Eating Disorder Support Thread: "Take Action" (part 3)

[hercules666]

Human body is a beautiful mechanism, there isn't one set weight you need to be at to be healthy

But given how you mentioned you feel cold all the time, I assume you are not meeting the rather "loose" profile to "healthy on paper" I mentioned above

[letsallmakeit]

You need a therapist who understands the impacts of ED's, not just depression and OCD.

Again, I don't suggest 'trusting' your intuition in the literal sense. I'm not saying track things to the gram... but you need to at least know you're eating enough.

i get you man. would be awesome to get a therapist that knows about everything. but where i live, which is puerto rico, i kinda exhausted every therapist and this is by far the greatest one i found which knows what shes doing. all the other therapist just didnt cut it. yeah i do eyeball calories everyday but let say

im 6’2” weight 152 train 3 days a week 1 cardio day and walk 1 hour daily + standing in a retailer for 20 ish hours weekly. i went to several calculator and this puts my maintenance at 2400 (average) i dont know if this is true since we all know this is an estimate but i just eyeball calories by the end of the day and try to hit 2600. im also letting my family to cook for me even if its the same stuff i eat but i dont get to weight it. this is a huge step because i used to get mad if someone touched my food. im by no means extremely underweight but i do need to gain a few pounds.

[letsallmakeit]

I don't think the thoughts would go away.. I've never read or heard of anyone completely getting rid of the thoughts .. I believe the way to overcome it or .. win... is by ignoring the thoughts and doing the exact opposite it tells you to do..

My question isn't about the thoughts .. It's about the "body weight" that you should reach in order to feel normal hormonal .. Would that weight be 'overweight' for some? or normal 'thin' weight? Get me? I'm finding it difficult to explain this part lol

In other words .. How do you know that you're at a normal level in terms of hormone while linking it to how much you weigh?

Cheers,

MT

may i ask your heigh and weight? you mention hormones a lot. have you checked your hormones?

also if youre healthy and feel cold add iodine salt to your diet and check t3 thyroid

[letsallmakeit]

Well .. I'll use myself as an example ..

When I was overweight .. blood work, at least on paper, was healthy .. as per the doctor's analysis ..

Even when I lost a lot of weight and was probably 'underweight' ... blood work was still healthy ..

and now .. When i've gained quite a bit of weight .. maybe in the normal range? ~176-178cm tall ... ~66kg .. Blood work is still normal ..

So yes.. How would you know that you're functioning optimally .. let's ignore the mental behavior in this case .. because i've come to the conclusion that the thoughts will never go away .. it's the brain after all .. it's just how we ignore it and overcome it ..

my main question is how do you know that you're functioning optimally, regardless of blood work due to the cases i mentioned above..

Cheers,

MT

dont focus too much on labs.go by symptoms.

i could have testosterone of 300 when labs says 250 is normal and feel like total... well ****.

[letsallmakeit]

Human body is a beautiful mechanism, there isn't one set weight you need to be at to be healthy

But given how you mentioned you feel cold all the time, I assume you are not meeting the rather "loose" profile to "healthy on paper" I mentioned above

imo, if hes in a healthy weight and feels cold is either salt intake or thyroid

[hercules666]

imo, if hes in a healthy weight and feels cold is either salt intake or thyroid

If his blood sodium levels are poor or thyroid isn't functioning properly he is not "healthy on paper"

[letsallmakeit]

If his blood sodium levels are poor or thyroid isn't functioning properly he is not "healthy on paper"

all my labs are in healthy range except hormones and yeah i feel cold and everything but im working on that. check hormones. i have healthy sodium levels and still feel cold

check t3

i dont know if my weight at this height could cause hormonal problems tho (6’2” weight 152) yes it might be underweight but not severe.

[AdamWW]

I don't like addressing or entertaining questions around 'weight restoration' because it's silly to aim for something you cannot know.

A person's "ideal" or "normal" weight changes all the time due to countless factors, which can effect the number on the scale AND someone's blood work.

Maybe today you have a number on the scale, and 6 months from now you're 5lb heavier and exactly the same health-wise.

Does that mean you were/were not 'weight-restored' before? No... it means your current 'settling-point' just moved. It's dynamic... life is dynamic... get used to it...

It's very, very OCD and unhelpful to keep trying to hit these arbitrary numbers.

The fact is: if you're eating enough, if you're mentally well, sleeping well, have good hormonal function, if your mind and focus feel good/clear, you're not hindered by anxiety, you're not food-focused all the time, and you're not worrying about what's going to happen, you'll always end up where you need to be.

Labels are pointless... just make healthy, honest choices and it'll be fine. No need to call it 'weight-restored'... it's just 'where you are right now'.

[letsallmakeit]

I don't like addressing or entertaining questions around 'weight restoration' because it's silly to aim for something you cannot know.

A person's "ideal" or "normal" weight changes all the time due to countless factors, which can effect the number on the scale AND someone's blood work.

Maybe today you have a number on the scale, and 6 months from now you're 5lb heavier and exactly the same health-wise.

Does that mean you were/were not 'weight-restored' before? No... it means your current 'settling-point' just moved. It's dynamic... life is dynamic... get used to it...

It's very, very OCD and unhelpful to keep trying to hit these arbitrary numbers.

The fact is: if you're eating enough, if you're mentally well, sleeping well, have good hormonal function, if your mind and focus feel good/clear, you're not hindered by anxiety, you're not food-focused all the time, and you're not worrying about what's going to happen, you'll always end up where you need to be.

Labels are pointless... just make healthy, honest choices and it'll be fine. No need to call it 'weight-restored'... it's just 'where you are right now'.

true stuff. two things that i wanted to ask. you mentioned hormonal stuff (guessing testosterone?) you used to be underweight if im correct right? did you ever check your test levels and how it improved now? did your sleep improve overtime with greater food intake. talking not about going to sleep feeling hungry but more like not eating enough despite feeling full or satisfied.

last question. is bulking and cutting really healthy? i mean you are underweight, bulk to 15% bf then cut and re do healthy? imo cutting and bulking are stressing our body.

could yoyoing on weight like cutting aggresively and then putting weight back on and then do the same thing make a problem permanently to our hormones requiring in the future extra drugs because it cant recover from the stress?

sorry for my english. trying my best so you guys understand

[letsallmakeit]

Thread seems to prevent me from posting long replies...

same thats what i said yesterday

[AdamWW]

same thats what i said yesterday

I'll see if I can break it up.

[letsallmakeit]

like right now i tried to log in food for the day to see if im eating enough and just when i see the caloric number (2485) i get panicked and anxiety raises because “what if im in a huge surplus o noes i will get fat faster” and then on purpose i stop counting and switch to other food so i dont hit what i calculate. this is the main reason im trying to just eat intuitive but i also need to make sure i get cals in. i know you also probably had this and just said “**** you mind im going to check my cals to make sure i eat enough”

[AdamWW]

true stuff. two things that i wanted to ask. you mentioned hormonal stuff (guessing testosterone?) you used to be underweight if im correct right? did you ever check your test levels and how it improved now? did your sleep improve overtime with greater food intake. talking not about going to sleep feeling hungry but more like not eating enough despite feeling full or satisfied.

last question. is bulking and cutting really healthy? i mean you are underweight, bulk to 15% bf then cut and re do healthy? imo cutting and bulking are stressing our body.

could yoyoing on weight like cutting aggresively and then putting weight back on and then do the same thing make a problem permanently to our hormones requiring in the future extra drugs because it cant recover from the stress?

sorry for my english. trying my best so you guys understand

I'm still underweight now but I am gaining quickly.

Never had test measured while underweight, but my thyroid remained normal. I actually have a blood panel test tomorrow and I will have the test levels in there.

Most of my issues while underweight have been blood cell counts, which is normal when not at your healthy weight range.

Sleep has VASTLY improved with eating much more food.

Regarding bulking and cutting, why would it be unhealthy to gain weight? Nothing magically happens after you exceed 15, 18, 20% bodyfat... people can be healthier than 20% than they are at 15%... there's a big, BIG range wherein you can operate at optimal levels.

I'm not saying gain 10lb in a week, i'm saying don't worry about it because you're not going to accidentally get fat.

[AdamWW]

I've said it before: human being would never have survived as the dominant species on the planet if our health was SO fragile that we needed to worry about bodyfat %

Furthermore, if you have an ED, why are you worrying about BF%? You're not an average, sedentary, McDonalds-binging American.... you're not going to balloon to 400lb on accident... so again, why bother concerning yourself? It's a lot of mental stress over something that will simply not happen.

Being underweight can, and often is, WAY, WAY worse than being overweight in terms of health markers; it's the EXTREMES (like morbid obesity or severe-emaciation) on either end that cause issues.

Yo-yo'ing is a subjective terms... 'bulking' is just a word used to describe a state of weight gain. I'm not saying i'm drinking 10 sticks of melted butter all day.. i'm just saying I'm making sure I get lots of good nutrition and food in... i'm not worrying about gaining 'too much' weight because , again, there is zero chance I will ever become unhealthy due to weight gain.

Bottom-line... stop worrying about it... if you want to be healthier and you're underweight, then gain weight. The stress you're causing your body by over-thinking is probably doing more damage than gaining 20-30lb could ever do.

[AdamWW]

like right now i tried to log in food for the day to see if im eating enough and just when i see the caloric number (2485) i get panicked and anxiety raises because “what if im in a huge surplus o noes i will get fat faster” and then on purpose i stop counting and switch to other food so i dont hit what i calculate. this is the main reason im trying to just eat intuitive but i also need to make sure i get cals in. i know you also probably had this and just said “**** you mind im going to check my cals to make sure i eat enough”

The issue isn't the calories, the issue is you're having an emotional response to a number.

It's a number... nothing more...

Try focusing on how things make you FEEL physically...

Dude, I gained 5lb in the last 2 weeks... do you think I give a damn? nope.... why? well, it was fun... I feel awesome... my lifts are going up... and I got to eat whatever I felt like.

No regrets.

[letsallmakeit]

I'm still underweight now but I am gaining quickly.

Never had test measured while underweight, but my thyroid remained normal. I actually have a blood panel test tomorrow and I will have the test levels in there.

Most of my issues while underweight have been blood cell counts, which is normal when not at your healthy weight range.

Sleep has VASTLY improved with eating much more food.

Regarding bulking and cutting, why would it be unhealthy to gain weight? Nothing magically happens after you exceed 15, 18, 20% bodyfat... people can be healthier than 20% than they are at 15%... there's a big, BIG range wherein you can operate at optimal levels.

I'm not saying gain 10lb in a week, i'm saying don't worry about it because you're not going to accidentally get fat.

good luck on the blood test!

well you had all the low test symptoms (dont know if libido) when you weighted less so test was impacted

[AdamWW]

good luck on the blood test!

well you had all the low test symptoms (dont know if libido) when you weighted less so test was impacted

Yeah that's why I wanted the hormone test.... just to see how I'm doing now.

I had it checked years ago when I was at a higher/healthy weight and they were pretty high.

I'm also having a lipid panel, and complete blood count + metabolic panel

[letsallmakeit]

The issue isn't the calories, the issue is you're having an emotional response to a number.

It's a number... nothing more...

Try focusing on how things make you FEEL physically...

Dude, I gained 5lb in the last 2 weeks... do you think I give a damn? nope.... why? well, it was fun... I feel awesome... my lifts are going up... and I got to eat whatever I felt like.

No regrets.

i totally get you and will make it happen! let the mental and physical gains comence!

[MosToorani]

Thanks, Adam!

Been a while!

Maybe you could send me some pointers on private message, if you've got the time?

Cheers,

MT

[Desimus20]

Hi guys
I've had an ED for a while now and hidden it from my family. It's absolutely rekt me over the last 3-4 years .
It pretty much lead to me getting fired at both jobs i had. Now i'm unemployed.
I'm really lucky that i met a girl who loves going out to eat so by going out with her my restrictive diet has become less restrictive. I've probably had more burgers in the past 3 months than i had in the past 4 years!
Anyway,
The problem is despite eating 'more' i still find myself hungry all the time. Often times i'm hungry/tired but still workout.
Should i just stop wroking out? it's not like i'm gaining any muscle anyway.
I just don't watn to look different though..
hmm

[letsallmakeit]

adam did you manage to get the hormone labs done?

[AdamWW]

adam did you manage to get the hormone labs done?

yes. i posted info in another thread.

Sadly, i have low test now.

I had it checked years ago when I was a healthy weight and much stronger, and it was high-normal...

So, sadly, it looks like I'll probably have low test until I gain enough back.

I also have low white and red blood cells.

[letsallmakeit]

yes. i posted info in another thread.

Sadly, i have low test now.

I had it checked years ago when I was a healthy weight and much stronger, and it was high-normal...

So, sadly, it looks like I'll probably have low test until I gain enough back.

I also have low white and red blood cells.

i can help with that. ill check your tests. i have similar problem

[AdamWW]

i can help with that. ill check your tests. i have similar problem

huh? The only help I need is to gain weight... what do you mean?

[letsallmakeit]

one of my biggest problem is that i get anxiety when i weight myself. last week i weighted 152 or 152.5 dont remeber exactly and today i weighted 153 and i panicked. ive been eating more salt and constipated (trying to eat more for this also) so probably the poop must be related if theres a lot. i know i should not weight myself if it gives anxiety but thats a good way to track progress also :/

now my mind tells me to eat less but im not going to give up!

[AdamWW]

one of my biggest problem is that i get anxiety when i weight myself. last week i weighted 152 or 152.5 dont remeber exactly and today i weighted 153 and i panicked. ive been eating more salt and constipated (trying to eat more for this also) so probably the poop must be related if theres a lot. i know i should not weight myself if it gives anxiety but thats a good way to track progress also :/

now my mind tells me to eat less but im not going to give up!

Throw out your scale. Why weigh yourself if it hurts u?

Progress won’t mean anything if you see ‘progress’ as a bad thing

[letsallmakeit]

Throw out your scale. Why weigh yourself if it hurts u?

Progress won’t mean anything if you see ‘progress’ as a bad thing

thanks for replying!

[letsallmakeit]

howdy guys! so today was my first group therapy in a mental health clinic. so all in all, they seem to only cover stress and depression but not things directly like ED or OCD they also have a psyquiatrist who recommended me another group of doctors that haves therapy that focuses on the things that i truly have so im going to go there and probably leave this one (going tomorrow to see if i see any benefits and ask more questions) i mentioned EVeRything! ed testosterone depression everything! they also mentioned that im low weight for my height (6’3” 153) and ask for my diet and they said that “wow but you eat healthy” then i said” yeah i eat healthy but i restrict my diet and dont eat anything else and have body image,etc”

this is only for five days. the psyquiatrist told me to take lexapro too (dang it)

all i want is to eat whatever without having the thoughts that ill get fat fast and also not think that i need to exercise to burn it all or eat what i want. but thats why i also follow this forum. you guys helped a lot!

[AdamWW]

howdy guys! so today was my first group therapy in a mental health clinic. so all in all, they seem to only cover stress and depression but not things directly like ED or OCD they also have a psyquiatrist who recommended me another group of doctors that haves therapy that focuses on the things that i truly have so im going to go there and probably leave this one (going tomorrow to see if i see any benefits and ask more questions) i mentioned EVeRything! ed testosterone depression everything! they also mentioned that im low weight for my height (6’3” 153) and ask for my diet and they said that “wow but you eat healthy” then i said” yeah i eat healthy but i restrict my diet and dont eat anything else and have body image,etc”

this is only for five days. the psyquiatrist told me to take lexapro too (dang it)

all i want is to eat whatever without having the thoughts that ill get fat fast and also not think that i need to exercise to burn it all (isn’t this pretty much the goal for almost every ED person? sorry if this triggers anyone ill delete) . but thats why i also follow this forum. you guys helped a lot!

I would argue a better goal is to not care if you gain at all, and accept that fat isn't going to kill you... in other words: accept any outcome and realize it doesn't make a lick of difference...

ED's offer only the illusion of control.

You think you're controlling things by restricting, when in fact the ED is controlling you... ironic in a way.

[letsallmakeit]

I would argue a better goal is to not care if you gain at all, and accept that fat isn't going to kill you... in other words: accept any outcome and realize it doesn't make a lick of difference...

ED's offer only the illusion of control.

You think you're controlling things by restricting, when in fact the ED is controlling you... ironic in a way.

true! thanks a bunch