please help me

I had been severely undereweight for several years due to a physical illness. I have finally recovered and returned to a healthy weight. My weight had dropped to underweight due to having constant physical pain when I ate. Now that the pain is gone i have been able to eat. AND exercise. There are days where I can exercise for 4 hours per day! I used to be lucky to get up and walk across a room!

I had been at a good weight for my height 5'1" 102-105lbs. But now I feel that my eating habits are out of control and now I am in a panic.  I have now gone the opposite direction, almost like my body cannot stop eating. I keep binging uncontrollably at 3500-6000 calories a day and I am so scared that this is going to continue and not stop. I don't know what to do and I am really scared. Please what do I do? how do I get this under control this?

The only way I can explain it is that it is almost like my body forgot what it was like to eat normal food and now that I can--my body doesn't even let me stop when I am full...almost like an addict???

I am desperate. Please help me.

A healthy weight for someone your height is anything between where you are now and about 130lbs.  So the first thing to judge is whether you're between those parameters still, even with eating a lot more.  If you are then you shouldn't panic unduly.  You may find your natural healthy weight is a mid-range 115-120lbs ultimately/

Yes, if you've been severely malnourished and ill for a long time then your body will naturally want to play catch-up as part of the healing process.   As a 24 year-old getting up to 4 hours of exercise a day you probably need about 2700 - 3000 cals a day just to match your energy requirements.  In that light 3500 isn't so wide of the mark.

What you may need to do in the short-term is plan your food days quite carefully.   Aim to get the right amount of energy... 2700-3000 cals... regular meals/snacks, a good balance of different foods, and include plenty of bulky, filling, nutritious foods in your day so that you feel satisfied, pleasantly full and well nourished.   Some foods simply offer lots of energy (lots of calories) but no real satisfaction - those are the ones to steer clear of.  Other foods (and vegetables are a good example) you can eat in large quantities but, because they're quite fibrous and bulky, you have to stop a long time before you've taking in thousands of calories.

So plan your day out, have a structure, eat regularly, make intelligent food choices and don't skimp on your calorie needs.  Then you'll feel better in control.  And if you still feel hungry at the end of the day.... have something else to eat and don't feel bad about it.

Good luck

gi-jane,

Thank you so much for replying so quickly. I am so upset and literally am sitting here hoping that someone out there would read this tonight.

Thank you.  It brings a bit of relief to know that I probably do need about 3000 on days I exercise for up to 4 hours.  Prior to being ill I was always at 103-105lbs. and that was just at having 1600 a day and i only then exercised about 40 minutes 3-4 days per week.

It is hard to accept the "new me", i long for who i was prior to being ill, and also the emotional connection between actually being able to sit down and eat a meal without blacking out or being bed ridden is mind boggling to me. 

Shopping for clothes almost makes me cry now because I used to not beable to buy anything without it literally falling off me.  Actually having a figure is something i thought would never come true again. 

I notice from what i jotted down from my binge tonight is that i had a lot of sweets that i used to not be able to eat at all.  so that isnt good either.  I have to take care of my body now that it is able to digest properly and not be in such pain anymore. 

Thank you for your support and plesae send any more advice/guidance my way as you think of it. You truly saved me tonight I was at a complete lost sitting here in tears. thank you for being so kind.

It's OK... There's nothing wrong with a few sweets or cakes or whatever as part of your healthy diet.  It's just about finding a balance.   You don't want to live on sweets but you don't want to banish them all together.

If you want a tip on how to feel more positive get yourself a piece of paper and a pencil and map out how you're going to eat tomorrow starting with breakfast.  Jot it down so that it's 'real' in black and white.   You could put that you're going to have a couple of poached eggs on wholegrain toast with a glass of orange juice for breakfast.   Your mid-morning snack might be a banana with a pot of yoghurt....  and so on.  Make it foods you particularly enjoy and which you'll look forward to.   Base the meals around plenty of vegetables, grains and other good foods.   Include a few sweets in the mix.   You could even run your menu through the food log and see if you're up at the 2700-3000 cal target.... If not, add or take away as necessary.

When you're done you'll have a day's 'menu' all worked out that you can follow.  You'll feel in charge because you've created it.  You'll feel confidence because you know how many calories it contains and that it's a good balance.  Because it's written down on paper you can refer to it from time to time and that's quite reassuring.

Once you understand just how much you can eat (or need to eat) you'll feel happier and you'll start to trust yourself.  Takes a few weeks to get into a good eating habit and then you'll probably find it comes as second nature.

thank you gi-jane,

I will do that now, Im going to log in tomorrows plan and stick to it, take it one day, or even meal, at a time, i'll keep you posted. thank you for your support.

No problem.  Glad you feel a bit more positive.  I'm sure things will look better in the morning.

I hope that this was a typo but why are you exercising 4 hours a day?This is very concerning to me.