advice on gaining weight

ok i'm 14 61 in and 89 lbs. I need to gain weight im so sivk of people worrying about how bony and skinny i am and i know that i really need to for my own health. I want to gain weight in a healthy way though and i really just don't know what to do. I have very bony shoulders and arms and my legs are fine. The thing is i have been exercising a lot to get in shape for horsebackriding and while i try to gain weight i don't want to lose that muscle. I eat very little for how much i exercise (1300 but thats up from what i used to eat when i was really stupid and knew nothing) *hangs head* I know I know thats not gonna help me gain weight but i was afraid to start upping my calories w/o really knowing what would happen. Advice? Ideas? Help!!??

Welcome.  Here are some links to useful information

Use this BMI calculator for teens

The BMI calculator here on CC is for adults.

Additional resources that might help you

calculator and calorie information for Teens 

Nutrition, Exercise & Weight Management for Teens

More Nutrition & Health for Teens

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I've heard pretzels and probably other starchy foods like potatos can help. Also peanutbutter and olive oil are reletively high in calories per serving and have a lot of good fats in them. 

Eat healthy foods as your new calories, and do resistance/weight training that will help you build muscle and prevent osteoporosis. 

Lots of protein, some carbohydrates, lots of fruits and veggies.  I'm sure the links clairelaine will help with balanced nutrition.

Right before typing this e-mail, I was actually down in my kitchen stuffing my face with avocado sandwiches :)

I'm a recovering anorexic, weighting at my 5"3 about 77 pounds at my lowest in late April, and have made my up to 105 as of this morning's weigh in (the doctor says I'll need to be between 110 and 115, so about 91.5% of my normal weight, which is UUUP from 69%...)

So I can DEFINATELY tell you I've got experience with weight gain strategies.

First, I'd suggest eat FREQUENTLY, like 3 meals, and 2-3 snacks a day.

I know it sounds tempting to fill up on fries and cake, but if you'd like to gain it HEALTHILY, try to stick to natural fats like nuts and avocado. Dried fruit (apricots, craisins, prunes, raisins) and granola are also GREAT (and yummy!)

"Little foods" are the trick. Things that are caloricaly dense- they won't make you feel as full as they simply take up less space in your stomach.

Drink juices and milk in place of water.

Dark chocolate is also my PERSONAL fave. Whipped cream, as long as it's not that iffy fake stuff.

Ingnore every fat-free and low-fat label. Buy kids' stuff, they're never conserned about it. Plus, don't you miss it sometimes? I know I love those cute little mini-go yogurts :P Chocolate milk instead of regular.

Meal replacement drinks are good if youcan handle the stuff (I was on them for about 23 days, so NOT something I personally can handle :P My recommendation: Ensure. Boost and Resource are also in the similar catigory, but I have heard taste A LOT like chalk :P)

Basically, you get the gist.

Ah ealthy rate of weight gain, I'd say, is on average 1-3 pounds a week.

It also depends on YOUR caloric needs. Personally, at 15, I'm pushing 3000 calories a day. You MAY need more or less, though, of course. Generally, the rule is 200-300 more calories a day in consumption than maintenance.

Another option is to continue eating what you eat every day, but adding a can of Ensure on top of that. It's exactly 250 calories (350 for Calorie Plus), and when you're at your goal weight, you just... STOP DRINKING THEM.

Sorry for the long post- just brainstorming.

no need to be sorry that was very helpful! I have bad news however, i'm not really 89 lbs. that was how much i weighed when i weighed myself a while ago. the real weight is 79. *shudders* i know, i know its really bad but i've been eating up to 1900 calories a day. exercising too. but the thing is i just have troubel making myself eat over my matinence amount so it's not doing much. I'm just never hungary enough to eat extra so i think that the suggestion of replacment drinks is a really good idea! anymore advice welcome and appreciated!!

and i have another question: Today i burned 2258 calories by 2pm. Since then i've been sitting around eating (healthy) in 2 hour intervals to make up for all that i burned now its about 5 and i've only eaten 1682 and i've been full and content all day. Now i feel really uncomfortable because i'm justing sitting inside eating and it just feels wrong i want to go do somthing liker ide my bike or go on teh trampoline but i know i shouldn't burn more calories. Should i just keep on sitting around and doing nothing but eating, is it really the right thing to do? and when i say eating it's not like i'm bingeing. I'm eating controlled amounts at intervels but still any advice??

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Is this an everyday situation, or just yesterday?  If it's just the one day, go ahead and do whatever you feel good doing.  If it's everyday, then yes, you do need to eat more, so plan it out.

Sometimes  it helps to have a higher calorie breakfast on days when you know you'll get extra exercise.

Yes this is everyday and i have tried to make my breakfasts dinner but i'm always warry about that because i'm never sure how big my other meals will be *sighhhhh* Yesterday actually was better i ate 2077 calories and boy was i stuffed! but still its better than 1682. Today i don't think i'm going to exercise much (still unsure about going to teh YMCA) so i've been taking it easy on the eating but it's weird because yesterday i was stuffing my face to get the calories and today i have to be more careful. It would almost be easier to exercise everyday a lot so i could eat more : D

I KNOW THE FEELING!!!

I always felt like: "so what am I DOING that I need to EAT so much?? I can't just SIT and EAT!"

It's a mind-over-matter kind of thing. Take bigger portion sizes of more fatteing foods. My proble was always NEEDING to take A LOT of DIFFERENT FOODS that were LOW FAT, I guess to subconsiously make me feel more full, so I wouldn't want anything else.

Stick to 3 meals and LOTS of little snacks during the day (I have pre-breakfast, morning, afternoon, and evening. Don't ask.) Spread out the calories so you won't feel like: "ICHHHH I just ate this and this and this. I'm FINE. I don't NEED MORE!!!"

And remember: Ensure is your FRIEND...

Can't even tell you about excersising. That was ALWAYS difficult for me. But I DROPPED like-like something that drops really fast. The SLIGHTEST weekend trip would bring the scales down by about a pound. And this is when I'm eating approximately 3000 calsa day. That's HALF A POUND A DAY OF LOSS!!!

Try keeping excersise down/ less calorie burning. If you can't stop yourself from working out, at leat pick up the 5 pd. weights instead of 10. OR SOMETHING.

Mind over matter!!

Popthebubbles, you give great advice!  All is good - listen to her!

More calorie dense foods spread out over the course of the day!

YOu descirbed exactly how i feel! And i do teh same thing eat low cal foods and then i'm ful. However, (i am very pround of this) i have been eating 300 cal or more over my limit! I did this by adding more nuts which are really calorie dense i can add a small serving with a meal or somthing and thats 170 cal right there! and i am curious, i love yogurt but all teh yogurt i find is fat free. i need more fat in my diet to help with weight and to help absorb protein and i figure yogurt is a healthy way to add some. what brand has normal yogurt thats tasty?

What you have is what I got. I hate everyone keep looking at me like I am Jack Skeleton! I wish i never lost weight I wish I was 7 stone right now. infact I'm gonna go stuff my face filled with food because I hate 84lb so badly. ):

KIDS' yogurt. They're bright, colourful, fruity, and won't be fat free for a reason. Plus, you can get them in those BIG tins with up to 3% milk fat (I think... I personally am fine with 2)

Nutella spread or peanut butter- 80-100 cal per tbsp. That's MORE THAN THE BREAD ITSELF :P

Butter or margarine (melt in- it's INVISIBLE :P Takes up NOOO space) 2 tsp.- 70 (ish) cal.

This all sounds good. Those that are managing to gain weight, can you list what you eat in a day (on average) - I'm trying to plan a weight gain diet and I really need help. I can't eat any Gluten (so no Wheat, Barley, Rye, or Oats) so it's quite hard for me. Being at work all day makes it difficult to eat bread becasue that needs a microwave to "refresh" it and within minutes it's like stale bread again. Same with pasta.

What can I eat that could be packed up and taken to work? Nuts is a good one, I hear walnuts are especially good but they're SO bland!

Any suggestions for high cal foods that don't take up much stomach space are very much appreciated.......I love the nuttella suggestion and peanut butter is something I'd totally forgotten about too. Thanks :)