Losing weight after an eating disorder & how much exercise is healthy - Answer

I was just wondering if you could write or had any information on whether recovered anorexics' bodies or metabolisms are different from normal people. For example, even though I am a restored weight and eat around 2300 calories a day and don't exercise lots I find that if I don't eat for a few hours my body goes crazy and I get SO hungry, whereas I never felt this extreme hunger before my ED. 

I think it is more that your body is used to getting regular meal times and food. Your body has adapted so then when you don't eat at your normal times your body doesnt know what is happening. I am the same way, and i think many who eat at certain times and have a regular food intake feel the same way. Now whenever i dont eat at roughly the same time, or if i dont get time to eat an afternoon snack and just have to buy something "On the go" i can feel really hungry and feel dizzy, tired, hangry. The body might be more sensitive about not getting food as it went through such a rough period when you were starving yourself, so then when it doesnt get food it gives you stronger signals that food is needed. But i think its more that your body is used to getting food at a certain time.


Also, I was wondering if there were any suggestions for loosing weight after an ED. Obviously this is a very sensitive topic, but I now have a BMI of 19.5 and I am not happy with my body and I was just wondering whether I would be damaging my body further by trying to loose a couple of lbs. I know that my BMI is quite low still, but the way the weight is on my body (mainly in my legs and bum), I don't like it. I guess what I'm trying to say is a recovered ED's body and metabolism different from a 'normal' person's body and metabolism forever?Thank you so much, and you are a wonderful person who deserves happiness! xxx

I dont think this type of mindset is very healthy, not after an eating disorder. Losing weight isnt going to make you happier or make you happier with your legs and bum. Self love and happiness comes from the inside and something you need to work on. You are also at a low weight so by losing just a little could put you on the underweight side, but also from your comment it sounds like you havent been your healthy weight for so long? I could be wrong, but self love takes time. I hated my legs after i reached my goal weight, i struggled alot with liking them and it took almost 2 years to accept them and like them for how they looked but also like them because they worked. What they could do, and not just how they looked. Instead of focusing on changing your body and trying to lose weight, give self love a chance. If your body naturally holds more weight on your legs and bum, then accept that. That is how your body is designed and that isnt going to change no matter how much weight you lose or gain. Forget weight, forget the scale, instead focus on self love from the inside. Say 3 positive things about yourself each morning and evening, try to love yourself for other reasons than your body. Dont let your body be your identity, but be thankful for what your body can do.

I know this might not be the answer you want to hear, but i dont think that losing weight is a good idea. You can always  doing exercise (a form that you enjoy) as that helps release endorphins and can help with self love. It can make you thankful for your body and what it can do, and seeing and feeling progress (such as getting better at the form of exercise) is always fun. 


How much activity do you think one should do after recovered - apart from exercise I mean. Some walk 10 km a day, others 4 km. Some bike to their work place, ie 15-30 km x2. Like how much is too little, how much is too much? Speaking of keeping a healthy body by not being inactive.

When i first answered your question in the comments section i dont think i actually answered your question, haha? I think i went off on some tangent. But anyway.... daily exercise such as taking the stairs, walking a station etc are just normal things which are recommended if you are allowed to move your body. And then if someone enjoys biking to work then there is nothing wrong with that. I am someone who usually walks to the gym or used to walk to school in the morning as it was just 20 minutes away, that was something i enjoyed. But then when it rained, i was too tired or didnt have the time, then i wouldnt walk. Somedays i do alot of walking everywhere and other days i do barely any walking, it all depends what i am doing. But it balances itself out.

The important thing is to realise that biking or walking to work/school etc is still exercise. If you do 90 minutes exercise everyday as well as 60 minutes total of biking/walking places then you are suddenly up to alot of burned calories and it is important to eat back those calories. Not just think... ohh biking to work isnt exercise i dont need to eat more. But actually, you should.

Having daily movement - when you are allowed and physically able - is a good idea. But doing 10km walks everyday, or feeling compelled/obsessed with walking everywhere or biking everywhere is not healthy. Then it takes exercise as something good to something obsessive. Unfortunately i get many mails from people who tell me that they walk 60 minutes to get places, walk all day everyday, or bike everywhere because they are so scared of resting. And that takes "daily/normal" exercise which people see as good to something unhealthy and obsessive which can lead to injuries and exhaustion. 

With daily exercise - apart from workouts - it all depends. Sometimes i take the stairs, sometimes i take the escalotor. Sometimes i walk everywhere, sometimes i just sit in public transport everywhere. Sometimes i do things at home and sometimes i just lie in bed all the time while at home. It all depends on the day and the energy levels. Too much or too little is very individual. Exercise and health is individual so its hard to answer. You need to find what suits you, forget what others are doing. But also be honest about your behaviour when it comes to exercise, because being trapped in an exercise addiction is not fun and it is a hell to get out of. 

Answers - starvation mode & metabolism, following a diet after an eating disorder

I do not have anorexia, however I have always been curious about one aspect 
of the eating disorder, the people who gain weight. Based on other websites 
I've gathered info from it seems that if you eat at all while anorexic it 
can make you very bloated and for some people not eating actually makes 
them gain weight.
My question is: how come some people get very thin (visible bones, thigh 
gap, etc..) and others actually gain weight? Are there any differences in 
the behaviour of the people that would cause them to gain a lot of weight 
as opposed to lose a lot of weight??

I hope this does not come off as arrogant or downright stupid, its just a 
question that has been on my mind for a long time, I truly mean no harm by 
it.

Hello, i think that this is a really good question so i dont think you are being arrogant. Asking questions is a good way to get information and is encouraged. However dont just rely on my answer here, i am not a doctor so maybe someone else more knowledgable can explain it better or correct me if i am wrong.

I have read alot of different opinions regarding this. Because it is well known that weightloss or weight gain is about calories in VS calories out. So if you eat less than your body burns/needs each day, it causes weightloss. However for some eating very little actually causes weight gain, which can be seen with people who yo-yo diet, and who eat very little but gain weight. This is often due to a slow metabolism due to all the diets so the metabolism has slowed down and doesnt burn as much each day. The body can also go into "starvation mode" where the body then begins to hold onto everything you eat, it turns into fat to protected the body and organs, and so a person who eats 500kcal a day can actually begin gaining weight because their metabolism is so slow. Though for many, this doesnt make sense to them and they dont believe in starvation mode because they think of people in poor countries who are very malnourished and underweight. They dont get enough food and they are very thin, so why would people in western countries then eat too little and somehow gain weight. Its hard to understand, and because i am not a doctor or a scientist i cant really explain it in the best way either. But as i understand it, it is due to the metabolism and the bodies way of protecting itself. The body needs fat, and so it can break down muscle for energy and store all the food you eat to feel protected and safe. The lower calories you eat, the more stressed the body gets, the more the metabolism can slow down. I have read articles about people who have suffered from restrictive eating disorders or  done many fitness competitions and have eaten very little and exercised alot and their metabolism is completely out of whack. They eat 1000kcal a day, have to do several hours of exercise a day but still gain weight if they eat a little more, and this is due to the metbaolism being slow/ruined, and so a form of reverese dieting is often needed, but for some they have ruined their metabolism so much that it cant be fixed.

  This is also areason why EATING ENOUGH calories is IMPORTANT in recovery. Dont think that youc an just eat 1200kcal a day and go for an hour run everyday and just because you gain weight you dont need to eat more. You do, otherwise your metabolism will still be slow, and trust me... you will regret it. During your weight gain and recovery, that is your chance to help your metabolism recover and repair itself (as well as the body, cells, organs etc) so dont miss out on that just because you dont want to eat alot. You are doing more harm and more long term damage by tring to eat very little even though you know you need to eat alot and gain weight.

Also, when a person has been in starvation mode or eaten very little for a period of time and then begins eating again, the body gets very bloated. A lot of water goes to the stomach, as a sort of protection. Also the body doesnt really know what is going on as it has gone without food, or very little food for a long time. But that bloating will go away eventually and so will the stomach pain. The best thing to do is give the body enough food, rest and regular energy so that it can repair itself, speed up the metabolism and begin to function properly!

while randomly watching YouTube videos yesterday evening, I came across  several teenagers/ young adults that all had suffered from Anorexia or a restrictive eating disorder. They were eating a high carb low fat (sometimes raw) vegan diet which consisted mainly of fruit and sometimes vegetables. The majority of them were still very underweight (you could see the hip bones of one of the girls sticking out). I wanted to ask if they (possibly) decided to go hclf vegan so that they could in some way stay with their ED (and stay skinny) while eating "normal", as it seems hard to become overweight on such a diet. What worried me was that they were convinced that animal products were terrible for you and that some were eating a total of 3 melons for breakfast. It doesn't seem very balanced.

I have written about this before, but unfortunatly there are people who turn to "clean eating", "veganism", "HCLF", LCHF", "80/10/10" etc as a form of controlling their eating, but not being deemed as an eating disorder. Just because you follow one of those types of diets doesnt mean you have an eating disorder, but unfortunatly if someone has had an eating disorder in the past it is likely that they eat that way as a form of controlling their diet. There are still restrictions, what they can and cant eat and that gives the person control. Those types of diets arent always healthy, they dont always get the nutrients and balance they need in their diet, even if they may be getting enough energy. I think its sad when those recovering from an eating disorder still try to control their eating by some form of weird diet. They will never truly experience what it is like to listen to the body, to the bodies cravings because they still deny their body what it wants. Still try to control food to control their body. But like mentioned above, just because someone eats vegan or raw food doesnt mean that they have an eating disorder, but for some... it can be. If a person is knowledgable then they will still get the right energy intake as well as enough of all the macronutrients, but i personally dont believe that restricting a food group or macro is good. The body needs protein, carbs, fat, fiber etc even if some people feel best with more of one group and less of another, that is fine. But doing something like HCLF or LCHF is silly, the body needs both fats and carbs, not just high of one and low on the other. Those types of diets arent long term either, maybe something a person does for a few months or even ayear or two, but in the long term i dont think those last. What lasts is knowing your body, knowing that you feel best when you eat a certain way... but it doesnt have to be super strict, just knowing what food groups/food works best for your body. You dont have to count every calorie or count every macro, the body and your weight will control itself.The body is smart, but if you let your mind control you too much then the body cant do its job and its then that the weight can go up or down like crazy because the mind is doing the bodies job.

I have written some posts about this:

/2015/06/following-fad-diet-after-eating-disorder.html

/2014/10/is-clean-eating-just-another-form-of.html

/2014/07/raw-till-4.html

Metabolism and calories in recovery

I am no expert on this topic so if i get anything wrong then PLEASE do correct me (if you know the right information, that is to say). But i will try to write and explain in simple terms anyway :)

So... as you might know, the body is always trying to keep you alive. It wants to keep you functioning and working properly, so when you eat less for a longer period of time your metabolism will slow down as a way of 'protecting' you. Because if you arent eating enough then of course your body neeeds to take energy from fat or muscles and in the end organs to keep your heart going. But instead of attacking fat, muscles or organs it will slow down the metabolism so that you wont use as much energy living your life....  This is what happens to dieters and why they need to keep decreasing their calories to lose weight, because they put their body into starvation mode because they eat too little. But it also means that you gain weight quicker and more easier because your body WANTS more energy, so if you eat more then you're body will hold onto for stored energy as it knows that it isnt getting enough energy on a regular basis. However for normal people the energy is often used, unless its  a very high excess calories for a longer period of time, then it is of course stored on the body.

So in recovery, you may gain weight quicker to begin with... though in actuality, its not 'actual' weight, its more just water and your body is in shock to begin with for the first 1-2 weeks and after that the body is used to getting regular food and so is not as shocked. But is still very bloated as the metabolism needs to fix itsself.

If you are recovering and you need to gain weight and you are too scared to increase your calories so you eat c.a 1500-1800kcal a day and you keep eating that until you are your normal weight.... but what happens then, if your body hasnt adjusted to the calorie intake because your metabolism is still messed up. Then suddenly you will be your normal healthy weight but still be gaining weight eating a very little amount. Because really, a person should maintain their weight eating c.a 1800-2500 .
  During weight gain... this is your opportuinity to eat more and hopefully increase your metabolism, but it also HELPS your body and mind to repair itsself and recover. Think of the damage your body has been through, 1500kcal a day really isnt enough. Thats not going to help repair your body.

It is recommended to eat c.a 2800-3500+ kcal A DAY during recovery so that your body can recover as well as your metabolism. This of course is a gradual increase... you might begin with 1000kcal a day and then keep increasing every 1-2 weeks.
  This will lead to your metabolism adapting to the calorie intake so that eventually you will be able to eat c.a 2500-3000kcal a day and not gain weight.
  Though its also important to remember that genes and DNA also play a role.
 
And also, if you exercise then you need to eat your calories to gain weight ASWELL as the burnt off calories. Example... say you need 3500kcal a  day to gain weight and then you go for an hours run then you will need to eat c.a 4000 kcal a day (on the day you run)..... can you do that?
  But also remember, exercise stresses your body and makes it harder for the body to recover and repair itself.

Eating more always seems to be a bad thing and a scary thing... but think like this... eat more in recovery (in a balanced way - binging all the time is not healthy either) leads to a faster metabolism, leads to being able to eat more without weight gain. Isnt that a good thing? So EAT MORE. Help your body recover, help your body repair itself and you will thank yourself later when you are a healthy weight and arent stuck with metabolic damage or lots of digestive issues. (I know a girl who never ate solid food in recovery as she was too scared to do it, but it messed up her digestive ssytem alot and she could barely eat solid food without causing extreme stomach pain and she was almost a normal weight and the only thing she could consume was supplement drinks. So this isnt a good idea either.)

For more posts and advice:

About metabolism
Maintaining weight at a low calorie intake
Calorie intake in recovery
Metabolism after an eating disorder
Increasing my calories
Why you shouldnt exercise while in recovery

Metabolism after an eating disorder

When you have an eating disorder, whether its restrictive, binge eating, purging or only eating certain foods it often leads to a messed up metabolism. A slow one... one that doesnt function properly. Hence why you can bloat, get stomach discomfort and feel blocked up or have a loose stomach (if i put it in that way ;)). 


For some the damage they do to their metabolism during their ED can be permanent, but it all depends on how long you have been sick and what type of damage has been done, as well as HOW you recover. Those who recover only eating safe foods and only eating c.a 1200 calories, then their metabolism will still be slow and wont have repaired properly when they are a healthy weight and recovered. HENCE why i reccommend to eat a LARGE amount during recovery. Its not just some number that has been picked out, but eating a larger amount and keep increasing your calories helps YOU and your body... helps your body to repair and function properly for when you are healthy.

What Is Metabolism?

Your metabolism, experts say, involves a complex network of hormones and enzymes that not only convert food into fuel but also affect how efficiently you burn that fuel.

"The process of metabolism establishes the rate at which we burn our calories and, ultimately, how quickly we gain weight or how easily we lose it," says Robert Yanagisawa, MD, director of the Medically Supervised Weight Management Program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

Of course, not everyone burns calories at the same rate.

Your metabolism is influenced by your age (metabolism naturally slows about 5% per decade after age 40); your sex (men generally burn more calories at rest than women); and proportion of lean body mass (the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate tends to be).

And yes, heredity makes a difference.

"Some people just burn calories at a slower rate than others," says Barrie Wolfe-Radbill, RD, a nutritionist specializing in weight loss at New York University Medical Center.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/make-most-your-metabolism

Metabolism while recovering....

 When you starve yourself and dont eat enough. Then your body almost goes into shut down. Your metabolism decreases significantly because it knows that it is underweight and that it cant keep burning so much energy everyday, or you will just collapse. It goes into starvation mode, where it tries to preserve the organs and any fat which you may have. So whatever you do eat while you're body is in starvation mode, doesnt really get burned for energy... the body just tried to store it. You can be very bloated and tired when your body is in starvation mode and the body doesnt want to let go of any energy at all...  So when you begin recovery - begin eating again, its a shock for the body. It doesnt know why all this food is coming and doesnt know what to do with it, as its gone without food for so long. So you bloat alot and can go up a few kilo in just a week, as it is mainly water and water retention. But over time as your body gets used to get food your metabolism increases and thats why you need to increase your calories to gain weight, because your body adapts to the amount you are eating and no longer gains weight from it. And that continues... where you need to keep increasing your calories, because your metabolism is getting faster.

  Also by eating regular meals that increases your metabolism (as far as i know!)

So with recovery and eating more, your metabolism should also increase. Also, if your body has gotten used to normal and regular meals and you were on a high calorie intake for weight gain then you are LUCKY when you need to maintain as you can still eat lots :) *Thumbs up for food*Also apparently there are some foods that can increase your metabolism.. though if they really help or not, i dont know. And i dont think people should be so obsessed with eating all these 'metabolism boosting foods'.. 

Increasing my calories

Something which I've been asked alot about recently is how I increased my calories and metabolism.  While you are sick, you slow down and can ruin your metabolism. You eat soon little so the body adapts to that,  so eating any more than the little you do results in weight gain. That's why when you first begin eating again you can gain loads -though it's water weight as well. Over time your body adapts, and that's why at first you might gain eating only 80 kcal a day but in a few months time you don't gain any by eating 1500. It's about increasing your calories and letting your body adapt.  If you slowly increase your calories,  then your body should adapt instead of gaining weight.
    While I was at Mando i had to keep increasing my calories as my body adapted and by the end I was eating around 3000 if not more every day with no exercise.  But then came my period where I stopped following my meal plan, and began restricting and then binging. But I don't think I was eating more than 1500 a day.
   And now I'm guessing - i dont count t calories but around 2500 a day and dont gain weight.
   This has to do with both my metabolism, dna and exercise. Some people gain weight eating 1800 whilst others can eat 2800 a day and not gain weight.... yeah, it can be unfair. hahha! If you like eating anyway :)
   I can't really remember how I built up my calories I think it was mainly that first I had to increase my calories to gain weight and then my body adapted and then when I began exercising I felt more hungry so ate more, and i guess i burnt more as well.

I find it quite hard to answer this... because as soon as i stopped following my meal plan i pretty much stopped counting calories... which might seem weird, because you would think that once you arent following a meal plan you start counting calories. But i just didnt want to... i knew it wasnt healthy. I didnt want to be tormented by numbers. I wanted to be able to eat when i was hungry and eat what i wanted, instead of looking at calories.
   So i pretty mcuh stopped then, so its hard to know how much i actually was eating and it varied so much frmo day to day.

But the fact is... its pretty mcuh my body that took care of everything. I reached my target weight, and my body was happy there. I went up and down 2kg, whether i ate more some periods and less others... ´my body just took care of it all, and thats the important thing. To let your body adapt, to find its healthy wieght adn to eat enough for your body. Not count calories.
 
Infact counting every little calorie can make it harder to keep your weight/lose weigth/gain weight, because really... the only way to know how much you need from day to day is your hunger and fullness signals - but they might of course be off after years/or a longer period of messing up your metabolism.

To those of you who were wondering anyway, hopefully this has helped a little. Though i know it wasnt the best answer :) haha (infact i am really tired while writing this post, so i might have missed out some bits!)

About metabolism

I got asked if i could write about metabolism... I wasnt so sure what you wanted to know about the metabolism, haha. If there was any certain/specific thing. So i decided instead to do some research, and write out what i found... and if there is any specific thing you want to know... let me know ;)

What Is Metabolism?

Your metabolism, experts say, involves a complex network of hormones and enzymes that not only convert food into fuel but also affect how efficiently you burn that fuel.

"The process of metabolism establishes the rate at which we burn our calories and, ultimately, how quickly we gain weight or how easily we lose it," says Robert Yanagisawa, MD, director of the Medically Supervised Weight Management Program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

Of course, not everyone burns calories at the same rate.

Your metabolism is influenced by your age (metabolism naturally slows about 5% per decade after age 40); your sex (men generally burn more calories at rest than women); and proportion of lean body mass (the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate tends to be).

And yes, heredity makes a difference.

"Some people just burn calories at a slower rate than others," says Barrie Wolfe-Radbill, RD, a nutritionist specializing in weight loss at New York University Medical Center.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/make-most-your-metabolism

Metabolism while recovering....

 When you starve yourself and dont eat enough. Then your body almost goes into shut down. Your metabolism decreases significantly because it knows that it is underweight and that it cant keep burning so much energy everyday, or you will just collapse. It goes into starvation mode, where it tries to preserve the organs and any fat which you may have. So whatever you do eat while you're body is in starvation mode, doesnt really get burned for energy... the body just tried to store it. You can be very bloated and tired when your body is in starvation mode and the body doesnt want to let go of any energy at all...  So when you begin recovery - begin eating again, its a shock for the body. It doesnt know why all this food is coming and doesnt know what to do with it, as its gone without food for so long. So you bloat alot and can go up a few kilo in just a week, as it is mainly water and water retention. But over time as your body gets used to get food your metabolism increases and thats why you need to increase your calories to gain weight, because your body adapts to the amount you are eating and no longer gains weight from it. And that continues... where you need to keep increasing your calories, because your metabolism is getting faster.

  Also by eating regular meals that increases your metabolism (as far as i know!)

Apparently there are some foods that can increase your metabolism.. though if they really help or not, i dont know. And i dont think people should be so obsessed with eating all these 'metabolism boosting foods'..