Tall gainers!

Well, similar gainers, anyway. I'm wondering if anyone who's close to my stats (I'm 6'0, female, presently 110 recovering from anorexia, I do anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour of brisk walking daily still, and some basic strength routines) could give examples or what kind of things they have been eating or what plans they follow, how fast you sped up your intake and so on. I'm shooting at an intake of about 1800 at the moment - I've tried not to count it, today - and am pushing it up and up daily where I can.

My dilemma comes in that I don't want to gain too quickly, but have heard from most corners it is a good idea to bump it up into the 2000 range particularly if I might be hypermetabolic. x: However, I won't know anything specific for another week (blood test taken this morning) and don't want to suddenly be 4lbs heavier (exaggeration!) come Friday or something because I know it'll freak me out into restricting if I gain too quick. >< So I thought I'd ask around people who're close to my own stats, see what you guys think! D:

I'm probably just being overly concerned but until I get to see specialists on Monday I've been doing most of my starting recovery through guesswork and would like to hear what could be more accurate from people closer to my own body measurements. Thankyou <3

hi, 

i'm new here, but i see we have similar stats. i'm 5'10" and weigh 113. so far i'm consuming around 2,500 cals a day some times more. as for exercise, i mostly focus on weight training for around 45 mins. every other day. i also take easy walks around my neighborhood, nothing intense, just normal walking, it's a great time to just think. i hope that info helps you some. now as for gaining, i don't really know what's going on, because i do not own a scale. i've been doing this "plan" for almost a month now, and my clothes feel a tiny bit tighter, but not to much, but i have to remember that that is good thing. if you ever want to talk you can defiantly p.m. me, i feel not so "alone" now that i see someone else with similar stats. 

2,500? Crikey. I'm assuming you're female too xD I take walks for pretty much the same reason - to think, because it helps clear my head big time - as well as knowing I'd feel a bit guilty not doing anything! I'm limiting myself to weigh-ins whenever I see my doctor, had one today and so far haven't seen much progress D: Thankyou for being so helpful, though! Yay tall people :D'

I'm still open to replies, obviously - the more the merrier <3

yay tall people!

i was hesitant to get to 2500, because i saw that i was averaging around 1000 before, however within a week i got up to 2500 and have stayed there since. i upped my calories 500 every other day. i know it seems scary and a lot all at once, but you can do it! i truly believe because we all tall, that our bodies need more. i'm a little scared but i think im going to be trying for 3000 cals a day, because i truly haven't seen really any gain. but just know this, now after adding these calories i feel soo soo much better, happier, just overall feeling good!

oh yes, and i am a female ;)

Hey! Ok i'm not as tall, I'm 5'8/ 5'9 ish. I've seen different things. I sort of just stopped counting and slowly increased. I did go see a couple of nutritionists, but part of my compulsive habits involve knowing absolutely everything nutrition related so both of them just said to keep up what I was doing and didn't really know what else to tell me.

When I first started recovery back in December/ January, I actually lost even more weight. I was down to about 101 in December but had been pretty much immoble for months. When I started eating more I had more energy so I was walking more, classes started again, and I went down to 97. since then I've just been increasing slowly to whatever my stomach will allow. I didn't see a gain for several months though. And it's been a slow proccess. I know we have this irrational fear of getting fat overnight, but it just doesn't happen that way. it's not possible. Gaining weight is a slow proccess and takes a lot of patience and work.

for the last several weeks I've averaged b/w 3000 and 4000 calories a day. It's really tiring and the bloating sucks but it's the only way I've been able to gain anything. My advice would be to honestly, stop counting and just eat as much as possible. At first you might want to estimate to make sure you're above 2000, but once you know you can do that easily, just add in anything you can. Things that have helped me have been to switch to full fat everything. buy some whole milk powder or protein powder and make smoothies with it, add it to milk, yogurt, cereal, anywhere dairy would go. Use olive oil to cook anything, or pour it on your salads. It's a really great way to add calories and good fats. Grab a handful of nuts every time you go by the kitchen, or eat spoonfuls of pb. I also eat about every 2 hours.

I also had to cut back on most of my exercise for a while. I did light yoga once or twice a week. Now I'm back up past 105, not sure exactly how much though because I stopped weighing. I actually hid the scale from myself, and I highly suggest you do this too! Since I'm more confident in my weight gain now I've started trying to add in a little exercise again. I'll do some free weights once in a while, or go sit on the stationary bike for 15 minutes or so. I don't know how much this actually does as far as exercise but I feel a bit more sane getting in some activity.

I don't want to make this even longer, but message me if you want any more tips! You're doing great!

Eee, thankyou, gibbit. <3 I suppose I should ask generally, now I think on it: I do briskly walk for about 30-50 minutes a day, as well as light strength training (basic positions from the floor and stuff) which burns probably about 250-350 on top of things. My BMR tends to come up anywhere between 1400 to 1500 at sedentary, so I guess on top of that I'd need to be eating about 850 extra calories? D: 2250, or should I aim for more? Oh man, I have no idea. I wish I could let go enough to just eat what I think is the right sort of thing and roll with it. -__-

I have been eating close to 3000 for the past week and havent gained anything. i lost two pounds.  soooo i am going to keep pushing it up. at this point i dont care if i am eating 6000 calories each day i just need to gain weight.  I suggest stop trying to count and been like oh i can only hit the 3000 range. just start gaining weight.  Its a hard mindset to come too.  but if you fight that voice thats telling you only to intake 1800 or whatever. then you will be well on your way.

Oh man. I guess I am probably going to need high numbers to really see movement, but I am going to stock up on decent foods next time I get to go shopping (tomorrow or Tuesday, probably tomorrow) and really try and go for this. I haven't been counting, today, but I worry I have undereaten and honestly would bring myself to count if only for that - except I know if I start counting I'll get picky about being exact and end up weighing everything. -__-

I asked it within the ED club but I'll do it here, too: how long did it take for you guys to lose the initial water weight? I think I have oedema around my ankles and while I am going to tell my GP asap I have a feeling this may just be where I have started taking in food again, water weight and so on. :s Did it eventually just flush out? 

hey lala- 

as i mentioned in my other post, i basically "jumped" from 1000 cals to 2500-3000 in one week, and i seriously have experienced no water retention whatsoever! the reason because of this is i drink a ton of water (at least 4 liters) i know it seems like a lot, but i believe i feel so amazing is because i am continually flushing a lot of the extra sodium from my body. i still have yet to see a change in my body, however i do know that i am feeling much better as i feed my body. :D

hi im new here

just starting the weight gain process again. im tall too and i think i may have even grown slightly since my ed started which is worse but anyway my stats are; 5'8/ 5'9 ish and i'm VERY low in weight which is hard because im trying to find a stable level of cal for my body not to go into shock mode from eating so little to something that is somewhat sustainable.

how long should i wait till i get past say 1500.. i'm around 800 -1000 atm because of the refeeding dangers that my doctors and therapists are worried about. im not doing any exercise at all just basic going to and from school, walking round, driving. little normal things like that.

i wanna up the cal but am scared coz i know im going to have to go very high to gain. i have been alot more positive and alert though since eating regularly so theres a pos coming out of this.

svetlana what was it like 'jumping' so greatly? you are so brave and strong for doing so.. would love to know what it felt like

thanks

hey im tall to im nearly 5 eleven and weigh 49kg at the mo. at present im eating 2500 a day and gaining about 2ibs a week. i totally understand your worries . i think you need to get your calories up as soon as you can. i know its hard but your so tall . i just found the longer i left it the harder and more tormenting it was. i know the risks of refeeding symdrome but i think youd be ok going up to 2500, obviously i can understand if you weight to see your specialists im no expert . i d say id do the same exercise as you although i have osteophrosis so im a bit fragile  at the mo. most doctors say dont do anything until your a bmi of 18.5 but my theapist says little walks are fine. i couldnt bare not to get out for a walk especially with all the battling in my head. im always on here so if you ever fancy a chat im here . take care and well done in desiding to try and beat this h x

Kayla: I am the same height at you, and was also at an extremely low weight last summer and fall.

After I stabilized myself and could start eating solid food without complications - I increased up to 2600- 2800. I had reached about 2200-2400 on a soft foods and liquid diet (took about 4 weeks going up from ~100 a day) and I stayed at that amount of calories for several weeks while I transistioned back to solid foods. I stayed at 2600-2800 for about a month or two before I stopped gaining entirely and started losing.

I ended up eating 3600-4000 calories a day for all of March and April, gaining about a pound a week most of that time. I increased by about 1400 calories withinn a 15 day time span because I decided it was taking too long for me to get the weight on. Initially, I was afraid and I did move slowly. But eventually I came to the decision that I wanted to fix my metabolism, eat like woah and never have to worry about that fear or feeling of needing to restrict again. Gaining on a high amount of calories gave me that freedom - and even though I am still gaining here and there - I am no longer afraid of it or food.

Hello there, im not as tall as you but im about 5"6 or so. I went from eating under 200 calories a day for months on end to about 1500, then 2500 in about a week. Now im around 2000 and working slowly upwards. I went from 106 to 115 last time I checked in about a week and a half. I know what you mean it is a struggle and im having a really hard time with the weight gain, but im starting to do some cardio and strength traning so I can build muscle and put on healthy weight. Good luck were all in this together :)

Omg, for a second here I thought lala had relapsed - that really was sending me into a tailspin! *Old thread alert*

I agree with rebel (when she arrived at the decision where she wanted to fix her metabolism). I'm not tall, but I pumped up the calories in a big way to reboost my metabolism. It's the best way. Yup, my body went into shock, but it adjusted (and for a period went totally hypermetabolic). It will take a huge physiological and psychological adjustment, but ultimately this really is the better option. It's the only way you'll be able to eat "normally" again.

Nina, when you upped your calories quite a bit, how long did it take for your metabolism to settle and adjust to it? Also how did you cope with this mentally, like I struggle with activity levels and so whenever I do actually make any calorie increases unfortunately my activity shoots with it. How did you work about combatting that?

Hey betty :)

I was totally sedentary. At first I made like leaping gain within the period of about 3 weeks - approx 3 kilograms/6 pounds. I kept eating like crazy and my weight started to DROP. This is while I was completely sedentary. Now, I ditched the scales after a while but kept eating large amounts. I can tell you that I looked after about a month and my weight had barely shifted. I really don't know what was going on... It really depends on so many variables. It will change so much from person to person. I previously just ran around like a mad woman day in and out, and so I imagine my internal organs probably needed a lot of repair (God only knows). Mentally? This is a hard one. I really struggled with it. But to be honest with you I have a lot of mental *issues*. I'm sort of used to trauma, if that makes any sense. In a way I think I subconsciously manifest it for myself - I have been doing this for an entire lifetime. Everything for me is always *extreme* (something I really need to try to rectify). So really, I can't give you any hints there. I'm used to the extremities. At some point you just need to force yourself to face the fears, whatever they may be. I tend to do so in extreme ways. That sort of... hastens the process. But balance is what I need to work on. I just don't want to freak you out or deter you betty, I know you're struggling. And I KNOW how hard it is. I just send you my love, truly I do. I really do empathise xoxox And I WANT you to be healthy. If that means taking time off physical activities completely, you should do it. You really should. You need to be around to be able to fight the fight, if you catch my drift...

i guess people think when you get to a healthy weight everything ok , but it isnt is it ? the battle begins and the mind is one of the hardest things to change i think whereever we are we need to beat this nasty disorder h x

im confused i thought lalabanana was doing ok have you relapsed i hope not h x

Hey helen, lala is doing okay - this is just an old thread which has been revived (she posted it in July of last year). The mental aspect is the difficult part, most certainly. I for one had "problems" before my ED developed. ED was simply a manifestation of my inner conflicts. Sure enough, it didn't serve to solve any of them - instead it gave me a new set, and worsened the pre-existing ones. It was a distraction of sorts. It was my sort of safety blanket. Kind of like dragging an old, smelly, putrid "safety blankie" around the place when all it's doing is contributing to my misery and keeping me from whatever it is I should be doing. The bloody thing darn near suffocated me toward the end.

oh i see nina i was very confused , thanks for sharing with me how it is for you that must be so hard to deal with , wish there was something i could do to help . i know that feeling , it like we put the ed there to make things better and at first you think it is but thats very short lived and you realise just what a mess your in thinking of you h x

i couldnt understand it as lanabanana was giving out such supportive advice then this glad shes doing ok h x

It takes time after weight restoration for the mind to get healthy as well. I think that is why it is key to also work on regaining a life with new goals for school/job,hobbies etc and also to work on the issues. You can't recover though unless you are physically healthy and to be able to work on the other issues it is key to have a healthy body. I know that now cause for many years I tried to recover by still controlling my body. It does not work. You have to reach a healthy weight.

I have done weight restoration in many different ways. I did have a refeeding issue in the hospital which was unpleasant and scary. Anyhow all the programs I have been they start you admit day regardless of what you were eating at 1600 then 1800 then you keep going. In one program I was up to 3000 in a week. When I had my relaspe op I worked with the nutritionist and she increased me every 2 days by 200 and once I did a 500 increase. Really the constant changing of plans is hard to adjust to and the end result needs to be a healthy weight though scary.

Kayla if your docs are fearing refeeding issues did they mention a hospital setting to just get you on track and then you can do it op? If this is not an option can you see a nutritionist or can they set you up with a plan

On a side note it really shows you how far lalabana has come. She is worried about 2000 and we all know her stand now of eating at least 2500. Where has she been is she ok? I hope so

Thanks for the advise and support Nina, you give out some really good tips and encouragement to people here, a lot of which I have found very benefical.

I hope your doing well,

xox