from what I'm about to say, do what they say.
Normally I wouldn't tell someone with an eating disorder to focus more on food, but sometimes logging food can be a way to eat more, not less. You are worried about eating more than you "should" but you really have no idea how much you should be eating. I'm betting you are taking in far too few calories. It's easy to do that when eating only fish and plants. It's also easy on a plant based diet to miss out on vitamin b12, iron, and protein. It is very possible to be a healthy pescatarian/vegetarian/vegan, but it does take a little extra thought, especially if you grew up eating a different way.
Start with this:
https://www.health-calc.com
Make sure you are accounting for your walking to and from class, standing around, as well as intentional exercise.
And then log everything you are eating and see how it compares to what you need to be eating to maintain or gain weight. If you want to gradually gain you should be aiming for a surplus of 250 cal / day or so.
When you know more about what you're already eating, you will know what sorts of things to add for a balanced diet.
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czmiles926 wrote: »888sisters_weight888 wrote: »czmiles926 wrote: »Im 20 years old, 5'4" and female. My weight has dropped steadily over the past year but has dropped more significantly in the last month.
I'm at uni and it's exam season which is a really busy and stressful time for me. I don't eat meat and I've stopped eating dairy (nearly).
I can't sleep very well, I keep getting ill, the gentle incline I have to walk up each day is better harder and harder and I sometimes feel light headed and dizzy.
I know the obvious answer is to just eat more but u feel really out of control whenever I eat more than I "should"
When you do eat, what are you eating? And how much of it? What is your food budget like? Can you eat at the campus food hall or are you sharing an apartment with roomies and are having to prepare your own meals? When you do eat more, how much more do you consume when you choose to?
We've all been through Uni and we all understand how ridiculously hectic it gets, so you'll find that a good majority are sympatico.
I usually eat three meals a day and snacks. I often have a slice of toast for breakfast and a smoothie with protein powder for a snack. I usually have either some sandwiches or some cous cous for lunch. Then I usually snack on some satsumas, some nuts and some sweets in the afternoon or evening. I usually food prep my dinners on Sunday or Monday for the rest of the week. This week I'm having risotto with prawns, mushrooms, carrots, celery, pepper and spinach.
I'm not really tracking how much I eat but I think their decent portions, they look similar to what my mum would give me at home. I spend about £15 a week on food but I shop at Aldi or asda so it's not a problem. I'm quite well off (for a student). I'm living in a student house off campus with 4 other students. I've now started having 2 sandwiches for lunch instead of just one.
Pleased to see you're eating (3 meals + 2 snacks or 3 meals + 3 snacks) throughout your day and that you're responsibly conscious of your weekly food budget. I would have to agree with the other posters that the issue is not the number of meals and snacks you're consuming throughout your day, rather the volume per meal and snack.
What dominates is, at your height of 5ft 4, what is deeply disconcerting is your current body weight, which would make sense IF you were a foot shorter or a tween, to compensate being 7 stone.- How do you have your breakfast toast? Type of bread? Is it buttered or creamed? Any toppings? Total calories?
- How do you portion your snacks? Calories targeted?
- Will you consider inculcating the use of a food scale?
- Now that you've very recently increased your lunch sandwiches to 2, how are you feeling? Calories allotment per sandwich?
- When couscous is on the lunch menu, what do you usually add to it? Caloric goal for your couscous meal?
- How many ounces of seafood do you eat for dinner/lunch?
- How are you faring with your hydration?
- Are you experiencing disrupted sleep?
- Are you eating very little because of your food budget or have you always had great difficulty with eating normal portions?
Managing your stresses whilst at Uni is all good and well, ONLY that it is absolutely crucial that you prioritise your wellbeing, without having to sabotage your youth and your beauty. Denying your body adequate nutrition will accelerate "premature" aging.
ETA: Removed hyphen1 -
I can relate. When I’m stressed my body burns way more than I can really eat. I feel sick eating when I’m stressed but I also need more. My maintaining calories are normally 2100 but skyrocket to about 2500-3000 when I’m stressed. It’s important to track yourself and understand your body so you can compensate. If you need to sneak in extra calories, it’s easier to do with beverages. Sweeten your tea or coffee with honey, add a scoop of protein powder to your milk or coffee, put Gatorade powder in your water, etc... track it honestly for a week and readjust where needed.
As for the light headedness, I get that from low blood pressure when I walk a lot, run or work out my legs. I have to track my sodium (per my doc) for that and stay hydrated- but not too hydrated. Definitely see a doc to rule out anything bad and get yourself on a healthy track so you can tackle those uni challenges.
Good luck!1 -
GIRLL!! ❤️❤️ I have been through the same last year.. I went from 98lbs to 90. I never eat when I stress and I lost all my confidence. Still haven’t got it all back even tho I regained the weight. You need a savior food or drink (mine is milk) and take it when ever eating feels to hard. Let that food be something that gives you nutrients but you don’t need to feel bad for eating. Lots of love!!1
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GIRLL!! ❤️❤️ I have been through the same last year.. I went from 98lbs to 90. I never eat when I stress and I lost all my confidence. Still haven’t got it all back even tho I regained the weight. You need a savior food or drink (mine is milk) and take it when ever eating feels to hard. Let that food be something that gives you nutrients but you don’t need to feel bad for eating. Lots of love!!
Welcome to MFP and I wish you all of the good fortune in the world. You got this. If you falter - or start to falter - we are here.2 -
GIRLL!! ❤️❤️ I have been through the same last year.. I went from 98lbs to 90. I never eat when I stress and I lost all my confidence. Still haven’t got it all back even tho I regained the weight. You need a savior food or drink (mine is milk) and take it when ever eating feels to hard. Let that food be something that gives you nutrients but you don’t need to feel bad for eating. Lots of love!!
This is exactly why the GOMAD protocol was created. Great job gaining the weight back!1 -
czmiles926 wrote: »jseams1234 wrote: »czmiles926 wrote: »Im 20 years old, 5'4" and female. My weight has dropped steadily over the past year but has dropped more significantly in the last month.
I'm at uni and it's exam season which is a really busy and stressful time for me. I don't eat meat and I've stopped eating dairy (nearly).
I can't sleep very well, I keep getting ill, the gentle incline I have to walk up each day is better harder and harder and I sometimes feel light headed and dizzy.
I know the obvious answer is to just eat more but u feel really out of control whenever I eat more than I "should"
Obviously, outside of a potential medical issue, you should be eating more if you are losing weight and feeling weak. Could you explain what you mean by that statement and why you put "should" in quotes?
Because 3 meals and snacks should be enough. I don't think I should eat more than that
If you're losing weight and you don't want to lose weight, you need to eat more.
Why do you think that you shouldn't eat more?0 -
collectingblues wrote: »czmiles926 wrote: »jseams1234 wrote: »czmiles926 wrote: »Im 20 years old, 5'4" and female. My weight has dropped steadily over the past year but has dropped more significantly in the last month.
I'm at uni and it's exam season which is a really busy and stressful time for me. I don't eat meat and I've stopped eating dairy (nearly).
I can't sleep very well, I keep getting ill, the gentle incline I have to walk up each day is better harder and harder and I sometimes feel light headed and dizzy.
I know the obvious answer is to just eat more but u feel really out of control whenever I eat more than I "should"
Obviously, outside of a potential medical issue, you should be eating more if you are losing weight and feeling weak. Could you explain what you mean by that statement and why you put "should" in quotes?
Because 3 meals and snacks should be enough. I don't think I should eat more than that
If you're losing weight and you don't want to lose weight, you need to eat more.
Why do you think that you shouldn't eat more?
I asked that on the first page, OP declined to answer3 -
TavistockToad wrote: »collectingblues wrote: »czmiles926 wrote: »jseams1234 wrote: »czmiles926 wrote: »Im 20 years old, 5'4" and female. My weight has dropped steadily over the past year but has dropped more significantly in the last month.
I'm at uni and it's exam season which is a really busy and stressful time for me. I don't eat meat and I've stopped eating dairy (nearly).
I can't sleep very well, I keep getting ill, the gentle incline I have to walk up each day is better harder and harder and I sometimes feel light headed and dizzy.
I know the obvious answer is to just eat more but u feel really out of control whenever I eat more than I "should"
Obviously, outside of a potential medical issue, you should be eating more if you are losing weight and feeling weak. Could you explain what you mean by that statement and why you put "should" in quotes?
Because 3 meals and snacks should be enough. I don't think I should eat more than that
If you're losing weight and you don't want to lose weight, you need to eat more.
Why do you think that you shouldn't eat more?
I asked that on the first page, OP declined to answer
Which in and of itself is pretty telling.3 -
yaczmiles926 wrote: »Im 20 years old, 5'4" and female. My weight has dropped steadily over the past year but has dropped more significantly in the last month.
I'm at uni and it's exam season which is a really busy and stressful time for me. I don't eat meat and I've stopped eating dairy (nearly).
I can't sleep very well, I keep getting ill, the gentle incline I have to walk up each day is better harder and harder and I sometimes feel light headed and dizzy.
I knowr the obvious answer is to the just eat more but u feel really out of control whenever I eat more than I "should"czmiles926 wrote: »Im 20 years old, 5'4" and female. My weight has dropped steadily over the past year but has dropped more significantly in the last month.
I'm at uni and it's exam season which is a really busy and stressful time for me. I don't eat meat I wanna and I've stopped eating dairy (nearly). I just woke ya
I can't sleep very well, I keep getting ill, the gentle man of the spiritual tand incline I have to walk up each day is better harder and harder and I sometimes feel light headed and dizzy. Rre entere
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Rreerewerr0 -
collectingblues wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »collectingblues wrote: »czmiles926 wrote: »jseams1234 wrote: »czmiles926 wrote: »Im 20 years old, 5'4" and female. My weight has dropped steadily over the past year but has dropped more significantly in the last month.
I'm at uni and it's exam season which is a really busy and stressful time for me. I don't eat meat and I've stopped eating dairy (nearly).
I can't sleep very well, I keep getting ill, the gentle incline I have to walk up each day is better harder and harder and I sometimes feel light headed and dizzy.
I know the obvious answer is to just eat more but u feel really out of control whenever I eat more than I "should"
Obviously, outside of a potential medical issue, you should be eating more if you are losing weight and feeling weak. Could you explain what you mean by that statement and why you put "should" in quotes?
Because 3 meals and snacks should be enough. I don't think I should eat more than that
If you're losing weight and you don't want to lose weight, you need to eat more.
Why do you think that you shouldn't eat more?
I asked that on the first page, OP declined to answer
Which in and of itself is pretty telling.
Unfortunately so2
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