Expert: Joanne - 8/25/2006

Question
About a year ago, I became extremly unhappy with my 120-
pound body. My unhappiness triggered an obsession with
weight loss, and at 5'2, I ended up weighing a mere 92 pounds.
After a family intervention, I accepted the help I knew I needed
to get out of this. Unfortunately, I relied on the help of my
family, not a nutritionist, so throughout this recovery, I have
gained quite a bit of weight. I have been eating extremely
healthily the past year, but I am now uncomfortable with my
weight gain (I am currently at 120 lbs.) My mother believes I am
still not eating enough, and that this is causing my weight gain. I
know for certain that my intake NEVER exceeds 1000 calories,
but increasing this seems like it would NOT enable me to lose
weight. If I increase my caloric intake, will I continue to gain? I
am only looking to lose about 5 lbs., but I am fearful that this
weight gain will never stop.

Thank you, I appreciate any advice you can offer.

Answer
As ironic as this sounds, people rtying to lose weight are often told that they are not eating enough to lose!  Many people stop eating much at all in order to lose weight, but with that, your metabolism slows!  In order to lose weight, most people are recommended to eat a min of 1500 calories.  This keeps your metabolism working at its maximum, while not eating so much that your body will store it!

Your situation, however, is slightly different!  I recommend slowly increasing your intake to the 1500 calories, but this may result in some gain at first!  Your metabolism will not be working to its best ability, and it will take time if eating a 'normal' diet before it stabilises.  This may sound scary, and I know that you will not want to gain at all, but in the long-term, it is the only way that you can return to eating a balnced, proper diet and maintain your weight.

I recommend considering seeing a nutritionist to get help working out a good food plan.  Either that, or my therapist (she was a trained psychitric nurse) was able to supply me with a food plan, so maybe you should try and find a good trained person like that.  They should also be able to help you deal with feelings that may arise when you possibly gain weight!

I hope that you find this helps, if not please feel free to come back and ask me!

All the best
Holly