Regaining an appetite?

So a couple months back I weighed 170lb and decided I would like to get down to about 155. I did a combination of exercise, and cutting 500 calories a day to lose the weight. I liked seeing the weight come off so I keep letting it come off until all the sudden it was less than 150. I decided to try to gain back a couple pounds except that now my appetite was so tiny and the littlest amount of food made me feel ridiculously full. Today I weighed 143lb so I really really need to regain my appetite somehow! I think I am anorexic... I'm 6 feet tall and 16.

 

Has anybody else had something like this happen? Or know how to get back an appetite?

You've clobbered your appetite and your metabolism by undereating.  (Happened to me when I went on a low-carb diet once.... stupid thing to do, never try it!)  Whether you're anorexic is for a doctor to diagnose.  If you're frightened about eating, frightened about weight-gain, feeling depressed, obsessed or doing a lot of exercise, for example, then you should probably talk to someone and get some help as these would be danger signs.  But if you can start to eat more voluntarily, rein back on the exercise and if you're quite happy at the prospect of ultimately being 155lbs then you may not need to panic.

To get your appetite back requires a little planning, preparation and application.  Starting with breakfast, aim to eat 'little and often'... a meal or a snack every 2  hours or so.  Always have something handy to eat and snack often.  Try not to get caught out with nothing to eat for hours on end.  Do this even if you don't feel hungry.  Choose energy-dense foods such as olive oils, nuts, seeds, full-fat dairy products, avocados, oily fish, dried fruit, red meats... as these will bump up your energy intake without making you feel 'ridiculously full'.  Wholegrains are another good way to get calories for quite small amounts... so that's wholemeal bread, pasta, brown rice, potatoes.  Sip plenty of juices and water to keep your digestion working properly.   Try not to fill up on too many vegetables and fruit which are very bulky but low in calories.  

It shouldn't take long for your body to accept that more food is available and kick your metabolism back into gear.  At which point you'll start to feel hungry again.

As I said earlier... if the above fills you with dread or panic then you may have a problem and you need to see someone about it.   If not (and I'm confident that you'll be OK with it), then best of luck and hope it works out for you.

Thanks =] I will follow your advice, just eating small meals until my body accepts that there is more to eat. at this point I don't mind gaining weight because I'm scared of seeing it be at 143. =/