A little help please.

Hi, I had a curious quesiton.  I'm 18 years old, female,  5ft 3in and weigh 129, with a medium frame, which isn't too horrible but not what I want.  I'm looking to lose down to 120.  I was anorexic for  almost a year, a year ago and dropped down to 86 pounds.  but I have gotten back on track doing all the right things.  And this is my problem.  I have been eating about 1300-1400 calories a day with exercise but, it's strange, it looks like I'm gaining weight.  I don't understand it and was wondering if it was possible that because of my anorexia before, my body doesn't burn the amount it should anymore. Any help would be nice.

you're gaining weight because you really killed your metabolism when you were anorexic. i did the same thing. for almost a year i was barely eating and then i was throwing up after meals. i lost like 20 pounds, but suddenly i stopped losing weight. i started eating regulary again, and i stopped throwing up. the weight crept on pretty quickly, and now i have the hardest time losing weight. i was still only eating about 1200-1300 calories, but the weight kept going on. i haven't been on the scale in a long time because it's too emotional for me, but i know i've put on probably almost all the weight i lost during my eating disorder. i've been working really hard to lose the weight, but i haven't seen any results, and it's really frustrating. i know what you're going through. i can't tell you when your body will stabalize and start losing weight again. for me it's been about a year and i still haven't lost the weight back.

BELLA-you were anorexic, lost an UNHEALTHY amount of weight, yea? 

why are you trying to lose the weight you so healthfully gained back???

AGRUSKIN-

Even when i wasn't eating, i never got to the point where i was under weight. i was still classified as "slightly overweight". i was pretty overweight when i was younger, and i finally started to try to be healthier. at first i started losing weight in a healthy way, but became too obsessive and started doing stupid things. when my metabolism finally crashed and i wasn't losing weight anymore, i was still overweight. right now based on my BMI, i'm "moderately overweight". i'm not looking to be skinny. i probably weigh about 170ish now. at my highest i was almost 200. at my lowest i was about 150. i want to be about 130. i think that's perfectly healthy for someone my age and height.

hmm, ok, got it, how much a re you eting? id say dont dip below 1500 but other than that, not sure, good luck!

when you exercise you gain muscle which weighs more than fat.  Your body fat is turning into muscle.  keep up the good work.  It will pay off.

You can really mess up your endocrine system with eating disorders.  I'd check with a doctor to see if your thyroid is still working properly.

Losing weight while with a history of an eating disorder, particularly restricting type anorexia, is dangerous business. I would not do so unless you work with your doctor; if your doctor gives you permission, only, as they can monitor you in case you start to slip and go further than 120. Personally, though, I think that you do not need to lose weight at all. Your weight is healthy and if you want to lose inches look to weight lifting and resistance workouts, not losing pounds.

However, you need to be aware you are undereating for your age. As you are under 21 you should be aware that CC's calculators are not accurate for you as you are still growing - even in later years, as you have internal growth going on you cannot see. This is a calculator for under 21's: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html

 Eating too low a calorie intake, or having a deficit from your BMR greater than 1000 results in something called "survival" or "starvation mode", where your body holds every last thing it can get in expectance of a famine. Water, food, calories. Explained:

• Dieting & Metabolism - This article explains starvation mode and why undereating is counter productive.
• The Body Neglected - This is what happens when you undereat for an extended period of time.

So, my advice: increase your intake to your maintainance level as worked out by the BMR, and make sure you apply how much activity you do into this. This will help your system recover from your undereating. And, to your desire to lose, go and speak to your doctor or look into a weightlifting fitness routine instead of dropping those "few pounds", particularly because of your ED history. Hope this helps.