Runners, HELP me get through this!

Hi, I need to gain weight. I have stomach issues and lost like 15 pounds, and Iv've known I need to gain for a while, but it hasnt been working

I'm supposed to be running 6-8 miles a day now to condition for xc. I was in the best shape of my life a month ago, now I run like twice or thee times a week.

I went to a dietition today, and until I gain 7 pounds I'm not allowed to run, or get exercise!! With a pound a week, thats 7 weeks!Ahhh!! Thats how I take out my stress, thats how I think things through, thats my vent, my outlet!

I'm going to lose all of that muscle I've worked years towards, all that conditioning I pushed myself for. Not to mention I'll probably have to start my XC season late. I Can't Stop crying. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO! Ill be back at GROUND 0, SQUARE 1!!.

Not to mention the 7 pounds will be 7 pounds of FAT if I'm not allowed to exercise. What. What can I do? I punched a wall, that helped. What else!!!???

 

PLEASE HELP ME!

Are you allowed to do any resistance training? If so, use some bands...or even do body resistance (sit ups, pushups, squats, etc)....even light stuff will help you to retain your muscle.

Hope everything works out for you!

I'm no dietician and have no idea about nutrition, but giving up exercise altogether for such a long period doesn't sound ideal to me. With you being that much of a trained athlete, you're not wrong to worry. On the other hand - you say you have stomach issues. Maybe you should first concentrate on getting the nutrition right. In your case it may be more important than missing out on some weeks of exercise.

I run/jog a little bit (not usually more than 3 miles at a time) and understand what you say about venting. It is great for that. Have you tried asking if you can do some more gentle exercise? Yoga might be great, the stretches are quite relaxing and it also makes you let go of your thoughts. Perhaps some low-intensity aerobics (no jumps etc) are also good because they do the same - get a complicated routine and you're guaranteed not to think about anything else while you do it.

Good luck.     

Thank you you guys

She said its tennative but minimum activity. How? I can't even comprehend being inactive all day. You know what I feel like on days when I get no exercise? CRAP! I don't sleep well, its just not good. I just dont even see how I can do this. My coach is going to hate me, and everyone is going to wonder why I was lazy and let all my fitness go to the wayside.

I was in the same boat, in that they recommended tht I stopped exercising until I gained weight but I talked rationally with my dietitian and doctor and told them why I exercised - to keep fit, yeah, but also because it let me release energy and stress which were factors that made me not want to eat. So we found a compromise, say only 30 mins of cardio 3 or 4 times a week and then doing weights or pilates to help stimulate muscle growth.

Talk to them about it though, just make sure you are rational and willing to compromise!!

This is basically the story of my senior year of cross country in high school.  I had lost a lot of weight and my doctor decided that I should stop running mid-season until I had gained some of that weight back.  It was really hard for me - I love the way running makes me feel, not to mention I was also captain of the team and it wasn't exactly a great example for me to be setting.  Basically I was sidelined for about a month, until I too talked to my parents and doctor and we worked on coming to a compromise (20-30 min runs 2-3 times a week and a little light resistance work on my own).  I was able to continue running with my team at the end of the season, and I was surprised by how quickly I was able to get back into the swing of things.  That was years ago, and since then I have lost even more weight because I am still so active, but I decided it's a trade-off - I would rather have to eat more so that I can be as active as I'd like.  

So basically my advice is to keep your end goal in mind - you want to have a great xc season, so let that be your motivation to gain the weight.  Don't think about gaining fat or getting out of shape - instead think about how much your performance will improved by giving your body the fuel it needs.  Olympic athletes have to eat THOUSANDS of calories a day to train - and even if we're not olympic athletes, you have been/will be training hard, and if your xc season is that important to you, I think you know that you should do what it takes to be able to participate and hopefully even start the season on time.  7 lbs is do-able and if you can even gain 2 lbs/week, which is still a healthy amount, you could cut your time without running in half.  And like hannahlouise said, work on coming to a compromise with your parents and doctors about some exercises you can do in the meantime.  And believe me, you're young and fit and will get back into racing shape in no time.  

Aww, I totally empathize on having to stop running to gain weight back.  I cried alot and was pretty hysterical after my parents and doctor told me, and I pretty much felt EXACTLY like you described.  Honestly though, once I gained some weight back (and yes some of it was fat), I actually got my best times ever and became MVP.  Unfortunately, I lost some weight and my periods stopped, so now I'm running alot less (ugh, its painful) and eating more so I can gain weight back in time for the season. 

People in situations like yours and mine just have to remember that we have to handle ourselves differently than others.  If someone at a healthy weight stops runnning and eats more, yeah its generally not a great move and will probably set them back in their training, but for someone who is underweight (you and me) running less and eating more is an ideal thing to do.  If one of your team members was sick or injured would you want them to run anyway or take some time to get better?  Think of yourself as being sick or injured, because being underweight is not healthy (no matter how much society seems to believe that skinny and thin correlate with health).

In addition, I agree with the others about trying to negotiate with your dietician, parents, etc.  I'm no doctor or dietician, and I don't know your medical history, but I think that as long as you are eating enough calories, you should be allowed to at least take part in some resistance excercises to add some more lean muscle mass to your body. 

Anyway, good luck, I really hope everything works out for you :)

You won't necessarily gain fat if you eat right. My dad was a bodybuilder for years and he just ate lots of protein and vegetables. He mainly stuck to chicken, fish, and egg whites. For vegetables he ate all the greens and that stuff, and for snacks in between he ate raisins and plain baked potatoes (packed with calories). And since you can't run, try pilates. It sounds really lame, but I used to run 4 miles every night and did pilates either on days off or before I ran and that stuff strengthens all your core muscles, and pretty much everything. It won't keep you in quite as good of shape as running but it will keep you strong and toned for sure.