Like to say hello!

Hello everyone

First off, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm a 20 year old male that looks like a high school student.I have been underweight for a long, long time I'm not too tall, 5'7 but being only ~110 pounds I still get looked as a kid with my so called "babyface" My BMI is ~17.2 so I am kinda nervous about that. I'm a healthy guy that has a semi-active part time job and attending college at the same time.

Well, from what everyone has been telling me since forever lol is that I don't eat enough. That's my main problem, I don't really have an appetite that is going to help me on way trying to put on some pounds. I can stomach almost anything, not scared to try new things, raw eggs and such wont be a problem for me, it's just the amount I can eat is so small.

Even with the small amount of food I do eat, I hardly ever feel hungry. Eating is definitely something I need to work on. Strangely, I see eating as a bothersome chore rather than something enjoyable because I'm always  finding myself trying to force down the food because the appetite isn't there.

Currently, I'm a swing manager at a local McDonald's where I've been working for the past 2 years and I haven't put on any weight since I started working there. In fact, I think I might of actually lost a few lbs. Since I've started, I am eating more of it then before (used to have fast food like once every month) now I'm having something from Mcdonalds maybe once a week.

Well, starting today, I said I will try my best to start eating more and putting on some weight but don't know how its going to go. In September coming, I'm going back home for a wedding in my family and would love to bulk up before then. That gives me about 4 months. I would like to put on around 20 lbs by then and be around 130 but don't know how realistic that would be.

I hardly ever did weight training but recently bought a bench with a barbell and some weights and have it set up and ready to go in my basement. Not sure if I should start on that right away or weight until I get some meat on my bones before starting to work out. Unfourtunatly, I'll have to be working out by myself, so don't know how that will go either.

Well, that's about all I have to say for now. Will read up on things on this site to help me now and see how things go from there.

hey hun welcome!

first of all maybe you should check with your doc to see if youre all healthy and what not and make sure theres no medical reason as to why you have no appitite.  also you are going to need to plan times to eat and train your body to eat...once it gets used to things will get easier.

uhm ha dont worry about eating raw eggs..no need to shove gross things down your throat or things that could potentially make you sick like raw eggs lol

things that can add cals easily without making you wayyy fuller are: adding lots of olive oil to things like veggies or pastas, etc....peanut butter you can add to like anything nd it adds alot of calories, butter is a good addition, make sure you get FULL FAT dairy products, you can add things like wheat germ to yogurts and oatmeals and soups and stuff to add some cals without noticing, smoothies and milkshakes you can make high cal really easily, and baked goods are very high cal, adding chocolate powder mix to milk to make chocolate milk adds bunches of cals, high cal granola bars, nuts galore, dried fruit isnt filling and you can replace regular fruit with them so they wont fill you up...and only drink drinks with calories cuse drinks tend to fill people up

i would suggest getting to 3000 calories a day and see how you gain from there.  weight training is a good idea...no cardio like running though cuse that just burns calories....but weight lifting, squats, situps, pushups, pullups, etc. are good.

20 pounds in 4 months is possible but its very difficult and you really have to stick to it.  Since you work at mcdonalds and you know you are going to be eating there alot....look at their website and hunt out the highest cal items on their menu and order those...lol kinda weird advice right there but oh well. 

good luck...i send you all my love!

Hi! First I suggest you read THE AIM IS TO GAIN: A Guide to Weight Gain, Whatever Your Reason - UPDATED as it is full of tips and advice on healthy and sustainable weight gain. And as Summer has said I would go chat with your doctor about your poor appetite as anorexia (the symptom meaning the literal loss of appetite!) is a bad symptom of many possible illnesses and so it's better to chat with a doctor first. There actually also may be some unseen side effects of poor diet that may also need treating.

Nope, you don't have to eat raw eggs. In fact, now is a time to try a whole breadth of foods and see what you enjoy and what you don't. Find ways to get your mouth watering, whether it's cooking up a really nice smelling meal or even with just simpler ingredients you like. If you had any foods you liked when you were a kid try making those, too. You need a good balance between living to eat and eating to live. Food should not be a chore!

McDonalds once a week is perfectly okay and really, any food is. Try to switch it up between choices on the menu but honestly, any diet whether about weight loss, gain or maintanance is about variation and moderation.

The reason you don't feel hungry is because you're probably eating a very limited intake. What you're going to need is likely around 3000 or more calories a day, especially if you have been severely undereating. The best place to begin is to tally up what you eat in a normal day and see how many calories you're actually taking in. Then, push it up all depending - but 3000, generally, is a good target to aim for to help you 'pack on the pounds'. And you don't need shakes or anything like that either - again, please check out the link I gave for food and menu ideas.

Hi.Other then the few pounds you have lost since the job have you always been this thin? What is your daily meals/snacks like and maybe we can suggest add ons. I know when my dad was a kid back 50 years ago they did the drinking eggs but that is not the way to go now. You don't need salmonella. There are many dense foods like granola,nuts,hearty breads. You will feel full cause you need to train your body to have better hunger cues and for a young guy plus weight gain you are going to need a lot. Think in 2's like 2 sandwiches, 2 bagels so on. Eat every few hours. I am sorry you get the comments. Many of us can relate in one way or another. Do you have people in your life that can support you? I know young people can be cruel and guys are not as open to feelings but still having support can help whether it be a guy or girl friend. I guess going back to if this has been your weight always since you said eating is a chore are there other things going on in your life that have impacted your eating? Hope you take care and your goal sounds very doable.

Wow, thanks everyone for taking their time with me, didn't expect responses so quickly.

To answer some of the questions, Yes I have always been this thin. Never been over 110 - 112 lbs.  During my younger years like around 13 years and under, I was thin but not underweight like I am now because I was a short guy. When puberty hit, I started to get some decent my height but my weight never caught up.

My daily meals are fairly small. I just feel too full too quick... and then I won't really feel hungry later, so I'm always feeling like I'm forcing myself during the day. For breakfast today I had a glass of milk (3.25% fat, not sure if that's the one I should be going with) with some of Ovaltine mix with it. 2 slices of bread with margaraine, 2 small brownies, and a few slices of pineapple. I know that's probably nothing near enough, yet I still feel full.

Well, I'm from South America, so what my mother usually cooks is usually rice with something on top. Mostly we have it with curry (usually with chicken, but sometimes pork or some red meat) She never cooks pasta or anything like that so if I ever want stuff like that I'll have to make it myself. I hardly ever cooked, so I guess now would be a good time to give it a shot.

My family doesn't really eat the stuff that I'll be needing to help put on weight, so it looks like I'll have to do some separate groceries myself. Only fruits I'm use to eating are watery tropical fruits like pineapple, papaya and such.

I have only one food allergy I'm aware of and unfortunately its to nuts. Well, not all of them, I still can eat peanuts and almonds fine, only those two though, not sure if they also are good for me...

Support wise, meh not really much. There's a special girl in my life, same height and a little more weight than me (friends like to point that out almost every day at school) I know they are only joking and don't mean anything by it, but I still would like to live without it y'know. Me and her have only been together a few weeks but I know she'll help me out with this. That's basically it, my girlfriend along with some close friends.

My mom has one of those magic bullet blenders that she doesnt use so maybe I can use that to make some shakes with bananas and peanut butter and what not. Not sure how to make them good for myself but I've been told I can pack alot of cals into them. Also been told to try to chew more before I swallow, then I won't feel full as quick, don't know how much that'll work but I guess every little bit helps.

Well, I'm off to the store. The scale I have at home is broken and I think that would be an important tool to track my progress. Thanks again for all the help you guys.

Short post since I'm tired, and so upset. Calculated calories for today and came at about 2350... and I really thought I did good today :( This is going to be so hard. I wish I could get off to a good start but the first day didn't go to well. Hopefully tomorrow will go a little better. I think I really need to work on adding those little things to each meal that can really boost the calorie intake for myself. Will look into that when I wake up.

Original Post by nitefly:

Short post since I'm tired, and so upset. Calculated calories for today and came at about 2350... and I really thought I did good today :( This is going to be so hard. I wish I could get off to a good start but the first day didn't go to well. Hopefully tomorrow will go a little better. I think I really need to work on adding those little things to each meal that can really boost the calorie intake for myself. Will look into that when I wake up.

 Hey don't feel discouraged. You're only one day in! You're making lots of effort so congratulations. There's a high-calorie food list on these forums, you can look at that for more ideas - like adding high-calorie foods in the evening to give yourself a few extra calories. However, if you can, it might be helpful to plan out most of your days eating in advance so you can be sure to eat enough. But don't beat yourself up for a mistake on your very first day. Good luck!

Hi well it sounds like you have a positive attitude and also see some barriers that you may have to work through for your health. I am sorry about your friends and the joking which is not very nice. I am not sure what is wrong with people but try to focus on the people who are stronger support to you like it sounds like your new gf. I am not sure what nuts you are allergic to since peanuts is the usual one that people are. Peanut or almond butter can be a great source of protein/fats. I am not a shake fan but if you google it I am sure there are some recipes. Really eating every few hours can help with the full feelings. Also for breakfast could you add cereal to your milk and fruit with the toast. Pasta is super easy to make along with rice and can be eaten in big portions. I am not a cook either and I live alone. You would be surprised at what you can make in a micro even like baked potatoes.