Cravings

Does anyone really feel like their body is craving dense nutrients or fats?  I feel like I am always more satisfied when I eat something like peanut butter or nuts because my body has been deprived of things that are high in fats for so long.

That is fairly common. Fats and sugars are the most readily processed foods so they are a good energy source.

I also happen to think that part of why we tend to steer towards those kind of foods at times is because well, when you have to eat a lot of calories, the denser stuff is so much easier to get in.

I can't say that I crave it, but I can tell you when I do get a bite of something rich it is like heaven!  lol

Also, I wanted to ask about metabolism and weight gain.  I am not currently eating a high calorie amount of food each day, but I am gaining weight.  If I never push to the higher amounts of food, such as 2500 or more, will I always continue to gain weight since my body has been in starvation mode?  Let me see if I can clarify.  I eat about 1500-1800 calories a day.  Sometimes I eat more and those days I can definitely tell that the scale goes up.  Will I continue to keep gaining weight on 1500-1800 calories or will my metabolism eventually pick up?  I know about starvation mode, but it is really hard to eat more than 1800 calories without feeling completely disgusting.  So will my body ever get out of starvation mode unless I jump up to the high calories now?

First of all, you have to get rid of that mindset. Eating more than 1800 calories is NOT digusting. I used to eat more than 2X that just to gain a pound a week. And I still eat quite a bit more than that, every day. Yeah, its hard. But you have to do what you have to do to get better.

No one can predict if you will continue to gain weight. As a note though, I was originally gaining about .5 pounds a week on 2400 calories a day. I decided to kick it up because well, it was just taking too long. Theoretically, adding another 1200-1400 calories should have brought me to my goal of gaining 2lbs/week. I never reached that goal. Your body is an amazing thing. If you feed and nourish it PROPERLY you will bring yourself out of starvation mode. This means making 2500 a minimum. If you choose calorically dense foods, it is fairly easy to make it to 2500 without feeling overly stuffed. And you will restore your metabolism. You may gain a bit more than you are used to initially, BUT it WILL even out.

2500 = minimum for gaining females. There is a reason for that. Not because everyone is trying to make you fat, but because if you don't eat sufficiently, your body will not ever repair and restore itself properly.

I'm no good at advice in this area, but if your body wants the rich delicious things like peanut butter and nuts - then give it! 

Maybe refuse to count calories for those things, because they are fuel that you need to get better and get out of starvation mode.  That way, you can eat 1800 normal calories and then peanut butter and avocados or anything else is just medicine!  Wonderful good-feeling medicine with zero calories.

Definitely. The first few weeks of refeeding I couldn't get myself to eat any fruits/veggies. My body craved carbs and fats(plus, the number of calories I needed to eat was so daunting, not eating calorie dense food made me feel so nauseous and full), but I was at such a low weight I wasn't worried about losing nutrients from the produce, because my body just needed FOOD, whatever the form.

I think there's some truth in this. My whole life, I was never really into nuts or nut butters. Now, I eat pb by the tubfull! Haha- partly to up my cals, but also because I crave them like mad. And it seems like most people in this forum are the same?

Probably not a coincidence.

1500-1800 is not a weight gain plan. I am not taking away from progress but part of the high calorie plan is to repair as well. Many do gain on a lower amount because your metabolism is slow and also you retain fluids. Some of your cravings may be because you are not taking in enough of fuel. I will say even on 4000 plus I can remember craving dairy products and pre ed I hated dairy. I encourage you to increase your calories and allow your body to get healthy. You will feel bloated and uncomfortable but it is part of getting healthy. Rebel gave you a lot of good input that you must change your view towards this.