I have so many questions.  I was runnign ALOT  and realize that I can't continue to do that and gain weight - its just impossible.  I want to still be able to do some cardio. So here are my quesitons:

How do you stay tomed while gaining weight?  What type of exercises do you do?  How much cardio can you incorporate without setting you back?  How many days a week do you go to the gym?

cardio's great for keeping your lungs healthy.  but if it's muscle you're looking to develop, cardio's not the place you're going to find it.  i wouldn't recommend contrived exercise to anyone recovering from an ED who needs to gain weight (i would recommend doing activities that support a mind-body connection or casual walks around the park, but nothing more than that).

however, to answer your question, you'll gain more muscle as you gain weight if you strength train (you always always gain both fat and muscle when you gain weight, but you can maximize muscle gain if you lift weights).  what's strength training?  squats and lunges and military presses and pushups, etc.  if you challenge yourself and lift stuff that's heavy for you (like maybe a 60lb bench press), you'll see some sizzling "tone."  best of luck.

Hello

running will mean that you're using carbs very efficiently. you need to alter your levels of proteins upwards. test by doing this for a week and then adjusting upwards. possibly you might need to adjust fats a little too... the good fats are still needed. so proteins levels are the key. you'll need to monitor the carbs. too much and you'll gain stored energy as fat. too little and you'll hit the wall training (or at some point in the day).

leave the running to 2 or 3 times in 7 days and do at least 2 strength / weight workouts. you don't need a posh gym, just easy access to your home and good hours would be more important. use youtube to learn some related exercises before you go for confidence. you won't get big, don't worry about that. just keep the diet control there. you'll need the extra proteins for recovery and keeping the muscle toned. more shaping workouts with weight without extra protein will mean you risk injury / tiredness and get fatigued.

to increase protein without many calories, you could try something like a protein drink made with only a little milk plus water (Sci-MX), only 4g carbs and little fat, or Clif Builder (20g protein per bar, nice taste)(they also do Luna aimed at women but its not overly high protein. I'd go with the protein, its like a low fat slim fast but takes care of the muscle recovery. Just take it the day of the workout (twice maybe, or the second time the day after...)(I don't work for Clif in case you wonder, but just reading his biog and bought some bars on ebay last week. really good, all natural).

Hope you get on ok. Really don't worry about getting big, you don't have the testosterone for it, but you'll need extra proteins for the recovery, without the extra carbs and calories...

:-)

I know I need to incorporate weights - I never did any weight training before, just all cardio. And tons of it. Like no less than 60 minutes a day 5-6 days a week. Most days I did 75 minutes, some days 90 minutes. I'm taking a full week off from all exercise to let my body just rest and relax but I'm just so scared that since my body is used to all that exercise the weight is going to pile on and by the end of the week I'll be a big, fat flabby mess.

i swear, you'll probably lose weight during your week off.  1. your body retains a lot of water when you exercise, and as soon as you stop, you'll be peeing like crazy all week long, and the scale's numbers will be lower as a result.  2.  your metabolism's high bec of your usual activity level (high).  you won't be burning the same number of calories, but you will burn more than the average person during a week of non-exercise, bec you have the metabolism of a very active person.

if you're eating excess calories, you'll gain weight.  it doesn't matter if they're protein, carb, fat, whatever.  you don't need to eat tons of protein.  you just need to eat enough protein.  that's somewhere around 1.6g per pound.  so if you weigh 120 (i don't know your weight), that'sn 192 grams.  it sounds a lot more than it is.  if you have one protein shake a day, that's around 30g right there (plus the protein in the milk or mixins like peanut butter).  eat eggs and turkey/soy bacon for breakfast, tuna at lunch, nuts at snack, steak/tofu/seitan/lentils/pork for dinner, maybe a cup of cottage cheese before bed.  i mean, eat whatever you want, i'm just giving suggestions for distributing protein throughout your day.  good luck!