Weight Gain
Moderators: chrissy1988, positivelinny, nycgirl, lalabanana



Helpp!!!!!


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So i'm recovering/almost recovered from an eating disorder, and I'm very proud of myself because now i can eat whatever i want...but the problem is that I feel like I'm at a healthy weight (5'6 and 113-116 pounds) but I've been maintaining on this weight for about half a year now and I STILL haven't gotten my period..so i'm really scared,and wondering if i should gain some weight..even though it might be hard..but i just don't want to get osteoperosis. What should I do?!

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Those stats put you at a BMI of about 18.5 which is where the clinical definition of underweight starts.  'Normal' is 20 to 25.  19 is the minimum healthy weight and people with a BMI <19 are the ones most at risk of amenorrhea.   If you were around 122-125lbs you'd stand more chance of things getting back to normal.

Taking your age from a previous post you've made, you're 16, 5'6 and, if I take the middle number, about 115lbs.

According to this calculator, here, http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html you are only on the cusp of a healthy weight. This is bad as a recovering anorexic for the fact that you're still in danger of slipping back into the underweight category. Anorexia distorts one's perceptions. What you see and feel is healthy can be far from it. Combine this with your loss of a period and yes, you would need to gain more weight. Get your intake back up to 2500 if you're not around that (or higher) already. For your period loss, you want to focus on healthy fat intake as it is more than likely it is missing thanks to a low bf%.

Sources of EFAs, or essential fatty acids:
Oily fish - eg salmon, pilchard, mackerel
Seeds - eg sunflower, flax, pumpkin
Nuts - eg walnuts, almonds
Oils - eg extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, rapeseed (canola) oil - there is a massive list of EFAs in oils here. http://efaeducation.nih.gov/sig/esstable1.htm l
Avocado

I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions please ask.

thanks guys! i guess i'm just scared to eat more cause i look in the mirror and i see parts of me that  ithink could use with some slimming..its really hard and I don't know if i can get myself to gain 5 or more  pounds without freaking out and losing it all again =(.

In that case you need to talk to someone urgently about how you feel and ask for some help.  When the medical necessity to be a higher weight for good health is being suppressed by the irrational fear of an underweight person that they're 'fat' .... then that's getting into dangerous territory.

all the people i've seen about just aren't helpful at all.

Usually they make me worse.

This is so hard.

im the exact same size as you 5 ft 6 and i stay 113-116 pounds.

i got a ED and im trying to recover its very hard ..i been eating what i want pretty much,but i feel uber guilty about it later..

my period never dissapeared ,even when i was 108 i still had one..i think you should see a obgyn or something ..thats scarry you dont want to ruin your reproductive system..if i was you id force myself to gain the 10 pounds..

but im not you and i still feel fat..

nakedsoul that's not very helpful..?

anyway, maybe you should gain a few pounds and just see what happens! or try to add more fat into your diet. i didn't have my period for 6 months, am still underweight (but never had an ed..weird situation), but i got my period for august after just a week of trying to add in more fat. i know that's like a rare case probably, but that's my tip, to add more fat! and i really hope you get your period soon!

You seem to be frightened of a lot of things, looking at your posts.  You mention freaking out, losing it, being scared..... it must be stressful being so terrified all the time.  Some of your fears are rational ... osteoporosis, for example... some much less rational... the 'HIV' incident.   Physical health issues aside, are you getting some help psychologically?  

gi-jane

Well, i used to see a physchologist, but that was only for my eating disorder, and now I'm not seeing anyone about my panic/hypochondria problems, and also my ocd, so would you recommend seeing anyone? Or can I deal with this on my own..with the help of my parents?

Since your dad is a doctor I would have thought he's a good place to start.   If he can't help you directly he should be able to refer you to someone that can.   I don't know if you can deal with the issues you describe solo but it doesn't sound like you are at present.  If your eating disorder is/was a product of your generally panicky state of mind it would make sense to tackle the root cause as well as the symptoms. 
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