Messed Up Metabolism

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I just recently turned 18. I'm 5'4'' and 152 lbs. In the summer I gained a
ton of weight, and when I came home from camp all my family was shocked. I
wanted to lose the weight fast, and a friend told me that she once dropped a
ton of weight in two weeks by not eating anything, only eating some salad
when the hunger was unbearable... I decided to give it a try- I lost weight
super quick, looked great (except my skin broke out terribly), and
surprisingly my mood was extremely upbeat! (Friends even asked if 'm on
drugs due to my mood change, which I was not!) I had some meals, and I was
doing really well, I didn't even have a desire to eat. Then I went on vacation
with my family, and we went to all these restaurants, and I started eating out
of control, so then I started making myself vomit... I finally got sick of it so I
started eating healthier and getting my amount of calories, but then my
friends kept bringing cookies and muffins to school and I kept eating them.
So for the last 2 months my weight has been going up and down, with days I
want to eat healthy, and days I want to starve as I'm scared of getting fat,
which now I am a bit. How do I start eating healthier without gaining weight,
and losing it in a healthy way? I'm fine with working out, I have a gym
membership at a Gym, so what do you suggest I do??
Thanks

ANSWER: Your experience with experimenting with anorexia is not uncommon- The breakouts are caused by toxins that are stored in your body fat being released- the euphoria is a natural protection to make you not feel as much pain since your body thinks you are starving to death.

Ok, so we are clear - please don't starve yourself or make yourself throw up- it will only cause bad things in the end-

What you need to do is

1- Recruit- Get the people around you on your side in the weight loss game- That will mean when brownies and cookies show up, you have back up to say "No thanks!". Also that means when it is time to go out to dinner you can split an entree with someone, and everyone is with you when you ask the waitress NOT to bring the bread. Social support is the number 1 indicator for success in any lifestyle change.

2- Think of it as a Lifestyle Change- Diets suck, starving yourself or barfing sucks worse. It makes it hard to be out with people, you can't just enjoy life when you are constantly worried about what you are going to eat next. So instead of making it all about food, make it all about health- Did you eat plenty of fruits and veggies today? Did you drink water? Did you really enjoy one thing you ate today? Did you really enjoy doing something that had absolutely NOTHING to do with food today? If you can journal and keep track of these things you can get over life being about food, and if it isn't about food, it isn't about your weight!

3-Get your bases covered- Make sure you eat the things you need before you give in to your wants. If you are full of healthy food you won't be hungry for junk- you might want it, but it won't be hunger driven. Get your fruits, veggies, whole grains, and lean proteins first then add your extras. You can get a good idea about what your foods should look like here- http://mypyramid.gov/mypyramid/index.aspx
(though to lose weight you will want to take 500 calories away from their calorie suggestion.)

Hope this helps,
Lela Simon
http://www.lelasimonwellness.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Will I initially gain weight? Is my metabolism screwed up? What do I do to make my metabolism higher and eat healthy?

Answer
I not going to lie, you will probably gain a little a first- but if you add real weigh bearing exercise (go hard and build some muscle!) you will be fine- the muscle will boost your metabolism and you will even out pretty quickly- you are still young so you will recover better.

1. Prev:Eat healthy
2. Next:Lower abs excercises