Starvation Mode - Recovery

Hello!

I left this post in another forum, but I thought this one would be more appropriate!

I`m 23 years old, 5'4'' and 116 lbs. When I was 16 I had anorexia, and recovered when I was 18. I was eating 1200 calories per day and doing fine, 102 lbs, healthy and thin. After 2 years, without any changes in my diet(very healthy) I started gaining weight (24 pounds in 4 months). So, I cut down my calories since then. In the beggining i lost 10 pounds, and the scales stopped going down. The last 3 years, I`ve been eating 600-800 calories per day and my weight hasn`t change but I always thought that this was very strange, because everybody eat very well without gaining weight and I was always on salads, fibre, little food. If I eat a little bit more I would gain weight. I asked my doctor and did blood tests but everything was always fine. So, I started searching on the net and finally found out that my body was in starvation mode. It`s been almost 2 weeks now that I started eating better. First week 1200 calories per day, second 1400 calories per day. I am eating very healthy (veg, fruits, fish, wholegrain breads and even a little chocolat per day). But I gained a little bit of weight (1 or 2 pounds)and I am afraid of gaining more. I would like to ask you for some advices. Am I doing right? If I continue like this my body will gets healthy and my metabolism will be normal again? What about the calories, should I continue increasing or just keep like that? How long does it takes to recover and stop gaining weight?

I am willing to look for a professional help, but I am living abroad now and didn`t settle yet... So I thought would be good to share my experience here and see if you could just give me a light.

Thank you very much for your time,

Anne.

PS: Just one more information... Every day, I walk 40 minutes."

Hi Anne,

its really annoying isn't it, we starve ourselves to get thin untill reality hits and we know it isn't right. but taking on too much too fast is scary so we try to increase our calories a bit not realising that  "starvation mode" can be even scaryer than finding out how much our body needs to maintain a healthy weight because it doesn't metabolise the food we do manage to eat. arrrrgh!!!!

Ok rant over. . . but i do see where you're coming from. I dont know exactly what your body needs and in truth I think your body is the only one who really knows what it needs. Maybe meeting (even once untill your settled and can get some hlp from a therapist) with a nutritionist who KNOWS about eating disorders could give you a few guidelines untill you learn to listen and trust your body again.

We think once we stop starving ourselves we are recovered but I think there's alot more to it than how "healthily" you are eating or, as you say, when you stop gaining weight. The bestpiece of information I got was that once you deal with what is underneath your disorder, and look after yourself then your body will look after itself. Thats easier said than done and it takes alot of time, I'm still nowhere near recovered but I know that focusing on the food will make it take even longer to get there.

When i was in hospital everyone ate the same ammount and did NO exercise and everybody gained at different paces, never unhealthy ammounts it was gradual. Some of us went up in weight even though we were at healthy weights already(like me and a similar woman). We had both messed with our metabolism and our bodies had to get used to the change, I gained 4lbs in 3 weeks, she gained 6lbs in three and then lost it again in the next three. The point is there is no definite answer to how long your body wil take to get back to normal because you don't know how much you've changed your metabolism.My friend had been bulimic for 10 years and somehow her metabolism got back on track (she actually lost weight!) in a few months wheras another woman says her metabolism still isn't perfect after ten years in recovery. My counsellor gave me a few tips on keeping your metbolism up:

-eat breakfast

-eat something every three hours to keep the metabolism working

-instead of overexercising use your body, look after it and dont be afraid of gaining weight from muscle as this burns more calories than fat!

she says trying to control the body will make it rebel but listening to it will work out better for both of you because your body doesn'twant to be overweight either, it wants to be healthy.

Also, i hate when people say this to me but 2lbs might not be weight gain really it might be just a fluctuation to do with many other bodily functions.

Anyway i have to say congradulations, you've obviously put alot of work into this tring to be healthy. I would hate to see that go to waste so please do try find asuitable therapist, nutritionist, anyone else you think might help because you deserve it. Untill then try to be consistent with your progress Drastic changes will always affect you body the only way you'll see if your hard work is giving results is if you give it time to settle down. If the scale goes up again, dont panic and cut back because that could do more harm than good, but monitor it, give it time and you can always change it if you find you dont need so much. Small positive steps may be small but you are still moving forward. Good luck Anne, your determination is inspiring.

Whatever you do, be kind to yourself.

Hi, un-beautiful!!

It was delightfull to read your post!!!! Positive, honest and supportive words like these are really really valuable, it seems that heals the anxiety!!!

I am very focus on my aim, I want to be healthy more than ever!!! I am doing my best and really accepting this extra pounds and believing deeply in my recover!!! Just someone that`s been through what i`ve been would understand how hard is to live with eating disorders!! 

I am trully greatfull for the support and advices, wish you all the best!!!!

Take care,

Anne.

You are more than welcome anne, your courage really is inspiring. I wish we all had a magic answer for each other but even knowing that there are others out there dealing with the same things and NOT GIVING UP can be of help. And it IS damn hard to live with an ED!!

Let us know how you are doing and if you do settle in and find a therapist:)