Should I lose weight?

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So I worked hard to overcome binge eating disorder--I never became "overweight" because I was so skinny beforehand and because I caught it early (thank goodness!! !! !!)--it didn't last very long, and if it lasted for a long time I would be well over 200 lbs. I am wondering if I should go a step further--instead of just not bingeing (which would keep my weight stable) I should lose weight. I don't *want* to deprive myself and be hungry all the time. But even though the BMI charts say I'm at a healthy weight (5'1, 121 lbs, medium in junior's and small in women's), I'm at the 72nd percentile. If I'm at the 72nd percentile at age 16, and I continue to gain weight so that I stay at the 72nd percentile, I will be at the 72nd percentile when I'm an adult. 33 percent of American adults are obese. Do the math.

That's why I'm wondering if I should lose weight--so I don't become an obese adult. But I feel like just not bingeing and keeping my weight stable is an accomplishment, and if I'm wrong about the fact that I'm likely to become an obese adult based on my math calculations, I would be fixing what's not broken. Also, trying to lose weight when I was 15 the whole thing that lead to anorexia, and then binge eating disorder because I had been starving before and all I wanted to do was eat (yes, people in anorexia recovery need to eat a lot, but it lasted far beyond the point when I recovered physically.)

Also, am I too big to wear a bikini?

Trying to lose weight risks breaking you. Don't do it.

And the numbers are misleading. I don't understand it, because ordinarily, percentiles would refer to the population as you are describing. But somehow for weight it seem not to. So 72nd percentile in those charts would not be overweight or obese even though it seems like it would.

And you should wear what you want for a swimsuit.

okay...when I was your age, I weighed about the same as you and was the same height. You have to think about what kind of body type you have...is that weight in muscle and bone (which are denser and weigh more) or is it in fat and flab? Are you naturally an ectomorph, mesomorph or endomorph? Google these terms if you don't know them...This is determined by your genetics.

I know it's probably useless to say so, don't pay attention to the skewed cultural photo shopped images fed to girls your age by people who want to sell you stuff. The best thing you can do for your body and for its future is to eat well (not too much or to little and the right balance of stuff) and exercise - use your body a lot! Build up your strength and endurance and get plenty of rest, and avoid crap like drugs and alcohol and other body killers - they might make you feel good for a while, but they'll do far worse damage than the feeling is worth.

And about the bikini? Wear it if you like, but there's a lot of social consequences for going around flaunting your body - do you want to deal with them?

I don't know about percentiles, but you are a healthy weight for your height, and yes, if you want to wear a bikini, then go ahead!

It seems to me that you're doing well to maintain your current weight, and instead of worrying about losing weight now to avoid future obesity, you should instead focus on eating healthily and exercising. That will keep you both looking and feeling good. Work on a healthy lifestyle which suits you and makes you feel well.

oh no... In my opinion don't start losing weight at 121lbs.

What calculations don't include is that as the body becomes more nourished, metabolism improves so, you wouldn't necessarily put the same rate of weight on at the same level of calories.

Often than not, the body would need more calories, larger portions and varied diet to achieve a healthy weight. See if you could break the binge cycle first and adopt a varied and healthy diet.

121 at 5"1 is normal and should be maintained at that level in my opinion.

You're fine to wear anything wanted.

I've had my own experiences with binge eating, I binged to the point of 260lbs at 5"8 and took a health scare to break a life long binging issue. I'm around 155lbs and normal weight for an adult male now.

Thank you so much!! !! !! ! These replies are so promising!

It really depends on how much muscle you have. If your BMI says you have a healthy body fat percentage than that probably means you have more muscle mass than most girls your age. So don't worry about the weight if it's not fat and keep excercising into your old age to prevent it from turning into fat and you should be fine.

You have a set point. If you have a healthy well-regulated appetite, you will maintain the set point fairly easily regardless of whether you try to gain or lose or maintain. If you're like me, on the other hand, you feel good while not eating enough, and so you may not be able to trust your judgement about how much to eat or what to eat. And then you end up run down, crashing, and bingeing, which is just your body's way of trying not to die!

If you're recovering from an eating disorder, it's especially important to not try to lose weight. Just eat healthy and let your body decide how heavy you need to be. It may take a few years before your body settles in where it wants to be - it needs to recover from disordered eating first.

There is a whole bunch of interesting information at this site I recently discovered (while trying to figure out why I was in pain from eating better - apparently it happens fairly frequently when your body needs to heal). One factoid: people who are heavier than average tend to be healthier (iirc). Also, fat is an endocrine organ, not a storage device (again, iirc). And people sometimes get fatter when they are sick so that they can heal better. Also, the minimum required calories for a healthy female 25+ is 2500/day. 3000/day for a woman 16-25 or for a man 25+, 3500 for a man 16-25. Add more for extra height or exercise. I was shocked. I had no idea I'd been undereating so much. Check out some of the posts (lots of scientific references included) before deciding what to do.

Your Eatopia

Also, here's an incentive not to mess up your health by dieting: sometimes when people have a lot of recovering to do, they find recovery exhausting and painful - like being hit by a truck - as soon as they start to eat better, because the body finally has the resources to mend. Better not to mess up in the first place. (And I do mean painful. Seriously.)

If you're anxious about your weight, try something like binaural beats or meditation for the anxiety. If you're at your set point and you're unhappy, that's not your body's fault.