Guy wanting to gain some weight

So I have been undereating (more out of stress and just having a crazy busy schedule) and I dropped from like the low-mid 140's and am now like 134 (I am a 5'7'' 21 y/o male)....

while I know my BMI isn't underweight, people are starting to say all the time that I do not look good and are quesitoning if my ED has come back. I always fluctuate a little with my weight however have never been this low since the onset of my full blown ED three years ago.

so basically I don't know what to do. I mean I am not going to lie, while I unquesitonably do not want to lose anymore weight or undereat at all I also kind of like my new weightloss...I mean my BMI is healthy, right? do you think that I should consider gaining though? I am guessing yes, based on other's comments, but still could I stay at this weight and just eat more to maintain?

It was werid I lost because I went from like jogging 50+ miles a week to just 8 and ate EXACTLY the same (at least I thought) and dropped like 10 lbs in two weeks....I have been eating mostly at night although I was told these two things wouldn't cause it, since at the end of the day it just boils down to me not eating enough

Now if I did want to maintain or gain...what exactly is it that I need to do? Someone in the other thread was helpful and said i have to eat 3,000 cals+ a day....do I just jump to this if I want to gain or work my way up there? For example this week I was thinking of adding about 220 cals to my daily diet through a cliff bar and eating a larger dinner, etc....would this work in maintaining at least? The past few weeks I haven't been losing...I dropped right away and have been hovering between like 133 and 136 for about three good weeks now....I gained in the past through binge eating, but am NOT going down that road ever ever again...

sooo confused, any additional advice is very helpful!

To me it sounds like you know that you are heading down a bad path. There are many red flags and before it gets out of control you need to get back on track. I think adding 200 is not going to do that. What are you eating now? I agree and many young guys eat more then 3000 to maintain. It does not have to be all or nothing but when you restrict you set yourself up to binge. Are you or have you worked on why this is an issue for you?

You have a history of restricting and bingeing. It sounds to me you are falling down a slippery slope.

Just because you BMI is technically within a healthy range, doesn't mean it's healthy for you. Generally speaking, IMO, the BMI scale does not apply well to men as men have more muscle. So a BMI of 20-21 may be ok for certain women, on men it tends to be very skinny. Do you have counselors, medical help, nutritionists? Can you talk to someone about your mindset recently? I am worried you might be heading towards a relapse, but if you work hard you can nip it in the bud and get healthy fast.

If you want to gain you need to eat 3000+ calories a day. How many calories are you eating right now? If it's tough for you to have ideas of how to eat more, join the Weight Gainers thread here. Lots of support and information!

Weight Gainers- What Did YOU Eat Today? Oct 3-Oct 17

Also read this for some help:

THE AIM IS TO GAIN: A Guide to Weight Gain, Whatever Your Reason - UPDATED

alright buddy, what you are looking for is to gain weight, but not just any weight, u want to "BULK UP" aka add muscle.

also start doing yourself a favour and stop buying into this BMI bull.. the bmi is useless when it comes to defining how healthy someone is, instead get your body fat percentage measured, health is measure by bodyfat and lean mass ratio, not by a general shadow number given by a flawed tool as the BMI.  

for example, a 240 pound bodybuilder with an 8% body fat would be labeled by the BMI as being overly obese, which of course, is not true, that person is just jacked and weights a lot, and is healthy. and the BMI could label someone who weights lets say 120 pounds and has a lets say 25 percent body fat percentage as being at a healthy weight, which again, is not true, because for any guy 25 percent bodyfat is not healthy, its FAT, thers actually a clynical description for that, called "skinny fat" or normal weight obesity, which means u have too much fat for the ammount of muscle being carried.

first of all get your body fat percentage measured, if its sitting at 15 percent max, then you are at the average weight for a male and you are healthy, of course health is not measure by body fat and lean mass ratio alone, but thats another story.

anyways now onto gaining weight.. well first of all find out what your daily caloric requirement is, using the BMR and RMR (you are on this site so i assume you already know what your daily requirement for maintenance is)

and yeah to gain weight your gonna have to be at a caloric surplus, but just eating A LOT alone will only make you FAT

so how do you put on muscle weight instead of fat weight?? well YOU START PUMPING IRON WITH INTENSITY, thats right, start weight lifting. what this will do is break down your muscles, and thats why you need to eat more food to compensate for it. if you have a good weight training program and train with intensity then your body will use the extra calories you are eating above maintenance to repair and rebuild the muscle fibers that you broke down through lifting weights, making them stronger, faster and of course, BIGGER. the body will be FAR TOO BUSY to store the extra calories as fat.

this is what weight lifting is all about, about breaking down your muscle fibers (hence the soreness and discomfort after a workout) and forcing your body to adapt to the stress of lifting heavy stuff by making your muscles stronger and bigger, which of course leads to weight gain, but good weight gain, lean body mass gain. not fat gain.

so to gain weight you must lift weights hard, do cardio to avoid putting on any body fat and EAT CLEAN, only fuel your body with quality foods, complex carbs, good fats and MOST IMPORTANTLY PROTEIN. you must consume AT LEAST 1 gram or protein for every pound of muscle weight in order to build muscle. so since you are 134 pounds then you gotta consume at least 134 grams of protein a day. also eat 500 calories above maintenance a day, that way you can gain a pound a week, of course this number may need to be higher depending on how fast your metabolism is, genetics, somatotype, etc..

also keep in mind that if you do put on some fat while gaining muscle, then its natural, but dont worry, once you have a lot of muscle mass your metabolism will be a lot higher, and w.e fat you have put on while trying to gain weight will be really easy to shed off with cardio and with a slight caloric deficit because your body will burn calories at a higher rate once you have more muscle. just make sure to never go above 15 percent body fat. also reduce your body fat to 10 percent (or lower) and build muscle and your body composition will change drastically, youll look "toned" and have a six pack, or eight pack of abs.

so the formula to eat muscle is pretty much the following "work like slave, eat like a horse, sleep like a bum, and grow like a weed"

if you are insterested in more info for bodybuilding and gaining healthy weight, and what foods are good sources of protein and whatsonot then feel free to send me a message, ill be more than glad to help.