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Hi,
I’ve been following Eat for the Heat for about 3 months now and I have eaten unrestricted but have been consciously upping my calories to a more realistic energy equation. I was undereating unconsciously. I am very overweight.Ever since I have been eating the food and restricting water intake (omg I was drinking about a gallon a day) my feet and ankles have been swollen and nothing seems to help. I have cabbage patch doll feet lol!
Any insight?
My temps are up in the 98’s from the 96’s and I am still sensitive to stress.Thanks,
Kellygonna say that the reason you have swollen feet and ankles may be due to your decreased water intake. relative to your former intake, what you are drinking now probably seems like a shortage to your body so it is holding on to excess thinking there is a scarcity. i would try tapering off fluids rather than going cold turkey on such a high intake.
also, drinking so much water can have a diuretic effect, so perhaps now you are just seeing the true state of things from a lymphatic standpoint. now that you are allowing yourself free access to food, your metabolism should improve, improving your lymphatic circulation.
thirdly, it could be water retention caused by increased sodium. again, this should improve as metabolism improves. just be patient and don’t be fanatic about restricting liquids.
I too have swollen feet and ankles. Actually it starts in my hands early in the day and moves down to my feet and ankles. I too am significantly overweight. The edema is better now that my am temps are up to 98.4 but is still there. I have started taking horsetail, which I get at Mountain Rose Herbs, and that seems to hp the edema. I can actually wear my wedding ring again much of the time.
Hey Kedado, it might be helpful to read one of Matt’s articles that was pre- Eat for Heat, here-
http://180degreehealth.com/2012/02/how-much-water-should-you-drinkIt’s been awhile since I read EFH, so it may be redundant anyway, but instead of drastically cutting down your intake of fluids, try replacing them with sugary and/or salty beverages ? something other than plain ol? water. He gives recommendations in the article. Salt may be the key here, as well. How much salt are you eating?
Of course, it could be other things as well. Just refeeding could be the reason, as your body is working hard to repair. Edema, although not specifically in the hands and feet, is a common reoccurrence for a person recovering from a restrictive eating disorder.
http://www.youreatopia.com/blog/2012/5/22/edema-the-bane-and-blessing-of-the-recovery-process.htmAnd then there’s plain old lymphatic and blood vessel stuff. Severe edema of the legs and ankles is a symptom that many doctors look for when looking for signs of heart trouble. I’m not trying to scare anyone, but check this out- http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003104.htm
Some other things to try would be taking a short walk, and while I know that Gwyneth doesn’t advocate exercise while truly recovering, a short 5-10 minutes should get some blood and lymph moving, without sending the body into a stressful state. Some people like mini-trampolines for this reason, but again, not for cardio purposes. Edema typically happens in non-active tissues, as the blood doesn’t see a lot of reason to be constantly pushed through the vessels if there’s not a lot of action going on there. For more advanced whole body learning, look into Sue Hitzmann’s the Melt Method for connective tissue hydration and Katy Bowman’s Aligned and Well blog for getting proper blood circulation techniques.
Or you could do dry brushing (http://www.meltmethod.com/blog/using-lymph-brush) or some massage to help move fluid and lymph. Another physical intervention is to alternate hot and cold water plunges. Put hot water in a bath and icy cold water in a bucket next to the bath and alternate 30 seconds of feet dunking to manually constrict and dilate the blood vessels.
Thank you Tangytam for all the helpful info. I’ve looked into a possible ED as I did have the symptoms associated with a refeed.
I even emailed Gwen and got dire predictions because of my age. I just plain refuse to give up and only half live.
I’ve looked into salt, I’m not taking that much in compared to intake, it could be lack thereof, I am not sure.
I have started walking. I have to move, I want to move, so I’m gonna move. It seems to help just a bit. I am also going to start weight training again since I am antsy.
Like I said it was not a problem until the refeed.
And yeah, the Drs see me and freak out and tell me I am dying, like ALL the time. And my bloodwork is fine. No one ever bothered to ask me if I was eating enough. They are more than willing to do bariatric surgery on me tho o.O.
I’m really curious to know what Gwyneth’s reply to your email was. What were her dire predictions?
2 years refeed with no exercise and maybe, only maybe I might recover. I did a real job on my metabolism with diets and naturally eating low calorie for so many years.
Also I am 51 post menopausal. There was no expectation for my bone mass loss or other things to heal fully at my age. Usually past a certain age I guess they just give up on you.
Hey Kedado, these are just my thoughts, but I don’t really see the prescription of 2+ years of refeeding as dire. You have to think about what you want to do. The same as always or something new? So many of us here have been healing our metabolism for a long while, and you’ll find some that there are those who have been doing it for 18+ months right now. Where would you like to be in 2 years? Still improving, right?
As for the bone loss, that too will take time and is not that bad. A lot of people misunderstand osteoporosis and believe that it is exclusively nutrition based. However, if true bone building stopped at age (30, or 50, or whatever they say), then we wouldn’t have any old people. Yes, it is true that it tends to slow down probably due to hormones and a reduction in activity, but it does not stop, nor is it impossible to regenerate bone loss. Bone needs basic nutrients to be able to grow, however it is told how and where to grow by compression due to gravity and activity. Check out this post- http://www.alignedandwell.com/katysays/5-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-osteoporosis/#sthash.rw4DFmpq.dpbs
This is just the tip of the iceberg. I follow along with Katy Bowman’s recommendations. She talks of natural movement that is not contingent on culture (as in, it doesn’t matter if you grew up in Asia, Latin America or in a cave). Our bodies have not adapted well to heeled shoes, cars, and sitting down at desks all day. We were built for squatting, walking, bending, reaching, etc. When we move away from our natural movements the repercussions for many are pain and immobility.
What I’m trying to get at with all this wordiness, is that health is about cultivating habits. There are no quick fixes here. Although Gwyneth says recovery means not exercising, I would say that walking is required. However, in her experience those that didn’t rest exclusively didn’t recover as well, I believe that there are a few reasons for that. First, many of those recovering had done damage to themselves by exercising, so taking away that other form of restriction is mandatory. Secondly, exercise is stressful and requires calories that are absolutely necessary for repair of vital systems.In order to mitigate those circumstances, my recommendation is to make sure that you are ready to start walking, like you really feel like moving, not just think you should. Then work your way up (don’t just jump into walking for an hour or more). Start slowly, and for bone regeneration, avoid treadmills and do it outside. Then lastly, eat, not only sufficient calories, but probably over to account for the extra movement. Walking should not be for the purpose of burning calories, but to move your muscles for movement’s sake and to regenerate bone and muscle.
I hope this helps you, and just know that you are worth the extra energy it takes to heal yourself. You are worthy of being healthy!
Hi Kelly, it’s Liz from ETF on Facebook :). My ankles swell too, and everything I am reading says that it’s a normal side effect of refeeding. I am hoping that if I follow this through, it will resolve on its own… Hang in there!
Thanks Tangytam and Liz.
Being at the morbidly obese state that I am I will say I am NOT ok with gaining more weight especially since I put on 20 in the last 3 months from refeeding. I have to slow this down. My quality of movement and life took a dive. There has to be an easier and gentler way. I was force feeding. I’m not going to do that. And I want to workout, really I do. When I don’t I don’t and I did not have energy for it for a year or longer due to natural undereating.
I’m right here with you Kelly. I am trying to focus on the positives now – and I am hoping that as my energy level continues to increase slowly as it has finally started to do, that the weight will spontaneously drop off by itself. I will see where my body winds up but I honestly need to lose 80-90 pounds, I feel huge but I also feel better finally. It’s all baby steps and I’m right here with you, all the undereating, even through two pregnancies and breastfeeding an infant and a toddler! At the same time! I was not eating enough. Let’s give our bodies more time to heal, we can do it… I know in my guts this is the right path for me because IT HAS CURED so many issues I’ve had my whole adult life.
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