I suffered from REDs for probably about a decade which in turn caused me to develop HA. In Jan 2023 I finally got my cycles back after 4 months of no exercise other than walking my dog but still eating as if I was exercising (minimum around 2500 calories a day). After about 3-4 months, I got my cycles back but with it came A LOT of weight gain which has been really hard for me. It’s like my body seriously overcompensated. I started gaining weight immediately once I started to eat fuel more which really was just me fueling properly for my level of exercise so why did I gain so much weight? I realize some of it is muscle but there is A LOT. Of excess fat (jiggle jiggle
). I’m over a year into my recovery journey and still this weight lingers even now that I’m well on my way in my training and, generally speaking, I’m a very active person. I have seen some results in areas where I’ve leaned out some but still a lot where I haven’t. I’m not sure what to make of it. My running coach says that the ‘calorie deficient’ mindset for losing weight is a fallacy which in my own research and experience I believe that. But I don’t understand why my body is being so stubborn with this weight still. I work so hard to be fit but my body doesn’t reflect it in my opinion. What am I missing?
I think I should note that I have worked with a nutritionist that’s on the running coach team I work with who has also been through HA and now has two kids. We worked together for the first several months of my time with this team to ensure I was getting enough food and to educate me more on what that looks like for an athlete. So all that to say, I’d like to think my fueling is pretty solid right now. But that’s not to say I couldn’t learn something new or find a hole or still be missing something. Just saying I eat a lot now, lol, AND I don’t count calories. #victory (lol, IYKYK).