My normal weight (in between my recurrent ED episodes) has stayed about the same for my entire adult life.
I don't believe weight "magically" changes. Gains and losses happen because input or output changes. People tend to gain weight as they get older because they become less active and don't adjust their eating habits, and even that is usually about five pounds every yen years. If your high weight was from compulsive/binge eating, you probably don't need to worry that much about gaining as long as you are eating intuitively.
I've seen a lot of studies on the metabolic and appetite changes associated with aging. From what I've read, most elderly people eat less but still gain. The most significant metabolic change for most women is the menopause, this affects basal metabolic rate as well as body composition. My mother walks 2-3 miles a day, eats like a bird, and has been overweight since the menopause. She was previously what would be the lower end of a normal weight for her height but with an extremely small waist. She had gained 11 inches around her waist in two years. For men, a lot of weight gain is due to lower levels of testosterone among other hormones. I have low testosterone and, despite being medically underweight, I still have quite a bit of belly.
Yasdnil723 has a good 30 years before she needs to worry about menopause. I don't think she needs to panic or adjust her eating habits at all in anticipation.
My mother has been underweight her whole life and has had trouble keeping weight on since menopause. My father didn't start gaining weight till his doctor put him on steroids for his asthma. I've been perimenopausal for about five years now. I haven't had any weight or apetite changes yet. Your mother might have other things happening that doctors aren't looking at because they're dismissing her weight gain as "normal" for menopause.
Everyone is differently but, generally, when people are talking about age-related weight gain they're referring to hormonal changes. We're fairly certain these changes account for my mother's weight gain as she lost a lot of it when she was briefly on HRT.
During my bulimia (lasting about 6 years), my weight was all over the place due to binging, and ranged anywhere between BMI 16-22 but largely at the higher end of that. But since being in recovery, I have trouble keeping it on. I initially stabilized at a BMI of 22 and even though now days I eat a good 2500-3000 calories a day, my weight is still dropping. I'm now sitting at a BMI of 19ish and I don't want to lose more because for health, my body is best at around a BMI 20-21. I find that if I'm to maintain a certain weight, I need to still be overeating to some extent which if I'm 'recovered' I don't want to be doing. Its tricky finding a balance.
Yes, that is helpful, thank you. I knew a few bulimics in treatment that also needed upwards of about 3000 calories to to maintain their healthy weight as well while the rest of us (before stabilizing) gained much more easily. It seems some people's metabolisms spike like crazy when going into recovery and the rest it takes awhile to catch up, if that makes any sense.
I have real trouble maintaining my weight and have after since weight restoration in 2009. I am now eating about 1.5 times the average a day to maintain with moderate exercise, and I'm at my minimum healthy weight. I'm probably getting my meal plan increased too...my metabolism keeps speeding up.
Not surprisingly, weight was one of the major things I've had to come to terms with during my recovery. The difference between my high and low weight is about 70lbs. When I entered treatment at my low, I was put on a restoration meal plan until I gained to 96% of my "ideal body weight" (or a BMI of 20). Although I was "happy" about this (or as happy as I could be at the time), I came to realize in my recovery that my body is actually most healthy, and at its true "ideal" body weight with a BMI of about 23 (which is 107% of my "IBW"). When I am eating healthily, normally, and intuitively, my body maintains this BMI. If I ever slipped back into symptoms, my body fell into a 21 and below range, but would find its way back to 23 when I normalized my eating patterns. It took awhile to figure this out because I hated that, for my body, I was most healthy with an "upper range" BMI. However, being recovered for 2 years now, I have accepted this fact. I choose to eat nourishing foods, enough of them, and listen to my body. I haven't weighed
( ... )
Oh, also for this reason, I think the BMI system is ridiculous and should not be the only means of calculating someone's ideal weight, especially when being treated for an ED. There are so many other factors that determine someone's ideal body weight other than just their height.
Most people at my treatment center on weight restoration were assessed using what their normal body weights before their ED. BMI was only used as a guessing point when someone clearly needed weight restoration but they'd been underweight so long they had no info to go off of. Then again I would say that was common, too. My therapist tells me many people end up gaining after treatment eating normally too, as their set point was higher than they had anticipated. And yeah IA completely on BMI...
What if you don't know what your normal weight before your ED would be? I started restricting at 14, and I don't think that's a weight any grown woman would have (I'm almost 27 now)...though I weigh the same or less now.
my highest adult weight was only a bmi 21.3 and i developed anorexia when i was 15 so it is hard for me to tell what my "ideal" weight is. my weight has been stable between 18 and 19 bmi for about 2-3 years now no matter how much or how little i eat (without restricting) my metabolism is pretty high, and i eat about 2500 cals a day to maintain it here (18.3 currently). i know most professionals would probably say that a "recovered anorexic" should weigh a little more, but i honestly think this is where my body wants to be. i still struggle with body image, and at times when i get stressed my natural inclination is to restrict, but it never lasts long and i am able to get myself back on track (and yes, i eat intuitively). for a frame of reference my low bmi was 12.2 (so i am at the higher end of my adult weight range now).
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I don't believe weight "magically" changes. Gains and losses happen because input or output changes. People tend to gain weight as they get older because they become less active and don't adjust their eating habits, and even that is usually about five pounds every yen years. If your high weight was from compulsive/binge eating, you probably don't need to worry that much about gaining as long as you are eating intuitively.
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My mother walks 2-3 miles a day, eats like a bird, and has been overweight since the menopause. She was previously what would be the lower end of a normal weight for her height but with an extremely small waist. She had gained 11 inches around her waist in two years.
For men, a lot of weight gain is due to lower levels of testosterone among other hormones. I have low testosterone and, despite being medically underweight, I still have quite a bit of belly.
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My mother has been underweight her whole life and has had trouble keeping weight on since menopause. My father didn't start gaining weight till his doctor put him on steroids for his asthma. I've been perimenopausal for about five years now. I haven't had any weight or apetite changes yet. Your mother might have other things happening that doctors aren't looking at because they're dismissing her weight gain as "normal" for menopause.
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We're fairly certain these changes account for my mother's weight gain as she lost a lot of it when she was briefly on HRT.
I should've checked yasdnil's age, sorry.
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I find that if I'm to maintain a certain weight, I need to still be overeating to some extent which if I'm 'recovered' I don't want to be doing. Its tricky finding a balance.
I hope that is what you were after.
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It kind of sucks!
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