Lockdown has triggered issues over eating - how bad is this?!

[Littlemisadoughnut]

Hi,

So bit of a confessional. I'm 29, 5 foot 5, and over lockdown gained a bit of weight. I went to about 9 stone 5. Not huge by any stretch and still a healthy weight, but I'm very small framed and pear shaped so don't carry the weight too well. I'm getting married next year and needed to start trying on wedding dresses, so set myself the mission to lose it and return to my original weight, 8 stone 10.

I started in July, and did well. However now, mid September, I am getting worried. I am 7 stone 6.

People keep telling me i look amazing (sorry for the brag) and that I'm so in shape.

But while I'm still eating a fair amount (1200 to 1400 calories generally) I've found myself becoming obsessed with exercise for the first time in my life. I'm a teacher and back in full time work, but I'm finding the time every day to squeeze 30,000 steps in and 2/3 hours on the exercise bike. I've become obsessed wtth ensuring every calorie I've eaten is burnt, and then there's a wee bit of deficit in there too. The weight has melted off. I know I'm looking bony, my top half in particular isn't looking great, but my legs are finally in proportion and a size 8. I'm finding it hard to get clarity here. I know this is over the top, but should I be worried?

Also I feel like people will say just stop exercising. But I seriously can't. I can't sleep until its done. To the extent that even at my grandads funeral, staying overnight in the middle of nowhere in cornwall I left the hotel to get an extra 15,000 steps in at 1am because I couldn't get any more in due to the long train journey.

All opinions welcome!

 

[Grizzlybear]

Hey - I hope you’re ok, and this is so understandable. But - that’s not enough to eat and not enough to sustain that amount of expenditure. If you don’t feel like you can regulate the scenario yourself, how about getting an online coach or PT to help you programme and to sustain an ideal weight? If you feel in control of an ideal plateau, it might help you relax about food and exercise x

ETA - I think it’s understandable because we’re not in control of a lot right now, and this is something you can control.

 

[Be More Pacific]

Yes, I think this is a issue and you know it.

A BMI calculator confirms you are underweight. In fact, the very, very bottom end of a healthy weight for you is 7st 13lbs.

i'm 4ft 9 and a half, so really short (almost a foot shorter than you ) and I got down to 8st 6lbs several years ago after 18 months on a VLCD - I had a lot to lose and it was complicated by medical issues. Looking back at photographs now, I looked terrible in the face - it honestly added ten years on me - and I was still at the very top end of a healthy weight on a BMI calculator and a size 10/12 so really nowhere near tiny.

I think you'd be wise to have a chat with someone before this really turns into a problem. I would suggest that amount of exercise is unhealthy unless you're in training for the Olympics!

Helplines - Beat

Beat provides Helplines offering support and information about eating disorders no matter where you are in your journey.

www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk

 

[Bellaboo83]

I recently lost a lot of weight (after a break up) in a very short space of time and 3/4 months later my hair has started to come out and my hormones / menstrual cycle and skin have gone haywire. My doctor says it is from the lack of proper nutrition and the shock of my body being so underweight. All I'm saying is that becoming too thin has other implications for the female body, in order to function properly we need a certain level of body fat. I'm sure you know this, but it was a shock to me when I found out so I just thought I'd mention it. Maybe see your doctor for an all round check up and mention the compulsive exercise. Wishing you all the best x

 

[mcfeez]

You are not eating enough - 1200 to 1400 calories is so low. I know it's difficult to resist people's comments that you look great - but we as a society are conditioned to believe weight loss is a positive thing and that being slimmer is always better and that is simply not true.

I think you need to speak with your doctor around disordered eating and what's clearly a very unhealthy approach to exercise.

 

[SunshineDreamer]

I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I think the fact that you have posted this means you know you have a problem (and I use that term loosely). I agree it might be worth having a chat with your GP. Your heart was in the right place, you’ve just struggled to find the right balance. It might be worth asking for a referral to a dietician, even if it has to be telephone for now, just to help you strike a healthy balance.

 

[Phil Anne Throw Pee]

I'm a bit shorter than you OP and I would kill to be 9 stone 5!!! It does sound as though you are letting it take over and you need to relax your regime somewhat. Even at your original weight you were fine. I got down to 9 stone 3 a few years back (due to severe anxiety) and it is the perfect weight for me at 5'2 although I know we all carry our weight differently.

 

[no-no]

I think you need to look at your life in general and pinpoint where you’re feeling a little out of control to extrapolate why you’re being so strict with the exercising. Losing your grandfather is very upsetting - were you close? Also planning a wedding during these times seems ridiculously stressful, is it causing you anxiety? You sound like you have a lot going on, especially being a teacher and starting a new term under these circumstances.

I think you know you could sleep without exercising but it sounds like you don’t want to because you feel you need to check it off your mental checklist for that element of being in control. It’s very understandable and I’m not being judgmental.

I would recommend reaching out to your GP or B-eat? They have a helpline if you google them. In the meantime, could you try and ditch the fitness watch for one day? Challenge yourself to have a rest day or two a week where you don’t monitor it. Nothing will happen, you won’t gain weight whether you eat healthy on those days or not.

Take care.