Eating when not hungry? and more..

So recently I've decided to gain some weight. I'm fifteen and I've always been skinny. I'm sick of having a boy's body. I wouldn't say I have an eating disorder exactly, but in the past I have has some obsessive tendencies with counting calories and staying under 1800. I'll be honest- I do have a fear of gaining weight that I'm getting over. It basically started when I noticed I was gaining some weight like a year ago (I was only at like 110) so I started counting calories and stuff, but nothing extreme. My lowest was 100 pounds, but I had never went below 1700 calories consistently. I honestly didn't know what I was doing was bad. Now I realize that and have improved considerably. However, I haven't had my period in a year, and though my doctor told me I shouldn't worry (I got a blood test and stuff). I've gained five pounds but my period hasn't returned. What would you suggest as a weight to aim for? I'm 5'6". Also, how many calories a day? I exercise about thirty minutes a day and eat very healthily (I no longer restrict calories). I'm trying to gain pounds in muscle and fat, and I'm going to start weight training very soon.

But back to my question, should I eat even when I'm not hungry but know that I'm under my calorie goal for the day? It's like 8 PM and I'm full, but I'm only at like 1600 calories. Should I still eat something?

Thanks in advance. =)

hey hun! its great that you are accepting that you need to gain....because you really do.  You are 105 am i correct?? this means that your bmi is around 16.9 which isnt where you want to be.  Most would suggest a bmi of around 20 which would mean you would need to gain to around 125 pounds...however this is a generalization for most people.  But i can assure you that you need to be much higher than you are currently. 

The loss of period is some to be concerned about if you are normally regular.  How long have you had your period for?? because in the first two years of first getting your period they can be extremely irregular but if youve had it longer, the loss can be do to many things, over excercising, being pregnant, sudden weight loss, strange eating habbits, stress, etc.  I would suggest cutting back on the excercising extremely....in order to gain cardio is NOT the way to go.  Weight training is helpful IF your body is healthy enough to take it.  excercising at a low weight is dangerous because it puts you at an extremely high risk of getting a heart attack, stroke, or some sort of strain/brake. 

You need to up your cals gradually to a minimum of 2500. This is if you are SEDENTARY...meaning you will need even more because you are doing excises.  I would suggest upping by 300 cals every 3 days until you get to 3000 a day.  Then wait and see how your body reacts.  You may find you need more, or maybe not.  You will likely see a rapid gain in the first 2 weeks due to water weight.  Keep in mind this is not real weight and it will go away so dont let this discourage you.

YES you need to keep eating.  Try and plan out your days in advance so you know you wont have to eat a large amount at night and be totally uncomfortable.  Have something high cals but not too filling.  Nuts or dried fruit are a good example.  Check out some of the other posts under weight gain to see bunches of good high cal foods that are perfect for gaining.  Good luck! i send you all my love!

Thank you, your post was very helpful! I got my period exactly two years ago.  It wasn't very regular, and all of a sudden it just stopped about 14 months ago. I can now look back and realize that was about the time I started worrying about my weight.

I just had some nuts and dry fruit. I'm pretty full so tomorrow I'll try and eat more throughout the day. Thanks so much again for your help, I really appreciate it! =)

aw your welcome and good job on eating a little more!!!  its hard and you just kinda have to work around the uncomfortableness...i find that stretching makes my tummy feel less full and less uncomfortable if it gets to that point.  And i understand probably why around that time you would start feeling uncomfortable with your weight....when you get your period your like at a plateu kinda thing with your growing.  Make sure you get alot of fats when increasing because that is good for trying to get you period back...you need the fat to support a child and you get your period when your body feels you are capable of carrying one.  Im pretty sure iron and calcium are important to getting your period back as well.  Not too sure on that though....

http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html

If you enter your stats into this chart you'll be able to work out what is a good weight for you (and a BMI of 20, 125lbs, is not a bad place to aim for ) and how many calories you need.  Take the number that most closely corresponds to your activity level and add 500 cals to that so that you gain.

It's going to be quite a big number... at least 2500.   More if you're especially active.  To fit it all in you're going to need to start early and eat frequently.  A good-sized breakfast, lots of snacks.... the fruit and nuts are a good choice.  You need plenty of fats along with as varied a range of other nutrition.  Iron is important.  Try to avoid eating too many low-cal, high bulk foods such as vegetables and salads because they fill you up too quickly. 

Iron-rich foods include whole eggs, dried apricots, red meats, dark green vegetables.... which you need to wash down with plenty of Vitamin C-rich foods e.g. kiwifruit, citrus fruit, berries, OJ, cranberry juice.  Whole milk is a great way to add more calories to your day, for example. It would make a lot of sense to start taking a daily multivitamin with iron.... not as a replacement for food but as a safety-net.

Good luck

Listen to Gi-Janes advice. I just want to add when you cook your dinner or if you have eggs and toast in the morning add olive oil to cook in or butter for your eggs and toast. Jelly can also add calories, I like Polnar (I think its spelled that way) it doesnt have any added sugar its all natrual. I just like how it tastes, Ive only tried grape but the other flavors are probably great. Good luck with everything.

Good job for taking control of your health. I am not sure why some docs say don't worry about the period issue. I had that told to me too in the past but I also developed osteoporsis at a very young age and so I know hoe key healthy cycles are. That is not reversable. You are at a low weight and since young and with a thin build you probably will need a lot of calories. I know at your age I had a growth spurt too so that takes a lot of fuel. You have been given a lot of good advice. Try to eat every few hours and a balance of protein/fats/carbs. There are ways to add extra cals in without feeling to bulky. Make oatmeal with milk,add spreads like pb,trail mix,granola to reg cereal.

Thanks for the responses, I think this board is really going to help me. =) I just have a few questions/concerns.

First off, should I really stop exercising? I would really like to gain muscle weight as well, so would it be best to just do weight training? And do I really have to stop doing cardio? I know it burns calories, but it seems very unhealthy to just stop doing it. I've read multiple places that everyone should get some form of cardio. Is it really bad for underweight people to do cardio? It's not like I'm severely underweight, but I don't want to do anything that would get me hurt. We're going to the gym tomorrow for the first time and I don't want to do anything unsafe or harmful to my body.

Secondly, and this isn't super important, but I'm worried about how my clothes will fit. I don't want to have to buy a lot of new clothes...so I was wondering how many pounds did you gain before you went up a size?

Thanks for all the help and support. I'm excited but kinda scared to do this...but I should do it, right?