is it possible? we all have heard the wonder story of Revolution...I just wanted to start this thread for some of us undergoing this little experiment to talk. Also, if anyone has done this and it has NOT worked, do tell! 

sorry i am kind of obsessed with this subject right now

I used to eat around 500-700 calories a day a few months back, after initially losing weight, I stopped losing for months, and would gain weight if I ate anything other than liquid or salad. I realised this wasn't doing me any good, and left this web site. I managed to stop counting calories so strictly but knew roughly the amount I was eating by adding it up in my head. I've gone up gradually to between 1000-1500 a day, some days eating utter rubbish, I just spent 4 days at a festival eating nothing but beans on white bread, chocolate and pasta and drinking nothing but cider! Since eating more calories and more grams of fat I have dropped from 109 to 106. And instead of constantly going up and down on the scales like I used to if I ate even the slightest bit more on one day compared to the next, I am pretty steady on 106, some times dropping lower even after eating more calories than normal. I have less excess fat on my stomache even though I haven't worked out since I started upping my food intake. I look and feel ten times better than I ever did eating less calories.

I never thought it could happen, but it has. You don't have to be obsessed and strict with calories. Just know what you are eating, and enjoy food. It's taken me months to realise this, and I've never been a more better person for it. I realised the more i focused on calories the worse I felt about every morsal I ate, and it's not worth it, life is too short people :)

PS really sorry I didn't see that you had put for people to tell if it HADN'T worked. Ignore this message if you want!

Right now I'm trying to get myself out of starvation, because I know I am just not eating enough - sitting around 110-111 (fluctuations in water, my ankles are swelling again) and really wanting to be friends with my metabolism again. I think I am going to write a list of what I like to eat and what I don't, so I can prepare my cupboards with stuff I'd actually go for rather than having the excuse "there's nothing I like so I won't have anything". I am really scared about it, though, because I do NOT want to gain too much too quickly (I know it'd make me relapse) but I see all these stories about upping leading to losing! So, I'm quite curious, too - though I'm also wondering how much exercise everyone did or does along side? A lot of my problems came in overexercising and while I need to cut back on it I feel really lazy if I don't do -something- during the day. (: Hope to see more positive stories!

I started eating my BMR amount (approx 1450cals) and found that I wasn't losing weight despite working out. But as soon as I upped them to around 1700, I started feeling a whole lot better, more energised and the weight has been slowly, but steadily coming off. I can now fit my 'thin' jeans on my 'fat water weight' days

no no no Kat, I really wanted to hear stories that it DID work!!! i just wanted to hear it all, that is incredible I am SOOOO happy for u!! That is awesome that you 'got your life back' that was a super gutsy desicion.

sweetigem - that is AWESOME and very inspirational. I hope for the best!

fidget i dont think shes trying to lose just calm down about upping her cals... oink im in the same situation... i dont have any experience or proof in the theory but im goin on the deep end and i gotta try it im sick of living this way and inching recovery w/ very little progress b/c im scared to ballooning up... more stories please from anyone!

its simple... was 25-130 for a long time and very happy and suddenly...for no reason really now that I think of it...tried to get back to 125 and cut my cals drastically and was still working out a lot. I also had a stomach condition that really limited me to only eating 800-1000 cals a day and i GAINED...Ive been checked out for everything under the sun except my hormone levels next week which I actually think are fine...and there is no underlying condition causing me to gain. 130 was not underweight for me, I was actually perfect right there...but as I cut my cals, i gained ten pounds. It was really senseless and i am sure you can imagine the frustration...I dont like myself at 140 because with my frame it really added on, I would be much more comfortable at 130 and just wanted to up my cals regardless of whether or not I maintained or lost..just to repair my metabolism so I can eat like a normal person and not gain when I eat 1200 calories because that sucks. And yeah I am really slim in those pics because I am not 140 lbs, I am where I want to be, 130 (in most).

I'm confused now..... sort of

i want to gain weight..... so i shouldn't up my cals?

it just doesnt sound right XD. we up our cals to gain and to loose :P.

why can't we just find our ideal weight/goal, find the calories needed for that weight, and stay on that?... wouldn't our bodies catch up to w/e calories we eat for that amount of weight?

oink... aw again, your skeptism sounds like a recent me :)

here's my story... I was eating like 1200-1400cal and gained almost 20lbs in the coarse of a year.. think of my surprise when the scale read 107lbs when one year ago it read 87lbs!

I have been eating 1600-1800 for over 2 weeks now, so usually around 1700cal so or on average and you know what? I have gone from 107lbs to 105lbs!

yes yes yes.. just weighed myself again this morning... no gain, a little loss, and I feel like a million bucks! I have tons of energy I want to go out and run and jump around. I have a permanent smile on my face... heck right after I weighed myself I started off the day with a nice big 600cal breakfast :)

of coarse I'm happy, hey I have a whole extra 500+ cal more than I used to eat a few weeks ago.. thats like the equivalent of an entire peice of chocolate fudge cake if I want!

yes, the math doesn't make sense.. but I don't even care... eff, I don't even care right now about those couple pounds that I want to lose, if I can maintain on more calories than i ever have eaten in the last 3 years thats good enough for me!

I hope this helps you out a bit

:)

woooooo happpy happy happy!

in short:

OINK UP YOUR CALORIES

you don't deserve to live like that!

carmen u have no idea how much that means to me, i really take your responses to heart! did you feel bloated and disgusting and whale-like the first few days? I hope my body gets used to this so that I dont feel this way all the time -ew! 

P.s how do you feel about me factoring some alochol in there tonight, like get up to 1200 then drink my way to 1600? It wont be hard and I dont drink that often! just curious!

bloated and disgusting? hmm yeah kinda, but more so it was due to my period, i also had cramps and that wasnt fun, and i think its more in your head than anything... that whole fear of eating more really messes with your head.

alcohol calories are still rather empty calories... like i mean you could do it, a calorie = a calorie right? but just remember in many cases a lot of the time people notice that alcohol makes them kinda puffy and bloated, so a jump in the scale may happen, but than again alcohol is a diuretic, so depending on how YOUR body reacts to poison lol it will depend.

but i'd say go for it! your young, go out drink have a good time, if anything it will let you ease up on all this stress and you can have fun, you deserve an extra cocktail more than ever right now!

cheers :)

im so into this thread..i would love to hear other peoples stories.  im in the same boat, and like oink, am really interested in this upping the cals to regain your metabolism.  im trying to make friends with my metabolism as well and am terrified of the process.  i am recovering from an ed, and know what i have to do in order to recover, but knowing and doing are very different.   ive definitely gained weight over the past year or so, just by not being so strict but still find myself eating arounf 1000-1200 cals a day.  i know in order to regulate my metabolism i need to up that amount..i think.  is that really too little?  will upping my intake really help me get back to that oh so wanted place..normal metabolism land!  im 5'1, and weigh..i have no idea.. 

carmen, i know you had a difficult time doing this same thing..and seems that now you have taken the plunge, it has been working for you.  that helps me alot, knowing we are similiar in size. 

grrr..why does it have to be such a struggle..knowing and doing.. 

thanks everyone who shares their story with the rest of us..its really inspiring..lets keep going and fighting!

hi everyone, increasing, hopefully is good, lol!  tomm i hope to go from 1300ish to 1450ish, only thing is, i havent "gone" to the bathroom that is, all day and i feel gross!  ofcourse this has to happen the day b4 i aim to increase my cals!  yuck!

suggestions???

agruskn, i have begun having problems in the bathroom dept. for the first time in my entire life as of the last month or two...me decreasing my cals probably did not help either. I suggest taking a soluable fiber supplement like Citrucel or Fiber Con which will not make u gassy...thats what my doc said :) Kinda gross but its true..drink tonssssssss of water and know that some days, u just arent gonna go and it sucks but thats how it is. excercise helps too!

hey, unfortunately i know all the old ideas, i have IBS and acid reflux, ive gone 2+ wks w/o going and its hell.  those stupid pills dont work, nothing really specific does i dont think, i really hope i go by tonight! lol

agrus...i was diagnosed once with ibs but then someone else told me i did not have it but i DO have high acid, and take prevacid everyday i feel ya! i wish there were some quick fixes :( i wonder how senna smooth move tea works

dont know about that one.  ive taken nearly everything, i dont think anything actually works and sometimes just hope for mind over matter. 

for the acid reflux, i take axiphex every morning.  i dont take anything for the IBS anymore since my last one was recalled by the FDA. 

sometimes its like, if i want near a bathroom and had to go, then i missed my opportunity for te day.  i dunno, i drink water, do moderate excercise, eat, lol, ugh...

um i dont think this is going to work i am so bloated and feel so huge. how long will it take to adjust!? :(