Do I need to gain weight?

harmonicDanute
harmonicDanute Posts: 7 Member
in Getting Started
Hi all, I hope you are having a good day.

I'm new here and would really welcome some advice on my weight.

I am 19 years old, female, very tall (6'0) and underweight (8st10) -- that's a BMI of 16.5.

The thing is, I have always been very thin and tall, so am unsure if this is "healthy" for me or not. My weight has fluctuated a lot over time due to issues with depression and anxiety. I periodically lose my appetite for no reason I can identify, struggle to eat and lose weight as a result. I also used to have pretty disordered ways of eating when I was younger (starving myself, fasting-bingeing cycles, over-exercise.) So I don't know if I might have gained weight had I been eating better at that time.

I've moved on from that now and try to eat whenever my body is "hungry" or craving food. Three meals a day when I can; I try not to skip breakfast particularly. I've gone through phases of trying to eat more to gain weight (though without tracking calories) and gained nothing. Maybe, then, this is just my body's natural weight. I do feel tired most of the time, and sometimes get dizzy/faint, but I think that's due to other causes.

What do you think? Should I just keep trying to maintain my current weight, or should I aim to gain a few pounds -- if the latter, do you have any advice for doing so?

Thank you for reading

Replies

  • ryanflebbe
    ryanflebbe Posts: 188 Member
    See a doctor for proper advice. Focus on nutritious foods and to gain weight eat more calories than you burn. If you don't track calories you won't know if you are eating enough day after day. Lift weights so the weight gained will be nudged toward being muscle and not fat.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    That is very underweight. Yes, you need to eat more. See if you can get a referral to a registered dietician to help you out.
  • micheleewat
    micheleewat Posts: 5 Member
    I agree you should see a nutritionist and make sure that when you do eat you are eating the right things. I have a problem, though, with people trying to gain weight on purpose unless they are body builders or wrestlers and the like.

    I think a lot of it could just be your age. I didn't gain weight naturally until I was almost 25. When I was in 5th grade the doctor gave me pills to make me gain weight. They just made me hungry, so I quit taking them. Then, when I was pregnant at 17 I wasn't gaining enough weight to make the doctors happy. Some tried to make me drink Ensure. The one I listened to was the one who said, "Well, that's all you can do. I don't want you to stuff yourself," when I told him I ate when I was hungry.

    Even well into my 20s I would lose my appetite, even when I was hungry. I just accepted it and ate when I was ready.

    So make sure you are eating healthily, but I would shy away from anyone who tries to force feed you or give you supplements that only discourage you.

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