Male Recovering Anorexic

Hello i am currently recovering from anorexia and have gained 3.5kg (8lbs) from lowest of 41kg and currently now around 44.5-45kg, however i am currently struggling to work out how much i really need to gain 1lbs a week. 

i am eating 2500 calories most days however i am quite active at work my job is in retail and involves standing/walking about waitering etc, also i have to walk to work which is like a 2.5mile walk.

I am currently lifting weights 3 x a week only light weights just to try and influence lean muscle gains and i do 5 minutes stationary bike warm up and cool down so totaling 10 minutes

so i put my details into one of them calculators not knowing whether im lightly active or moderately active and if i am lightly-it says 2500 to gain 1lb a week and if i was moderate its around 2750 so just wondering if anyone could help me?

i am currently 174cm 45kg and a 16 year old and yes i know my bmi is 15 which is very low but i always have been a low weight when i was healthy like a 16-17. I am working with my doctor and he wants me to get up to 50kg he said if i get there he would be happy from looking at my build etc

So anyone from past experience or anyone who knows anything could you please help as i really want to get back healthy even though there are times is scares me but i know i want to do it!

hello, i kinda have a similar experience to you. im currently 6'1, 170lbs, 18 years old. my lowest weigt was around 135lbs back in late september 2011. then i got up to 145lbs for a while and in February i finally started gaining, now im at a healthy weight.

your pretty light. what does your weight lifting routine look like? do you do any cardio? i would probably say your moderatly active, but i suggest ignoring the calculators and just aim to eat a lot. how long did it take you to gain the 8lbs? since you workout and you have been under eating there is a good chance your muscles are pretty depleated of glycogen.  i work out quite a lot so thats what happened to me. so when i finally said "screw it" and decided to eat like a man i gain 15lbs in 3 weeks. only 3-4 of those pounds was actually body weight though. the rest was all glycogen and water weight. my strength went up like crazy and i had waaay more energy.... i suggest you just eat as much as you can. remember the calculators are for healthy indeviduals who arent recovering from anorexia. you need more food than a normal person. a lot of studies done on males recovering from anorexia have a lot of the males eating up to 6,000a day to gain.. so dont be affraid to eat too much. once you get to a good weight your body will reach a state of homeostasis and wont want to gain anymore. i had insane hunger until i reached 165. but i want to continue to build muscle so im still gaining weight. the weight gain eventually slows down to a normal 1-2 pounds a week after a bit.  and dont be worried about gaining fat cuz its impossible for anyone to gain weight without gaining fat but weight training will be beneficial as long as your hormones are normal... are they? i lost my testosterone, and im still slowly gaining it back. so building muscle has been pretty much not happening for the past 7 months. i have gained a bit but not much..

basically, just eat a lot and dont think about calories. if you do the ED will most likley kick in and tell you your eating more than you actually are. just eat super tasty foods, and lots of them. thats what i did and it worked great for me.. i hope this helps and i can continue you to help lots if you answer the questions. and feel free to ask me anything you want too.

 

Hey thanks for the reply

1) My weight training routine is basically lifting very light doing on Mondays-Chest and Biceps then Wednesday Back and Tri's then Friday Shoulders i usually do 1 set of 12 at a light weight increase the weight then do another set of 10 then increase the weight and do another set of 8 then go back to the 2nd weight and do 10 reps then go to the light weight and do 12 reps i do 3 different exercises for each muscle group.

2)The cardio i am doing is the 10 minutes stationary and the walking to and at work which overall is around 4-4.5-5 miles a day/ I am also playing cricket every saturday bowl between 5-12 overs  game and bat usually and fielding etc

3)It has took me since November to gain 8lbs..gone up and down

4)I am currently eating 2500 so would you say thats definitely not enough

5)I had all my bloods done 3 or 4 times and they have all come back fine so i assume my testosterone levels are okay, i have hit puberty etc deep voice armpit hair but the only thing i haven't got is much facial hair.

6)I struggle with the element of just eating what i want? i am like eating 2500 most days so how is the best way to overcome the not thinking about calorie is it just independent will?

 

hmm, have you seen gains on your current workout program?  its interesting, and personally i liek doing 5 sets of 5 reps for each exercise. also i think you should be working on your legs. squats and deadlifts will actually increase all your other lifts believe it or not.

your cardio seems decent.  its not gonna improve your VO2 max but its good to be moving lots.

dude, its taken way too long for you to gain 8 pounds. for a normal person trying to gain weight, that would be good. still slow as hell, but it would be alright. you really need to go balls to the walls and just stuff your face for a week to jump start the weight gain then continue to eat enough everyday until you feel uncomfortably full.... OR just count calories. but i highly suggest if you count calories make sure you get in at least 3500. 4000 is probably best. it may seem like a lot but remember your a teenage guy who is growing and decently active and recovering from anorexia. your not a sedentary girl. so comparing yourself to a lot of the other people on these forums isnt too wise. dont be stuck on a number for calories just aim to eat  a lot. you eat good healthy foods so if you dont feel full then you didnt eat enough (most likely)

oh and your lucky your blood work is fine. you would know if something was out of wack.

I have seen my muscle's look a lot more toned etc but i think thats partly because there isn't much too me if you know what i mean like no fat to turn into muscle and i will incorporate legs in with my shoulders on fridays

Would you say my cardio is okay like not to strenuous?

And i know man but i am just struggling as the people i am working with CAHM's aren't offering much help at all really, i do struggle just to generally know how much to eat etc as my doctor wants me to gain 0.5kg a week and last time i saw him which was friday i told him i was eating 2500 and obviously my weight hasn't gone up much he said to increase by 100 then see if i gain then if i don't increase again and so on? so i get confused like when people say eat 3500-4500 as i dunno my doctors say one thing then you read on here that i should be doing that? Its just i don't know where to get them extra in a decent meal plan would be good if you had one? as currently i am just eating like my own built one which focuses 55% Carbs 25% Protein 20% Fat

And my blood hasn't been tested for a while but my doctor does my blood pressure every meeting and that has been okay he says its fine all the time

it's all just confusing as obviously i want to get better but just worry how the weight gain will go on even though i haven't got to get too a high high weight i still just worry as last time i had this illness when i was 11 i went to rhodes farm and thats based on gaining 1kg a week and i come out of there pretty chubby it was a very high fat diet and yeah hard to handle but my doctors and everyone like family say this time's different your gaining at a slower rate and at a  healthy rate that it won't be like that it will go on as lean muscle mass?but i dunno i am just a bit worried i suppose

 

i saw a documentry that was made a while back on rhodes. it looks like a good place to recover i guess but it also looks like hell. for someone with anorexia it just looks aweful. they were feeding the kids cakes and fatty pastries. its so easy to gain on healthy foods i dont see any reason to eat freaking cake and white bread!

your cardio is totally fine. i wouldnt worry about it at all. thats the kinda cardio bodybuilders do cuz it isnt too stranious and they wont burn any muscle while cutting.

i know its confusing but your doctor probably doesnt know much about anorexia. the truth is you need a lot of food. 3000-4000 is probably good.... it cant hurt thats for sure.

your ratios for macros are okay. i would suggest more fats and maybe less carbs. maybe 30% fat and 45% carbs. since your cardio isnt that intense your not burning up all your glycogen.

oh and a couple things... fat doesnt turn into muscle and you wont gain much if any, size if you dont have a surplus of calories (size as in muscle) and anytime you gain weight you gain fat. its impossible to avoid. but you could probably use some fat on your frame cuz your so skinny right now.

just think, eating loads of food will put on muscle, strength, and make you healthy and just look better. people look good with body fat.

Yeah man it's a good place like as it sorts you out/take's obsessing away a bit but the downside is that it does involve eating pretty unhealthy **** to gain like 1kg a week and yeah i gained a lot of unwanted fat in a way from that even though it got me to a healthier weight i didn't look too great if you know what i mean, so i suppose thats stopping me a bit this time as i associate weight gain with that and how it happened there? but is it true you can actually gain healthy lean fat/muscle mass, i mean how did your weight gain go?

and decent so i am all good to stick with that would you say as the bike can get pretty boring that going on a short 10 minute run is okay instead of the bike some days? at a moderate speed

and i know when i first met him he said that i would need to be looking to eat 3000 calories its just hard man as im struggling to get like 2500-2600 in even though i am doing it i am struggling to just know how to do it without eating constantly?

and so your saying that i need 3000 calories a day probably to gain muscle? would that be a surplus of like 400-500 a day to like influence me gaining 0.45kg a week? as i admit i am not gaining much on 2500 if not gaining anything sometimes losing sometimes going up and down but i worry if i like ease of doing as much like at work and stuff and increased my calories i would gain weight a bit quickly and unhealthily as part of my recovery is too gain at a decent slow healthy rate

and i want to think that mate i do but am just scared after my last experience of gaining weight even though i was 11 and pretty short back then and eating a unhealthy diet

well remember when you were 11 you probably hadnt hit puberty yet. so that is a huge reason why you got chubby. i was chubby when i was 11. all the way up until i turned 15 then i started to consistently loose weight until i was 17. with weight training and your age and growth the weight you gain will look good. you arnt going to look "chubby" dont worry about that. and your lucky to have full testosterone. i gained the weight with hardly any testosterone so 90% of the weight has been fat but i look better now and i am now starting to gain muscle. but see you will gain muscle and fat. and if you do it slower and have a good workout plan then you will look and feel great as you gain.

there is no need to be sedentary and eat cake all day. you can be active and healthy and gain weight. its 100% fine. just try not to worry about calories so much and just try to eat lots.

Okay mate you're helping quite a lot I just worry as you read about people on here exercising and stuff like saying you shouldn't as all the stress it puts on your body and that? Also If I did decide to perhaps stop the bike is the stuff I do at work the 4 miles a day good enough exercise and the cricket every Saturday to keep my cardiovascular endurance like decent eg maintaining a good level of fitness But I take it you definitely say you need 3000 no matter what? Even If I stopped the bike I just find it hard to believe you eat that and you just won't gain at a unhealthy rate I always thought to gain you ate 500 over maintenance to like gain 1lbs a week. Just wondered if you had a decent weight training plan to follow as I'm not sure if mine is decent I currently have dumbbells and a barbell so if you had one you started with which you could share would be awesome? Cheers man