Hello,
I have a problem, and I'm getting worried. For months now I've been rescricting my calories to about 1,000 a day. I know that's bad and I know it's not healthy for you, and your metabolism slows down and all of that. But I got obsessive and I couldn't let myself go over the 1000 calorie mark. I ate regular meals and snacks, they were just low in calories. I lost weight and felt good, but I became so obsessive, all I could think about was food and when my next meal was. But I was afraid to eat anything else, for fear of gaining weight.

The other day I got so fed up with eating all the same things, and having to watch what I ate, and all of that...and I just ate whatever I wanted to. It felt so good, I could eat ANYTHING I wanted to. Nothing was off limits. (I know that having foods be 'off limits' is bad, but I couldn't help looking at most foods that way) Well one day turned into 4, and now I'm 4 days into a big binge. Every day I say "tomorrow I'll start over" but I don't. I really need to, because this is no better than the other extreme I was doing (rescricting) But I find it so hard to go back to eating only certian things. I eat and eat until I'm so bloated and full, but I want to keep eating anyway.

Does anyone have any advice? I'm pretty worried. I feel out of control, and this has never ever happened to me before. Will I gain tons of weight? I know I will if I don't stop, but as of now, will I be gaining a bunch? I'm just so mad at myself. I need to find a balance between hardly eating, and eating tons...but right now, I can't stop eating tons, and I'm worried.

Well thank you for reading this, it means a lot.

You've tried the two extremes and proved to yourself that neither one is sustainable. What's left? Something in the middle.

What do you weigh? How active are you? Give us an idea, we'll help you figure out how many calories you can eat. Once you have that number, you can begin making decisions about the quality of your food choices.

Thank you very much for responding.

When I went to the doctors (about a week ago) I weighed 101. That's from the weight I had lost eating the 1000 calories a day. I'm 5'3. One of my problems is I'm hardly active, at all. I want to join a gym, but I am honestly broke. And with it being winter and all, it's hard to get out and exercise. It's not that I want to lose weight, I just want to mantain/tone up. But I really don't want to gain, I'm scared.

Should I slowly up my calories? I heard you can gain by doing that, and that scares me. I'm not anorexic, but I noticed I developed a weird mentality with weight and food.

About how many calories should I be eating, if I'm not exercising? Thank you so much for your help.

Okay, your weight is fine for your height. I forgot to ask how old you are, I'm sorry.

The theory is that you shouldn't consume below 1,200 calories a day. Most people throw that number out for weight loss purposes (falling too low in calories will make your metabolism grind to a halt) but that number, from a nutritionist's standpoint, is the minimum calories you can consume and still get all the vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, etc you need from food.

Now, are you "hardly active" because it's winter, because you don't belong to a gym, or because your body just doesn't seem to want to get up and move much? If you had a workout DVD, or a jumprope, or an exercise ball, would you be on it right now...or is the idea of exercise too exhausting? What do you do in your days? Are you a student so you sit in lecture, do you work behind a desk, do you take care of kids so you're running around all day...?

Please let me know (about activity and how old you are!) and I'll help you more with exercise/firming ideas.

Are you a college student, sweetie? If so, you'd be surprised how many colleges offer free counseling for dilemmas like yours. I adore my counselor: I get to vent to somebody once a week and it's free.
Also, do you have a buddy online at this site? It can help to talk to somebody who knows what you're going through. I have a bad digestive disorder and I'm 30 pounds overweight. I'm 6 feet tall, so you can't really tell, but I don't want to get 40 or 50 pounds overweight. Trust me, it's hard to figure out what you should eat. Are you on any vitamins? you should be, atleast until you figure what you need to eat. That will help with any deficiencies you have. Feel free to private message me

Thank you both very much for trying to help me with this, it means a lot.

I'm 20 years old. When it comes to activity...I guess it's a combination of the fact that it's winter, because I do enjoy walking and would do it if it was warmer out. But it's also the fact that I just can't get motivated to exercise. I want to join a gym for that reason, I figure if I'm paying money, I'll have more of a reason to get up and go. But I'm horrible at self motivation, with everything, not just exercise. I know I have to just do it, and I know it's my own fault if I don't. I just can't seem to get into the swing of things. And the fact that it's winter makes it so much more difficult. Indoor exercise doesn't seem like an option, because there's literally no room. That might sound odd, but my house is SO small, and my bedroom is the only place I could exercise, but it's too small, there's really no room to move around. I don't run after kids or anything like that, I really just sit around when I'm not working. When I am working, I just stand around...I get very little exercise, if any at all.

I'm not a college student, but I would like to talk to someone about what's going on. I'm not sure who that would be, though. But thank you for the suggestion. I'm not on any vitamins, but I want to be. I'm a little worried because I heard some vitamins could effect the birth control pill, which I'm on. There's just so many vitamins out there, its sort of overwhelming, you know? I feel like I'm in a rut. I want to have a healthy lifestyle and a healthy relationship with food, not the one I have now. I just don't know how to get there.

Hmmm, as it weird as it sounds, ask your pharmacist at your local grocery store for a good vitamin. Tell him that you're on the pill. At the very least he can suggest one that won't interact with it.
also, I know what you mean about not being motivate do to work out. I HAVE to have a walkman or some one to exercise with me before I'll get off my butt! Maybe one of your friends will walk with you. This is dorky, but if there's a mall near you, you can walk there. It's not just for older people!!!! They're smart: it's air conditioned in the summer, heated in the winter, there's security all over the place, and it's so busy no one will notice you Think about it, and feel free to message me!

I know exactly what you mean. Last year I counted absolutely every calorie that went into my mouth, and I was constantly agonizing over what I could/couldn't eat and what I wanted/would have, and although I lost a lot of weight it just got to be too much to handle. Food is supposed to be the fuel so you can live your life, but it's not supposed to *be* your life!

And yes, if you go from eating very little to eating normally, you probably will gain some weight initially. Your body will be so glad for the sustenance that it'll grab on to every calorie for dear life. But eventually it'll figure out that you don't need to store up for the next famine and ease up, and if you start working out a bit (even walking more) your metabolism will kick in and help.

But I am very glad that you recognize this is a problem, and are working towards fixing it!