Hello this is my first time asking anything on here.

I used to be over 19 stone and now I maintain within the range that the BMI indicates to be healthy for me at 5 ft 3 and around 8 stone 12 - 9 stone 1 and following a range of up 5 down 5 pounds. I also have a cheat day, usually once every 2 weeks where I eat whatever I want, get a takeaway, or eat out somewhere and have my favourite treats. I focused on protein and calories to lose weight in the beginning. Slowly I found myself only focusing on low calories and not nutrition. I have maintained this weight for years and years now with the help of my fitness pal. I slept a lot and was constantly tired and in between all of this, I was pregnant.

My hair was growing fast and it looked great and then after the miscarriage, my hair was falling out and my hair getting weaker too. I have been through significant traumas including losing the baby and breaking away from abusive family members who covered up childhood abuse inflicted on me by my brother. When I was pregnant I had already lost a significant amount of weight and my GP scolded me for not being within the right BMI. This made me laser in on progress and exercise and calorie counting was pretty much how I stayed sane. I gained extreme weight in the past due to depression caused by traumas and being an undiagnosed autistic for 26 years. When I found out that helped me to put things into perspective and I had a lot of support from an OT and CBT therapist etc Things started to improve for me a bit in terms of making sense of things and that's when I began being able to take control of my weight.

As a child, my mother told me I would never be able to tone or lose weight because I am disabled and that I would be in a wheelchair by the time I am her age. It took me longer than most to walk or talk and I was in a buggy to support my bones. Back then my parents suspected I had autism but were only told I had 8 or 9 different disabilities and they would likely never have a diagnosis for them all. The family members made me feel awful and like I couldn't achieve anything. Back then my mother interfered in every connection I made with people and was overprotective to the point I had nobody at all for a very long time (early 20s when I escaped). I even was told I would never be able to work and now with support from a group that helps disabled people into work, I am doing as many hours as I can manage.

Pretty much the same with my weight doing what they said I would never be able to. However, I notice the negative effects of weight loss with too few calories and not enough nutrition. I want to maintain my weight not least because I have always had leg and foot pains and when I lost weight they became more manageable but are still present. I still have bad flare-ups of the pain and unfortunately, just recently it has been intense but I am determined to not let it knock me off track.

I was told the pain is due to my autism and falls under the umbrella of 8 0r 9 different things. In the last few days I have added in lots more protein and started on a multivitamin and I am already feeling a positive change. I upped my calories from 1300 -1500 to 1660. I do workouts over an hour 4-5 days a week and walk to and from work (over an hour each day). I am so afraid to go backwards because I had even worse pains than now and was out of breath all of the time on top of that. Sometimes when I was very overweight I stopped breathing altogether and it took ages for my breathing to return to normal again. Calorie counting is the only thing that works for me but I was just wondering if I could get advice on nutrition to help support my hair growth and strength and being strong for my body in general.

On my second day of taking vitamins I had an upset stomach but today I am ok and I wonder if it could be because I drank orange juice (200ml) on top of taking the recommended 2 chewables that already have vitamin C in them. I skipped the orange juice today just in case. Thank you