Am I too thin? 5'3.5" 103 lbs

Dr_Mouse

Ok, so I know the stats make me appear sickly. However, I have a very petite bone structure. I also am very flat-chested with a short torso. I feel like I should gain some weight, but I need motivation! I am going to stop calorie counting, because this restrict/binge habit has caused me to become too focused on body image. I need some reassurance that gaining weight, eating clean, and not OBSESSING over calories is the right thing to do!

Sommerville_Nutrition

103 is fairly thin but the question is how healthy do you feel. And what is your BMI? Are you an athlete? Do you have much muscle for your frame. More muscle would be better. Do you binge purge? I don't have to tell you the ramifications of that. Healthy calories like nuts are the best for some weight gain and protein powder obviously. Thicker juices. Not pop. Stay away from bad sugars and junkie white processed foods.

Dr_Mouse

BMI is under the healthy range...I'd like to put on muscle, but I'm also afraid of putting on fat. I haven't drank juice or pop for so long, I hate the taste now. And I generally stay away from processed foods as much as possible.

I'm not an athlete, but I work out every day, usually 30 min of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training (different muscle group each day). I'm also a freshman at college, so walking and sitting in classes usually comprise most of my day.

How many extra calories should I eat to start putting on muscle but avoid gaining fat? It's just so hard because if I eat even one large meal, I tend to feel bloated for the rest of the day. :-(

Kymmu

Your stats are almost identical to mine.
I feel good and like the shape I'm in.
If you re eating healthy food, feel good and are naturally small I think this is a great weight to be.

PacManBrah

I know that feel I've been at your stat partly b/c of harsh side effects of some meds but I've always been an under eater. At the time I shrunk to at/under 28" at the waist and pants were loose (skinny jeans), for a female it's not to bad but if your a male people will say you look unhealthy lol.

Start small if you try to add on too many cals too fast you'll just end up regressing, I'd say log a week and if you maintain 103 take note and add 250. You can reweigh yourself everyday I do but it's a bit ocd, what counts is your weekly weigh in and if your still same weight at the end of the week add another 250 cals.

I wouldn't worry too much about the exercise side, since your underweight you'll initially add water weight and muscle vs. fat so I wouldn't be concerned. Dunno what your goal weight is but it's probably not over 125 which in my case once I go into 130s my waist is above 28" around 30-31" but still have abs....So if your like me you won't break 15% bf

girlviernes

Fat is a good thing for women! You are underweight and putting on a little bit of fat will do your body a lot of good. You can't gain muscle without any fat, so if you are going to gain weight (which is a great decision), just do it by eating healthy and doing healthy things. I don't know how much you've been restricting, but you'd probably do well to go for 3 good sized meals per day with three food groups (filling at least a dinner plate) and 2-3 snacks per day with 2 food groups. If you don't gain any weight on that regimen, you can start to add in more food or supplement with some nutrition shakes like ensure to bump up your daily intake by 500 calories. I think eating this way will really go a long way towards getting you out of the restrict-binge cycle. However, it's all easy to lay out but can be hard to really do, so getting professional help is always advisable.

girlviernes

Your stats are almost identical to mine.
I feel good and like the shape I'm in.
If you re eating healthy food, feel good and are naturally small I think this is a great weight to be.

Some people are naturally this size and healthy at it, but if someone is restricting and bingeing it is likely that they are underweight.

Squatch3099

EAT Healthy Foods , take vitamins and get lots of exercise! Stop worrying!

SomeNights246

Given that I see several red flags in this thread (especially the restrict/binge comment), I'm going to say you probably are too thin. And that you probably should stop calorie counting. For now, don't worry about muscle. Concern yourself with that later. For now, get to an ideal weight. Worry about the rest later. Your mind will thank you.

Also, given the red flags, don't think of any foods as bad. For some of us, we need to get away from that thought pattern - as it is part of what causes us to obsess. No food is inherently bad. Unless you have an allergy or digestive issues or some other health reason to avoid it.

potluck965

In and of themselves, those numbers are not bad. I was 102 pounds at 5'2" when I was your age. But, I ate anything and everything, even though I had no conception of what was a really healthy diet. A couple of Big Macs and large french fries were standard after a night of drinking. Sigh.

However, you should not need to restrict your calories to be there. You need to concentrate on healthy eating and try some weight training. I wish I would have had that sort of advice way back then when I was younger, but women didn't do stuff like that.

I was trying to work a sort of physical job and I didn't have any strength. Later on in my life I started learning more about building muscle, of course by then I was also a heck of a lot bigger.

DjinnMarie

I'm just under 5'4" and also have an extremely small frame. If it weren't for muscle, I would be close to your weight. You can increase your weight without increasing your fat or upping your BF% by lifting weights. Feel free to view my pictures.

JazzFischer1989

You don't need to lose weight and you shouldn't be so afraid of putting on fat. You should probably see a therapist if you have a habit of binging and restricting.

DopeItUp

Asks if too thin.

Provides zero pictures.

So uhh...yes? no? maybe?

But probably.