METABOLISM HELP... 'Here we go again', but please!

You really, really should speak with your doctors, or at a minimum a nutritionist who deals with eating disorders about this instead of an internet forum.

Any initial weight gain will be in glycogen (energy stores in your muscle - good!) and water weight, as glycogen holds something like 2x it's own weight in water. THAT is what the gain is when you eat a little more, and depleted glycogen stores are contributing to you feeling weak and tired. I've had to take a couple of days off because my heavy training and 1000 calorie a day deficit had physically drained my body - and I eat 2700 a day most days!

Remember it takes an excess of 3500 calories over your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) to gain 1 pound (less than half a kilo).

Your best bet is to speak to your Doctor or a Counsellor. In the interim, educate yourself on your BMR and TDEE, and the effects of long term calore deficits. You sound a reasonable person and understanding the science of it all may help you come to terms with it more.

Be proud that you have reached out and are doing your best to be healthy.

Thanks for the thought, but surprisingly enough (after 16 years!) I have seen just one or two nutritionists!! Ridiculously NHS won't provide that if you're normal weight anyway. And, my question is nothing about the ED. I'm the most recovered I've ever been, so advice on my question would be greatly received.

Straight up answer - nobody knows how long it could take for YOUR body to stabilise. The AVERAGE is about 4-6 weeks. I would suggest doing some reading on the subject

I am certainly not qualified to offer you nutritional advice, but I will share with you something I read in another post - we each need to move away from thinking of food as reward or punishment, good or bad - we need to see it as fuel, healthy fuel for our bodies to be able to run and perform so we can live our lives. Maybe rather than focusing on improving your metabolism, you can just work on seeing healthy food choices as healthy body fuel and let nature help you with the rest. It is easy for food to become a focal point and to consume your attention.

Thanks Spaingirl2011. When you say slowly increase....do you have any specifics?? Currently my intake is spread, grazing. Is that going to help or make things worse metabolism wise?

Meal timing is irrelevant. Eat when you can. And I didn't take it personally, no problem

You really, really should speak with your doctors, or at a minimum a nutritionist who deals with eating disorders about this instead of an internet forum.

Definitely. This would really help you. Hope all goes well with you and the new changes to your life

Please please please talk with your doctor about this.

I HAVE. Sorry, but please stop saying this as the doctor was not interested. I'm normal weight so that's it as far as they're concerned. My question is just as anyone else may ask about metabolism so I'd be thankful of responses to that instead of advice to go to doctor when I have. This is not meant rudely, just frustration. Thank you.

aejones is in the UK, and our Doctors don't work the same way as in the states, just so everyone is clear :P

As far as increasing calories goes, I would take it slow, like adding 50 calories each week or even every two weeks. That way your body has time to adjust to a small increase, but you are going in the right direction without overwhelming any of your systems - including your emotions and fears. After you are up to around 1200 calories, try adding in a bit more exercise.

You are doing great!

Increase you calories slowely. Try adding 300 for the first week and then more the next, etc. You WILL gain a good bit of weight to begin with but don't freak out. Most will be water weight and your body adjusting. It will start to stabalize with consistent eating. After I reached a healthy weight I was maintaining on around 1700. I continued eating more and eventually I was averaging 1800. Now after months of eating at a surplus and lifting weights, I tried on my bodymedia band to see what I'm burning and I am now averaging 2000. It takes time but it is something you have to stick with! Don't give up when you see that weight gain. Your going to feel miserable for months and your eating disorder is just going to get stronger and keep pulling at you. It's a tough process mentally and physically. But you will feel so much better and healthy down the road.

Increase you calories slowely. Try adding 300 for the first week and then more the next, etc. You WILL gain a good bit of weight to begin with but don't freak out. Most will be water weight and your body adjusting. It will start to stabalize with consistent eating. After I reached a healthy weight I was maintaining on around 1700. I continued eating more and eventually I was averaging 1800. Now after months of eating at a surplus and lifting weights, I tried on my bodymedia band to see what I'm burning and I am now averaging 2000. It takes time but it is something you have to stick with! Don't give up when you see that weight gain. Your going to feel miserable for months and your eating disorder is just going to get stronger and keep pulling at you. It's a tough process mentally and physically. But you will feel so much better and healthy down the road.

Second this. Also, at a bmi of 18.8, you are near the lower end of what is considered "healthy." So it's perfectly fine if you gain a few pounds while you're waiting for your metabolism to adjust. It will take time, but if you increase you calories, your weight will eventually level out. You should look up calculators for BMR and TDEE-- you eventually want to increase your calories to your TDEE. Make sure you accurately account for your activity level for your TDEE. You can also focus on eating a healthy balanced diet and add in some weight training once your calories are up to help your metabolism.

Could someone please explain TDEE to me?? I know about BMR. I suppose to complicate things further, because of my depression, I do have bad days and worse days, resulting in my intake fluctuating somewhat. Will this negatively affect metabolism?? Would it be better if I could try and have consistency daily? Thanks for peoples support.

TDEE - what your body burns on all activity in a day. Usually a figure when you look at average week of activity divided by 7 for daily average.
If you are maintaining on 1000 cal day - that is your TDEE. I'm thinking that will concern you, as yes indeed, that does mean your metabolism is very slow still.

And you cannot increase your metabolism if you don't eat enough.

Your BMR, basic metabolism for some basic functions of life, is about what your body would like to burn to accomplish them.
If it can't have that energy, calories, food, to accomplish that, things will be slowed down.

For instance, sitting in a cold room to start shivering, your body may not only delay it, but when it does start, those calories it's not getting enough of will just not be spent on other necessary things, because right then, staying warm is required.

This is why many with slow metabolism's report being cold mostly, and when metabolism speeds up, being warmer.
In the strictest sense, that's how metabolism is measured, heat output from body.

Anyway, eat an extra 100 calories a day for a week. Then another week, then another, until you are at least eating at level of BMR. Though at that point, you'll probably start feeling hungry again, and can raise it on up to maintenance level.
Keep walking, don't add extra exercise. Eat that first extra 100 around walking. Come back from walk, have 100 cal snack.
Almonds. I'm betting you keep the fat way too low, equating eating fat to getting fat. Fat will help your mind work better, and many body functions actually.

Once at BMR level + extra 200, start putting some lifting in there in between the walks. Dumbbells at home is fine. Body weight exercises. You can start viewing your body as desirable and strong outside the image it may present in the mirror, which you know is distorted for you right now and probably for a while.

Ok so u did the first thing and that was confessing what u have and what u are going through, that takes alot from someone in your situation. Second I'm just gonna tell u like it is: This is just a demonic spirit trying to dominate your life, you have control but u have to speak to it with authority, just like it says u can't eat more than such and such, well u have to tell urself I run this and i will eat a little more and with the help of God I won't be depressed! Speak those things as tho they were, make positive statements, life and death lyes in the power of the tounge, we have what we say! As a man thinketh so is he! Trust me I've been down jericho road and It may not have been through what exactly your going through but I been in the wilderness and it didn't matter what advice other people gave me or what others told me I should be doing, It first had to come from within and that was "I need help" and I'm tired of being the way that I am. I had to change the way I was thinking--It all starts in the mind. Everyone has their own opinion of what they think and all with good intentions, I just know what worked for me and that was giving my life first to God and then asking him to help me change the way I think! I never gave up the prayer I just kept on asking and one day, I can't tell u when cuz I don't know but something happened down on the inside, and I never thought those thoughts again, yeah they try to come every now and then but I tell myself and that evil spirit, "I run this! and God is in control!"

You really, really should speak with your doctors, or at a minimum a nutritionist who deals with eating disorders about this instead of an internet forum.

This. Only professionals can give you the advice and help you need.

Well, how do I get that if my GP can't help?? I'm already with a therapist. I've asked a simple qu anyone else may ask. I appreciate peoples concern but even more appreciate responses to my actual question rather than advice thats not possible to follow.

Is it possible for you to see another GP and/or get a referral to a specialist? Your therapist might be able to get you a referral, too. I don't know how NHS works, but I know most insurance companies here (in the US) will cover the cost of at least a few visits to a specialist if you went to them via a referral.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but I think it's worth looking into, because really, only the people that know you *and* know enough about medicine as it relates to eating disorders will truly be able to help you. The best we can do here is give you general advice, which can be sketchy, at best, due to the delicate nature of recovering from eating disorders and the fact that we know very little about you. The last thing you need is to take some of our advice and end up freaking out and relapsing because you gained weight too fast for you to cope with.

That said, keep doing what you're doing to recover. As others have already stated, keep fueling your body and your metabolism will straighten itself out. Keep telling yourself that the small gains you're seeing are good, because your body is recovering from being in a starved state. Take up some strength training to help build your muscles back up and increase your bone density (building the muscle will also help the metabolism speed back up). Take it one day at a time. You seem to be doing great so far.