"Starvation Mode"

How long will it take for my metabolism to recover from being on "starvation mode". I had been eating around 1000 cal. a day for the last 2 or 3 months and have not lost weight (about 110 lb at 5'7"). I have recently stopped counting calories, having gotten sick of being obsessive. But when will I stop gaining? When will my weight stabalize? Anyone who even has a rough idea, please let me know.

your body will keep gaining weight untill it knows it will not go into starvation mode again. to speed up your metabalism (because it wuld b realy slow right now) i suggest eating smaller meals about 5-6 times a day and dont go longer that 3-4 hours with out any food. as for you not loosing weight, its because your eating so little and your body is holding on to everything you do eat. btw at 5'7 110lb is still a VERY low weight!!

hope this helps :)

Thanks for the advice. It is appreciated. I was also wondering when I will stop gaining weight?

no problem :) you will stop gaining weight when your body is at a healthy weight.. or a weight it is happy with to be able to function. do you find that you have cold hands or always feel cold??

Yeah. I get cold really easily and am always borrowing someone's jacket to wear because I'm freezing. Whenever I shake hands with anyone or my boyfriend takes my hand, I always get: "Oh my God, your hands are freezing". They even feel cold to me, like right now. My feet too. I'm hoping to get over that.

I am at the same height as you ponee and I was 94 at my lowest (very sick) and currently 112-115....some days up and some down....I was eating around 500 and when I upped to 1600 I found my body gained drastically at first, but it is sorta stablizing. My nutritionist suggest that the appropriate weight for our height to be healthy is 125-135....(which is what I used to weigh). So I am guessing that you will stop gaining when you hit your bodies natural weight. Just eat small meals with tons of protein and good fats. I feel like I eat every hour! But I finally have energy!!

your hands are always cold because your body is using the little nutrients/energy its gettin just to keep you alive, ie pumping the heart etc, and also because you have close to no body fat. you will know that you are close to a healthy weight when your hands and feet arnt cold anymore. btw. this also happend to me, and i found out that its acctualy very serious! also you might want to take your pulse rate. make sure it is above 60bpm, if its under you need to start eating more. hope this helps. feel free to contact if you need any more advice :)

Do you have any advice on how I can keep from feeling so....bloated? I feel so fat when I have to squeeze into my size 2 jeans that used to be a little loose. I really want to feel good about myself, and I'm afraid this is going to send me into relapse!!!

trustt me i know the feeling!! the bloating will go down when ur body gets used to the amount of food. as u hav starved urself for so long (like those children u see in africa) i suggest doing yoga, it keeps you feeling fit and energised without burning to much. (will also reduce bloating) it will also tone you up. you might not reaslise it now, but you need to gain this weight in order to be healthy, you dont want to end up with osteoperosis or even worse end up dead. so the sooner you get to your healthy weight the sooner you can tone up and build muscle, which will make you look leaner and feel heaps better :)

Thanks for the great tips! It's so hard not to feel like a large blow-up doll all the time...Do you have any websites to recomend where I can get a few yoga moves to try?

Oh God, do I know the bloating thing!!! I've been bloated ever since I became really sick. My body began storing every. single. thing. that I put into it and wouldn't let go. My own mom agreed that I looked 6 months pregnant. Bloating is absolutely normal in recovery. Inf act, if you didn't get bloated, I'd be concerned that you weren't eating enough! In gest, your body doesn't trust you to care for it anymore, so now that you're feeding it it wants to hold on to what you privide for as long as possible. Your body is scared that you are going to starve it agan. You need to prove that you won't. It's the golden rule, "Treat others as you want to be treated". Sure, your body isn't a PERSON, but it does act in distrust in these sorts of situations.

Honestly, the only thing you can do to reduce the bloat is to gain up to your body's set weight. I've found that my stomach has gotten smaller as the scale goes up (really weird, I know!). I am only about 2 lbs from my ideal body weight now, and my waist is only about 25-26 inches around.

Some things that I've noticed that increase the bloating are extended periods of cardio exercise (more than 30 minutes), drinking from water bottles (swallowing lots of air), eating puffed foods such as popcorn (again, air), eating too quickly (air), and food intolerances. I discovered that I am sensitive to wheat gluten via a dietitian. If you don't visit one, I would suggest doing so. They can be rather helpful in figuring out foods which work best for you to stay comfortable.

Another thing that I do is I wear drawstring pants, sweatpants, elastic pants, and skirts. They are tons more comfortable and don't make me feel as bloated (which in turn makes one feel fat). They were a life saver! Whenever I became discouraged due to bloating, I made sure to get into some looser clothing and repeat to myself, "I'm not fat, I'm bloated" as tacky as that seems.;]

I second the yoga...it never really reduced bloat for me, but it made me feel great! Don't force yourself to do it and it'll have an amazing effect on your mood!

Here are some good yoga websites:

http://www.myyogaonline.com/index.htm

http://www.alaskaartguild.com/yoga.html

http://www.hathayogalesson.com/

http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/yogapractice/postu res.asp

I would also suggest Pilates and Tai Chi for variation if so desired. They are pretty similar to yoga. You can see which one you like best. Pilates are harder and Tai Chi is more active. I can not offer websites for Tai instructions, as it is much better demonstrated on tape. I have a tape called "Discover Tai Chi for beginners" which is instructed by Scott Cole. He does a good job of explaining the movements and doesn't go too fast.

Pilates websites:

http://www.savasayoga.com/PILATES_POSES.html

http://www.jillianhessel.com/res_gallery.html

http://www.easyvigour.net.nz/fitness/h_Free_P ilates_Exercises.htm

Hope that helped! I'm sending my best wishes!:]

Thanks for the great advice! I will definetely take a look at those websites and maybe give your "I'm not fat, I'm bloated" mantra a try.

and now....I am hungry and...

I am going to find some FOOD!

Original Post by ponee11:

Thanks for the great advice! I will definetely take a look at those websites and maybe give your "I'm not fat, I'm bloated" mantra a try.

and now....I am hungry and...

I am going to find some FOOD!

 *virtual high five* You go girl! Enjoy it; you deserve it!:]

Im also 5'7 and 105lb. Im trying to recover from ED but I keep missing my calorie goal even though I am trying to keep calories flowing into my body.

Anyyyyways, I also bloat when I eat anything even slightly hard to digest. This caused me not to eat cause I looked pregnant and didnt want my Boyfriend to see me undress this way. So I would either eat well and make a sorry excuse why I could not hang out with him at night or not eat. This was so dumb.

But I found a cure! atleast one that works well for me.

I take Beano ( a pill that helps digestion of fibrous foods that is available at any pharmacy) before every meal containing foods that bloat me.

Now I can eat (easier said that done) and not look like a ethopian starving child, all bones with a bloated belly.

 

>> that analogy is thanks to my sister, she is very humorous.... but her word stuck with me when she  pointed out my bloat and bones

It's so nice to find kindred spirits here on CC. It makes me feel like I'm not alone.

I think we acutally have some Beano at my house somewhere...I shall go on a quest to find it...Thanks for the advice!

I know how the bones and bloat goes, I hate it! But I just have to keep telling myself "I'm not fat, I'm bloated". And it will go away, as long as I stick to my goal.

Good luck to you!