why is it that for people recovering from ED's its so hard to put on weight, and for "normal" people its hard to keep off?

Well, the title says it all! Its pure curiosity, but undergoing refeeding, I eat around 5000-7000 calories a day. However, it is very hard for that weight to stay on. As soon as I think I've reached my goal and I can eat like a normal person, nope, its time to gain again. Why is it that maintainance for us is so much higher than for "normal" people?

Many women have to watch what they eat, and soon put on weight if they are not careful. Why is it that when we go on crazy multiple thousand-calorie binges, we don't put on that much weight? (I don't put on any at all actually, if I do it usually evens out in a couple of days).

I also have another question (Chrissy?!) I'm gaining about 3 pounds per week. Is that ok, more, less? Thanks :)

I would also love to know the answer to this question.

I'm weight restored now, after a few months of refeeding. It started off slow [my calories were not high enough] but once I started eating around 3000 a day, I gained around 20lbs in two months.

I think my metabolism is still too slow, and I still gain a tiny bit on 2000 a day.

Oh and 3 pounds a week sounds fine, but I guess it depends on how much you need to gain. I would suggest no less than 1-2lbs a week though

Most of the time when I've been hospitalized for my anorexia they recommend 2-4 pounds be gained per week.  My experience has been similar with weight gain:  I needed around 5000 calories to gain at a healthy rate.  In the beginning, my maitenance was high (3000-4000).  But, eventually, my body adjusted to lower calories (maintaining around 2000).  While refeeding, your metabolism dramatically increases.  But your body "calms down" eventually.  I kind of think of it as your body needs to take time to trust you to feed your body what it needs.  Normal people don't have this.  Their bodies haven't been "traumatized" and "abused" like ours have.  When we're gaining, we need extra energy (calories) to repair the damage that we have done to our bodies.  Just take it day by day.  It will get easier.

skippinggirlvinegar- 

First off, congrats for being weight restored! How many calories do you eat now to maintain?

I have undergone refeeding twice. The first time I averaged about 8000-10 000 calories a day (some people ask themselves how that is even possible, but it was all unhealthy saturated and trans fats, sweets, cakes, and basically all the stuff i missed out on when I was restricting because I now sort of had the excuse to eat it all).

After 3 months of that, I only gained about 10 pounds. I will never understand how that happened. Most people I know will eat that much food for only a few days and they will already put weight on.

swimfan93-

I have heard about hypermetabolism before, but why is it that it hasn't normalized for me yet? How do you know when it is normalized?

I appreciate the support you guys :) thank you

It is tough though.. especially now in summer when eating makes me so hot and the bloated stomach makes me want to hide at home :( 

Quite sad, but it is my fault, so I must put up with the consequences of my acts.

One extra question for those that are refeeding:

Has it happened to you that if for one day you dont eat as many calories (for whatever reason) it is like a huuuge setback? If that happens to me its like undoing all the hard work i've put in the past 2 weeks!

Thanks again :)

The reason why it's hard for anorexics or ED recoverers to put on weight, while difficult for others to lose is because half of the battle is overcoming the mental and psychological aspect of approaching these goals, and the other half is physiological. An anorexic has difficulty justifying eating and often overestimates how much they are actually eating which leads to a prolonging of weight gain, while those losing often underestimate how much they are eating and are really taking in much more.

The other part is that the struggles are completely reversed so it would make sense that just as those trying to lose have a difficult time, those trying to gain have a difficult time. When our bodies have a lot of healing to do from an ED this requires more energy at rest than the average person, there is a lot more activity occuring inside of our bodies during recovery than would normally be the case. Also, you can have an elevated metabolic rate during recovery because of varying levels of hormones that aren't present at the same levels in "normal" people.

3 pounds a week is completely fine, especially if you're consuming 5000-7000 calories a day, you figure to gain 2 pounds requires 1000 calories over maintenance a day, and you're gaining 3 pounds, so that's about 1500 calories over maintenance...since your metabolism is going crazy 3 pounds is not a lot at all considering how much you're eating. it will only get you to your goal sooner and allow you to maintain your weight eating a much higher calorie level. does this bother you at all? you seem to have a positive attitude which is fantastic. You are doing great and this was a good question. 

perhaps gaining more gradually on slightly lower calories (3500 maybe?) will make maintenance more sustainable. this way you could be gaining maybe a pound a week but keeping it on. a sudden drop in calories for us gainers usually means dropping weight pretty quickly, even if our maintenance calories are high.

edit: that being said, if you are significantly and dangerously underweight i would not recommend prolonging the amount of time at a low bmi. i don't know your stats so i can't say. but good luck!

Original Post by omonica:

perhaps gaining more gradually on slightly lower calories (3500 maybe?) will make maintenance more sustainable. this way you could be gaining maybe a pound a week but keeping it on. a sudden drop in calories for us gainers usually means dropping weight pretty quickly, even if our maintenance calories are high.

edit: that being said, if you are significantly and dangerously underweight i would not recommend prolonging the amount of time at a low bmi. i don't know your stats so i can't say. but good luck!

 I have a friend who gained on around 5000, and as soon as she decreased her intake slightly she lost 2 pounds in a week.
But I have to agree that if someone is very underweight, eat whatever is necessary to gain to a healthy weight.

Original Post by pearsnapples:

skippinggirlvinegar- 

First off, congrats for being weight restored! How many calories do you eat now to maintain?

I have undergone refeeding twice. The first time I averaged about 8000-10 000 calories a day (some people ask themselves how that is even possible, but it was all unhealthy saturated and trans fats, sweets, cakes, and basically all the stuff i missed out on when I was restricting because I now sort of had the excuse to eat it all).

After 3 months of that, I only gained about 10 pounds. I will never understand how that happened. Most people I know will eat that much food for only a few days and they will already put weight on.

I now eat around 1800-2000 calories a day to maintain, but if I exercise at all I begin to lose. Depending on how much physical activity I do in a day, I may have to increase my calories to around 2300. 
[wow, I still  can't get over the 8000-10000 calories to gain. I think I would explode. That's probably when eating peanut butter out of the jar comes in handy...]