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Constantly Confused and Disoriented

I was never seriously, seriously underweight, but there were times when I definitely didn't eat enough.  My lowest BMI was still only around a 16, not so bad...though still needed rectifying.  When I was losing weight and at my lowest weight, I always thought that I couldn't think.  I think that this is common with severe malnourishment, but I was wondering if this happened to anyone else.  I also had trouble seeing, I would literally tilt my head to read a book :(

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starvation can do all this to your body whatever your weight is , a bmi of 16 is very low . i would urge you to see your doctor im not sure any of us can advise you, you need to get checked over h x

"Hi, I am 18, 5'5'' and 130 lbs.  I want to be closer to 117 lbs, a weight I used to be that felt "better".  I love to run and play sports, my main issue would be ice cream (as the name dictates)."

The above was from a previous post of yours -- so when were you 117 lbs? -- when you were 12, 14 or 16 years old? You do know you are supposed to weigh more as a woman than a kid, right?

You are a great weight for your height and you are an active teenager. But you had an eating disorder in the past that put you at a dangerous BMI of 16 (which is really bad since you don't seem to know that).

So given all of that, what on earth are you doing on this site at all? Trying to trigger round two of an eating disorder just to see how much more damage you can do to your body?

You do not need to lose weight, you need to eat well and remain active and let your body finish growing (which doesn't finish until 25 years old).

Actually, I was 117 lbs all the way through my teen years.  I wasn't trying to "trigger" anything, but point out something that I hated from doing something that I hated...

Still doesn't answer why your plan is to diet down to 117 when you are at a healthy 130 now.

I guess it is not so much the weight that matters, but the overall feeling.  It is harder to run endurance now and my doctor said that it would be better to be around 125...don't really know if she's right or not though.  I think she is using the 100 lbs for 5 feet then adding 5 lbs for every extra inch?

The following excerpt from Ask Mary in the Advice section might explain part of what's going on.  Your brain is the biggest part of your central nervous system. You are breaking down muscle to get the glucose your brain needs to operate.  Now you've depleted your muscle tissue to the point that your brain can't work.  You need to get into treatment right away.

The body burns muscle to meet the needs of the central nervous system.  That system, which accounts for at least 20% of calories burned, can only burn glucose, a carbohydrate  The body doesn't really store glucose, but protein, from the muscles, organs tissues, and cells, can turn into glucose, while fat cannot.  Protein breakdown continues until the metabolic rate shifts to burn fewer calories from all sources.  That shift is familiarly called "starvation mode" and it is a life-sustaining adaptation. To forestall starvation mode, lose weight slowly, do muscle building exercise to offset muscle loss, and eat about 20% of your calories from protein.

Don't worry :)  I more than learned my lesson...my lowest BMI was *only (still really bad, I realize) 16...I run, walk, play tennis...so my "muscles" are definitely there (at least enough to get me through a 45 minutes run plus more exercise).  I hated that feeling...so, I got rid of it in less than a week.  Some other people posting had asked how long it takes to repair muscle mass; well, for me it only took around two weeks. 

Original Post by icecream18:

I guess it is not so much the weight that matters, but the overall feeling.  It is harder to run endurance now and my doctor said that it would be better to be around 125...don't really know if she's right or not though.  I think she is using the 100 lbs for 5 feet then adding 5 lbs for every extra inch?

It certainly seems unusual to me that a physician would recommend that an 18 year old girl who is currently a healthy weight lose 5 lbs to run endurance, especially with a history of an eating disorder. And even assuming that the recommendation is sound, that's 125 and not 117.

Being able to run endurance actually requires stamina not low body weight. You need great cardio-vascular capacity and slow twitch muscle fibers (that are preferentially developed by doing endurance). Slow-twitch muscle fiber will enhance VO2 max -- which means you will weigh about the same with muscle replacing body fat.

The calorie intake necessary prior to a long distance running at an elite level is enormous even by my standards. There are three critical energy pathways for a marathoner: ATP-PCr pathway (the tiny energy stores already in your muscles that get used up quickly; anaerobic glycolysis (restores ATP-PCr slowly, but leads to build of lactic acid and muscle fatigue); and aerobic metabolizing of carbohydrates and fat (using oxygen: even slower to replace ATP-PCr stores but critical for distance running).

Upshot? You have to eat huge amounts of food before and often during a distance run to maintain those energy pathways.

So really, the advice you should have been given if you are looking to have better endurance runs is eat huge amounts of food for training.

But be warned, elite endurance running does lower body fat which often leads to exercise-induced amenorrhea (your periods stop). That has serious repercussions for a woman's body including bone loss and possible permanent infertility. Hopefully, you are not an elite marathoner, but just looking to do the odd 10K or 13K, in which case eat well (2400-2700 calories on training days ) and let the body find its own efficiency though practice.

I take calcium supplements, typically get three plus servings of dairy, and a vitamin D supplement...I lost my period about a year in a half back...my doctor told me to come in once a year or so and they would start if for a month...

Do you have regular periods now? And if you do, is that only because your doctor put you on birth control?

Unfortunately, I do not...I never had regular before I ran though either...so.  My doctor is just gave me the pill for this month...I never know if I'm weird or what...

Sorry I don't see a point to this thread. Calorie Count is meant for healthy and sustainable weight management. Not a place to talk about feeling disoriented from starving yourself. Please see a doctor and/or counselor immediately, you need to seek professional help. We hope you can get the help you need but Calorie Count can only help those with EDs who are in ACTIVE recovery.