Did I mess up my metabolism?

When i was 13 I ate nothing but a cup of honey nut cheerios and a tad bit of a milk every day for a year. I was so happy to know that I was losing weight. I went from about 130 to 116 (took me a year). I was probably 4' 11'' then. I then got tired of honey nut cheerios and began to eat real food. The fun begins.

Fast forward a few years.

Now I'm 17 going on 18 in July and its becoming really REALLY hard for me to lose weight. My peak was 157 in August but since then I've lost. I'm now 150lbs and 5ft. And I'm trying to do it the correct way because I realized that I did it the wrong way years ago. I went to a nutritionist, and followed his drastic rules. I only lost 5lbs and plateaued....I've been 150 before so its not progress. I just go up and down.

I just hope I didn't screw up my metabolism permenantly when I was 13 and I hope I can still lose weight. I feel like there's something wrong with me because I do aggressive exercise every day for around 30-40 mins (at least i think its aggressive- i sweat) and I truly watch what I eat. And girls my age around me who are my height and are around 110-120 don't nearly do as much as I do to maintain their weight and I wish I were just like that.

I'm now on the special K diet...:::shrugs:::. I feel like giving up. :-(

Nothing is indefinate! Though sounds like you had something of an eating disorder back then, glad to hear you are trying to do things the right way now. Your matabolism might be crashed from crash dieting (assuming that is what you have been doing), but some people (such as myself) just have a slow matabolism whereas counting calories and cardio may not be enough, I really didn't start losing weight until I toned down my workouts to 3-4x a week, and cut out gluten (wheat, rice, bread etc.), dairy, and processed foods including processed sugars. And my body is so sensitive that by keeping a daily food journal, I figured that even 1-2 servings of honey a day will stall me on a 1500 calorie diet. My advice would be to definately give your body rest, working out everyday is putting alot of stress on your body, at least have one day where you don't workout, also go for a week at a time and temporarily cut out wheat, then the 2nd week dairy etc, you might find out you have a food allergy (I did) that is keeping you stalled, or even gaining weight. But, don't give up! It takes time, and if you do it the right way results will last a lifetime :-) Luck!

Original Post by joyel17:

When i was 13 I ate nothing but a cup of honey nut cheerios and a tad bit of a milk every day for a year.

Oh wow. Glad that's over, as I'm sure are you! I love my cheerios but...ick!

It sounds like you're working hard to do this the right way now, congrats! Something seems to be getting in the way. I noticed you said the nutritionist you saw was drastic....maybe see someone else? Someone you can work with on a regular basis and who will help you figure out this mystery in a supportive way. There is no one-size-fits-all program.

The most important thing is to be proud of how hard you're working, even if the results aren't exactly what you want. You're doing well to think first and foremost about being healthy, and give yourself some credit for it. That's the most important part and now you just have to patient and creative in your strategies.

You and I have the same problem, though I was less extreme.  I was the same way when I was young, I only ate one meal a day.. probably no more than 500 or 600 calories.  And now, three years later, am dealing with the consequences.  I wish I had advice to give you but I'm as much in the dark as you are! 

Aazxmitia makes a good point on food allergies/sensitivies. I found out in my 30's I had a dairy allergy and the symptoms were misread as asthsma!?! It took 2 years to figure it out. I had basically given up on my doctor trying to help. When I cut out dairy, not only did I feel better/healthier, I lost 20lbs in 3 weeks. As I have come to understand them, food allergies are tricky to determine and testing isn't always accurate. Cutting out the common allergy foods (dairy, wheat, sugar, eggs, nuts, soy) can help you figure it out. A dead "give away" to a food allergy is a constant craving for it. In my case, I can drink milk by the gallon and can't eat enough cheese, yogourt and ice cream. The allergy also creates "false fat", basically a weight gain in water for the body to protect itself against the allergen.

Food allergies aren't predictable, so don't take my experience as gospel. I have also seen others grow out of an allergy or sensitivity which has not been the case for me and dairy.