I dropped a few pounds this week simply because I was too busy to eat properly. I worked 57 hours this week (plus my classes) and didn't eat one proper meal. I ate loads of junk food, however, and got very little exercise, so I'm surprised I lost any weight. Now I'm 5'4 and 96 lbs, which is "anorexic" but not emaciated. I like the way it looks, to be honest; I like the bones and I like seeing the muscle and sinew instead of fat. I'm worried about losing much more, though, because I feel I messed up my diet and exercise so much and need to get back to exercising and eating healthy. That would entail more calories spent and more weight lost. If I lose much more, I will look unhealthy and will lost strength. I don't want that; I definitely need to make an effort to keep the weight on.
My metabolism does require a lot of food; some people might really like the idea of being able to eat 2500-3000 calories a day and not gain weight, but I don't. I am very self-conscious about the amount I eat. I feel like people will think I'm greedy or bulimic if I eat what I need. I eat small amounts in front of people or I don't eat publically at all, which then makes people think I'm starving myself even though I compensate in private. I normally eat quite large meals at home alone; these are not binges and I do not purge them. I eat because I have to in order to keep my weight stable. Often when I'm busy, I rely on high-calorie junk food or even Boost (a high calorie supplement) to keep my weight up. I always know in the back of my mind that it would be so easy to not do this. I'm rarely hungry and can fly through the day on less than 1,000 calories. Problem is, once I do this once or twice, it becomes the new norm and I begin to crave the feeling of hunger, of light-headedness, of burning fat and muscle I can't afford to lose. I see the scale go down and like the lower number and think that a few more pounds won't be noticeable and it would be my little secret. I get addicted to lowering this number, and there is a new goal every time I see a lower number. 96 sounds too high--94 sounds better. Then maintain that weight, but if I happen to inadvertently weigh 93 one day, I will probably think 92 is better because it is an even number. Then if I get sick and lose a few pounds, say to 89 pounds, I'm likely going to wait until I hit 88 to maintain. Only once, other than in the hopsital, did the number it was okay to stay at get higher; that was 8 months ago when I felt so ill at 95 pounds. I'd been depressed and malnourished, so I told myself to get up to 100 and stay there. That worked until recently. Since I feel okay at 96, I really don't see what the harm is of going to 94. Or 92. Or 88. But then where does it stop? And is it really possible to be healthy at these weights? I doubt it.
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