Want to gain weight but also want to join soccer team

Over the course of about 4 months i dropped about 20 pounds.

recently my body has been weaker and im about 5'3 and 88 lbs.

i'm currently in the process of trying to maintain my weight. over the summer i was eating about 500-600 cals a day. but i have about tripled that and am eat 1500 a day. (gonna start increasing)

i want to join the high school soccer team but im worried it will

a.) make me lose more weight     b.) Take up too much of my homework time

c.) i will be too weak to make it       d.) i'll be the worse on the team.

I'm only focusing on a and c right now.

what do u guys recommend?

Gain some weight, then try for the soccer team.

About your homework, it's all about planning, unless you really have mountains of homework, you should be able to fit it all in nicely. Otherwise, there wouldn't be any non-academic activities in school, would there?

hi hun, 88lbs is way too low for your height,.  you are also eating too little for someone who i assume is a teenager.  you want and need to gain weight.  great job starting to recover and eating more, but will want to and need to get up to about 2500 to gain, especially since youre young active, you may need even more.

good luck

Hi,

88lbs at your height is far too little. You really need to gain weight before looking at taking sports.

First of all, your doctor and dietician are vital resources. It is so much easier to recover when you're not going it alone. Do you have a therapist to work with, too? While I commend you for starting to increase already you may find it easier to work with a team, plus may need blood tests done to check your health.

This does not mean it will be impossible for you to recover solo. An adult female needs 1200 calories minimum, a teenage girl - as you likely are - or an adult man need 1500 calories minimum, and a teenage boy 1800 calories minimum. That said, in recovering from undereating, calculators will not apply to you.

Your metabolism will likely be shot thanks to undereating. This is what is referred to as "starvation mode".

Dieting & Metabolism - This article explains starvation mode and why undereating is counter productive.

The Body Neglected - This is what happens when you undereat for an extended period of time.

It is, however, reversable. It sounds hard, but you'll want to get to a calorie intake of 2500 if you really want your metabolism to kick back into gear. At first this may physically be trouble for you as the stomach sometimes shrinks to adapt. As such, both to help you manage your foods, to make it easier to digest and to help your metabolism, I suggest:

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 get to 2500 first.

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 recovery 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. Think of food as your medicine to a healthier, happier you.

Do not exercise for the start of this, not even soccer. If you must exercise, weight 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, but I strongly suggest you gain weight before even considering soccer.

As I said at the beginning, if you are truly struggling do not feel you have to do it alone. Go to your doctor and ask for help and health checks. If you want some further online support, I suggest going to this website: http://www.something-fishy.org

I wish you lots of luck, and if you have any further questions please ask.

 - Ellie.

i'm trying to work my way up.

i dont want to eat unhealthy b/c i will only gain the weight back unhealthly and in bad places so im gradually doing this over time.

im trying to stick to 1500, i WILL work my way up.

i did lose my period, for about 3 months now...

The suggestions I made weren't unhealthy. I personally eat 90% clean and I have to make intakes of 3000+ a day - the 10% is due to needing soy products (hard to find unprocessed) and splurging once in a while. The lists at the top of the thread are also majority healthy foods.

Really, 1500 is the bare minimum someone your age and gender should be getting. You need to reach 2500.

Sweetie, as a former anorexic I must say it is good that you want to gain the weight healthy, but in saying that you dont want to gain weight in bad places..well you can't control that. That is something no one can. It's all about our genetics and all bodies are different. It doesnt matter if you eat healthy or unhealthy if you gain weight the pounds gained are going to go where they want to go. I wish we could decide, but it just isn't possible.

Also I know it's hard...but yes you def. need to work up your cals more then that. I have no clue how old you are, but if you are in your teens you def. need to be eating over 2,000. When I was hospitalized for my eating disorder a few years ago (I was 18, now I am 21.), they upped my calories each week and within two months they had me up to 3,500 calories if not a little more. If that gives you any idea of how much you should be eating to gain. (I lost my menstrual for 2 years, and just got it back last year..so I was thankful for that in the case of having children one day.)

88 pounds is far too low my dear, you should be at least 107 or higher at your height.) to gain weight and in a healthy manner I would suggest eating 6 times. 3 meals, 3 snacks. With each snack or meal at least 3 times a day drink Ensure it has plenty of vitamins and minerals and enough calories to help you reach your goal.

Trust me, you will have more energy and you will BE healthy. Being underweight is not healthy just as being over is. Being in the right range is healthy and you will look it to. I think it is far more important to have working limbs and energetic stride then wearing a size 00 (though I know how hard the distrotion is to get past.) Being on a path like this never ends you can either say I'm going to gain weight and get better and be healthy or you can just keep losing weight and as harsh as this sounds you will reach your death. (I almost did.)

But, being here I see you are getting help which is great. If you do join the soccer team, make sure you are eating getting over 2,000 calories might I say even 2,500? Since you are so young.

 

Good luck. :)

If you've lost your periods, if you're underweight, feeling weak and also very anxious about gaining weight 'unhealthily and in bad places'  then you need to talk to someone urgently rather than post on message boards.   You sound in quite poor shape medically and your health could be in a more precarious state than you think.   Losing weight rapidly and starving yourself to such an extent can but a strain on the heart, for example.   I'm sure your parents have noticed something's wrong and are worried about you.   Have you spoken to them or been to see a doctor?