[twish]

I'm wondering if anyone out there has had an experience similar to mine.

In my teens, I had an eating disorder and became very comfortable not eating and not recognizing signs of hunger. I overcame these issues to a certain extent and life went on. I put on a lot of weight 7 years ago and didn't make an effort to do anything about it.

I became ill last year, and one of the side effects was that I lost my appetite. It took me several months to realize that I really wasn't eating much of anything. I could go days just drinking water and lattes. I didn't consciously do this to try to lose weight and I did not lose any weight. Last month I spoke to my doctor about it and decided to make an effort to eat at least two meals a day and to snack on fruit. My appetite has returned and, since I started eating regularly, I am losing pounds. This week, I have lost at least a pound a day!

I know that when the body goes into starvation mode, it holds onto fat stores. It makes sense that now that I am eating, I am losing weight, but I am surprised at how I'm losing without increasing my activity level (I know I will have to do this at some point).

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? How long did it take for the pounds to stop coming off automatically? How many pounds did you lose?

[yoyomadness]

I've been reading about this topic a lot, due to a multi-month plateau.

If you google 'metabolic repair thread', you'll find a thread on another forum with a lot of personal experiences and information.

You might also check out Leigh Peele's articles. She has a lot to say about metabolic issues.

I was eating 1200/day and not losing for 12 weeks. I thought, "This CANNOT be my maintenenace number. Something is wrong with the way I'm dieting." So I raised my calories by 150-300/day last month and nothing happened. I didn't lose, but I didn't gain. This week, I'm upping again by 100-200/day and I'm going to see what happens. I have a feeling that nothing will happen and I'll end up raising again. I've recently started strength training, so I'm focusing on getting stronger and hoping the inches shrink even if the scale never changes.

Check your BMR on a reputable calculator like Mifflin-St Jeor and see what you really should be eating to lose weight. I always thought that eating as little as possible was the way to diet, but I don't think that anymore.