Struggling to gain weight

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paris9275
paris9275 Posts: 1
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hi everyone! I'm 15 years old. I'm 5'3" and I currently weight 89 lbs. Two years ago, I was hospitalized for anorexia. After treatment, I was up to my goal weight of 105 lbs. However, this past year, life has gotten in the way, and prevented me from taking care of myself. I've lost a lot of weight and my period. My doctor is going to let me try to gain weight on my own before he sends me to other treatment. I want to be healthy again, but I'm struggling. I want to try this website to monitor what I'm eating so I know that I'm eating enough, not to count calories or restrict. In order to be successful, I wanted to ask all you nutrition savvy folks a few question. I'm pretty sedentary as of right now, by the way, as my sports seasons are over. I was wondering how many calories should I be eating now to gain weight in a healthy, steady way? Then once I return to my goal weight, how many calories should I eat to maintain my weight?

Replies

  • susanevenden
    susanevenden Posts: 16
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    I was wondering how many calories should I be eating now to gain weight in a healthy, steady way? Then once I return to my goal weight, how many calories should I eat to maintain my weight?

    I am sure your Doctor would be able to advise you on this. Considering your current weight I would not want to give you advise about calorie intake.

    Although I have never struggled with an eating disorder, I have always been a bit obsessive about weight and food intake and I'd be happy to talk with you and support you on your journey.

    Susan
  • Bun_Ya
    Bun_Ya Posts: 174
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    Going by a TDEE calculator, you should eat 1542 calories per day and, once at your goal weight, maintain at 1490 calories per day (assuming you remain sedentary, more if your season has started).
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    congrats on your recovery, i am in maintenance for my recovery after gaining. i was supposed to be eating 2200 to gain, but i was not eating as much, as i was part of a research study for those diagnosed with anorexia that had me on a medication that made me gain stupidly fast. there are plenty of websites that you can calculate based on your current weight height and activity level what your maintenance calories are, and what you would need to gain.

    it can be hard to eat a lot of calories when you are not used to it, so try to eat calorie dense foods. avocados, add olive oil to cooking or to salads, sunflower seeds, nuts, full fat versions of dairy and other foods (avoid diet/low cal versions of foods), nuts/nut butters, bananas, regular coconut milk.

    your doctor has not gone over any numbers with you? for me, at 5'4 I was told to eat at least 2000 calories but as i was gaining from the meds i got myself up to about 13-1500. not sure what i eat now, as logging is a big trigger for me to relapse, but i would guestimate at 5'4 and currently sedentary because i fractured my foot and i am not hiking, at maintenance i prolly eat around 1600-1700 a day. but again i have no idea, as logging is a trigger for me, may not be for you.

    make sure you speak to your doctor speficially about this, and have blood work drawn to make sure your levels are okay. is your doctor an eating disorder specialist? if not, then i would try to find one to work with.

    best of luck!

    ps, as you are under 18 tecbhnically you should not be here. there are other similar websites for teens, such as sparkteens.com
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    for myself, to avoid the feeling of being too full i upped my cals by about 100 a week until i was up from 700/800 a day to around 14/1500 a day. simply bc if i tried to eat that much more after have been restricting for years, it was very uncomfortable for me physically and mentally so upping it in small amounts was more productive. each person is different though when it comes to recovery.

    i recommended checking out any resources offered by neda if you have not already. eating disorders anonnymous has nice support groups as well via chat rooms, phone or in person meetings.
  • nofoodforthemood
    nofoodforthemood Posts: 64
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    Hi everyone! I'm 15 years old. I'm 5'3" and I currently weight 89 lbs. Two years ago, I was hospitalized for anorexia. After treatment, I was up to my goal weight of 105 lbs. However, this past year, life has gotten in the way, and prevented me from taking care of myself. I've lost a lot of weight and my period. My doctor is going to let me try to gain weight on my own before he sends me to other treatment. I want to be healthy again, but I'm struggling. I want to try this website to monitor what I'm eating so I know that I'm eating enough, not to count calories or restrict. In order to be successful, I wanted to ask all you nutrition savvy folks a few question. I'm pretty sedentary as of right now, by the way, as my sports seasons are over. I was wondering how many calories should I be eating now to gain weight in a healthy, steady way? Then once I return to my goal weight, how many calories should I eat to maintain my weight?

    If you go to the goals section on MFP and type in everything you just wrote it will tell you exactly what you need to gain weight. And once you get there it will tell you how much to maintain.

    I'm a binge eater in recovery. I have no idea what you are going through but I do know that numbers can drive people like us who have maladaptive eating disorders crazy. So try not to focus on the numbers too much. You are welcome to add me as a friend :)

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