Is it possible I have some sort of hormonal problem?

[KublaKhant]

Hello all, I was hoping you could help me work out whether or not it's likely I have some sort of hormonal problem or if I am just overweight! I'm 5ft1 on a good day, and currently I weigh around 160lbs, I wear a size 14. I know I am really very overweight for someone so small. I had a binge eating disorder when I was younger, which must have begun when I was about 8/9 and my parents punished me through humiliation and guilt, calling it 'stealing' and me a 'thief' regularly. I believed this to the extent that when I confided in a close friend about it, they were amazed that I used to steal from shops! It was only when I explained that I meant that I ate snacks bought for the family, that I realised it was an odd thing to label my behaviour. Anyway, I have/had a really horrible, weird relationship with food. I assumed it was because of this that I was overweight, some sort of food addiction from my childhood.

However, a couple of years ago I decided I wanted to lose weight. (I have decided this many times with very little success!). Since I have been an 'adult' I have always been around the 160lb mark. On this particular stint, I cut out any food with more than 2g of carbs per 100g, and was doing around two hours of hard cardio each day. It was very hard, and very unsustainable, the only reason I was able to do it at all was because I was unemployed! In 4 months, I lost 20lbs and got down to 140lbs. I look good at this weight, but health-wise it was still too high! It felt really good, but also short term, I know I've overused that word already but it did feel unsustainably (sp?) low, which of course it shouldn't be! I then plateaued at this weight, regardless of increasing the amount of cardio I was doing AND adding weights, and then did start gaining weight again, even though I was still low/no carbing.

Being more aware of other people's diets, I realised that the amount my weight fluctuates, and how easily it increases is a lot more than most people's. I can easily gain 1 or 2lbs that will stick around if I eat particularly badly one day. Over the course of any given year my weight can go up and down by around 150lbs in total. I then noted some of the other differences about my body, that I had ignored as all the education I received growing up was "everybody is different, but everyone is normal and fine", so I hadn't really questioned my health! I'll list a few of the things that I noticed, this is getting a bit long so i'll try to be quick!

Early development of breasts- I was a C cup by 8/9 and have had D/DD cup breasts since the age of about 10/11, even when I was around 100lbs when I was growing up.
Foot pain- After standing or walking around for around 4 hours, my feet are very painful. After an 8 hour shift I had to hobble home, walking on the sides of my feet. I assume the pain is from small feet (size 3) carrying a heavy weight.
Large muscles, particularly leg, but my body is eager to build muscles without much encouragement!
Very small frame- I have very small hands and feet, and where I can feel my hip bones they are about the same width as a twelve year old.

There are other 'abnormalities' that I have found when looking into things like Turners' syndrome after it occurred to me it might be a hormonal problem, but they could also be completely normal as well so I won't waste your time with them! I suppose having some sort of health problem that could be treated, or even having a reason so that I don't have to feel so gross and guilty and judged about it would be a miracle way out, so I wanted to know what some impartial people think?

Thank you so much for your time over something so trivial, I know it's probably nothing but I'd be interested to know whether or not it's worth going to my GP about.

It would be worth seeing your GP and asking as some people with weight problems do turn out to have hormone problems - but bear in mind that most don't!

We live in a society where fat and sugar is on every corner in a way that it wasn't just 30 years ago - it's really hard to be a normal weight.

I can relate to a lot of your experiences. I have v slightly hypermobile joints, when I was 2 stone heavier my feet would be screaming by the end of the day from carrying my weight around. Having lost the weight, my DH has noticed I never moan about my feet anymore.

If you were overweight as a child (me too ) you would have had puberty early so breasts v soon. My first bra was a 36B age 10 (probably wrongly measured and a bigger cup size) and I'm a 34F now.

The other 2 things to bear in mind are 1) most of weight loss is diet not exercise, you have to do masses and masses of exercise to burn anything useful off and 2) there is increasing evidence that once you've been fat, your body desperately tries to stay fat so it's easier for someone who's never been fat to stay a normal weight than a fat person to lose weight and keep it off. My DH is a great example of this - really slim, eats what he likes vs me, have to monitor continuously. We just have different genes and he never had a childhood weight problem (I also did the food binges as a child).

So I'd definitely get checked out - thyroid or polycystic ovaries may be an issue, but be prepared that there may not be a medical problem, you just have a body designed for hunting and gathering, living in the 21st century where there are crisps and chocolate on every corner.

It's definitely worth seeing a doctor for some blood tests to find out if something else is going on.

When my weight was an issue I was convinced it was something of that kind. Turned out to be Vitamin D and Iron deficiencies. Since getting that sorted I've felt so much better, and the weight has come off again.

No harm in asking. Being overweight changes your hormone balance, anyway.

Of course it's worth going to your GP. Whether your weight is due to a hormonal problem or something else physical or whether it's a knock-on from your early eating disorder (and horrible lack of support), it sounds like you need some help with this - you've obviously tried very hard by yourself.

Make that appointment, and good luck!

It's highly unlikely to be hormonal.

Everyone's weight goes up and down by 1-2 lbs a day- that is NORMAL. That is why you ought to only weigh yourself once a week.

If you were overweight as 9 yr old then it is not unusual you would have breasts and remember that cup size is a bit subjective (not all brands are the same) and you may have been a B cup perhaps, or wearing the wrong sized bra.

Being overweight will increase the size of your breasts.

The pain in your feet will be caused by the extra burden on your joints of carrying all that weight.

You need to address this with professional support because the next thing to hurt may well be your hips and then you will be on the path to becoming disabled- and not able to exercise so easily- through obesity.
I've done a rough calculation of your BMI and it is around 31-32. This is obese and morbidly obese is above 35. You need to take action.

Are you in the US- because you talk about weight in pounds rather than stones or kilos?

You have had some good advice here about weight loss and food. Doing exercise without reducing calories will not reduce your weight. Muscles weigh more than fat so what you need is a measurement of your fat v muscle ratio. You need the fat to go down as a percentage and the muscle to increase. Even if your weight stays the same you will look slimmer if you lose fat and gain muscle.
This means not only ditching refined carbs, but also cutting back on the actual quantity of everything else you eat- you may still be eating far too much even if you only eat lean protein and fruit/ veg. eg masses of cheese.

See your GP for support with weight loss.