Expert: Joanne - 3/21/2007

Question
QUESTION: I'm writing to you because I can't seem to get a straight answer about this
online or through a nutritionist.
I am 5'6 and currently 145 lbs and have struggled with very restrictive eating
(about 1000 calories per day over 2 years about 4 years ago- I went from 165lbs
to 130lbs over the course of a year) coupled with compulsive exersizing. I work
out almost every day (running, eliptical, strenghth training etc) and have
brought my calories up to 1200 for the past 2 years. I am trying to lose 5-10
lbs that I have gained since my initial weight loss but can not seem to get
anywhere despite my food intake and exercising.
I have tried adding in more calories and I only gained more weight. I tried
eating less calories and saw no weight change. I have tried mixing up my
workouts and times.
Is it possible my metabolism is beyond repair? I do not want to continue such a
restrictive diet but unfortunately at this point it is the only way I can even
MAINTAIN my current weight. I would like to lose that bit of weight but do not want to go back to eating 1000 calories or less.
ANSWER: I know this is not what you want to hear, but I'm really struggling to come up with some sort of reasoning for this!

I reckon that your metabolism is still suffering as 1200 calories is still not much, and it has become used to getting by on few calories, so is struggling to cope with you eating more.  I would also state that muscle does weigh more than fat, so there is a chance that with all the exercise you are doing, you are forming muscle, and repairing what was damaged when you were really restricting.

The only way that I can see this resolving itself is increasing your caloric intake to about 1800, dealing with the weight gain initially, but once your metabolism sorts itself out, you should be able to maintain your weight, and then lose sensibly by decreasing to about 1500 calories.

If I was you, I think I would talk to my Dr as well and see what he/she reckons.  There is a chance that there may be something else going on, such as a thyroid issue or something, so would maybe go get all that checked out and see what they recommend!

Hope that this has been of some help, despite it being very limited!

Holly

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

QUESTION: Hi Holly thanks for the prompt response.
I have a scale with a body fat analysis- it says I am at about 26.
I have spoken to doctors about this as well as a nutritionist and have seen no results. i have had my thyroid tested.
It doesn't seem that anyone has a clue as to what I can do. I have tried upping my calorie intake and letting my weight level off but I simply continue to gain with anything other than this amount. I've been going crazy over this because I feel like I've trapped myself into this situation and I am not even at a weight that is comfortable for me. Would you suggest I try splitting my calories up more during the day? I currently have 3 small meals and 2 snacks (which is what is usually recommened). But maybe making the meals even smaller and adding one? I really do not want to start eating 1800 calories and  balloon up even more because it will be extremely mentally taxing for me.  

Answer
I think that it will be hard to up your calorie intake as high, but it is one of the only ways to get your metabolism working to its full capacity again.  If you are uncomfortable doing this alone, I recommend trying to find a nutritionist that has experience working with eating disorders as they will be able to devise a manageable meal plan.

As for the body fat analysing scaled, be wary.  Unless you have a very expensive model that has hand held electrodes with it, it is not completely accurate.  These scales work by send a small, safe electrical current through the body from an electrode under one foot to one under the other.  This current will take the shortest route possible from one to the other, so these scales actually only measure body fat within the lower limbs and pelvic area, then uses your height, weight, sex and stored averages to estimate the overall body fat content.  They really aren't all that reliable.  I know of people that have had caliper tests (no these aren't completely reliable either) and they have been less than 20% body fat, but when they do on the scales, they are nearly 40%!  Now there is too big a fluctuation there.  I don't know my body fat composition, but I do know that I'm quite a bit bigger on my bottom half than on my top half, therefore I may not get an accurate reading from these scales.

I think that you really need to speak again to your Dr and try to get him/her to send you to someone that deals with eating disorders in the hope that they can tell you exactly what you need to do to get this under control!

Holly