Should I stop it?

So far everyday, I've been managing to eat around 1000-1050 everyday in normal food and feel bloated, and I end up stuffing at least 150-200 calories in me in pure candy at the end of the day, because it's the only thing that doesn't make me feel any fuller. I know this is bad, I want to gain on healthy foods but everyday I HAVE to eat candy or I won't reach my minimum 1200. Advice please? I mean, I can't even things like nuts and pb because my stomach hurts too much..

Is it you literally cannot have nuts and PB, or won't? At the end of the day I bet you they will make your stomach hurt a lot less than eating sweets each day to make 1200 will.

There is a list of high-calorie food options at the top of the forum that would also help you make it. Half an avocado is about 200 calories, sometimes slightly more. A tablespoon of olive oil is 120. What is your ultimate calorie goal, your height, your weight and your age?

Try the Ensure drinks.  High-cal, yummy and LOADED with nutrients.  People drink them a lot when their mouths are too sore for chewing, like if they had some type of surgery.


Google them and you'll find the site.  You can order them online, too.

How about one or two warm glasses of milk?  Helps you sleep too! =]

It's just even the pb and nuts fill me up too much, but I always have some during the day. Unfortuantely I can't drink Ensure or milk because I'm allergic to dairy :(

I second the advice to choose more things like milk and protein shakes.   Starting early and eating and drinking 'little and often' may help you eat more during the day.   If you choose easily digested foods that aren't too filling you may have more success.   Avocado, for example, or mashed banana.   And try to avoid eating too many low-energy, filling foods like vegetables.    But you do have to get used to eating regular foods in bigger quantities and you've also got to drop the idea that you can only gain weight with 'healthy' foods.   All food is good when you're underweight.   Plenty of jam and butter on the toast.  Pastries, sauces, cheese, cakes....   Practice makes perfect so do persevere.    Plan your day better so that you fit it all in and... of course... enjoy the chocolates as part of that.     

I am lactose intolerant and I still manage 3-4000 a day. If you cannot eat dairy eat alternatives. Make Ensure with soy milk. Eat more of the nuts even if they feel filling - push through it. Try avocado as Jane said, or bananas. Again, there is a list of high calorie food at the top of the forum.

You're kind of missing my general question though :/.. Is it okay to be eating the candy to bump it up at the end of the day? I don't care about the calories, it's just I'm trying to be fairly healthy. Should I stop eating candy and eat something else instead?

It's OK to eat anything at all (including candy) and at any time of day.  But if you planned your day out better .... a bigger breakfast, more snacks, larger portions at mealtimes, 'fattening' high-calorie foods.... you wouldn't be playing catch-up late on in the day and you could actually start gaining weight (on 2500 cals+) rather than continuing to undereat... which is where you are now.

I know you were asking about the candy. Like Jane said it's fine to eat candy, but I would say not every single day. Some days, sure, go for it. Others aim for something different like the suggestions given. Overall you need to be eating a lot more than just 1200 which is why I ask again: age, height, weight and goals?

I'm 15, 5'7' and 103 pounds. I was eating around a low 300 calories a day for a LONG while, and I've slowly made my way up. My weight is so slow and I have so little muscle though that i actually gain on 1600, and 1200 is what my body needs to maintain, so if I reach that I know I'm safe. BUT, I'm trying to do more, and starting tomorrow I plan on eating at LEAST 1350 calories :)

At 15, 5'7 and 103 you've got a BMI of 16.1, which is severely underweight. So yes, you indeed need to gain.

The only reason your body would gain on 1600 is due to starvation mode, where your body holds every last thing it can get in expectance of a famine. Water, food, calories. Explained:

1. High calorie, low density foods. These are foods that are as the name says - high in calories but low in bulk. These are not only vital in the sense that they can still easily be broken down by a stomach trying to mend itself but also because they add calories without adding bulk. Examples of these would be whole fat dairy, nuts and nut butters, avocado, oils like olive oil and canola (rapeseed) oil as two examples, oily fish, dried fruit and dense fruit like bananas as just a handful of examples. There are two threads stickied at the top of this forum: Support Recipes and The Official High-Cal Food List. The first of these is a list of example recipes that are tasty, high calorie and helpful in gaining. The second is a more general list of foods that will also help in gaining.
   
2. Eat your meals spaced out over the day - aim for about five to six total. Breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, and dinner, or switching one of those snacks for an evening snack would be an example. This is both to make it easier on your stomach and to help rev your metabolism. Do not skip them. If it is easier for you, devise a meal plan routine by yourself or with a nutritionist and stick with it.
   
3. This is an important one: do not weigh or measure yourself for two weeks when beginning refeeding. Why? Because our body will hold to a large amount of water initially. This water shows up on the scale, but is not a true indication of weight gain and will flush out after two weeks. However, seeing any increase can understandably be triggering for a recovering undereater and as such you should find someone to hide your scales and your measuring tapes until two weeks from managing a steady 2500. If numbers trigger you full stop, I highly recommend you steer clear of scales altogether and ask your doctor to blind weigh you.
   
4. If you eat a steady 2500, and then find you are maintaining or even losing weight, you will need to increase. Do not think about this just yet - just aim for 2500 first at a pace you feel comfortable with.

The physical dangers that come with undereating and being underweight are numerous. You put yourself at risk of osteoporosis, of loss of fertility if you lose your period, hair loss, electrolyte problems, a weakening of the immune system, low blood pressure, blood disorders such as anemia, heart problems, and even death. From The Body Neglected: Between 5% and 20% of people who develop [anorexia] eventually die from it. The mental woes that come alongside can be just as devestating. Depression is common in undereaters, as well as distorted perceptions and problems like Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

Do not worry about nutrition at this point. You will probably have a higher intake of everything compared to others - and really, comparing yourself to anyone else at all isn't the way to go. The only thing I personally think is worth watching in gaining is salt and trans fat, and if you are missing your period make sure you get plenty of healthy fats from oils, nuts, seeds and nut butters, avocados, oily fish, and so on, but any other nutrients and food groups? Don't worry about it. Aim for carbs, proteins, fruit or veg, healthy fats and dairy in all your meals over the day and take a full multivitamin as a buffer, and you'll be fine. Remember to treat yourself to what you might call less healthy - like the candy you've mentioned - from time to time and when you feel like it. Manage a balance. Think of food as your medicine to a healthier, happier you.

If you want to, you would likely be alright to weight lift right now. Lift to rebuild destroyed muscle and do light, resistance exercise like yoga ONLY. Cardiovascular exercising is completely counter-productive during weight gain unless you are willing to eat back everything you burn. If your doctor, nutritionist or another professional tells you not to exercise at all, not even weights or yoga/pilates, then listen to them.

Go your doctor and ask for help and health checks; you do not have to do this alone. If you want some further online support, I suggest going to this website: http://www.something-fishy.org.

Hope this helps, and make sure you reach that 1350 and beyond even if you feel uncomfortable. 2500 is a goal but not one you have to jump straight to. Take it at your pace but try, if you can, to reach it within two weeks. Your body will thank you in the long run.

- Ellie.

Yes, but it has been set up by my nutrionist to get to 1600 calories, and then gain on that, and then as I gain weight I'll need more calories and we''ll keep on raising it. It's already been worked out :). So that's what I'm working towards for now.

A lot of the time nutritionists are incorrect. You could ask a lot of the girls and guys gaining in here. They've been told [xyz] and gotten to 2500+ anyway and either found they don't gain or still gain at a slow, steady rate.

There are a lot of options to try if you are lactose intolerant - rice milk, almond milk, hemp milk, soy milk... even goat milk is often tolerated by lactose-intolerant people. There's also special lactose free cow's milk or you can take pills to help you break down the lactose...

If you're finding it hard to handle a lot of solid foods, adding protein powder to rice milk, etc, might help you get the extra calories you need. If you get full too fast, protein drinks or calorie rich soups can be sipped a little a time so you're not putting too much in your stomach at once. And you can add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to your protein drink or soup and you won't even taste it, but it will add an extra 120 calories. Also, processed cheese slices are 60 calories each, and not too hard on the stomach - again you can probably find soy versions. I've found that since food makes me very sick also, protein drinks and soups are what I use most. Also remember that feeling full isn't a bad thing.

In any case, it's definitely true your nutritionist may be incorrect. I've been up to 4000 calories and not gaining. Your body may need a lot more calories than the average person. And the average person needs around 2000 calories a day just to provide the energy their body needs to live, without exercise.

Putting 2 tablespoons of olive oil in something you eat (protein drink, soup, salad, mashed potatoes, whatever) will provide the extra calories you need to get to your minimum calorie level, without making you feel bloated. And although we're not concerned about 'eating healthy' at this point, having olive oil to make up the calories is still better for you and more nutritious than eating candy every day.

What are some good nut butters? I've made myself completely sick of pb, and I know I don't like almond, cashew, pecan, or walnut butter. Suggestions?

Try soynut butter and macadamia nut butter.

ok i have the same stats as you except im 22....and did the same **** with the nutritionist telling me to eat 1500-1800 cals a day to gain... if you want to eat that and have to maintain your weight WAY under those numbers you whole life go for it... but i can TELL YOU increasing makes it much better(THANKS TO ARGUSKIN!) ... if you are getting "BLOATED" so you say on 1050 cals your not eatting the right foods im sorry but if you put 2 tblsp of PB on 2 pieces of higher cal bred thats 300 cals and 200 for PB you have 500 cals right there and barely any bloat... go about gaining the right way please its for the better