Need help with weight

People say I look anorexic. It's pretty bad, because I look like skin and bones. I need to increase my body mass without eating unhealthy foods. Any suggestions?

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    What do you like to eat? Eat that and a lot of it. Do this everyday! You can do it!
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Are you anorexic? You don't get to look like skin and bones for no reason... A visit to a Dr and/or therapist may be a good idea, to work on body image and relationship with food.

    Ditch the idea of individual foods being unhealthy or healthy. Consider your diet as a whole. Being underweight is much more detrimental to your health than eating (and enjoying) a varied diet.

    You need to eat in a calorie surplus - enter your stats into mfp to get a calorie goal to put weight on. Start weight training - this will help you add muscle mass to your frame, not just fat. Make sure you're eating sufficient calories to enable your body to grow.

  • shelbyjay17
    shelbyjay17 Posts: 3 Member
    Protein powder can be a great way to gain weight without consuming unhealthy food. I was quite thin before and ate healthy, I added protein shakes and upped my calorie intake overall. You should probably be consuming more meats, healthy fats such as dairy products, high fat yogurt, avocados etc. None of this will make you “fat”, as long as you stay active while increasing calorie intake you will gain weight. Muscle weighs the same as fat per lb but takes up half the space. So you might not look much bigger but will weigh more and look toned as you build muscle through cardio and strength training ! :smile:
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Americans tend to have a distorted mental image of healthy. That is, your people, if they are overweight and obese, think that normal is overweight and obese and thus think that healthy is wretched. Use the BMI calculator to determine if your BMI is in the healthy range. Don't add weight to satisfy others distorted views. Above all, own your own health. Don't let internet strangers or real life family make such life decisions for you.
  • pagesignups
    pagesignups Posts: 8 Member
    My husband struggles with this too! My struggle is the opposite. (All I have to do is look at food and gain weight.) I know for a fact he’s not anorexic, I know how much he eats! Some people just struggle to gain. He’s tried the protein powder and strength training to gain and it didn’t really help him much... I wish I had some good advice. Hope you don’t mind, am following your thread to maybe get some advice for him!
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Protein powder can be a great way to gain weight without consuming unhealthy food. I was quite thin before and ate healthy, I added protein shakes and upped my calorie intake overall. You should probably be consuming more meats, healthy fats such as dairy products, high fat yogurt, avocados etc. None of this will make you “fat”, as long as you stay active while increasing calorie intake you will gain weight. Muscle weighs the same as fat per lb but takes up half the space. So you might not look much bigger but will weigh more and look toned as you build muscle through cardio and strength training ! :smile:

    Adding sources of fat will help someone bump up calories a lot easier than adding protein as fats are more calorie dense..