Gaining weight, but not in the right places

im trying to recover from anorexia. (woohoo!) and i seem to be doing well, tough everyday is like a battle with food and my parents and friends, but im trying. so i have gained 4 pounds, even though its not a lot to make a difference but my stmach looks bigger. i showed my friends and mum and they have told me it looks thinner.

is the weight always gona end up around my abdominal?

my stomach is the only reason i restrict. please can someone reasure me

It is normal for the initial gain to mostly go around your abdominal area. After starving so long your body first tries to protect your internal organs because it's scared you'll restrict and make them vulnerable again. It evens out but only if you keep consistent with your intake and keep your intake about 2500 - please, trust me on that. Don't slip when you're only just starting! Also, I can bet your stomach is not as bad as you might think, knowing how distorted anorexia makes one's views of themselves.

You need to be eating at least 2500 calories a day if you're not aware, and for more general advice on this, read The Aim is to Gain: Advice on Weight Gain, Whatever Your Reason if you've not already. Keep fighting!

With the amount of calories you are eating - no. I don't know your BMI but is a general rule of thumb that if your BMI is under 15/16, you should NOT exercise. Your body cannot even begin to repair itself if you are constantly burning calories through exercise. I know - I used to run four miles a day, cut it down to two, then one. I did not gain a pound until I stopped running entirely. It was hard to stop, I'll admit, but mentally I do feel much healthier now that I no longer have that compulsive need to run every day. Also, when you are not eating enough and are underweight, doing so much exercise actually does more damage than good. Instead of building muscle or keeping your heart healthy - you actually causing those muscles and organs to deteriorate and wither away. At a low weight, all exercise does is deplete and destroy what is left of your body because your body doesn't have the reserves to repair itself.

Your doctor is right - there is no way you have gained any real weight on 1,000 calories a day. What you have seen on the scale is purely fluctuation from your body adjusting to processing more food. Don't let that scare you, it is normal. I don't know when your appointment with the new dietician is, but I would strongly suggest you try to stop exercising, or at least cut it down considerably (by considerably I mean taking a walk for half an hour instead of running, and no more jumping rope) and try to get your calories up. At least make 1,000, though 1600 would be better. It will be a lot easier in the end for you if you stop exercising, otherwise it will be a compulsive habit that you never break. And you will need to eat four times as much as you are now in order to get yourself healthy. I hope that everything goes well with your dietician, and that you are able to find a plan to get your calories up to where they need to be in a way that you are comfortable with, and that you feel comfortable with him/her as well.

No. You should not be working out PERIOD. Furthemore your intake is still a starvation intake and you NEED to be getting up to 2500. 1000 will not heal you. 1500 will not heal you. 2000 will not heal you. Only upwards of 2500 can and that is WITHOUT exercise.

Go back to your doctor with Rebel's advice in mind, off of the computer, pronto.

I wasn't allowed to do any exercise while I was in the weight restoration phase. And when I first started, my weight was so low I lost weight eating anything less than 4000 calories. I don't know how much you need to gain, but it is very possible to need that much to gain. As for where the weight gain comes, it doesn't come back all over. It usually does come back in one area first then begins to even out. Mine came back a lot in my middle and upper body (where I normally never carried my weight) and has shifted and evened out some now. Its still kind of evening itself out. So don't worry - it will normalize!!

Equally, I find I need between 3000 to 4000 calories to gain at all. Without exercise. But please, you need to get to at least 2500 first - hell, even at least 2000, 1500. Just not 1000, you need SO much more than this.

Upping your cals for the first time is stressful and I understand that. But you need to get it up, as the others have said. Once you get over that hill, your body will start healing itself and then YOU can get better. But you have to do this. Don't worry about your stomach, that happened to me to. A few months later and it's gone now. Hmm... you could think of it this way: the sooner you up your cals, the sooner your stomach will even out. What foods do you like that you haven't had for some time? What foods are in your "comfort zone"? Mix those two together. I found that when I ate the foods I knew I had to eat and the ones I felt comfortable eating made the whole calorie increase easier on me.

thanks guys, im gonna go see my doctor next week as well, and talk about all these things, from calories to excersize etc.

i dont know how i will cope without excersize, if i ever go a day without excersize i seem to end up working out more the next day, i feel like a dump for some reason. i probly dont eat much but excersize seems to wake me up and give me energy?

i really want to get better, but the thought of ganing weight keeps me up some nights. for example last night i couldnt sleep because i ate a packet of crisp and malteasers, i was stressing that it will make me fat and that if i go to sleep i will wake up a whale. as strange as it seems but these are the type of thoughts that are running through my mind, and i want to get rid of them like crazy!

my BMI is currently 16.8, under weight yes but maybe my weight which is 95lbs is perfect for my height which is 5.3 1/2?

We all have those cazy thoughts. I used to dread going to sleep because I thought I'd wake up with fat rolls. Now that my mentality is better, I can look back on those thoughts and laugh at myself. Be sure to talk to your doctor about all of your concerns and don't be afraid to ask questions. 

I'm confused by your last question...are you asking if your weight is ok when your BMI is that low...?

These are the FACTS; 1000 calories a day is STARVATION level. And if you think it is okay to run for an hour a day while eating only 1000 calories then your mind is very, very deluded.

With a BMI of 16, it is INSANSE to want to run for an hour and eat 1000 calories a day. YOU are no insane, you have an eating disorder that is insane.

And no, a BMI of 16 is not the healthiest option for your height. A lot of people assume that they are just “ naturally skinny”

A BMI of 16 is very, unhealthily under weight and no body is naturally that thin, some people just need to eat more then others to maintain a healthy weight…….

For example, some people who have a BMI of 16 do not intentionally try to starve themselves, but they can eat 1700 calories without gaining weight. This does NOT mean that a BMI of 16 is NATURAL for their body, it just means that they need to eat more calories to reach a healthier BMI of 20 or higher.

So, some people need to eat 3000 calories to maintain a healthy BMI of 20, while other people would need to eat as little as 1300 calories to maintain that weight…. No one is “ naturally under weight” , some people just have higher calorie needs then others.

You may think that eating 1000 calories and maintaining a BMI of 16 is normal and healthy, but to every one else it comes across as very unhealthy and dangerous; eating disorders make you believe some very unhealthy things, such as that maintaining a BMI of less then 17 is healthy, eating disorders distort reality, just ask any one who has had one! You can honestly think that you are so right when you have an eating disorder, when in reality you are actually thinking very unhealthy thoughts.

Personaltrainer is right- they do distort reality. I can be some much more rational now...

As for the "naturally skinny" thing. I think that people who are "naturally skinny" just call it that because they have been underweight their whole lives by eating normally (poor wording, sorry) and never bothered to up their cals to gain weight. They could gain weight if they wanted to, and a lot of them decide to, but some think that there's nothing wrong with it because they've always been like that.

Mars has it spot on - I think this issue is very important.

A normal amount of calories for MOST people is not enough for other people to maintain a healthy weight, and some people just need to eat a higher amount of calories then other people do to be at a healthy weight.

So, some people have a TENDENCY to become underweight easier then other people, but it does not mean that they are “ naturally skinny” and therefore should not bother to eat more.

Many people who have been under weight without trying to be do not think they can benifit from gaining a littke weight

The reality is, just because it is EASY for some people to be “ under weight” does not mean it is THE BEST THING for their bodies - some one at a BMI of 18.5 would make their body healthier by gaining to a BMI of 20.

petite ambition - you are wrong if you think that your body is naturally supposed to be at a BMI of 16. I hope you can see this, even though it is hard to accept.

It does not mean you are destined to be HUGE! It just means that if you gain to a BMI of 20, you can then see where your body truly feels happiest. A BMI of 20 is still very slim, and most people have a higher BMI!