Messing around with my appetite

surfergirljane
surfergirljane Posts: 9 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I'm going to preface this post with saying this may sound a little silly but bear with me. Also warning, it will probably be a little long!

So growing up I was always small and skinny, very active in dance, soccer, running etc. When I hit my mid-late teens I gained quite a bit of weight, despite still doing a bucketload of exercise - on two soccer teams, school sport, running and gym. At 5'1 I think the heaviest I was was 56 kilos (123 pounds) which on my very very petite frame was way to heavy for me.
Looking back I do realise the reason I was so heavy was the sheer amount of food i was eating, 4 slices of toast, huge bowls of pasta, a big chicken and salad roll for morning tea and then another for lunch. Basically the food wasn't too bad but the quantity was out of control.

Once I finished high school I took a year off to travel and work (in a nightclub) and over that period and the following years the weight just seemed to melt off of it's own accord. I remember coming back from a trip to Europe aged 23 and being down to 47 kgs (103 pounds). My eating had sort of naturally got itself to a stage where I would eat when I was hungry, stop when I was full and eat healthy food most of the time. It wasn't something I ever tried to make happen, I've never dieted as such, but over time it's just sort of regulated itself.

After a pretty stressful past year I've found myself losing even more weight to sit at 42 kilos at my lowest (92 pounds) where I just looked terrible - drawn and skinny. Despite still eating the stress just seemed to burn away the food.

Basically, I'm now at a reasonable 44 kilos (95 pounds) and while I like the appearance of my body, I have started strength training to try and gain some muscle. My trainer has said I really have to eat more then I currently do to drive muscle growth, however I'm scared that after finally having my appetite get itself into order whereby my body naturally stays the same weight without any work, that 'force feeding' myself (which is literally what I have to do in order to get all the calories I'm meant to according to mfp) will really mess with my appetite/abililty to regulate my food intake? I guess I've just been one of those people that never has to think about dieting etc - I don't think about food in between meals, when I'm hungry I eat, when I'm full I don't eat. I'm just scared to mess with my bodies natural balance.

Meh, kind of a rant, kind of just looking for reassurance that by eating more then I feel I need doesn't mean I'm going to totally mess up my natural appetites and end up back at 125 pounds... if that makes any sense :)

Any comments are more then welcome. Thank you!

Replies

  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    I very much doubt you ar now at a reasonable weight, your measurements say you are underweight, and it sounds like your trainer agrees too. You have actually the exact same weight as my 10 year old (who is not overweight and is a couple of inches shorter, and obviously also has no curves, breasts etc). Your heaviest was still not overweight, especially if you were also athletic at the time so a good amount of this must have been muscle. You were not overweight even if you were a couch potato with no muscle at all. Maybe it is time to talk to a dr to see why you are so afraid of gaining weight? Or with a dietician to make a plan about what you should be eating?
  • zenalasca
    zenalasca Posts: 563 Member
    Why don't you try sneaking healthy fats into your foods. It will add lots of calories without even making it seem like you're eating more. Avacado, peanut butter, dark chocolate and olive oil are generally regarded as healthy and calories for those things add up quickly.
  • PixieQueen25
    PixieQueen25 Posts: 118 Member
    (123 pounds)

    I am not a DR by any means.You should probably see a doctor. But I have studied "healthy weights" a long time. (because I know I am no where near mine.

    But for you it seems somewhere between 100 and 125 is a good healthy range for you. You need to realize as others have said, you probably gained a lot of muscle. And even if you do gain a few pounds it should be good for you. Eat healthy snacks here and there. Make sure also your eating enough calories for the amount of energy you need to get through your day.

    -reference WEB MD
  • misschoppo
    misschoppo Posts: 463 Member
    I very much doubt you ar now at a reasonable weight,

    Your heaviest was still not overweight,

    95lbs is not an unreasonable weight for someone so short and also you have no idea of her frame without seeing photos, some people are smaller framed than others even if they are the same height and BMI scale is an indicator but not the only tool to determine whether you are a healthy weight or not.OP was not happy with how she looked at her heaviest weight so you telling her she was not overweight is kind of irrelevant, she didn't feel comfortable at that size.


    OP you don't need to suddenly force yourself to eat huge portions, just try to gradually up your calorie intake week by week then it will not feel as daunting & you can monitor your progress in a controlled way and tweak your intake according to the progress you are making. If your focus is now on strength training and building muscle you might also want to try to focus on your visual appearance and a tape measure not just the scales as what you see is probably more important than the number. Also like zenalasca said there are loads of quite calorie dense options you could eat to up your calorie intake without having to actually eat large volumes of food :flowerforyou:
  • tihi18
    tihi18 Posts: 102 Member
    While it's true frame size is different, that is why there are healty weight ranges. So more than likely she probably is too thin. I am 5'3 and my healthy weight ranges from about 110-140. This 30 lb range is to account for those "frame" and muscle differences. I've been 112 and over 140 and I have a small frame. That range is pretty accurate for most.
  • surfergirljane
    surfergirljane Posts: 9 Member
    Thank you so much for the input everyone, I really appreciate each and every response.

    Zenalasca and Choppo1 I will definitely take your advice about how to work more calorie dense, healthy foods into my diet to try and squeeze in those extra calories :) I think that's the problem I just feel constantly full and uncomfortable trying to eat as much as possible to hit my target calorie intake which is around 2000 calories so that's really helpful advice :heart:

    Aggelikik - I do appreciate on paper it may sound like I'm underweight but my frame is literally tiny - I'm not sure how to add a pic here but I added one on my profile (at around 97 pounds at the moment I think) so you can see I don't look unhealthy. I'm almost hyperaware of the fact that when I stress the first thing to happen is I completely lose my appetite stop and my weight just drops so i'm very careful about my mental state when it comes to food as I know it can be a bit of a slippery slope! I've also got the type of metabolism now that seems to mean if I run 3x a week I drop two pounds!

    Looking forward to eating well, starting lifting and gaining some more muscle and size and looking fit rather then just skinny!
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Good luck someone posted a success story of adding I think 14 lbs that might inspire you. Use the search feature to look for it. She had great results gaining in ALL the right places.
  • mbmillr
    mbmillr Posts: 28
    Yes, healthy fats like pb, nuts, avocados. Great advice!
  • surfergirljane
    surfergirljane Posts: 9 Member
    Good luck someone posted a success story of adding I think 14 lbs that might inspire you. Use the search feature to look for it. She had great results gaining in ALL the right places.

    Searching now thank you! :)

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