Hi everyone. So a little background. I’ve been struggling with anorexia and exercise bulimia for the majority of my life. I’ve been in inpatient treatment twice nearly losing my life. I’m almost 35 years old and I’m so exhausting of living this way. Almost 2 years ago my dad started the ketogenic diet and I saw the amazing results and success he had with it. I told myself when I got out of inpatient this last time (in June) that I was going to switch to the ketogenic diet. This was a huge decision seems no as though I grew up in the no fat lie fat era thinking fat was the enemy and avoiding it at all cost. So I’ve been on it since I got home but I’m not sure I’m doing it right. I only eat two meals a day. I try to maintain appropriate macro portions … 20 g of carbs, 70 g of protein, and about 180 g if fat a day. I do exercise A LOT… more than 5 hours a day… a mix of low intensity cardio, weight training, walking, and high intensity interval training. I don’t know how this all factors in. I’m at a healthy weight now and I’ve definitely gained muscle and feel way stronger. I don’t necessarily want to lose weight but I’m struggling because I fear gaining weight and I’ve also felt very bloated and constipated. But I’ve been doing this for only a month or so and so far I love it. I am just looking for any help or advice I can get. Thank you so very much !!
Recovering from anorexia and desperate to make a change
It took me 6-8 weeks to fully adapt when I felt I was able to exercise without sudden attacks of fatigue.
Jeff Volek has found that some elite athletes who know their performance benchmarks to a remarkable level of precision are still improving their performance 6 months after going ketogenic.
So it is possible that 1 month in you may still have many improvements still ahead of you.
3 years in and I still sometimes feel bloated after a meal and usually in those cases I just don’t feel like eating my next meal for longer - so I suspect for me that bloating is a sign that I have passed satiety. But I’ve never been underweight so I’d just be guessing at what it means in your context.
I do expect that people who are underweight will gain weight on a ketogenic diet as much as the converse.
Hi Beth
a long time ago I suffered from what you are recovering from.
I spent a couple of decades recovering in the sense of trying to be normal and trying to retain control - which can seem like two concepts which can’t be reconciled at times.
Eating keto has improved my life immeasurably - in many ways - but the chief thing is not having to feel hungry and not dealing with guilt with eating.
It is going to take a little time for you to adapt. Some thing click in really quickly and some roll over you gradually. Exercise will be tougher at first, so go easy on yourself and make sure you get enough salt.
It will get better and better until you feel nearly invincible.
I want to tell you to stick with this because I promise you it is going to help the thing that most needs helping - which is your brain. I felt like I was looking at the world from behind glass - and I don’t feel that way anymore. It has liberated me in a way I could not have conceived of. Your brain will begin to work better and your mood will improve. Your energy will improve. Your self confidence will improve.
And one day, you will catch yourself just feeling so well and so content that it will make you catch your breath.
Keto isn’t just good for your metabolism, it’s good for your mind and soul. Your brain will thank you for feeding it the fat it needs to be flexible.
And we will be here for you.
And by the way - you are beautiful. Don’t let anybody - including yourself - tell you any different.
Thank you thank you thank you!! This is so incredibly helpful and inspiring. It is great to hear from someone who specifically understands the struggle. You have really motivated me. And you are beautiful !!!
Please be cautious as you continue keto, I am also recovering from an ED and over exercising and as you know the ED voice is very sneaky and likes to bend the light and tell you what you’re doing is “healthy” when deep down you know it’s disordered. I do not want to sound like I’m criticizing you at all…but why are you exercising so much? That is exessive by anyone’s standards. Have you been through treatment? I don’t want you to underestimate how dangerous EDs can be, you may be doing harm to your organs that you’re not aware of. I reached 6% body fat and didn’t know I was hurting myself until I realized my organs were shutting down. Keto can be great for those with severe metabolic issues but for someone who is underweight with an ED it can be harmful. Take an honest look about why you are doing this, because in the end, your life is not worth losing over maintaining a certain diet.
You could try watching Furious Pete on YouTube,he has recovered from anorexia and been through a few battles with cancer and is a great advocate of exercise,his positive attitude is very inspiring,and I’m sure his story could help keep you motivated and staying on the right path,he does do crazy eating challenges from time to time but for the most part he eats clean so he can keep getting those gains #TeamFurious
I read some of Beth’s original message in our Mail section on the podcast we recorded 2 nights ago (with Melanie from Heal clinic as our guest) as well as some of Clare’s response. I hope we did the thread, justice, and maybe some listeners with the same questions will find it. It will be published next monday.
Dr Fox, a keto fertility Doc, strongly recommends against excessive exercises in women. He has some excellent videos online on the free youtube channel of dietdoctor. You may find them helpful. He says in some cases the women can’t give up the excessive exercises.
Hi Beth,
Fellow anorexic here. I’d just like to chime in with another note of caution regarding exercise. If you’re newly weight restored, it’s going to take a while for your body AND your mind to come to some sort of equilibrium. Maybe dial back the exercise for a while to allow your brain and body to adapt. As I’m sure you know from experience, it’s all too easy for your ED to take a good thing (i.e., keto, exercise) and warp it into something disordered. I do wonder if you’re getting adequate calories, given the level of exercise you’re doing. People with a history of AN tend to need a more calories than the “average” person to maintain a healthy weight. So be kind to yourself, but also be honest about where your motivations are coming from.
Good luck…and keto on.
I have also struggled with anorexia and bulimia. I found the hardest part of switching was the gross feeling after eating a lot of fat, having previously eaten nearly none at all.
I would imagine that eating keto would help restore your hormones and endocrine system after starving, so it’s probably a good move.
Thank you. I have adjusted to that feeling. I actually feel better than when I was forced to eat 120 of carbs a day in inpatient treatment. So far I’m loving the diet. I feel better and think more clearly. I haven’t had blood work done in two months but I would presume I’m pretty healthy. However now it’s a battle every week in my recovery journey with my nutritionist and therapist who insist that the keto diet is a tool of my eating disorder to limit “scary” foods and that my body ABSOLUTELY requires carbohydrates. I’m trying to work through this. But I love the keto diet.
Inpatient treatment has always baffled me.
When I’m not eating disordered, I tend towards “Orthorexia”, meaning I get obsessed with healthy eating and food research. A counsellor once told me that historically, we weren’t always presented with such a wide variety of food, available in such abundant quantities. We had to hunt, gather, grow our food. Because of this, he said that anyone living in this day and age has to be somewhat “disordered” in order to deal with their diet.
All of this said, it baffles me how eating disorder clinics think it’s a good thing to stuff anorexics with cake, grains, bread, pasta, and sugar. I realize that it’s important to get away from the avoidance habits and to expose ourselves to trigger foods.
I also strongly feel that feeding people a Standard American Diet is so, so wrong, in any situation.
So, I’m not surprised that you feel better than when eating 120g of carbs a day.
I am careful who I listen to when taking advice about what I eat. As a kid, I was an overeater. It turns out, I was also both allergic to and addicted to certain food groups. That’s why I overate them. Cutting them out entirely over fifteen years ago has made a tremendous difference in my health. Back then, I saw a “nutritionist” who had me eating abnormal amounts of bread because I told her I craved it. A lot of the food advice out there is complete bunk.
Ultimately, listening to your body instead of “punishing” it is what’s important. And it sounds like you’re listening to your own body and that’s a big victory.