Reintroducing SOME sort of excersice into my life

Kinda of some tmi stuff in here, but I really need some advice:

I'm gradually recovering for self-imposed restrictive eating/over excersicing (I hesitate to say anorexia as I've never been diagnosed...but yeah). I was at my worst for maybe about 2-3 months. I'm still underweight, but for the past month+, I've been eating lots, upping my calories and have TOTALLY cut out cardio and other excercise in hopes of getting my period back and getting back to a more reasonable weight.

The thing is, I've always been really active and LOVED running. Esspecially now with the weather getting better, its KILLING me I can't go for a jog or something.

Is there ANY sort of excercise I could do, even strength training, that would be okay for me at this point, but would also satisfy my itch to be alittle bit more active?? Or should I completely forget about it? The only equiptment I have at my disposal is an elliptical (haven't used it for ages..) and a bike, and I don't have much money, but I will buy weights/cheap stuff if I have to.

Any advice would be really appreciated :)

You might want to post this in the weight gain area - that group would probably have a better idea of what is safe to do and the best way to re-introduce exercise without it becoming a compulsion.   Sorry I don't have better advice than that - but I didn't want to leave you hanging.

How much do you weigh? I read a post you made where you stated you increased your caloric intake to 1200.  That is not enough.

I think all exercise should be out of the question, for now. Concentrate on getting healthy. Seeking the advice/counsel of a dietician and/or therapist.  People with ED's, often replace one disordered behavior with another. Remember, the disease is a consequence..in order to be healthy, you need to concentrate on what the cause is. It is not unheard of for people with ED's to be under strict orders to stay away from any type of exercise for up to 12 mos. [or longer depending on their emotional well being]. 

Being healthy and fit comes from the inside...the way we look is the consequence.  In order to achieve a healthy life, I suggest you contiue to work on your progress..to  heal your inside.  You will be amazed at how awesome you will then look on the outside!

Best of luck!

No. When your BMI is below 18.5, and your doctor hasn't said it's okay - no. You shouldn't be exercising. Focus on managing calories at an appropriate level and getting to a 20 BMI.

Oh, and in the quote below? Ignore the protein thing. Protein is the food group you should be having the LEAST of and even then do not start obsessing about food groups. Focus on a good balance in your diet and get plenty of carbohydrates and fats.

Furthermore, do not make new threads that are dupes. If you want to move a thread PM a moderator.

Quote from duplicate thread:

Original Post by eskimo82:

Hi I had the same problem as you - I love exercise (not to lose weight) and I'm trying to gain so cut right back on cardio and have started lifting weights.  I have to say its the best!! I love a challenge and having to work hard and lifting weights gives you the opportunity to do this while at the same time building muscle!

I've also found I like how I look much more now coz I have some muscles!! 

Make sure you eat enough though (protein especially)! Have fun =)

@ fitnessgirll - That post mustve been a looong time ago...cause I'm eating waaay more than that at this point :)

@lala - Sorry bout that! Will remember next time. :)

So would you all say that lifting weights (I'm talking like, 5lbs at most) once or twice a week would be really bad? I'm getting reeeally restless and am almost COMPLETELY sediatary, barely any walking at all. I just don't wanna ruin what I've achieved so far. :S

Less of a problem, but even then you should talk to your doctor to ask if that is okay.

Sorry for imposing on ur thread izzy, but just to ask about protein being the least important. My dietitian just said I wasn't having that much and i need more (even though i have chicken and yoghurt quite a lot) bit concerned now :S

Original Post by izzyy23:

@ fitnessgirll - That post mustve been a looong time ago...cause I'm eating waaay more than that at this point :)

@lala - Sorry bout that! Will remember next time. :)

So would you all say that lifting weights (I'm talking like, 5lbs at most) once or twice a week would be really bad? I'm getting reeeally restless and am almost COMPLETELY sediatary, barely any walking at all. I just don't wanna ruin what I've achieved so far. :S

 It was less than 2 mos ago. What do you weigh? What amount of calories are you eating now?

Teck: Protein should make up only about 10-15% max of your calorie intake. The rest ought to be carbohydrate and fats. And if I remember right you're not eating enough calories. Maybe that's what your dietician meant.

By the by, you look like death in your newest picture. It's concerning.

Original Post by lalabanana:

Teck: Protein should make up only about 10-15% max of your calorie intake. The rest ought to be carbohydrate and fats. And if I remember right you're not eating enough calories. Maybe that's what your dietician meant.

By the by, you look like death in your newest picture. It's concerning.

 Gee Lala, way to be supportive.  BLEH.

I get about 25-30% of my calories from protein and I'm gaining no problem. I think I've actually managed to gain some muscle as well, which is good for me since I nearly lost all that I had from ED and plus, it's motivating since I actually WANT to be stronger. About 25-28% of my calories are from fats (healthy EFA's) and the last 45-50% is from complex carbs.

I do strength training and cardio and I have been all through my gaining period. It hasn't stopped me, but I HAVE had to eat more, so you should really consider that.

Oh my gosh, Lala! I don't mean to be offensive, I'm concerned. There has to be a reason for this behavoir. WHY are you so unsupportive lately? Honestly, in the past couple of days I have found many posts to be cruel, false, or unsupportive. Is something wrong? I mean, I wouldn't bother commenting on it otherwise.. but you're a moderator, so I find it somewhat odd, I suppose.


Anyway. If you like protein, eat protein. You SHOULD eat protein - your body desperately needs it for growth and repair. Your body can cleave simple carbohydrates from protein if it needs it, but it cannot just pull the nucleic acids from the amino acids out of it's butt that your body needs MORE than the average person to recover!

I found that, starting out, even just walking made me feel so much better and willing to eat more. It helped TREMENDOUSLY. I suggest taking it easy and building your workouts up, slowly, as you rebuild your body.

LALA is RIGHT, enough with the warm lovey dovey crap.  anorexia is a disease, mental + physical.  nothing will change on its own.  a person does need a push, harsh reality.

enough w/ protein rations, bars, powders, this is not only physical recovery but also recovery back into life, socialization, normaility.

ppl in recovery need kicks, harsh doses of reality or yes, they will die, stay lost in a disease, DISEASE, a MENTAL disease.  sometimes ppl dont understand that until someone is harsh with the realities of this sickness.

I wasn't suggesting bars and powders for protein. I don't use or support the use of either. I was simply giving my stats in case they might help. I get all my protein from beans, whole grains, lean meats, eggs, and dairy. No fake supplements here.

Original Post by zebulancherry:

I wasn't suggesting bars and powders for protein. I don't use or support the use of either. I was simply giving my stats in case they might help. I get all my protein from beans, whole grains, lean meats, eggs, and dairy. No fake supplements here.

 Agreed! Most supplements taste nasty anyway. =P

You're welcome teck. *Shakes head* I'm sorry about what lala had said about you looking like death. I've noted that you're trying to gain weight, and that you ARE trying. It didn't seem like you needed a "reality check". :( I think that if you keep pushing to gain weight, in a couple of months you'll be absolutely gorgeous. :) Keep at it!

Oh. Hm. Okay, let's see.  I can't afford any of my medications, I have examinations coming up that're crucial to my future, and all the while, I have little girls who are of a 13ish BMI who are more concerned about protein intake than maybe going to a hospital. And maybe, just maybe, I am sick of this website. Or maybe, just maybe, I am trying to tell her that she looks VERY UNWELL.

Okay, guys, might I suggest that you all take a second and breathe? Lala is under a crapload of stress from her life on and outside of this website. You don't know what being a moderator is like--heck, I don't know--but I can tell that there is an immense amount of frustration that can result from the job. There are a boatload of triggering posts that have been deleted because of the mods, and I'd bet you that Lala has removed a good bit of them. Remember that she is only human (and female at that!) and that ALL humans can get exceedingly angry when it's unnecessary.

I think that if Teck needed to go IP, her therapist or her dietitian would say so and help her to make the arrangements. It is possible to recover from weights as low as hers at home with the help of a recovery team and the support of family members and friends.

Lala, I appreciate you for all that you do around this website, but I really think that you should leave CC. You have regained weight, so you don;t need the tools anymore. Now you just have to rid yourself of all ED mentality/stress. Leaving CC would be a HUGE step in that process. There are very few folks that would disagree with me, I'm sure. Leaving CC once I was weight restored took a huge weight off of my shoulders and helped me to leave my ED past behind--physically based or not, it was still an ED and it still stained my memory. Now I am back because I am focused on my sport and I am unable to be "triggered" by anything. You have said yourself that you've been triggered a lot by this website, and if you hate it and it's hurting you, PLEASE leave! You need to think about YOU and only YOU right now. Your life outside CC is a disaster as far as medications and employment goes, and you need to remove what stresses you can from your life--CC being one of them. Don't get me wrong, Lala, I adore having you here, but it's becoming extremely evident that you need to abandon this website...at least for a while.

I hope that everything in your life gets back on track and that you get another job very soon, hun. You are a fantastic and dedicated worker and you deserve to thrive in life.

Teck-I don't think that you look like death. I think that you look tired, worn, and malnourished. You are evidently working very hard to fix that, and I can see that once you've regained some weight, you will be a stunning woman! You still have beautiful eyes, but they are dimmed...recovery can and will change that.

If you have a therapist and a dietitian, there is no need for you to create a thread on CC about the advice that they gave you. Very few of CC's members are registered in ANYTHING, and they could be obese rapist men for all you know. Nobody on this website can prove themselves through a computer screen, and you are MUCH better off just sticking with your recovery team's advice. If they said that 2200 calories is fine, then stick to that. If they said that you need more protein, then ask your dietitian which of your favorite foods are high in it and eat more of them. If you add in more calories, it certainly won't hurt you, of course. :) You are fortunate to have a team to help you through this ordeal. Take advantage of that and trust their opinions (unless they are complete and obvious numb skulls, which is pretty easy to judge). :) 

I can see precisely what everybody here is trying to say, and guys, really, Lala is only trying to help. She's merely being blunt. Her comment was not a responsible one to make, but she made it, and we all want to put our feet in our mouths once in a while. ;)

thank you missmagill :), I know i look unwell but im trying to fix that. just to say i was in hospital but they released me, and said i was better as OP because i was actually helping myself and wanting to get better. #my therapist is good but sadly I can't say the same for my dietitian which is why i ask on here for some advice, which i feel is now a crime! But yea I' doing everything they say regardless, it's just such a terrible illness with not many answers so all you can do is ask others who have been through it because truly only they can relate to what you feel and whats happening.

would just like to add thats its makeup not bags under my eyes :P

Original Post by lalabanana:

Oh. Hm. Okay, let's see.  I can't afford any of my medications, I have examinations coming up that're crucial to my future, and all the while, I have little girls who are of a 13ish BMI who are more concerned about protein intake than maybe going to a hospital. And maybe, just maybe, I am sick of this website. Or maybe, just maybe, I am trying to tell her that she looks VERY UNWELL.

 Then leave if you hate CC so much. Don't take it out on us. I wasn't suggesting that she only increase her protein intake - obviously calories are vital too, I'm not stupid Lala.

And my BMI is in the healthy range, DEFINATLEY not 13, thank you very much.

Original Post by teck5168:

 

would just like to add thats its makeup not bags under my eyes :P

 I could tell. Hahah. I love eyeliner too. I used to be into the whole punk thing and wore TONS of the stuff.

I don't think your picture looks bad at all. It just looks normal to me.

Original Post by teck5168:

thank you missmagill :), I know i look unwell but im trying to fix that. just to say i was in hospital but they released me, and said i was better as OP because i was actually helping myself and wanting to get better. #my therapist is good but sadly I can't say the same for my dietitian which is why i ask on here for some advice, which i feel is now a crime! But yea I' doing everything they say regardless, it's just such a terrible illness with not many answers so all you can do is ask others who have been through it because truly only they can relate to what you feel and whats happening.

would just like to add thats its makeup not bags under my eyes :P

I didn't notice the makeup-bags under your eyes...lol You just look tired altogether. EDs tend to do that to people...I should know, as I had a BAD one.

It certainly is a wonderful thing to receive advice from others who have experiences what you're going through, but DO remember that there are dishonest people on the Internet and that you need to take their suggestions with a MINISCULE grain of salt, otherwise you could REALLY harm yourself.

If you dislike your current dietitian, try to obtain a second opinion. You don't NEED to stay with the same dietitian is they aren't somebody that you can trust. A nutritionist could even help you more than the Internet can. Until then, talk to your therapist and your doctor about your concerns and don't worry too much about macro nutrients such as protein, carbs, and fats as long as you're eating a bit of each at every meal/snack. Eating isn't rocket science. :P If you feel like you can eat more than 2200 calories, then you probably should do so--even if your team says that 2200 is okay. Some nut butters/nuts, dried fruits, juices, milk, and other dense foods are a weight gainer's best friend. Make sure that ED doesn't keep your caloric intake low. Just for some perspective, I need 2600 calories each day to maintain my weight WITHOUT exercise. Your metabolism is low from starving for so long, and now is your chance to build it back up. You can't do that very well on 2200 calories. Believe me, more food would make your body super happy. ;)

Best to you. :)