Hello all!

Hi,

I'm new to this site and would like to join a group.  How do I go about doing that?  I can't seem to find a "join" link or a "post" link in this group.

Amy

Hello and welcome to Calorie Count!
It's awesome that you are ready to jump right in and get into a group :)
At this time, the "group" tab isn't set up yet.
If you are interested in joining a challenge in the Games and Challenges forum, just jump in and check it out.
Many of them start over at the beginning of each month.
What particular group or challenge were you interested in?

Again, welcome to Calorie Count.
It's a pleasure to meet you!

MCDerin,
Volunteer Moderator

I would like to join the ED Recovery group or just be able to post and read messages.

http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/4712 8.html

Hello everyone,

Glad to have found this message board. How long should it take to recover from a starvation diet? I have had a healthy lifestyle for 2 years now but continue to have a high percentage of fat and a very low percentage of muscle.

In the fall of 2004, I was finally off of an anti-depressant that had caused me to gain about 90 pounds (I'm 5-2 and weighed 201 lbs), and I began restricting calories a bit and exercising 4-5 days a week. At first, I think it was a healthy approach. But by Thanksgiving, I had lost 40 pounds and was seeing great results. This is when I began to go overboard. I began restricting calories even more, and exercising 6-7 days a week. I continue to get skinnier and at my lowest weight, about a year later, I was only 109 pounds. Of course I was happy at the time, but didn't realize that I was losing muscle along with the fat. I did mostly cardio and no weights and was only eating 1000 calories a day for a long time. For about a month, I had restricted it to only 800 calories.

Eventually, thinking I had hit my goal weight and ideal body, I figured I would just maintain my current weight, so I began to eat a little bit more sensibly (1200-1500 cals/day and working out only 3-4 days a week. However, by this point my metabolism had slowed down and I began to gain weight, even in a sensible lifestyle. I didn't realize at the time the damage I was doing, but have become much more aware in the past 2 years. My question is now, if I'm eating 1800 quality cals/day, working out 5-6 days per week, including strength straining, shouldn't I be losing fat and gaining muscle? I'm still "lean" looking with clothes on, but very flabby without clothes. I feel like I'm making the right choices now, but still suffering the effects of my past mistakes. I feel as if my immune system is weakened, my muscles are weak, I'm colder when other people are fine (and my thyroid is normal), and I'm really out of shape. What can I do?

Amy

hey amy! your story is interesting and it's really inspiring that you've decided to live a healthy lifestyle (i'm workin on it!). please post in the recovery forum! i have a feeling that a lot of the girls (and guys) will be psyched about your positivity and probably have better ideas than myself about your questions. it's just the link that spoiled_candy posted above. can't wait to see ya in there!

Thanks! I'll be right in.