Hi Ruby. I'd say you qualify for 'yo-yo dieter' status.

As for permanently ruining your metabolism, that may be a little harsh. But you have messed it up. When you DIEt and severely restrict calories you put stress on your body - it goes into shut down / survival mode. Thinking that there is an impending famine around the corner, a stressed body holds onto its fat and its water - and it sacrifices lean muscle for fuel. Lean muscle is what burns fat and raises metabolism - when you lose muscle on a starvation diet your metabolism shuts down. As soon as you start eating a healthy number of calories you begin to put on fat - your metabolism is slower and your body sees this new source of food as something it must store and keep - for the next time food is in short supply. Yo-yo dieting is actually worse for you than just being overweight. After a starvation diet you tend to put the weight you lost back on, and then some - because you're not only gaining back the fat, you're replacing the muscle you lost with fat as well.

This time around you can expect things to take longer - it will take some time before your body trusts you enough to let go of that fat and water. Keep calories high - you should be eating at the very least 10 - 12 times your body weight a day in calories. Drink all the water recommended (64 oz + 8 oz for every 25 lbs overweight) and then drink more! And I would strongly suggest some resistance work with weights. Building lean muscle will only help you - you'll raise your metabolism and feel stronger.

HTH
Nat