impossible weight gain during recovery...how can I recover?

[esw2009]

I am struggling to recover from anorexia. When I begin a recovery process, I always relapse. I know that I should be eating 1,200-1,400 calories a day to maintain my ideal weight. In what I thought was a logical attempt at maintaing a healthy weight, I am eating 1,200 calories a day and working out, but I keep gaining!!!!!

It is my understanding that my body may have adapted to my eating disorder and figured out a way to function on very few calories, I.E. I have screwed up my metabolism.

Does anyone else have the same problem and or a way that they have coped with this. Is there a way to stabilize my metabolism without the impossible weight gain?

I am afraid the pounds are just going to creep back up again...and that scares me beyond belief.

[Nubzor]

How long have you been eating your 1,200 calories? Everyone's body is different, but if you go from, say, starving to eating 1,200 calories, it's going to take your metabolism a good two weeks to "catch up" with your intake. During that time is when you'll notice the largest weight gain. Additionally, your glycogen reserves will fill, your digestive system will actually have waste matter in it, etc. All of these will contribute to an immediate weight increase (even after just one meal)--this is why you see some people say, "OMG I just ate and gained 10 POUNDS!", in reality they simply have the weight of the food in them, along with water weight, along with glycogen reserves being filled. Restrict for a few days and they'll be back (or close to) where they were prior.

Like I said, I'm not sure how long you've been eating 1,200 calories, but your metabolism should gradually catch up to it. If you've been eating 1.2kkcal for longer than two weeks now and you're still gaining, then although your metabolism has sped back up, your body knows it still wants to weigh more and is trying to bring you back to that "set point." I don't think it's ever good to set a specific caloric intake--eat 1k one day, 1.4k the next, etc. Keep things mixed up. While it is possible to gain weight while eating such a low amount of calories (such as 1.2kkcal), at some point you will "cap-out". I do not think is physiologically possible to become overweight from eating such a small amount of calories. As of now, your basal metabolic rate may be running at 800 kcal/day, and since you're eating 1.2k, you're gaining 400 calories each day. Eventually, your BMR will speed up beyond 800kcal.

Bleh, sorry I rambled a bit there. Without knowing more specifics, it's hard to narrow down what the problem is. But hopefully ^^ can provide some help/insight/reassurance.