anorexia 33kg and Wt gain

hi im seroius about gaining wt right now........ i have the option of supps but ild rather try the "normal" way and eat more..... how much food is safe to add and what types shuold i go for? im eating about 1600 at the moment with not much exercise! thanks

Hey! Congratulations on deciding to recover!

How long have you been eating 1600 for? When I was recovering, I added around 100 cals every three days to my daily intake - if you increase too fast you can get really bad stomach cramps, or at least I did.

If you want to gain weight, you should aim to eat 500-1000 cals above what you burn.  How old/tall are you? If you're 20, and 5'5, with a low activity level, you would burn 1909 calories, so you should aim to eat 2409 to gain 1lb (0.5kg) a week, or 2909 cals to gain 2lbs (~1kg) a week.

PM me if you need anything!

Ally

replying to your question what foods are good to gain weight? you might want to eat things that are very calorie dense so that you don't feel as though you're eating HUGE amounts! the most obvious choice is nuts, especially brazil nuts.. nut butters, yum.. when you cook food, try frying in a little bit of oil, adding dressing to your salads, butter on bread and potatoes etc.. it all adds up at the end of the day without making you feel terribly bloated and things.

you could also add in some fruit smoothies and shakes, with milk to bump them up a bit or even try some ice cream in them!! when i gained weight i liked to eat omlettes because if you cook them right, theyre lovely and light and fluffy, but you can add milk, lots of eggs and cook in oil so its quite high cal while still FEELING quite light. yummy. if you're a meat eater, throw in some ham too.. or for veggies have cheeeese. oh grate cheese on top of absolutely everything!! mayonaise in sandwiches.. gosh i have so many ideas.. hopefully some have helped. good luck!! :)

im 162cm tall......

Okay... So in pounds and inches, that's 5'4 and 73lbs (quite a lot of people on here use this measure instead of metric, I don't know why) And your BMI is 12.5, so you need to put on 17kg (around 37lbs) in order to get your BMI up to 19.  

Your BMR is 1,178 calories, and if you are relatively inactive, you will be burning around 1,602.  The normal procedure is to add 1000 calories a day on top of this in order to gain 2lbs a week, but to be blunt I think you should be eating 3000+ calories. With your current weight, I am surprised you are not in a hospital, and I think the priority with you is getting your BMI to at least 17, so around 43kg I think?

For eating, try a week doing it the 'normal' way - lots of nuts, whole grains, bananas etc.  But, if you are falling short of 2300 calories, then maybe you should take a protein shake or other such supplement on top? The ensure weight gain shakes are quite good, if you can get them!!

Ally

Congrats on deciding to gain.

I would suggest that you do at least 1 supplement a day. If you don't like shakes, you can try something like boost pudding.

I also had to gain 37 lbs, and I had to eventually get up to close to 5000 calories witout any exercise at all. Just be aware that you may have to eventually go quite high in order to recover fully. Of course, this time wouldn't come right away. Just know that when it does, supplements are really one of the best ways to go.

Hiya, congrats on getting better! It is possible to gain on your own, and 1600 sounds pretty good to me for starters, not too shocking to your organism.  How much and how fast you add food pretty much depends on how you feel your body responding, and remember it's to be expected and GOOD to feel full. (You probably know this already, but it can't hurt :) ) Alicandra pretty much covered what your needs are, but remember not to be too sudden. Adding 100 a day sounds resonable.

Excercise is ok as long as you eat back the calories, but that might be hard, so none is ok for now. If you decide to start exercising in a couple kgs, I'd recommend strength training with weights and stuff cause hey help your muscles get strong and pretty :).

I'd recommend staying away from harder to digest or more complex foods like meat while your body gets used to more food. Like bugsy said, calorie dense foods are a great choice, especially since there's very healthy ones with super-important nutrients:

Peanut butter and nuts are your best friends, avocado, bananas and dried fruit, too. Somethign that worked for me were potatoes a couple times a week. Yum!

Try full fat versions of milk and yogurt, same volumes, more nutrients.

Something I found very useful was drinking 1 or more glasses of juice every day instead of water. Again, same volume, more calories.

Other healthy calorie dense foods: beans, lentils, full fat cottage cheese, eggs, etc. are great for protein. I tried Ensure shakes, and they're quite tasy, especially the chocolate one. They have sugars and good oils that give you a great extra boost.

Good luck, I hope it'll all work out! I also weighed 33kg once upon a time and now I'm here to tell you, you can do it!

thanks heapps i could really use the support! if this helps this is a typical day for me atm:) 

 

 

like to graze thou the day its like this..

1. oatmeal and berries

2.1/2 beans and spinich

3.150g tofu and cherry toms

4.salad and salmon (120g)

5.nuts and dry fruit

6.protein shake

7.steamed veggies and hummus

is this okay?

bump

Looks like you are eating all good stuff - it's a nice mix of all good things. I just want to say I am really happy for you that you are dedicated to getting better and to gaining weight all in a healthy manner. Let us know if there is anything we can do.

If that is you in your profile picture, then you need to go to a doctor immediately. It is great that you have decided you want to recover, but you are NOT out of danger yet. o.o

Im not in a position to recommend quantities but think you are making good choices and support you in your effort to get healthy.  You might consider some dairy items for calcium - cottage cheese, yogart, etc.

thanks heaps everyone i really need some support ... i m feeling so full and well you know :"fat" i am scared of dairy and mostly opt for soy......... please keep helping me thou this for i have along way to go!

i gained 30 lbs recently in recovery...its hard getting past the bloated feeling...id def recommend adding more healthy fats like nuts and avocado and olive oil. they helped me get the calories i need (i know you do have some, also the fish)

its a long road and isnt easy but im so happy to see youre starting on recovery. if you need any support pm me..

 

Hello!

I just wanted to add my two cents in regarding recovery. I started the process not too long ago, and I am moving forward at snails pace. I've gained about 5lb in about a 2 month period and because the gain was slow, I didn't notice the change. This took me to the mind set, 5 isn't too bad, why not try 5 more? It is good to start slow, because moving too fast and shocking your system will cause all the symptoms that may send you back to where you started and the goal here is to recover, right? So, slow but steady is a good way to go in my opinion and experience.

Like everyone has said, choosing energy dense foods like nuts/nut butters, granola, whole grain breads and pastas is a good way to start without it seeming so overwhelming. You don't have to consume dairy as long as you are ok with drinking soy milk. I actually prefer soy over dairy, so I'm with you on that! Also, if you have any kinds of foods that you view as "bad" (for me, it was any type of carb: bread, pasta, muffins, etc. and sweets), once you get comfortable with eating, you should try to add some of those items back, so you can begin to change your view of food as well. To break me into eating pasta again for example, I made a serving, them loaded the pasta with veggies and tossed it in a little olive oil and lemon juice. Having the veggies out number the pasta somehow made me feel "better" about eating it, and helped to break the fear I had associated with that particular food.

Anyhow, I think you are on the right path with the amount you are eating and not exercising. It is good to see how your body acts without exercise, and will give you more of an idea of how many calories you should be taking in without burning any "extra". Good luck and stay strong! It's a long road, but well worth it.

Also, don't be scared of dairy.

While soy is good for your hormones while recovering from an ED, whey protien (in dairy) is actually really good for building muscle (which as you gain weight, is something that you'll want) So enjoy your milk, cheese, and yogurt :)

Sounds like you've gotten some good advice - I wanted to share my experience.  I am your height and was where you are now a few times in my past.  That was probably the worst time of my life - in and out of hospitals.  When I was admitted to the place where I feel I was put well on the path to recovery I gained 40 pounds over 3 months.  Although this worked for me, I was in a very controlled environment/I couldn't get away with anything, wasn't permitted any exercise and was monitored healthwise everyday.  Had I tried to do it on my own, I know for a fact that I would have been overwhelmed, it was truly the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.  I would hope you are working with someone (therapist, nutritionist) to help support you along the way.  I would go at a fair pace (not too slow, too easy to become complacent and not too fast, too easy to get freaked out).  Anyhow, I just wanted you to know there are others out there who have been right where you are and have gotten infinitely better.  I am now 100 but want to regain 10-15 pounds.  I looked and felt the best when I left that hospital stay (in 2000) and that was at 110-115.  Good luck!

     

dairy is actually really good for you!!!! since it has very high calcium which you have lost when you restricted your diet. There are also good fat in diary which helps your body to absorb the calcium.

You may try full fat cottage cheese. I have built up my muscles from eating those and move more with out any serious exercise! It is really good!

Congratulation on trying to get better!!!!

gassssssp daily is my BIGGEST FEAR:( i am eating alot more but not gaining much (which my ED is liking too)

you are doing the right thing and looks to me like you're going about it in a respectable and healthy manner!!!  good luck.  YOu can DO it!  :) 

 

Way to go on eating more, spek!!