Hi... my name's Caroline and I've had a combination of anorexia and compulsive over eating for the past five years or so. I have an entirely anorexic mindset if that makes sense (entirely unreasonable expectations of weight loss and weight goals, always paranoid about food, etc), but because of the COE I'm still overweight. I'm about 125 lbs on a 5'3" frame, and when I'm being reasonable, I want to lose 10-15 pounds. When I'm not, I want to lose about thirty pounds.

Here's where you guys come in, where I need your help. I would really really love to recover from my eating disorder, but at the same time I know I *need* to lose at least 10 pounds or else I'll just become obsessed with those ten pounds and revert back to starvation. I just don't know how to lose 10 pounds in a healthy way. I feel like if I eat a normal amount of food, meaning about 1300 cals a day, I gain weight or stay the same.

Can anybody tell me how to go about losing 10 pounds the healthy way?? Please I need help with this! Thanks!

HI. Don't know how much advice I can offer you except to say you are not alone. I have been up and down and all around the scale since I was 12. ( about the age of my first diet) Think I kinda picked up on " being thin" from mom who was an airline stewerdess back when the only requirement was being a size 2. She never lost the "think thin" mentality even after having us kids. She got me my first gym membership when I was 12 so she could work out rigerously with her 110 pound daughter. First purged about 15 or 16. Got involved with amphetemenes at about 16 to 17 and boy did i love that. Could go days without eating. My lowest was around 102. And on and on it goes. Finally a boyfriend helped me get off the drugs, nursing school. Eventually met someone and got married. You dont say how old you are but what really changed me was my daughter. I watch my mouth carefully and emphasize "healthy" living. But at the same time I will never let myself get extremly overweight and when I see that coming I panic. I am here to get encouragement to loose the weight in a healthy way. As with you, I feel my metabolism is slower then most in my age bracket and this is a result of starving the body. It learns to store fat for the next fast. Now mind you I haven't been practicing what I preach but exercise is the way to change that along with SLOW weight loss. Maybe we can motivate each to do this. Also, I have seen a counselor in the past for my ED. I am planning to do so again. In fact, this was one of my own little private goal I made for myself. Thats all.
Hope we can help. Also other forums in this site that may be helpful. Try to make your goal always to have triple digits, OK.

Welcome Caroline! I'm glad you stopped by. To answer your question, there are only two ways to lose weight safely: eating less and exercising more. If you're eating 1300 calories or less per day, you can't go much lower there. You didn't mention exercise, but you ought to be doing something physical and not just relying on controlling your food intake.

You say you're at about 125 and want to lose 10 more pounds. You and I are the same height, and 125 is my goal weight. If you've got a thin frame, you might be able to lose another 10 pounds, but I don't think you really "need" to like you think. You're probably looking pretty good right about now.

Since you've got a history of food issues, it might be a good idea to visit your doctor before you start your diet. Tell him or her what you've said here and get some expert advice. I think that's better than plowing into a diet that may put you into an unhealthy lifestyle. Just my two cents!

You're always welcome to come here and post. We're very supportive and love to chat!

Hi guys... thanks for the supportive words.

healthywtloss4me- I'm 20 years old.

I just told my closest friends about my eating disorder- they had no idea before, and I think if they know, I'll feel guilty about them watching me not eating enough, so hopefully that'll help. Lately I've only been having between 300-500 calories a day plus running about a third of a mile a day (which is a lot for me because I hate exercise and have no endurance for running... I'm working up to a full mile). Therefore, my first goal will be rather modest... I want to aim for about 1000 calories and one mile a day, and as I adjust above all my mindset to accepting more calories, I'll up it to whatever's normal... 1300-1600 cals for dieting purposes. Hopefully that works.

Caroline - try to get your calories up. When you eat so little, your body is burning muscle, not fat. Muscle is good. You need it to maintain your basic body functions like blood circulation and breathing. If you lose too much muscle, you can damage your heart and other organs. Please don't do that!

Your appearance will suffer, too. Muscle is what gives us a shapely, defined look. You don't have to be an athlete to know that moderate exercise makes folks look a whole lot better. You don't have to run--just walk everyday.

Please see a doctor or counselor. You really need to work through your eating disorder so you don't burn up your body. You're so young and I'd really hate to see you lose your health. Believe me, it's fragile.

Keep checking in. I'll be looking.

Ah muscle! This is where I'm going to jump in. With your history, you'll probably have some skin and bone lookin' issues. I think you'll be much happier with your 'look' if you try some resistance exercise and maybe 13-1400 cals.
I'll have a look at your fitday sometime this morning. Is everything in ther for a few days?

well, i don't really use my fitday too reliably... i like it more for the weight loss chart. i'll try to keep it up to date.

i'm finding it extremely difficult to eat a normal amount of food. i feel like such a pig and keep thinking, there's no way in **** i'm going to be able to eat like this and still lose weight! i'll try to exercise more.

Hi I'm new but my food issues are kind of the same as the one's being described here, so I guess they're not! I totally understand that it's a scary concept to believe that you have to eat more to actually lose weight - it seems like a waste of time! But last week I planned all my meals and made sure I was eating 1000 calories a day and I weighed myself on Monday and I'd lost 2lbs so I think I must have been doing something right for once! Has anyone else tried this? I want to increase my calories again so that my body gets used to eating more food but I'm totally worried I'm at my max amount.

From what I know (not pretending to be a doctor or any type of weight loss specialist), you will make it harder on your body to lose if you don't enough calories. Your body needs a certain amount just to get thru the day.

If you are worrying about eating too much in a sitting, does it help to divide the day's food into small amounts you eat frequently? I usually have a snack about 2-3 hours after breakfast. If I wait too long, I overeat at lunch.

I also stopped looking at fitness magazines (Shape, Fitness, etc)--the photos of all skinny women w/"ideal" bodies was too much pressure for me. I exercise a healthy amount but of course I don't look like that. Then again, neither do they! Amazing what air-brushing can do.

You might find some of the other forums (specif. about eating disorders) also have helpful advice.

annabow,
you are 5'7" and aiming for 112 lbs?
just wondering if there was a typo.

Anna and Perfect, I must say that at your present weights you are both at a perfectly healthy weight. You both don't need to lose any more weight and you are risking your life if you do so. If you are worried about gaining weight you should gradually add 100 calories per week and see what happens then... Yes, you MAY (or may NOT) gain weight, but at 1000 calories/day or less, as you are both doing, there are not enough calories to be and stay healthy.

Anna, at your present weight of 122 at 5'7" your BMI is 19.1 which is borderline underweight, at your goal weight of 112 your BMI would be 17.5 this is considered underweight as per the chart below...

Perfect, at your present weight of 121 at 5'3" your BMI is 21.4 which is PERFECTLY healthy for you and at your goal weight of 107 your BMI would be 19, which IMHO is a little to close to the underweight categorie.

Got the above information here

Some posters have suggested to go to the eating disorder section of this forum for some helpful advice. But if you feel the need of something more please seek professional counselling...

ARGH! total typo, i'd look like a torture victim at that weight! I'm aiming for 8 1/2 st so that I'll feel more comfortable in my own body I'm just terrified of not being able to maintain it! I read somewhere that to maintain your body needs 10x your weight in calories which only lets me have like 1200! I was looking forward to eating somewhat normally like other people without having to think TOO much about calories and stuff. Is there any truth in this? (sorry it's the wrong forum kinda)

That's 119lbs, all you North Americans!

I'm wondering whether I should join this forum. That's on days when I feel I've got very little to lose. And on the other days, ...., well, you know.

not that i am a professional or anything but hear are my thoughts. At 125 that is a a healthy weight for you. Are you not concerned that if you try and losetoo much that you will start the slippery slope to an aneroxic "episode" again. Body image is such a hard thing to struggle with.
I know that this my sound insensitive but one thing that helps me when I am feeling "fat" is that there are a whole lot of ladies out there that would love to weigh what we do. i am trying myself to stick to my exercising as i find that it is very difficult to lose weight when @ healthy weight. (trying to get to the lower end of the healthy weight scale)
Eating 1200 is actually difficult to do. So i try around 1600-1800 ( a little more on the weekend) and try and do something physical every day. My body feels better this way and my clothes fit better as well.
Good luck.