Im not underweight at the doctor, but i know im doing something wrong

Hi im new to this site and I just want to tell a little about myself and see how people react on it because i feel like I can't eat normally again without gaining like 10 pounds.

I lost like ten pounds over the summer and right now im 106lbs. Sometimes it goes up to 110, but I exercise and diet a lot. I'm 5'7", also.

I play JV volleyball but I feel like after a game (best 2 out of 3 matches), I haven't gotten enough exercise so I'll go home and do the treadmill for a half hour or half of a workout video. On practice days, we practice for about an hour and a half usually, and again I'll go home and do an extra something. 

On top of this, I'll have like a 1/3 cup bowl of fiber one with  soy milk or an egg for breakfast(b/c im not usually that hungry), and for lunch like 2 cups salad with a tsp of sunflower seeds and a tsp of crumbled gorgonzola w/ about 2 tsps of dressing.

After school I'll have like an apple, yogurt, or some carrot sticks before a game or practice. 

At home for dinner we eat healthy balanced meals, but sometimes I feel like its so much food, and I'll eat very little. On occasion I'll binge on ice cream or something, and then feel horrible about it the next day when I'm up to 110. 

Recently I've been purging a little bit but I'm afraid my body will get used to it and expect me to purge, so anything i dont it will store and I'll gain weight.

I have talked to my mom about trying to eat more during the day but I am terrified of gaining weight, especially because now I'm as thin as most of the girls in my grade, then though it has cost me my nice curves. 

Also, sometimes Ill skip meals during the day if I know I'm going to be eating a big dinner that night. I work out every day though

I want to just get to a point where I can eat normally like everyone else and not gain all this weight back because I feel like I have to do so much to keep it off.

Thank you for reading and listening to me, feel free to comment about anything I had said.

At 110lbs your current BMI would be 17.2 which is underweight ....  Even when you were 116lbs that was underweight.... so what made you want to lose weight then?  Lack of confidence? ... Some unhappiness in your life?

You're clearly eating far too little for such an active person.  Purging is desperately unhealthy, as is skipping meals and the compensatory over-exercising.  Add this to your guilt about eating ordinary foods like ice-cream & your fear of gaining weight and it's all pointing to disordered eating behaviour.

Talk to your mum again and tell her everything you've said above because I think you're at a stage where you need to see your doctor and ask for some professional help.   You will have to gain weight as part of regaining your health and although you say you want to eat normally you don't sound as though you really understand why or how.   Even the title of your post that you're 'not underweight at the doctor' is a strange statement for someone who is clearly underweight.   Do get some help because, left untreated, you'll just get thinner, more sick, and much more depressed.   Best of luck

I agree with gi-jane--you are TOO thin at 5'7" and probably have an ED. How many calories are you eating? Use the cc calculator! At your age and activity, you should be eating MUCH more. (I am sure someone will offer to calculate that for you!) Your brain needs the calories too!! (Maybe someone will copy you the 3-4 paragraphs about that research too.)

You said you lost your "curves". Does that sound healthy to you? It doesn't to me. Don't worry so much about what the scale shows--muscle weighs more than fat. Going up and down a couple of pounds can be water weight, or bloating, or a number of things. 

You will play better volleyball if you have some energy and eat more!! Do you think Michael Phelps is fat or overweight? He eats TONS of food!! I think he said 35,000 calories a DAY! (That was not a typo) He eats all the time! (In case you missed the olympics, Michael Phelps won several gold medals in swimming!)

And lastly--purging will ruin the enamel on your teeth! Once it's gone, you can't get it back.

High school should be fun. You are an athlete! Don't ruin your health to try to be thin. Good luck!

I know what you guys are saying I have heard it all before, but it is hard to just hear it because I don't know how to add food to my diet with a fear of gaining weight. And for my BMI, at the doctor it said i was in a healthy range for my age and height, but I did lose a lot of weight in the past year. 

I am having a stressful time in my life, but it is getting much better, so I have been trying to eat a little more and stop having an obsession with calories so much.

I know that athletes require a lot of food but I've been playing well on what I eat now. I think my metabolism has just slowed down so much that I am naturally not hungry because I dont eat a lot anymore. Im not sure how to get my body back to normal, as in eating a normal amount of food a day, without putting on all of the weight I just lost. I don't want to lose any more weight I just don't want to gain it all back. I have told my mom and doctor this statement. 

You are not feeling hungry because you are in starvation mode.  Using the tools here to "maintain" 110, you need 1800 a day for moderate activitity.   You are probably closer to very active, but That would be the first change.  Get the calories up.  You will gain weight at first as your body comes out of starvation mode, but it will settle back down.  Don't worry about gaining a little when you are trying to fix what you already know is a problem.  Hang in there!  you can do it! 

I think you know what you are doing is unhealthy.  And you sound like you really want to be healthy.  Unfortunately, to do that, you might have to gain a little weight.

I would seriously suggest talking to your mom and doctor about this again.  Don't leave anything out.  Tell them about your fear of gaining.  Tell them about your problems with food.  Tell them about your bingeing and purging.  Tell them about all of it.  They might be able to get you connected with a dietician who can set up an eating plan that will work for you and your activity level.

We cannot stress enough how dangerous it is to be undereating and underweight as a teen.  This is the time when your bones are building, calcium is needed, your whole body is preparing itself for adulthood.  It needs all the nutrition it can get.  If you deny it that, you might feel fine now, but eventually it will catch up to you.

Good luck.

Timtum90 ~

How old are you?

You said that you play JV Volleyball so I am going to assume you are around 15 years old.

Please note that CC's tools are not geared towards teenagers.

I entered your stats into this calculator and got the following results:

A 67-inch tall, 106-pound, 15-year-old girl has a body mass index (BMI) of 16.6, which is at the 7th percentile for age. Although being thin could be perfectly normal for this girl, she could potentially be at risk of being underweight, particularly if she has recently lost weight or has stopped gaining weight.

A healthy weight range for this particular girl would be from about 111-pounds to 153-pounds.

It is obvious that you are very active and not eating near as much as you should be.

You said that you lost a lot of weight last year, how much weight did you lose and how did you lose the weight? 

Have you discussed your weight loss with your doctor?  How does (s)he feel about it?

Have you told your doctor everything that you have told us here about your fears?  How you exercise even more after a 1-2 hour workout at school?  And how you do not have much of an appetite and have a fear of gaining weight?

It sounds like you need to speak with a specialized doctor, possibly a nutritionist or dietician. 

And as Peaches0405 suggested, discuss this with your mom again and make sure to tell her everything about how you feel, your exercise regime, and your food intake.

Please also check out the following links for additional information:

Calorie Count Plus's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management.

~ UTR
Volunteer Moderator

the only thing is, as scared of gaining weight as you are, you are going to have to.  a woman SHOULD have curves and not disappear when she turns sideways.  just because hollywood says it's ok, doesn't mean it is.  just because most of teh girls in your grade are this thin does NOT make them healthy.  you should compare yourself to no one else because you are unique.  you should just do what makes you happy.  keep up the sports, but come on, you're in high school.  have fun.  eat junk food on occasion.  life is for living!!!  when you.Re dead do you want to be thinking back at all the thigns you wish you had done/eaten/etc...?  of course not.  try everything you want to try and eat everything you want to eat, in moderation of course.

Ok don't try and keep up with the "Air Brushed Hollywood" its not real!!!!!  I don't know you at all but you might need to go talk to a professional about this.  These little actions you are doing right now can lead into big issues later in life.  Please, if you are purging and becoming more than slightly obsessed with your weight take action now this is not healthy in my mind.

I'm sure it is nice to fit in with your classmates, but by doing so you are selling yourself short.  You're a unique person, and you shouldn't have to hurt your body just to look like everyone else.  I'm sure you will look great at a healthy weight.

It sounds like it is way out of your comfort zone to eat healthily, and you don't even know how.  I recommend pushing gently on the boundaries of your comfort zone each day trying to eat just a little bit more, ignore the scale, and do some research into the types and quantities of food that compose a healthy diet.  I like to start at the food guide pyramid, they have a new customization tool where you can put in your stats at www.mypyramid.gov.

Thank you guys for helping me, it really helps to have positive encouragement instead of always being told I'm doing the wrong things. I know I'm making some mistakes, and everytime I am supported with good advice, and not just being told I'm very unhealthy, I feel like I can do it. My mom actually does help me by showing me healthy snacks, but it is mostly me.

I think my problem is that I'm obsessing over a number on the scale, and if I gain any weight I freak out. I know I'm growing and of course I will gain weight, and you guys are saying I will when I eat more, but how much weight am I going to gain?

If you've been severely restricting what you eat you should expect to gain weight fairly rapidly when you start eating more.   It could be 2 or 3lbs a week initially.    That's because your body is under stress and will desperately hang on to any extra nourishment.  It's something you have to expect, understand and then be comfortable with.... in advance.   It's worth putting the scales well away if standing on them will make you 'freak out'....  You can't afford for anything to make you panic in the early stages if you genuinely want to be healthy.  Draw on all the determination that makes you good at sports and get as much support from family and friends (and the medical profession) as you can.

If you can tough it out, however, and keep going with a more normal calorie intake... say 1800-2000 to start with.... then your body's metabolism will gradually speed up and the weight-gain will slow down or stop all together.   You'll also feel more positive and less depressed because of the extra energy and nourishment.  Your appetite will return in leaps and bounds.  At that stage, if you're still underweight, you'd have to add another 500 cals a day and repeat the process.    You'd find this part a lot easier.  The gains would be slower the second time around and more steady.... 2 - 4lbs a month would be fine.

Hope that helps

i don't know you, but from what you've written...you need to get help.  i am telling you from experience that this can get out of control.  if purging is at any point part of your life, you need to get serious help.  also, not eating enough is what's setting you up for your purges, and that will only become more frequent if you don't get help.  i'm telling you, definitely go get help now, because it only gets harder from here.

Thank you for everyone's help. Recently I've been finding ways and times to add snacks during the day. I've stopped purging, and have been trying to up my calorie intake. I'm not perfect yet, but I'm on my way to getting better I think. Thanks for the encouragement, and I haven't even been gaining that much weight as fast as I thought I would be. 

I'm going to keep working at it! But does anyone know any low calorie snack ideas?

I figure Id rather have many low cal snacks in a day than a few big calorie ones.

low-cal snacks:

-sugar free jello (10) with whipped cream (15)

-sugar free chocolate pudding (60)

-fat free yogurt (i like dannon light n fit) (80)

-diet hot chocolate (25)

-smartpop mini bags of popcorn (100)

-pb2 (55 cal for 2 tbs)

-fruit (peach-60, apple-72, 1/2 c blueberries-40, 1 c grapes-62, plum-40)

-baby carrots with hummus

-raw cucumber or peppers or other veggie

-light wheat bread (40 cal per slice) with laughing cow light swiss cheese (35)

-1/2 c multigrain cheerios (55)

-light string cheese (60)

-1 packet lower sugar quaker oatmeal (110)

-smuckers sugar free fruit preserves [1 tbs] (10) on toast or english muffin

-1/4 c egg whites (30) with kraft fat free american cheese single (30)

-8 wheat thins (65) and light laughing cow swiss cheese (35)

-dried fruit bar [i like fiberful mixed berry from trader joes] (60)

I think my problem is that I'm obsessing over a number on the scale, and if I gain any weight I freak out.

Throw away your scale. Seriously. It will remove the temptation of wanting to check if you've gained weight every day.

When you're underweight, eating low-calorie snacks is counter-productive and unfortunately it's a classic ED avoidance technique.  All they'll do is fill your tummy up for no energy.  Foods like that give you the impression you're eating more when, in reality, you'd still be stuck in the old behaviour pattern that's keeping you sick.

As you're aiming for 2500 cals a day make your main meals 500-700  cals each and aim to get the remainder in energy-dense, nutrient-dense snacks....  If you can't do this then it's yet another indicator that you need to see a doctor.

Good luck