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Another Diet Forum > General Discussions > Eating Disorders - Compulsive Overeating, Bulimia, Anorexia > When can I lose this extra weight? |
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jb1990 New Member
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Hi, I recently recovered from anorexia and I am ashamed to say that now I weigh a full 20 pounds more than I used to before I ever got sick. I have been eating a normal amount but exercise isn't helping me take of the pounds, nor is lowering calories. When will I be able to lose this extra weight? It seems like I either maintain or gain weight now :( I just want to be normal again... |
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Nir Senior Administrator 
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I am sure that it is disconcerting if not downright upsetting to be in your situation. I hope you acknowledge that it is important to stay in a recovered mindset and that taking deliberate steps to lose weight could place you in a position to relapse, this is concern that should be kept prominent For some people who have restricted calories a little, their metabolism takes a knock and they require fewer calories than normal for a while. Yet others who restricted much more require so many more calories to recover (and reverse organ damage) that they stay at 'hypermetabolism' requiring more calories than average for years after just to not be underweight. It would be helpful to build a better picture in my mind of your situation (age? height? current weight? lowest weight? how many months/years were you underweight? lowest intake and how long for? how much did you have to eat during your recovery? do you think you damaged your organs in the process?) Ultimately this could be a dangerous thing to mess with, I would also encourage you to explore some resources on http://www.youreatopia.com/ and tell me what you think |
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jb1990 New Member
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I couldn't relapse now if I tried, I wouldn't lose weight if I did...I've tried going for light walks to burn a small amount of calories and that seems to make me gain more weight! I mean, more than like 2-3 pounds. And it hasn't gone away. I restricted from October to the end of April and didn't ever exercise so my muscle wasted too, and my body has never had to support this much size. I am in my early 20s, 5'2 and now 125 and going up, pre-ed was maybe 105. Intake ranged from 800-1300 but I was also using thyroid medicine to get and keep my weight down which I got off, and my thyroid levels are completely normal now and have been since June/July so I don't think that's the explanation. I gained back my weight on 22-2700 calories and usually maintain my weight on about 23-2400 but now whenever I do even a little movement it shoots up and stays there. My heart was probably damaged from the thyroid meds but the small amount of walking I do should not affect that. I don't even walk anymore and my weight hasn't gone back down, it has been a couple weeks. I go on that website all the time but if I ate 3000 calories I would balloon to overweight in a couple weeks. I cannot afford to gain more weight and my whole team says I shouldn't. |
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Nir Senior Administrator
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If I run your current stats through our BMR/RMR calculator, it predicts that you can maintain 125lb on about 1600 calories assuming no exercise (and that assumes neither hypermetabolism nor metabolism slow-down by restricting). If you can maintain and not gain on 2300-2400 then some of those calories might be used to reverse organ damage, so I do not have a definitive suggestion for you, but I will observe that if someone gave me your stats and did not have the unusual journey that you have had, I would obviously suggest they ate less than 1600 in order to create a deficit. I am assuming your medical team would definitely not be happy with that sort of approach though - but perhaps you should discuss this directly with them The other observation I have for you is that weight fluctuations can be gained muscle or just somewhat random. |
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fitnesstips New Member
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Learn about vegetables and fruit and their role in your weight management plan. Tips to cut calories by substituting vegetables and fruit are included with meal-by-meal examples. |
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