Expert: Joanne - 7/10/2007

Question
Hi, I have a question about metabolisms and weight gain for now and future weight gain.  My question is does anorexia damage your metabolism for the rest of your life?  I have struggled with this for about two years and since April have been trying to get back to normal and stop all of this.  Well, I have read a lot about anorexics going from being anorexic to binge eaters and/or going from anorexia to slightly over-weight because their metabolism is not like a normal individual; so eating normal or a having a cheat day (cookie or cake) will mean weight gain (due to a slow metabolism).  I find in my own experience this to be true.  I tried back in the end of November to eat normal, I started slow until I reached 103 lbs well then I started loosening my control and eating normal meals with treats (this was around Christmas time now) and by the middle of January I was 125lbs.  I mean that is a huge amount of weight to gain in such a short time.  This is what concerns me about the binging and weight gain because I found that it was true in my case, but really I didn’t really binge but maybe 4 times during that whole time and I considered it a binge if I had 4 or 5 cookies; so it wasn’t like I was consuming a ton of calories or binged often (plus I had days in between where I would fast or restrict again).  Well, by the end of February I decided I couldn’t take it anymore, I tried getting the weight off with excessive amounts of exercise and it wouldn’t come off.  So to make a long story short I just ate an apple a week until I got myself to 93 lbs again (I got to this weight by the end of March).  Well, I hit rock bottom again and decided to try stopping this again so since the end of March weighing 93lbs today I weigh 110 lbs
(I’m 21 and 5’4) and this weight gain really confuses me because due to what happened in Nov and Dec. I was so scared of eating again and binging and blowing up to
120-125 lbs again that I have just stuck to the same foods each day and I workout every day as well.  My food list includes: vegetables, fruit, egg beaters,Kashi oatmeal, Kashi cereal, Kashi granola bars, turkey slices, salads, low fat yogurt and cottage cheese, almonds and occasionally fish and I just choose from these foods each day.  So I usually consume anywhere from 900-1900 (each day is different) and I jog about 30-35 miles a week and do Pilates as well. Some days I will do more exercise that is just an average, but like Sunday I jogged 10 miles and did a 8 mile hike.  So what am I doing wrong this time and my biggest question is why can’t I  lose weight now?  I am so afraid to eat different foods because one I am afraid of binging or losing control and if I gained this much weight from these foods and exercise how much would I gain if I ate anything different or fattening!!??!  So with all that said I am very frustrated and feel doomed because I can’t eat different foods each day, I still have the same thoughts that consume me each day, but the only difference is I weigh A LOT more and I can’t even lose weight!!  So my question is: is this true about ED ruining your metabolism where you always have to restrict and exercise just to maintain a weight?  Due to frustration I just feel like this is not working out and I want to get back to my weight in which I know means I have to fast and restrict, but the only thing that stops me is me thinking that I am going to mess up my metabolism even more to the point where I will be over weight no matter what I eat or become some binge eater.  So lets say I went back to fasting/restricting will my likelihood of ever getting a normal metabolism decrease (if I did it just one more time), or would it sort out no matter what.  I know this sounds confusing so pretty much my question is the longer you fast/restrict does that determine how long it takes for your metabolism to get back on track?  I’m sorry this is so long and confusing and thank you for taking the time to read this!  

Answer
Your metabolism will only return to normal after eating about 1800-2000 calories for a time until your body has rebuilt the muscle and fat (everybody needs fat stores of some sort in order for the body to function properly) and glycogen stores that have been damaged/depleted due to the starvation.  After the body has repaired itself, it will begin to use the excess calories as fuel, and burn them off, and your metabolism should speed up again.

You will be unable to lose weight now as your body will be storing most of what you eat rather than burning it.  Your body will be conserving what it can, and learns to function on as few calories as possible so that it can store a lot.

The only way for you to get out of this is to eat normally and your body to become sure that you aren't going to starve it again - so will require time to get used to eating properly.

I hope this has given you some reassurance.  I would recommend making an appointment with your Dr as you really need support in order to beat an eating disorder, and I would also recommend that you get him to check that you have not caused too much damage to your body through these disordered eating behaviours.

Please feel free to come back with any other questions that you have!

All the best
Holly