Expert: Ryan Hale - 11/16/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello,
I’m 28 and need some help with my eating disorder I have for almost 10 years now! First was anorexia (I was consuming around 600 cals a day) where I weighted around 50kg, then turned to overeating (one day I was eating almost anything and the next day I was eating too much of everything). I ended up weighting around 82kg (1.7m height)! About 5 years ago I decided to stop all that! I started eating around 700 very healthy cals a day and lost around 15 kg.
For the last 3 years I am around 64-65 kg, though I continue eating 700 cals a day! About 6 months ago I started going regularly to the gym and started eating 800-900 cals. Still no results. Still 64-65kg. Then I found out about starvation mode! I thought, ok .. I’ll increase my cals to 1200! For the last 2 months I have been eating 1200 healthy cals and going to the gym 5 days a week for 35-40 minutes doing either 15min cardio + 25 min weights or the opposite. However, I still see no results. Actually, I have gained 1.5-2 kg but no muscle (I did a body fat test and lean weight is still the same!!).
What am I doing wrong? I’ve increased my cals, going to gym regularly doing mainly weights and all I want is to fix my metabolism! I would expect at least not to gain weight!!
Any help would be MUCH appreciated

ANSWER: Anna- my advice is not going to be very impressive or dazzeling.  What I've noticed about your email is that you seem to continue to be concerned about the exactness of your caloric intake and what all the numbers (weight lost or gained, calories, now it's your lean body weight).  You've been experiencing an eating disorder for over a decade and reversing its effects and returning to a "normal" metabolism is going to take some time (more than 2 months).  It may never return to what it was or would have been.

My suggestion would be to concentrate on your new health habits.  It's great that you are working out and lifting weights (it's so hard to convince many women to lift).  You are checking your body composition now which is better than looking at the scale, but these things take time.  In fact, most effects of training take 6-8 weeks to show up.  I hear the same thing from over weight clients.  They tell me, I've been over weight most of my life and I decided to try to lose weight.  I've been working at it really hard for a few weeks but nothing is happening.  Can you see the issue?  Years of your body being a certain way versus weeks of change?  Keep up the healthy habits.  Make sure you are eating enough calories to fuel your energy needs.  Look more at the foods you are eating (is it a variety, is it a chore to pick food out or eat it)?

Also, if there are issues in your life that have gone unresolved (relationships issues, history of abuse or overly controlling living situation, untreated illness like anxiety or depression) you need to visit those as well.  Try to find a qualified counselor or therapist to work with.  If you can change some of the things that may be troubling other areas of your life, it will help with the body issues as well.  See, nothing magical... just small steps to address a couple areas of your life, but it can make a big difference.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much for the reply!!
You are absolutely right about my concern with numbers ... it's part of my eating disorder :( i need to work on it though and not be SO dependent on the exact amount of cals, body fat etc
I'll try to continue with my healthy habits (gym + proper food), though the results are not what i would like them to be yet (as i'm still gaining weight)!
Just one concern ... from your personal experience, how long might be until i get my metabolism working normal again? Should i increase my calories even more (i'm now at around 1200 daily, should i go to around 1500-1600) or you think it's better to try to stabilize first on my first target (1200) and then increase further?
As for other issues in my life, i'm really happy over the last 3-4 years with my boyfriend, no other particular issues! I have that disorder from my school days, as i was quite shy etc but now everything else with my life is good :-)
Again, thanks so much for the reply! It REALLY helps!!

Answer
Anna- it could be some time before your metabolism returns to "normal."  there is no way of telling how long.  It's even hard for your body to know what a normal metabolism is since you had disordered eating patterns during an important period of maturation.  It could be a year it could be 5 years.  Your body will settle on what is possible and normal for it now.

While I don't recommend the fixation with numbers, there is a number that can help you... it's called your resting metabolic rate.  That is the amount of calories you burn at rest (for things like body functions, maintaining body heat, brain function, etc).  It represents the minimum amount of calories you need.  You can then add to that number the amount of calories you need for activities of daily living and then add the calories needed for exercise.  That would be the total caloric need for your body each day.  It's also important to know because you can then adjust your intake on days you don't work out.  The reason these are important numbers while the other numbers are good to forget, is that it is then possible to know what your body needs and there won't be any guessing, rationalizing or lying to yourself (positively or negatively).  You resting metabolic rate can be estimated based on height, weight and activity level from various web sites or you can have it measured at a sports medicine clinic, hospital or a nutritionist can help you with it.  For an active person, especially one with past issues about eating, it is a good way to make sure you are consuming a healthy amount of calories that can meet your energy needs.  But, like the other numbers... don't get too fixated or forget to enjoy life!