[Kristen87]

I am looking for some suggestions of diets to use that might work for me. A little about me:

I am a 21 year old female who has always struggled with weight. This struggle has become increasingly more difficult after recovering from anorexia which completely screwed up my metabolism.
I exercise a lot and try not to diet in an attempt to not relapse into an eating disorder, but the exercise doesn't do anything for me. I typically run (sprint level, usually) for one hour a day at least six days a week.
I have tried a couple of diet plans. I lost weight for about two weeks on Weight Watchers before the weight loss stopped. I was told that I was exercising too much and to cut it down to half an hour of moderate exercise a day instead of an hour of intense exercise. I cut down on my exercise and began gaining weight while following the program.
I tried the Fat Smash diet with no results except for making me entirely crabby during the detox period.
I tried Atkins and ended up with bruised kidneys after two weeks from being in a keto state, at which point my doctor informed me that Atkins is really not suited for women at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions of diet plans that they have heard of or that have worked for them? I'm currently 5'7 and 175 pounds and really getting desperate to lose about 50 pounds. Thanks for any help!

[srmb60]

What about just cleaning up what you do eat? Try more whole, natural foods.

Can you give us an example of what you normally eat?

Glory87 is a very successful 'loser' who changed to whole, natural foods. You may want to look up her posts for inspiration.

[Kristen87]

My usual summertime diet would consist of some sort of sandwich for breakfast/lunch (usually tuna or turkey)and some fruit or broccoli and green beans. For a snack in the afternoon I'll do some whole wheat toast and fruit. For dinner, depending on the night, it will usually be chicken or fish, green salad, and some kind of starch (bake potato or corn or something.) During the school year the dinner is usually about the same but for breakfast it will be a protein bar and sugarfree Red Bull or diet soda, and for lunch is usually a Smart Ones meal. I don't drink fruit juice or regular soa, only diet soda and water.

[lifechange]

Hi Kristen, First you have to have patience. If you were losing with Weight Watchers for the first two weeks and then stopped for a week or so. That is completely normal. Generally the weight loss is highest in the first week or so and a percentage of that is water so when you stop losing it is generally your water normalizing. Also you will always hit weeks or days when you don't lose- sometimes your body just needs to regroup. Don't flip from one diet to the other thinking your are not getting success. Celebrate your success and believe that you will continue to succeed. Secondly with your history instead of paying for Weight Watchers, you may want to pay for a nutritionist/dietician and plan on seeing them more than once for adjustments based on your metabolism. I think you would really benefit from that. I think your calories might be too low as well- I am guessing based on your history that you probably aren't using much mayo or butter on your sandwich- so maybe 300 cals, 80 cals for fruit, chicken or fish 140 cals potato 150, protein bar 200 , toast 100- your vegetables aren't worth counting So you are only getting around 1000 calories based on the info you have provided and your fat intake is nowhere near where it should be. You need to take in fat for your body to function optimally. I speak from experience I had anorexia at age 14 (back in the 80's so along time ago)

[JayEll]

Hey! I agree that patience is a good thing. When you're following a healthy plan, you don't lose every week, and some weeks you even gain. These are natural fluctuations.

How many points were you eating on WW? You really do need to eat all your points. 3FC has a WW forum where you might be able to ask for some tips.

It seems like people recovering from ED have at least two challenges when it comes to losing in a healthy manner. One is not going to extremes but staying in the middle of the path, and the other is not trying to force weight loss. So, think about taking it slow and easy. There is no race!

Jay

[srmb60]

Part of the problem with what we call "messing up our metabolism" is muscle atrophy. Our bodies use not only food and fat for energy, they'll use muscle too.

In that vein ... I'm going to suggest that you try to make sure you have some protein with each meal. Fish and poultry are wonderful, as are cottage cheese, egg whites and lean meats.
And incorporate some resistance exercise into your regimen. Even if you add some bands or body weight exercises into that hour you already do. Fifteen minutes first and then run. You'll rebuild some muscle which will use calories too.