Eating healthy and gaining weight
 

My weight has gone up and down for years and years. I've starved myself, cut out carbs completely, binged, purged, and taken pills to lose weight. Most recently I went from 154 to 136 in 4 weeks by eating less than 500 calories a day and taking diet pills and pseudophedrine. Last week I started getting really sick and have been having terrible headaches and am not able to sleep (although these symptoms are not new to me). I realize I have a problem, I'm depressed, I'm terribly unhealthy, and I need to change asap. I joined this site for some support. I don't want to count calories anymore. I just want to eat healthy. As of Thursday, I changed my eating habits and have been eating clean and not counting anything. I've been drinking a lot of water and eating fruit, egg whites, vegetables, lean meat, whole grains, and the whole thing. But, since Thursday, I have gone from 136 to 143. I want to lose weight, but I also want to be healthy and strong. This weight gain is really discouraging. I heard about this Metabolic Repair Manual and that maybe I've damaged my body so much that it can't be fixed overnight and I have to gain weight to lose weight. But I can't seem to find this book anywhere on the internet. Some support, encouragement, and advice would be great.

Your body is on a "re-bound" from a very, very low-cal fad diet. I am not surprised that you are gaining weight at all. We were just discussing about people going on diets and regaining the weight on another thread; this is a perfect of example of why that happens.

First of all, some (if not all) of that increase is bound to be "water-weight"; so I wouldn't worry too much about that. It is not "fat" becuz you are eating too healthy/clean for that.

Secondly, how did you decide on your goal weight? You are 5' 8" tall; so I'm surprised that you went down so low (136). I have friends at 5' 6" (and shorter) at 140 lbs and they look very slim & svelt.

Thirdly, I would recommend eating the way you are, and let the weight level off. You didn't say how much you are eating, but you should keep track for a little while, so that you will know how much to eat to maintain your goal weight.

Once you have a found a good balance and a healthy goal weight to stabilize at, then just stay there ... :)

You're regaining water weight. On very low calorie diets, which also usually mean low carbs and low sodium, your body flushes out a lot of water. You're just bouncing back with it since you started eating normally again.

Your diet seems on point, but as others have said, your body is rebounding from the VLCDs and spate of fad diets you've put yourself through. You seem to be at a good weight for your height; have you considered doing more strength training and toning rather than trying to lose too much more?

Your BMI is low already.

Your body is trying to repair itself from the damage you've done. Please break the cycle and continue to give yourself health. You are worth it!!!!

Focus on strength training and getting yourself healthy. Your muscle mass is probably quite low at this point. You'll see that as you build strength you will continue to get smaller and stay the same weight.

Educating yourself is really important.

Agree with the above posters regarding "water weight". When you cut carbs your body glycogen stores are dramatically reduced. When you reintroduce them your muscle glycogen stores are replenished. This can easily account for 4-5 lbs for someone your size.

In addition when you're eating more you're digesting more and carrying around more waste. This can account for 2-3 lbs as well.

Leigh Peele wrote the metabolic repair manual. It is unlikely that you've damaged your metabolism. Certainly not in the last four weeks. The manual is designed for women who have for long periods of time been over exercising and over dieting. You're welcome to give it a try - it is essentially taking a 2-4 week diet break and not doing any exercise beyond walking. A diet break means eating maintinence calories.

Speaking of calories - it doesn't matter how "healthy" you eat. If you want to lose fat you need to either track calories or otherwise limit them because as I'm sure you know a caloric deficit causes fat loss. Eating "healthy" is often enough to cause weight loss in many individuals but not everyone. Calories matter.

Finally - I agree with the above poster who suggested lifting weights. I doubt your true goal is to look down at the scale and see some arbitrary number you dreamed up. Most likely your goal is to look better naked and lifting weights is the best way to do that.

You have already gotten some great advice about your concerns; I have nothing of use to add further, but I could really sense the pain and desperate feeling in your post and wanted to send you a hug. :hug:

I hope you find some relief from the frustrations you feel.

You are not overweight. I repeat, you are not overweight. Even at 143lb, you are comfortably at the low end of the BMI scale, and at 154lb you were also perfectly fine.

However, you sound really unhappy with your body. I assume this is because it is still squidgy in places. First thing to realise is that women are meant to be squidgy! Even uber-fit female athletes are 15% fat! And where you carry the fat is determined by your genetics:( Some women get lucky and collect fat in the places society finds attractive, others, not so much. I will always be a size or two larger on my hips, sigh.

Instead of focussing on your weight, maybe start looking into changing your body composition. Start lifting weights and increasing your muscle mass, and, assuming your weight stays about the same, you will shrink. Here's a blog post as an example. http://handmadehomeschool.wordpress....09/09/23/four/ More muscle will also help increase your metabolism.

And when people tell you that you aren't fat, please try to believe them. Sending hugs through the internet.

15% body fat is extremely low! For a woman, you're looking at figure model numbers or VERY thin, there. I venture to guess, most women could not maintain a menstrual cycle at that level. Essential body fat alone is 12%. I think, without a VERY specific diet and exercise regiment you're treading on dangerous territory as you near that number.

I agree...lift weights! I think you should take a break from any dieting and get in a better mental state...exercise GREATLY helps with that.

Eat foods that are good for your body (not additive, sugar laden) and add in exercise. Not to lose weight but to truly take care of yourself.

Lifting weight will help maintain your bone density and replace the muscle you would have lost during your low cal diet (many people do not realize that when you eat too low calorie your body actually preferentially eats up your muscle first because muscle is metabolically 'expensive' and so from a survival standpoint your body wants less to survive the famine. It is also a source of protein for your body when you're not getting enough. Also, your body does this indiscriminatly and so your heart muscle also gets depleted...this is one of the reasons among others that anorexics go into heart failure.)

Anyway, I think you just need to take care of your body and treat it like your temple for a while. I know it can be hard to get out of that negative head space. I also think that a lot of times there are problems in our life that we project onto other things. For example, maybe we're actually unhappy with our career or relationships but don't want to admit it to ourselves so we just focus all our negative emotions onto our appearance and think that "Oh if I could only reach X amount of weight, THEN I'd be truly happy". The truth is, if you aren't happy now, you're not going to be much happier then.

Best of luck!!!!!!!!!!!

i agree with the 'lift weights' comments. it will make your body look better. and remember, unless you go around wearing your weight like a race number, nobody knows but you and your doctor. you see the scale, everyone else sees the inches!