Please help former anorexic, bulimic!

[Nessa Bug]

Hi everyone,
I'm very new to this board and am hoping you guys can help me. As I mentioned in the subject title I am a former bulimic and anorexic although I have periodic lapses back into that type of behavior. This usually occurs because I become frustrated and desperate when I train hard and try to eat right and see nothing but fat gain. I am beginning to reach this degree of desperation but I DO NOT want to starve myself AGAIN! I know there has to be a better way and I'm hoping you guys can help.

Currently, I'm about 5'4", 137 lbs. and 19%bf. I do at least an hour of cardio/day often more as I am an aerobics instructor. I also lift 4-5 days per week, splitting up body parts. I really want to rid myself of some this horrible body fat but am finding it nearly impossible. I'm eating about 4 times/day but only about 800-900 calories. Yesterday, I ate 800 calories, 87gms of carbs, 67 gms protein, and 19 grams of fat. I know this is very low and it is putting my body into starvation mode, but I have tried eating more (1500-200cals/day) and did nothing but get fatter. What should I do? I know, given my history, if I eat more and gain fat I will just starve myself again. Is there a way to increase the calories and lose body fat? Should I consider doing some type of steroids? Please help!

 

[RottenWillow]

Nessa, I think the first to do is to recognize you have some distorted ideas about your body. Firstly, 19% bf is not at all fat, not even close. No its not ripped, but its leaner than the vast majority of women in the world.

What is your bf % goal? And in what time frame?

I started lifting only 7 months ago and although I didnt aim to lose bf I did anyway. You might search for the carb rotation diet that has been detailed in past threads here; it helped me a lot. It encourages your body to utilize the calories you consume to build muscle and not store it in bodyfat.

You're right, 800 calories a day is a good way to get fatter and starve off LBM, dont do that anymore. I'd say cool down on the cardio and start eating and training more like a bodybuilder and you'll get the bf reduction you're looking for.

There are a helluva lot of smarter, more experienced women than me that will respond. I know they'll give you a lot more precise info than I can.

Good luck.

 

[Sassy69]

Hi Nessa - welcome! I can give you a couple basic things to consider, but please make sure you are staying in close contact with your doctor with regard to your medical history. As a former anorexic/bulemic, your body has already been through some very stressful times - not sure how long ago you considered yourself a "former" - but your body needs a lot of time to figure out how its supposed to react under the different eating and training conditions you have presented it with.

Step one - EDUCATE YOURSELF. You mentioned you are an aerobics instructor - as a qualified (certified?) training person, you need to know that there are three parts to a healthy lifestyle -- what you eat, your physical activity and your mental state. The mental part is up to you - but the nutritional & physical parts go hand in hand. The rule is NOT "I eat, therefore I gain fat." The rule is more "I eat, therefore I feed my body the nutrients it needs to operate." If you put in the right stuff, it will respond. If you put in too much or the wrong stuff, your body uses what it can and deposits the rest as fat. If you starve, you aren't getting rid of fat - you are forcing your body to consume whatever it has available to keep functioning - this includes muscle and fat. Every female has fat - that's just life (estrogen) - but keepign a balance of muscle & fat is what keeps us looking & feeling good. Even some extra bodyfat can look very healthy when it has muscle to balance it.

Step two - DON"T OVER TRAIN. You are just forcing your body to consume more of what little nutrients it has to keep running. There is absolutely no reason to do more than an hour of cardio / day unless you are in final prep for a competition. You are also robbing your body of recovery time. A big part of training is recovery. Underrecvery = over training. Your body will hit a point where it can't supply enough fuel to keep up with the cardio demands you put on it and you will start to shut down - do you feel tired or exhausted all the time? Fidgety or "strung out"? The lack of recovery will also show itself in increased opportunity for injury. If you already have an anorexia problem, a common issue is osteoporosis - this just leaves your bones more brittle.

Step three - STEROIDS - DON"T EVEN GO THERE. You are already putting HYUGE stress on your system. Throwing in steroids just exacerbates the situation. Don't fool yourself into thinking that there is a quick fix magic pill that will make it all better. It won't. Steroids, if even considered, are ONLY a supplement to an already HEALTHY diet & training regimen. Yours is not.

My recommendation (and I do not mean to climb onto a soap box at all -- I just speak from 20 yrs of fighting w/ the same 10-15 lbs of extra weight in every way possibly, only to arrive at the conclusion that its still very simple - good, clean diet --eating enough of the right foods and eliminating the shit, and training - balancing training intensity w/ recovery) -

- its great that you are a "former" anorexic - but your job perpetuates the obsession w/ doing cardio to stay skinny and your diet absolutely needs to be reworked. You should work with a good nutritionist to lay out a balanced diet and state clearly what your expectations and goals are so you don't panic and fall back into the old habits because you "feel fat". Also understand how nutrition & training works - its not all fat. Your body NEEDS fat. Also muscle BALANCED with fat is imporant. If you sacrifice your muscle along with the fat, you lose even more.

And just don't go near steroids. There are absolutely NO magic pills and they are not intended to be a quick fix for anything. Get the basics down first and that will take care of most everything for you. To a certain degree you are a victim of your perception of how eating works and thus you feel fear related to eating. Consider getting a nutrition certification with your aerobics to balance out your understanding of how "health" works. And replace your fear/perception of it with some knowledge of how it actually works.

And did I mention, DON"T TOUCH STEROIDS. This is another area that absolutely requires that you educate yourself on what they are and what the consequences of them are. For the effort you will get better and MUCH MORE retainable results with just plain diet & training the right way.

PLEASE continue to ask questions - we've got some resources here that can totally relate to you and can give you some real-world advice and support! I'm sure you will get some great responses on this thread!

And I will also second what anya says - 19% ain't bad - the avg chick is 25-26% bf. Its the estrogen baby!

 

[Puddles]

I have no advice to give you other than listen to the women here...they will NOT steer you wrong.

Good luck and NEVER give up!

 

[Nessa Bug]

Thanks for the advice guys. I know that what I'm doing is not beneficial to my body and is going to do nothing towards helping me get leaner. I have a degree in Kiniesiology, am a certfified trainer and aerobics instructor and I KNOW what I'm doing is wrong. I tell people everyday to not starve themselves and I can't even follow my own advice. But, I have decided I WILL NOT continue this destructive behavior. I am tired of the physical and emotional strian it puts on me and those that I love.
My goals are to start "fueling" my body correctly, to lower my bf to around 13-14% and to to do this a healthy, maintanable way. My questions for you guys are: should I see a sports nutritionist? Should I go see a doctor to get some tests run to make sure my thyroid is okay? Or should I just get my BMR measured using one of those Bodygem machines (a local physical therapist has one and charges $45 to measure your metabolic rate)? I don't want to add calories in too quickly and gain fat. Also, should I immediately drop my cardiotime and increase the intensity? Also, should I really start trying to lift heavy? I know that's a lot, but I really appreciate any advice you have. Oh and thanks so much Sassy fro the advice adn for detering my away from the steroids. I was really hoping that wasn't going to be the route everyone advised. Thanks to Anya also for the advice. I'm going to try and find the diet you mentioned.

Thanks SOOOO mcuh,
Nessa

 

[circusgirl]

Hi there, first of all, congratulations for having the courage to ry and give up your ED behaviours and try something different. Also, to reassure you, it is possible, there are several ladies who post here regularly who have kick-ass physiques who had eating disorders in their youth, gave them up, and starting lifting.

The most important thing is that to build muscle, you need to EAT. This is going to be difficult at first - unfortunately as you have clubbed your metabolism into nothing from eating 800 cals a day, you WILL first gain a few pounds. In addition, muscle is denser, so that will cause weight gain as well.

What you need to do is try and get away from counting your calories and scale weight, and concentrating on increasing lbm and/or decreasing body fat, not body weight.

This is going to be the hard bit - you will need to toss your scale in the garbage for a while as when you start gaining LBM at first you WILL weigh more for a while, but it will be muscle, and you will actually look leaner.

Anyway, some other people can advise you on training and diet - remember, DON'T use the cal counter on the cardio machines and DON'T weigh yourself daily....

 

[Sassy69]

Nessa -

You are definitely identifying the issues - a question I have is what's so important about a bf of 13-14%? Honestly there is really no reason to force your bodyfat that low unless you are interested in competing. If you are setting a goal, shoot for 15-16% and focus on building muscle instead of losing fat. Is it how you look or the number % bf? Adding more muscle will reduce the look of 'skinny fat'. And it will also give your body a chance to figure out what its supposed to be doing. If you continue to force it low, you will continue to have physical problems. You can achieve a healthy look by adding muscle & eat better.

 

[Nessa Bug]

so training and diet should change, but how exacty?

Okay, so I need to train differently to add muscle and eat differently but where should I start?

I am thinking adding 100 calories/week, but should I add in protein, carbs, or fat? Or should I just bump my calories up to an appropriate level immediatey?

I am considering seeing a nutritionist but the one I have in mind is pricey and I don't have a lot of money to spend. I'm hoping you guys can help there.

Anya, I tried to find the carb rotation det but didn't have any luck? Do you know where i can find it and do you think that that diet would be good for me to start with I I do bump my calories up quickly?

Also, I train each body part about once/week using a very basic 3 exercises per bp, 3 sets,8-12 rep scheme and like I said previously, I do a lot of cardio. Usually at least an hour/day about 6 days out of the week. What would you change if you were in my shoes? Should I reduce the time to 30 minutes of very intense cardio such as intervals? And how many days per week should I do cardio?

I know I should probably really try to lift to gain muscle although I'm not sure if I need that much more in my legs. They are pretty big already and are my problem area (where I store fat). My knickname at work is V.Lo or J.Lo But, I've heard conflicting advice on this topic. Some say lift light lots of reps, others say lift heavy, and some say skip altogether. What do ya'll think?


Thansk Again and SORRY IF I ASKED ANY OF THESE QUESIONS IN MY PREVUOUS POSTS! I just really need advice from you guys, women who are serious about theirbodies and know how to overcome this dilema!

 

[Nessa Bug]

Well, here's what I've come up with...

I've tried to come up with a eating and exercise routine plan that I can start today. I plan to add roughly 100-200 calories per week. Really, I'll just be adding a small meal in my day. I will probably concentrate on keeping the protein high, carbs modeerate to low, and fat low(50/35/15). Also, I will try to keep most of carb intake in earlier part of the day.
So, this week will be about 1000 calories/day, split into 4 meals. I'll post my exact diet after I enter it into fitday.
How does that sound? I know the calories are low but I think it would be better to add them gradually as I will definitely freak out if I gain lot of fat. I'm hoping I will gain mostly muscle if I do it slowly.
Also, I plan to start lifting heavier with an emphasis on gaining muscle in my upper body. I will also do legs but I plan to do more reps/less weight. Sound okay? I will post a more in depth workout plan later today as I will not workout until 4.
Thanks again!
Nessa

 

[gettinlarger]

Re: Well, here's what I've come up with...

I plan to do more reps/less weight. Sound okay?

No. Lift hard and heavy.

http://www.asylum-strength.com/spat-cutting.htm

Follow that diet too. I'm very soon putting a friend of mine on it.