gaining on 2000 rather than 3500?

hi everyone

ive been recovering from anorexia and eating on ave btwn 1950-2250 for about the past 2 months.  at first i did gain but in the past 3 weeks ive gone from 93.5 to 95, to 96.5.  now dont get me wrong, im very happy to finally be recovering and gaining and getting back to life, i just dont understand why some ppl are told or need to consume much more in order to gain than what i seem to need?  i almost feel jipped in not being able to eat as much altho i dont even know that i necessaraly would(slight Ed thoughts).

also, id like to eventually be able to maintain on a nice amount of food, 2000ish id think, and since im eating that now and gaining, im a bit scared?  maybe once i weigh more ill need more to maintain my weight and then what i need now to gain, ~2000, will be my maintenenance?

any insight would really be appreciated!

thank you!

Well done on gaining a little more.   Your body is behaving pretty normally.  Keep going with 2000-2300 cals if it's working.... as you get bigger your body needs more energy just to function.  A 90lbs person needs less energy than a 110lbs person or a 120lbs person.  So your rate of gain will naturally slow as you increase in weight.  You may even need to eat more to keep gaining.

Enjoy!!!

thank you GIJANE!  im a bit under 5'4 and 25 yrs old.  ultimately i see myself needing to get to 125ish to be healthy and then perhaps the 130s since most of my life i was at least 140s.  i dont want to set myself up for a weight that is not something i can realistically maintain. 

i hope tat once im in the 120s perhaps i can maintain on about 2000 along w moderate excercise a few times a week, again, i dont want to devote my life to the gym in order to sustain a certain weight. 

but still, why do some ppl need so much and others, like myself, much less?

Truthfully, it's all a guessing game. It's a case of figuring out what works for you - some people will need calories in the 2000's, some in the 3's and 4's. Have you tried eating at 2500 steadily, that said? Your metabolism (yes, this sounds wierd) may not have recovered fully yet. Still, you're in a good range presently, and if it's comfortable for you go with it, but I'd try going for a solid 2500 a while and seeing what happens. Good luck, agru :D

it's really all individualized. i've gained 20 pounds in 5 weeks on 2000 cals a day! (that doesn't mean you will) and i know girls eating 4000 cals a day, and losing.

hey, thanks for responding and congrats LALA on becoming a moderator!

i just almost feel jipped at not being able to eat so much more like some others and that i am gaining on this amount, altho truthfully i have not eaten over ~2300 and that was maybe once or twice. 

CHAI-since you gained on 2000 does that mean that you now maintain on much less?  i always assumed that adult women were meant to maintain on about 2000.

i wonder why its so diff for everyone? 

do you think its possible that even after eating 2000 or more for about 2 months that my bdy is still just holding on to every cal and that i could and should eat more?

thanks!

Agru: Thank you! And go for it. I think it's entirely possible you could still be clinging to your calories. I think I remember seeing an opinion/post (cat-girl? Possibly) about how starvation mode might not always be a set number and can be higher than expected just as calorie requirements vary. So, try eating 2500 solid for a while like I said, or even a little higher. It's easy to make with some extra nuts, an avocado half, et al... you must know the sort of foods I'd list by now. xD

Bodies are strange machines, eh?

im on the same boat... i dont feel jipped persay but my mindset is NOT getting any better with this recovery thing- im eatting 1800-2000 a day and gaining rather well lol to say the least... i never understood the 3000+ some people need either... i still feel like my head is still out of whack and never gonna get better

LALA-im so happy for you, i havent kept track of your recovery but can i ask, are you at a healthy weight?  im really happy that im finally gaining actually and i think my mentality is improving as well.  i want to start living already!

im meeting for the 1st time w a nutritionist tomm actually and am really hoping she tells me to eat 2500 at least.  i dont want to have to live the rest of my life after recovery on a low amount of food. 

if anyone else has any advide, insight, or experience id love to hear it!  id just hate to have think that my gaining level is what many can maintain on?!

i want to follow what the nut. says tomm altho im hoping she says in order to really recover for life i should eat even more than i am now!

Agru: Not yet, but I am 13.5lbs up from my lowest and that alone is making me very happy. :D I know I still have a way to go but seeing that number makes me smile, because it shows me I can do this and pushes my ED further back with every step in the right direction. And I agree with getting our lives back: I'm finally making new friends and knuckling down with work and not panicing about food non-stop.

Use the nutritionist appointment well! They're generally wise people!

Hi there,

This is my first time posting, I've suffered from anorexia for two years and I'm now in the process of recovering and refeeding. When I read your post I had to reply as it could have been me that wrote that. I am twenty five and 5ft 6 and I am trying to get to around thirty pounds. I started to refeed about three weeks ago and I went from 1,200 cals to 1,800 - 2,000 cals. My first week I gained 6 pounds! Although I think this was a lot to do with water retention and my body clinging to every calorie it could as my weight had plummeted to seventy six pounds, in my last weigh in (last week) I had gained 1.5. I too was really looking forward to being able to eat around the 3000 calorie mark after reading other peoples stories. My nutritionist is trying to make me think in terms of servings instead of calories (which I agree is much healthier, I can't calorie count all my life!) but she has also told me just to eat as much as poss.

I too am wondering if I will eventually have to up my cals as my weight is restored? Please keep posting how you are doing, I would love to hear about your progress!

hi GILLY and welcome!

so im a bit shorter and further along in my recovery than you, no matter.  are you using the diabetic exchange system?  im still hoping for the high cal amount to gain and to maintain.  for all you know w the portions you were assigne, you are eating 3000.  yes, your intitial gain was probably water weight and wont continue at that pace.  i really just want to recover and be done w it all.  id just follow whatever your Nut. said.

good luck!

Hey like everyone else said, it's different for everyone!  Just to give you a frame of reference, though, I was trying to maintain but am still LOSING on 2300 calories a day!  :o  If I can help you in any way, I would love to!  Good luck and you're doing GREAT! ^^

xoxoxo Okie

OKGO-

hi! SO I briefly skimmed some of your posts and saw that youre on some sort of sports team that involves a lot of daily excercise-2hrs!  thats pretty intense and am actually not surprised that you need 2300+ to maintain.  not sure of  your weight and height but its great to be active and healthy, just make sure to eat enough to sustain all that activity, right.

im not nearly as active so im sure that will make a huge diff, obviosly, in cals needed.

good luck!

agru-

You don't hit that metabolic extreme until you actually refeed you body the EXTRA calories.

 

The most extreme cases of hypermetabolism are actually seen in victims that do ABSOLUTELY NO activity [no walking] and consistently progress their calories up to HIGH [above average] levels.

 

Until your body gets the signals that it has lots of extra resources [calories] and that the demands aren't coming in [activity-even everyday stuff] it keeps the practice of hoarding calories.

You have to send it the "big calorie, low demnad" signals in order for it to go to that hypermetabolic stage you've heard about where the body just starts using calories like crazy [not for activity].

TUFFSTUFF- hi!  i actually jut got home from my first Nut. appt and i told her all my info, it was just a consultation.  it was such a let down though and shes had experience w ED patients.  she told me i was doing everything right and not to change anything untill my weight gain stalls.  she said since ive been gaining ~1.5 lbs the last few weeks at about 2000cals, i shouldnt do anything different, not to add any cals?!

Agru-

My experience has shown that it is really tough for out patients to increase their intake and decrease activity enough to truly get the rebound [that I talked about in the original message].

  The sad truth is, many [even most] go through life with some level of ED on their shoulder. 

This is perhaps why your nutritionist isn’t optimistic regarding you REALLY being able to get your calories up there.  It’s classic to want it, to plan on it—even to start…but can you really do it?  Or as soon as you go to get your food, start to eat, do you gravitate back to what ED has deemed safe.  Trading long term better potential for current security in your safe foods or amounts. You have to be really tough do decide the ED life is OVER.  Everything that feels “good” is bad now because it keeps you entrapped.

And wanting that is one thing, even planning it—but doing it is the real price you have to pay—and it won’t feel right until you start acting on it.

You could show her and DO IT [take that, ED!] plus see what amazing things you stand to gain in yourself and your life if you really do this thing.

 

Ultimately, it is your life and your future.  You have to live it, not the nutritionist.  You can decide for yourself how you want to end up, where you want to be—not just how much you can eat, but how you can function OUTSIDE a world obsessed with worrying about food and weight—and that can only happen once you are no longer in deprival of calories.

tuffstuff: I have many of the same questions as agruskin. I realize very body is different but, in your experience, about how long does it take after eating a high calorie plan combined with little to no exercise for the body to trust you are NOT going to shortchange it? In the past, I had trouble gaining on 4000 plus while hospitalized with little movement. Now, I am older and do exercise, slowly gaining on about 2500. Any recommendations?

TUFFSTUFF-youe completely right, i can plan all i want but actually doing it, actually eating every bite and not leaving just a smidge over for some reason.

i still fall into the same old trap of not knowing how to increase my cals in a good way.  all she said was from looking at my meals it seems like i lack protein so i had 2 slices instead of 1 at lunch, in addition to the fage yougurt, and plan on having a pastrami sandwich for dinner.  im not a nutrition perosn like many ppl on this site seem to be.  i gravitate to bread and pb and the like.

i find that i do need to plan my foods tho as ive said before bc my hunger cues are so messed up that i cant even hear what my body craves.  also, if i do ask my mother to prepare my meals so i know that ill eat more, im not sure how much or waht she uses and then i cant really know how much im eating.  for ex. ill eat salads w avocado and clumps of nut butter added to it, or trail mix too, but its hard to then count it.

ultimately im guessing that in order to recover my metabolism for the future its not enough to be gaining on give or take 2000, but that it needs to gain from what, 2500? 

thank you and by the way, how are you doing w everything?

They need to create an easy and foolproof way for you to monitor your metabolism each day. I hate how theoretical it is, and even BMR testing can be inaccurate. They also need to create a safe drug that shoots your metabolism through the roof (not speed ). It would help the truly obese lose weight and convince recovering ED sufferers that they really can eat whatever they want without consequence. It's not fair that there is so much conflicting advice out there; I think most people find it stifling because there seems to be no guarantee that any particular method will work. We've been raised by science - we want verifiable proof, 100% guarantees-or-your-money-back! This neither-here-nor-there crap is for the birds.

hey agru! Hope you're doing well. One thing that just occured to me is that even though we're recovering we still have this feeling that we're only "allowed" certain numbers of calories or certain types of food, or that there's a very specific way to recover. The truth is there is no step by step proccess. The body and metabolism is a very flexible thing (unlike most of us super rigid people with ed's!).

You are allowed to eat as much as you want, if you want to eat more than 2000, then do it and yes, maybe you'll gain more the first week or two, which wouldn't even be a bad thing, but your body should catch up. if it knows that you'll be giving it more food it should learn to proccess that food faster. This is why I know I definitely need to bump my calories up after these last few terrible days because I don't want to worry about what will happen if I go over 2500 for the rest of my life. I want to go back to the way I was before. I was known for being the girl that could stuff her face and love it and not gain a pound. I maintained a bmi of barely 18 without even giving my food a second thought and probably getting 4000 calories on some days. Not that it was every day, some days were normal, if I felt like making cake, well that could have easily tripled my intake if I felt like eating half the cake in one sitting lol. But that just shows you how flexible our digestive system really is. If we treat it well, it will treat us well.

Keep it up, you're doing great!