Posts by lalabanana

Being so underweight, it's common to initially eat a lot. This settles. What Abbi has said to you about planning ahead is very wise and permits more structure in your intake. Make sure you have a good, big breakfast, too. Breakfast is perhaps one of the easiest meals of the day to bulk up. Whole milk in cereal, butter on toast or peanut butter (or both if you're that sort of person), nuts in porridge (oatmeal) and dried fruit on the side... or a savoury breakfast with sausages and the like. Use your head and plan ahead.

Normal. The discomfort is normal. Eating more relieves it. As for the runs, I would see how much fibre you are eating. Too much fibre causes diarrhea.

Pretty excellent advice above. Ask your mum to help you do it instead and talk to a nutritionist if you can to figure out an exchange system which'd equate the right calorie needs for you but focuses on servings, not numbers. As for your period, some people do get it while underweight but it does not mean you're wholly healthy. And it's not very likely to stick around either. Amenorrhoea does also depend on how long it was gone previously, somewhat. Ah, and I should add, I got phantom symptoms at a lower weight and my period didn't come back.

Forgive me, I might be a little confused, but by the sound of it you're either grossly underestimating your intake some days or you're simply doing what normal people do - except your net intake is causing you to lose and not gain or maintain. So yes, you need to gain weight and yes, your weight is low to a point of danger.

Start eating 2500 calories on a consistent, consistent basis. Every day. No slips, no ifs, no buts. If you feel like you can't eat that in food every day manage more of your intake in caloric fluids. Same goes for you vinegar. You're probably eating less that you reckon on your "low" days.

This is your metabolism speeding up, most likely, but it could also be a sign of something much worse happening and there is no point guessing. Whatever it is this is a sign more than ever that you need to eat more. You are severely underweight still, last I checked and as heavily counting might drain you you cannot go about not counting at the minute - your mind is not going to know what a portion looks like and likely will underestimate.

Furthermore, you do not NEED lots of protein. You need mostly carbohydrates and a good amount of fat.

 ...

Wow, I'm blind. I didn't see 'chest' in the first post. Lol! Sorry!

Hi! First I suggest you read THE AIM IS TO GAIN: A Guide to Weight Gain, Whatever Your Reason - UPDATED as it is full of tips and advice on healthy and sustainable weight gain. And as Summer has said I would go chat with your doctor about your poor appetite as anorexia (the symptom meaning the literal loss of appetite!) is a bad symptom of many possible illnesses and so it's better to chat with a doctor first. There actually also may be some unseen side effects of poor diet that may also need treating.

Nope, you don't have to eat raw eggs. In fact, now is a time to try a whole breadth of foods and see what you enjoy and what you don't. Find ways to get your mouth watering, whether it's cooking up a really nice smelling meal or even with just simpler ingredients you like. If you had any foods you liked when you were a kid try making those, too. You need a good balance between living to eat and eating to live. Food should not be a chore!

McDonalds once a week is perfectly okay and really, any food is. Try to switch it up between choices on the menu but honestly, any diet whether about weight loss, gain or maintanance is about variation and moderation.

The reason you don't feel hungry is because you're probably eating a very limited intake. What you're going to need is likely around 3000 or more calories a day, especially if you have been severely undereating. The best place to begin is to tally up what you eat in a normal day and see how many calories you're actually taking in. Then, push it up all depending - but 3000, generally, is a good target to aim for to help you 'pack on the pounds'. And you don't need shakes or anything like that either - again, please check out the link I gave for food and menu ideas.

There is no way that on so few calories you are fuelling your body with what it needs. The minimum intake for a sedentary male under 21 is 1800 per day. And believe it or not, that’s only the sedentary minimum. Unless you are very, very short and small, and/or if you are working out it is very likely you will need even more calories than those minimum guidelines.

As you are so dangerously underweight, you need to gain weight. To do so you need to be eating at least 3000 calories sedentary to gain steadily and keep the weight on. If you begin to work out you will need to eat more. Therefore you need to be counting, unfortunately, even if you'd rather not. For more info on this read here: THE AIM IS TO GAIN: A Guide to Weight Gain, Whatever Your Reason - UPDATED

Eating too low a calorie intake, or having a deficit from your BMR greater than 1000 results in something called "survival mode", where your body holds every last thing it can get in expectance of a famine. Water, food, calories. Explained:

• Dieting & Metabolism - This article explains starvation mode and why undereating is counter productive.
• The Body Neglected - This is what happens when you undereat for an extended period of time. 
• "Obesity on 700 Calories" - A tale of starvation mode's devistating effects, and proof you don't have to be underweight to be starving.
• From Ask Mary, the segment provided by our CC nutritionist Mary Hartley: On the dangers of undereating and what it does to your body.

Your BMI makes you dangerously underweight. The physical dangers that come with undereating and being underweight are numerous. You put yourself at risk of osteoporosis, of loss of libido and erectile dysfunction, hair loss, electrolyte problems, a weakening of the immune system, low blood pressure, blood disorders such as anemia, heart problems, and even death. The mental woes that come alongside can be just as devestating. Depression is common in undereaters, as well as distorted perceptions and problems like Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

You are describing a disordered eating pattern and your most immediate concern should be your health - and for that that means you need to talk to your doctor and your family and increase your calories. But know this: Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management and if you are not seeking to manage your weight healthily we cannot and will not help you.

Posting Guidelines

Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management. Please help our moderators follow this vision and respect the following guidelines.

• Your post is subject to modification or deletion by our moderators. Repetitive, off-topic, disruptive, and frivolous posts will be removed. We will take down any posts that violate either the letter or the spirit of any of these rules.
• Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited.

- Ellie
Calorie Count Volunteer Moderator

You've had some really good advice already, but as has been said I really think you need to get him to a doctor. It is very likely he may be anemic and his extremely low weight will not be helping him much either. Try to chat to him as to whether he would be okay to go vegetarian even just for a while while properly learning to supplement his diet at the same time. This will also be easier on him for weight gaining purposes; we have some vegetarian weight gainers who pack in lots of calories.

But 2400? No, that's not enough at all. He should be eating closer to 3000, 3500 as suggested. Again, I would REALLY take him to a doctor. And you do need to make sure he takes charge of this. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink.

If you've been this weight all your life and you find no matter what you eat, you don't gain weight, then it may well be this is actually where your body is happy. But gaining for confidence and future health is extremely viable and your weight is very low, so good for you for wanting to gain.

I suggest you read the following sticky's advice and the steps within to help you on your journey with weight gain: THE AIM IS TO GAIN: A Guide to Weight Gain, Whatever Your Reason - UPDATED

Boost, Ensure and similar weight gain shakes aren't advisable in my opinion. If you are not severely malnourished or not already taking in a very high calorie amount you do not need them. You can make calories in food very easily, without lots of bulk, as the above link will tell.

Oops! Sorry!

Wholley: 10% body fat for a woman is dangerously low. Women need a higher BF% to achieve menses among other things.

Essentially, yes, it can. Missmagill summed it up very well though.

Betty, what is your weight? Usually, on outpatient, people are suggested to gain at about 2lbs a week especially if their weight is very low. And you have been dragging this out for weeks. The longer you spend at too low an intake, the more danger you risk.

20 isn't too low. It's the bottom end of healthy and it's not an unhealthy goal. The issue here is, people who either want to diet into a low range they have never been in in their lifetime and so likely should not be, usually combined with age (young/under 21), and eating habits. Still, this is now very much flogging a dead donkey.

Have a balance of healthy and unhealthy. That'll prevent cravings for either.

55/15/30 is a good balance of all the food groups. But I wouldn't really focus on all that. Just make sure you get a good balance of everything and use your head. Don't worry about specific ratios.