Gaining weight on 1200 calories a day

[Gorawnow]

I'm feeling pretty frushtrated. Ive been eating 1200 calories a day and drinking a gallon of water a day and Im gaining weight. I haven't weighed myself in about two months but my clothes are fitting tighter and my stomach isn't as flat. I'm 5ft2 and was 105 pounds. But I use to only eat about 500-800 calories a day. I would go all day without eating or wait until I was feelin light headed and dizzy before I would eat anything. I'm recovering from anorexia and cannot exercise due to ankle and shoulder injuries. I spend about 10-12 hours a day resting and icing my injuries. How long will it take before my body evens out and I stop gaining weight? I'm 100% raw and have been so for a few years. I try and eat only when physically hungry but if I waited until my stomach started growling and I got that hollow feeling I would never eat.

[drraw]

If you were eating just 500-800 calories a day it sounds like your body was pretty much in survival mode. It will likely take a while until your metabolism starts to kick in again. Perhaps yoga or walking might be a good step in addition to a raw diet. Fermented foods may also help such as kombucha.

--drraw

[walnutty]

It seems as if you have been very sick and your words are concerning.

You have been starving yourself. It's going to take your body time. And if you are recovering from anorexia then it is also going to take your mind time.

Are you receiving help and care through your recovery?

[Gorawnow]

Yeah I have lots of healthy support. My anorexia was never too severe. My lowest weight was 98 pounds. But things are going well. The hardest part is mental recovery and accepting my body.

[Gorawnow]

But how long? 6-8 weeks? I'm tempted to go back temporarily to eating 800 a day to loose these few pounds before trying again.

[drraw]

But how long? 6-8 weeks? I'm tempted to go back temporarily to eating 800 a day to loose these few pounds before trying again.

I'm not a doctor, so take this with a grain of salt. Your digestive system is likely not geared up for eating more than what you are used to. You can't continue to eat 800 calories a day. Eventually, you need to get back to a normal level. When you get back to normal you will probably gain weight and then through proper diet and exercise, you can lose any fat but this time while eating normal amounts of food and having a healthy digestive system.

--drraw

[fastfreedom]

Maybe if you get in contact with someone that has been on the same path as you are it could help you out? Check out freelee on here, http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?54891-Wanted-to-share-with-you-my-weightloss-story... I know she dealt with eating disorders and overcame them. I'm sure she would be happy to offer advice.

[SunshineMN]

I think you just need to give your body time to normalize. You may gain some weight, but it shouldn't be permanent. I think you should focus on relaxing your mind. Have you tried meditation? I would work on removing the stress, including the stress you have surrounding food.

You said you are injured. Have you tried yoga? There are ways to exercise while sitting or even laying down without stressing your injured joints and muscles. It will also help relieve body and mind stress.

Also, lock your scale away. Don't look at the numbers! Your body weight will fluctuate daily based on many things. Try to get in touch with how your body is truly and honestly feeling. This is all going to take a while as you are recovering. You can't expect your body to fix itself overnight, or over a week or two. It may take months, or a year, or maybe even a little longer depending on how much damage it needs to repair. As long as you keep eating healthy raw foods in a decent amount (ie... keep your body out of starvation mode) you will heal. You need to trust it and love your body enough to give it a chance.

PS. You might also want to look into probiotics. Or even better yet, start fermenting raw vegetables for the amazing probiotics. You can also brew and drink water kefir or kombucha tea for probiotics. The bacteria in your intestinal tract is very important, way more important than most people understand. If you have an overabundance of bad bacteria you will have digestive and nutritional problems. Too many bad bacteria will also make you bloated, cause mood problems, cause food cravings and a host of other diseases including obesity.

[drraw]

Another thing which may help if it is digestive-related would be to start on a liquid diet and then slowly introduce whole fruits, veggies, and nuts as your system can handle it.

--drraw

[walnutty]

Another thing which may help if it is digestive-related would be to start on a liquid diet and then slowly introduce whole fruits, veggies, and nuts as your system can handle it.

--drraw


She says she has been 100% raw for a few years. She is not new to raw, otherwise I would understand the bloating. This is a disturbing puzzle.

No one and I mean no one will get fat eating 1200 calories a day of raw and living food. There seems to be much more going on here, whether it is admitted or not.

I have a background of anorexia, so I do understand...

And by understand, I mean that I understand that there is probably more going on then meets the eye.

[walnutty]

Maybe if you get in contact with someone that has been on the same path as you are it could help you out? Check out freelee on here, http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?54891-Wanted-to-share-with-you-my-weightloss-story... I know she dealt with eating disorders and overcame them. I'm sure she would be happy to offer advice.


Freelee is on facebook under "Freelee Frugivore" and she is just so slim, trim and gorgeous!!! I used to look like that as a teenager, but then again I was very sick with anorexia and body dysmorphic disorder and so I thought I was very fat looking as good as she does! Crazy!

[Raw Angel Mom]

I resonate that you contact Freelee or someone that knows what this is about anorexia.

Are you stress out? If you are, this will be a major issue of gaining weight. SERIOUSLY. Consider to do gentle exercise or anything that require to take deep breath such yoga. A simple walk in nature, would be amazing for you.

The metabolism issue could be one and i suspect greatly your endocrine gland such parathyroid/thyroid.

Do a lot of detox meaning, mono diet on fruits, or juicing etc....

If your body needs healing, you want to eat concentrate food such nuts in moderation, to give a chance to your kidney to filter properly.

I wouldn't worry about the weight gain because your body will normalize as it is healing. I can understand that you are recovering from anorexia and you most like have a lot internal dialogue base on fear. You are the master of your temple sweet heart and you will have to claim back your power knowing that what matter is to be radiant of health and don't let those voices control you anymore. You are whole and complete now. I find having a glow of health is far more attractive then being slim then looking dead. Slim doesn't equal beauty. Health and inner beauty do. Having a balance body is a side effect of health and how your feel inside.

When you look at the mirror, look beyond your eye and see your soul. You are magnificent, beautiful, worthy and loved.

Love this body now because she is the temple of your spirit and she is working so hard to keep you alive and radiant of health.

All the best!

[Stina]

Hi, I'm wondering what percentage of your diet is fat. You could be one of those people that the fat you eat is the fat you wear. I would highly recommend downloading chronometer, logging in your daily diet. Maybe top your fat calories at 10%; that's what top athletes do for peak performance.

[Gianni]

5'2" and 105 seems like a very reasonable weight to me.

[Bihaku]

I agree. Matter of fact, I think this person is using the Raw Diet in order to maintain (support) his/her anorexia. But even eating simple vegetables and fruits and making them freak out about getting "fat". Eating fruits and vegetables is not fattening at all. They are just freaking out, because they are putting on HEALTHY WEIGHT instead of starving themselves to death.

I highly doubt he or she is bloated, probably using that as an excuse to freak out about gaining normal weight. Just shear panicking because the body is getting healthy, but they rather be oddly skinny and unhealthy, than put on a few pounds by getting healthier.




She says she has been 100% raw for a few years. She is not new to raw, otherwise I would understand the bloating. This is a disturbing puzzle.

No one and I mean no one will get fat eating 1200 calories a day of raw and living food. There seems to be much more going on here, whether it is admitted or not.

I have a background of anorexia, so I do understand...

And by understand, I mean that I understand that there is probably more going on then meets the eye.

[fastfreedom]

I would like some evidence of this fact that freelee is still anorexic. It's true and I agree that she is skinny. Maybe a bit skinny depending on what your definition of health looks like. She says that she averages 3000-3500 calories per day, and she has an active lifestyle. I of course can't verify everything everyone says on the internet, but 3k calories per day is definitely not anorexic. There's some men who don't consume that much in a day who weight 50 lbs more than her. And as you said she is in a relationship with a person who is a cyclist and a runner. And not just your average weekend warrior type either. He competes and wins so of course he will have that runner type of body. So perhaps it's safe to assume that the type of activity freelee is into is congruent with that of her bf. So maybe she is so skinny cus she also has a runners body?

Just sayin.... I agree she looks skinny, but being quick to judge...........I dunno, go for it if you want.

As far as orthorexia........that's sorta funny to consider. I mean the majority of everyone here is orthorexic. If your avoiding eating certain foods because you perceive them to be unhealthy......you have a mental disorder called orthorexia....LOL I would admit to that, I avoid foods which I know do harm to my body. I suppose to some medical types that means I have a mental disorder.....more like a disorder towards feeling like crap. HA

[Living Food]

As far as orthorexia........that's sorta funny to consider. I mean the majority of everyone here is orthorexic. If your avoiding eating certain foods because you perceive them to be unhealthy......you have a mental disorder called orthorexia....LOL I would admit to that, I avoid foods which I know do harm to my body. I suppose to some medical types that means I have a mental disorder.....more like a disorder towards feeling like crap. HA

Yeah, orthorexia is an invented disorder. I suppose that it makes all of the SAD eaters feel better, because if we we didn't all have a mental disorder they'd have to come to terms with the fact that they're eating crap and killing themselves. And of course, the more mental disorders and diseases there are, the more money the pharmaceutical companies can make off of gullible people.

Orthorexia may also serve to convince the ore weak-minded among us that they're really just kidding themselves about raw, living food being good for them and SAD crap being bad for them; it's okay, you just have a mental disorder, but don't worry, we've got some nice drugs that'll take care of that for you...

It would be funny how the pharmaceutical industry and doctors are trying to invent more and more diseases (especially mental disorders), but it's sad because so many people are actually buying into it. I remember seeing a long list of "genuine" mental disorders [nearly all utterly absurd, of course], one of which was being nervous about public speaking (with a fancy Latin name, though)! I don't have a problem with public speaking (iI used to, though), but the vast majority of the population does get nervous if they're asked to do it. Should they all be medicated? If you ask Big Pharma, "Yup!" Sure, there definitely are plenty of people who have genuine mental disorders - but they wouldn't if they had orthorexia :)



The real danger is the absolute opposite of orthorexia. My Latin's a little rusty, but if anyone here is fluent I'm sure we could invent our own mental disorder - "indifferent about correct eating" [orthorexia something] lol. Or maybe "predisposed towards eating junk". That's absolutely a far more deadly "disorder" then orthorexia is, but you don't see anyone being bugged about going to a psychiatrist for eating Big Macs. It has nothing to do with health or mental disorders at all and everything to do with control. A sick society will always judge the healthy minority. And the sad thing is that most psychiatrists, doctors, etc probably even believe that orthorexia is a real disease!

[Living Food]

I'd go so far as to say that orthorexia is necessary in this day and age...and you wouldn't be on this forum if you didn't feel the same way. Here, have a hot dog. What do you mean, you don't want a hot dog (surely everyone in their right mind likes hot dogs)? You're going in the looney bin lol.

Food for thought (but wait...we're all afraid of food, aren't we :D): Who gets to determine what's a mental disorder and what's not? The drug pushers. Now, if that isn't a conflict of interest, then I don't know what is.



I'm not making fun of you, Bihaku, just mainstream society in general and psychiatrists/Big Pharma specifically.

[walnutty]

When I was anorexic I was consuming 300 calories a day and exercising for about 5 hours a day. I felt terrible and had no real energy. I don't see this in Freelee at all.

[Raw Angel Mom]

Did you see how Freelee cans eat in one day? Far far far more then me, lol..... She ate an entire case of oranges. Her diet is predominantly fruits, it must be one reason she is slim and not to count the distance of biking she cans do in one day. She could have flaws but who doesn't have them, i am surely not perfect. She is proud of her body, this is her life lesson and she shouldn't be judge. I watched her story and it was impressive but because of her way to express herself, i neither don't resonate with her youtube but she does know what anorexia is and she seemed to have it figured out.

I feel she understand the fear of eating, she started to eat normally before she did raw food so she has overcome those inner voice that lead her to be fearful to eat to have energy.

As for coming up with the word orthorexia, anyone doing raw food are pretty much seen as this disorder. This is a label given in my opinion from others that don't understand that you can only give life to your body with live food.

I think freelee is fine to help others with this disorder but surely not the only one. If someone doesn't resonate with her expressing herself this way, should trust that they will find the perfect person for them.

All the best!

[PansyLo]

I have a lot of experience with eating disorders through having one myself and having had a lot of contact with and having worked with other people who have them. After watching a few of Freelee's videos I very seriously doubt that she has one.
She's very slim but also very lean and muscly. I think this is a case of someone who doesn't know that much about anorexia jumping to conclusions - she's thin, must be a disorder. She looks very healthy and happy to me. Everything she's saying and doing is evidence that she doesn't have a disorder to me.

People with eating disorders are very disempowered. They think they're fat, ugly and worthless. They're emotionally fragile, stressed out and unhappy. You have to remember that the disorder is just a symptom of a lot of emotional instability and disordered thinking. This is just not Freelee at all.


Gonerawnow: It's going to take time. It took about 5-6 months for me to recover and for my weight to become stable.
I was more severe with my lowest weight being about 75lbs at 5ft3 but it didn't take me long to gain the weight back, less than a month. The rest of that 5-6 month time was my body healing.

You're worried posts have only been over the last couple of weeks. You're going to have to be more patient. It's great that you're drinking so much water now that's going to help a lot!

FOOD: I seriously recommend you keep up eating at the level you are. I ate TONNES in recovery. I was eating almost all the time. I ate a lot more than you are. So as far as food goes, keep going and you will push through it. Your body is storing this weight because it's still in starvation mode, it thinks that soon you will run out of food and are going to need stored fat to survive. Reducing your calories again is only going to reinforce this. You need to keep eating and keep eating frequently.

TREATMENT: What kind of treatment are you getting if you don't mind me asking? Treatment for ED's can range from getting weighed by your GP to being full time in a clinic and everything in between!
If you feel you need a treatment you're not getting you can probably push for it.
You might benefit from relaxation therapy and maybe psychotherapy. Most health services will offer those. I'd normally recommend seeing a dietitian but that's going to be really difficult to find a good raw food one, it wont be on whatever health service you're on anyway!

YOURSELF: Keep checking in here for advice about food.
Definitely look into yoga or pilate classes, most instructors will have experience and knowledge on how to work around injuries.
Meditate.
Try EFT. This is something that I don't really believe works in the way described but it is REALLY relaxing and can help you get to the bottom of problems you have by yourself.
Maybe buy some second hand books off amazon that are for emotional healing or ED recovery. A couple of books a read in recovery were How To Heal Your Life - Louise L Hay and Don Miguel Ruiz - The Four Agreements. Lots of helpful information in those.
http://inoveryourhead.net/how-to-read-7-books-in-7-days/
That's some great advice on reading. I found it helps me get through informative books much faster.
Watch Freelee's stuff on ED's, I recommend Gala Darling's stuff (well it helped me a lot) she has a few articles on EDs, my fave is Empty Bellies Do Not Beget Genius. (http://galadarling.com/article/empty-bellies-do-not-beget-genius) She has a lot of good material on loving yourself and your body.
Get enough sleep. Do nice things for yourself and be kind to yourself. See your friends (I don't know about you but having an ED really isolated me from all my friends I didn't bother seeing anyone for months or even talking to them).
Get engrossed in hobbies and interests that you may have let slide as your mind became totally focused on your weight.

If you try out even just some of these things I swear the time will fly, you'll learn a tonne and you'll be out of the woods on this ED. Within a few months your weight will regulate, you'll be feeling good again and you can move on with your life onto better things.

[MysticTree]

Nod, nod, nod. Wise words PansyLo.

[drraw]

As far as orthorexia........that's sorta funny to consider. I mean the majority of everyone here is orthorexic. If your avoiding eating certain foods because you perceive them to be unhealthy......you have a mental disorder called orthorexia....LOL I would admit to that, I avoid foods which I know do harm to my body. I suppose to some medical types that means I have a mental disorder.....more like a disorder towards feeling like crap. HA


Perhaps we should be discussing whether the things SAD eaters put into their bodies really constitute the definition of the word "food".

--drraw

[SunshineMN]

Orthorexia is just some new made up word by whomever so they can make more money whether it be by charging people for therapy or supplying them some new drug that's supposed to fix it. Here's a quiz I found that's supposedly supposed to help you figure out if you have orthorexia or not.

1) Do you spend more than 3 hours a day thinking about food? (For four hours give yourself two points.)

I do. I am still learning about nutrition and health since they didn't really teach us anything about it in school. It's a HUGE complicated subject that takes a lot of time to figure out and learn.

2) Do you plan tomorrow's food today?

I'm sure not all raw foodist do. Tends to be easier if you do have a plan since some things take longer to prepare like soaking nuts and seeds or dehydrating items. I'd say a lot of SAD eaters do too. Who has time to stop at the grocery store every day to buy whatever food they decide to eat that day? Heck, my mom used to plan out a week at a time so she only had to go to town once every week or two. Between work and raising children she had to.

3) Do you care more about the virtue of what you eat than the pleasure you receive from eating it?

I'm not sure how many raw foodists eat certain things just because they are good for you, if they truly don't like something. I don't. I try something a few times and if I don't really like the taste I stop eating it.

4) Have you found that as the quality of your diet has increased, the quality of your life has correspondingly diminished?

Um, no. As the quality of my diet increases I have more energy and feel better physically and mentally which increases my quality of life quite a bit.

5) Do you keep getting stricter with yourself?

I'm sure from other people's viewpoints that's true. Is it stricter when it's what you want and it makes you feel better emotionally and physically?

6) Do you sacrifice experiences you once enjoyed to eat the food you believe is right?

Yep. I used to really enjoy going to Old Country Buffet or Godfather's. And it's not necessarily that I don't go just because I don't think the food there is right anymore. I don't WANT that food anymore so I wouldn't enjoy that experience any longer. I guess that puts it out of the sacrifice range but...

7) Do you feel an increased sense of self-esteem when you are eating healthy food? Do you look down on others who don't?

Eating healthier and feeling healthier and getting rid of the toxins in your brain does make you feel better about yourself. And this is wrong why? Do I look down on others for eating what they do? No... however I do feel sad at how some people, particularly loved ones, choose to eat. But it's their choice to make, not mine. I don't think any less of them.

8) Do you feel guilt or self-loathing when you stray from your diet?

Maybe briefly while it's making me feel like crap... a little guilty but not self-loathing. Why? Because it helps remind me not to do it again because it'll make me feel like crap!

9) Does your diet socially isolate you?

Right now it does, because I'm still in the process of learning to eat a new way. A much healthier way for myself and it's still hard for me to resist some temptations. I haven't found any local raw foodists. So much of humans social interactions seem to center around food. Once I feel I am stronger, and I figure out what kinds of things are easy to prepare and take along with me to eat, it won't be such a big deal. It's an internal struggle to not want certain foods because I grew up with food as a comfort. I suppose doctors could label this as a mental disorder... one that a lot of american's seem to have in my opinion.

10) When eating the way you are supposed to, do you feel a peaceful sense of total control?

Not sure the peaceful feeling comes from a feeling of total control. I'd say it comes from feeling more balanced in life and happy and the knowledge that you can handle what ever life throws at you. Control over yourself. Is that a bad thing?


If you answer yes to two or three of these questions, you have at least a touch of orthorexia. A score of four or more means that you are in trouble. And if all these statements apply to you, you really need help. You don't have a life - you have a menu!

My opinion, it's rubbish.

Sorry for the off-topic response but this was really bugging me.

[MysticTree]

I answered no to all of those. The social isolation is a case in point. Raw food eating will only isolate you if you allow yourself to be isolated. I can also think of those who don't follow a healthy diet who would answer yes to planning meals in advance. Anyone who shops weekly or monthly or who has such a tight budget that they have to spend very wisely. It's a nonsense set of so called syndrome indentifiers. I do think there are some people who are passionate and even obsessive about healthy food but there are those obsessed about training for the olympics or getting promotion or getting good grades. These people however are merely dedicated. Go figure. Freelee seems fine if maybe a little arrogant but I can see she's busy.

[Aleesha Sattva]

I've just done some editing on this thread so it may not make as much sense as it did before I edited it. Bottom line: WE DO NOT INSULT ANYONE - FELLOW RAW FOODISTS INCLUDED - ON THIS FORUM.

I don't care if you don't agree with them... be nice. Judging others is not tolerated here. Feel free to share your opinion but don't belittle other people.

Please remember: if you do it (or continue to do it), I'll delete your post.

in light,
Aleesha
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