metabolism ruined...crap diet..help?

hello..i'm 17..my metabolism,before this was pretty good. i could eat a lot and still not gain weight without any exercise. However,a couple of years ago,i gained 1 kg and i freaked out. So i really limited my calories to a 1000 or less..and i lost quite a bit of weight. And i started thinking that i should maintain that insane diet of my mine to prevent any weight gain. So over the years,i stopped keeping track of my diet and slowly the weight crept back..im currently 55 kg, 162cm. i used to be around 46 or 47 kg. i would love to fit into my old clothes and maybe reduce my weight to 51 kg or so. I am moderately active. I skip/jog twice a week and go for swimming and martials arts weekly as well. and i do strength training in between. Im currently maintaing 1200 calories per day,more or less. and im supposed to be consuming at least 1,500 calories if i want my metabolism to get back to normal..has anyone encountered the same problem?if so,could u pls advice me on how many calories to add on per day without gaining weight?and ur exercise programme?I'm paranoid about gaining weight..all the clothes that i used to fit into are very tight..my school uniform is stretched to the maximum...I have heard that ppl who try to increase their calorie intake to rebuild their metabolism have a really hard time losing the excess weight.

Hey!

I'm sad to hear that you are so young and have already started such an insane diet. The best thing to do is stop counting your calories, eat healthy, and stay very active.  (Being active is the best way to keep up your metabolism). From your weight/height you are at a low BMI as it is.  You may not have your ideal body but being weight obsessed will only make you unhappy.  Start a healthy lifestyle right now and it will be easier in the future.  I really hope that you become happy with your body so that you don't feel you have to go as low as 1000 calories a day.

Hello... I'm 19 years old, 5' 7 and weigh 135 pounds. I know exactly what you mean with the slow metabolism and not eating enough... I've just lost about 35 pounds in the past five months [and am working on losing 10 more] and just discovered not a few weeks ago that I've only been eating 600-700 calories a day - not even taking into consideration the 45 minutes of pilates and brisk 60 minute walk that I do every morning. I was tired and irritible all the time and stuck at 140 pounds. When a friend told me to eat more, I only very nearly resisted the urge to attack her. I was [and still am] completely and utterly PETRIFIED about eating anything more for the fear of gaining back the weight I loss...

However I have, slowly but surely, been working on eating more calories. (The concept is still extermely BIZARRE to me, but once safely fed I lost the need to lash out at said friend and was able to see the wisdom in what she was telling me). It's been about two weeks now and I'm up to somewhere between 1200-1300 calories - still not taking into account excercise. I added between 50-100 calories every two or three days and while I experienced a three pound weight gain [which freaked me out and threw me into the depths of despair] I soon lost that three pounds and five more. Which brings me to the 135 I'm at today. I'm still working on getting up to 1500 cals a day, but I'm doing it very, very, very slowly and weighing myself every three or so days [more than that and I believe I would go crazy] to monitor the situation.

I'm no dietician or trainer; the advice I can offer comes only from my personal experience. I don't think you've permanently trashed your metabolism though - just slowed it down and put it into starvation mode. For me, gradually working in more calories hasn't caused me to gain any significant weight. I'm happier, more energetic and after those few brief days while my body finally got enough  nutrition to run properly - and wanted to cling to every bit of it - I've lost weight. I know the thought of eating more right now is chilling - believe me I am soooo in the same boat with you right now - but you're going to feel better and you're going to fit into your old clothes. And better yet [when we finally work up the courage to indulge in 1500 calories] we'll be eating like REAL humans not little birds. Who knew that we'd have to eat more to lose?!

thanks so much for the replies. And i'm much comforted by your post,ameila to know that you're facing the same problem. i really hope that everything works out for the both of us and knowing that you're slowly adding calories,gives me the courage to start consuming more myself.