Maintaining/ gaining weight

Hi everyone, just need a bit of advice/support.

To get to the point - last summer (ish) i dramatically lost a lot of weight - it was due to a number of factors - primarily stress etc. but it escalatd and the problems developed and so on.
I have been trying to return to a "healthy" weight - i know it may sound ridiculous to some people but its a lot harder than i would have thought.

I was wondering if there is a rough guide of working out how many calories a day are needed to maintain one's current weight - i understand that obviously it varies slightly according to activity levels, metabolism, age etc - but is there a vague calculation or something?

My aim would then be to at least ensure that i am eating that minimum amount AT LEAST - i am really working on building up my meals etc. but am, as i said, finding it tougher than i thought.

Any advice etc. greatly appreciated

Thanks x

Reply 1

Zerforax

isnt it roughly 2000 calories a day for females?
im sure someone will correct me..
try eating carb foods - pasta, rice, potatoes (and do excersise on top too..)

Reply 2

Barny

Lots of nuts, peanut butter, oils, oily spreads, anything calorie dense that you like, eat lots of, then you won't have any problems.

Reply 3

Max Power

u can buy weight gain powder.

it's usually used by bodybuilders.

I can imagine that u would look quite funny buying it, but it would work as a last resort.

Reply 4

luckylaura05

I think part of the difficulty may be more than just "feeling full" - whether its a social or psychological thing but i find it difficult to force myself to overeat and i hate feeling bloated all the time.

I want to be healthy - as i am underweight, but i cant help but feel "something" inside of me is resisting - i try to push it aside but its always there...also i have a slight fear of gaining too much weight - losing control of my weight gain. i know im not going to suddenly wake up and have gained all this weight but i cant help these feelings! i know i probably sound like a complete idiot or something - i can see that these feelings are pretty silly but i just cant get rid of them.

Thanks for the hints though.
x

Reply 5

chel

I was on weight gain and was told i had to eat 3000 calories a day. but i doubt you need to be so severe. try eating things with little extras like butter in cous cous and potato etc. as it wont make you full but will give your food a little extra. also if you want to do it healthily avoid fruits with low cals like melon etc as these will make you full maybe go for things like avacado, raisins, bananas and try throw in some nuts as well. to be honest though the best way to gain weight is with chocolate :smile:

As far as the gaining to much goes, just keep an eye on yourself its very unlikely that you'l gain radical amounts without noticing, weigh yourself in the mornings perhaps, also dont be put off if you feel you look slightly bigger late in the day as if you are eating more its probably just the food yet to be digested and itl go away no time.

good luck

Reply 6

jameso88

roughly your maintenance calorie intake is 15 times your weight in pounds

Reply 7

Excalibur

I'd go with Chel's advice. Try eating a lot of nuts, and maybe have liquid smoothies or shakes. They don't fill you up too much and you can get a lot of energy from them. You could try deep-frying stuff or adding a little butter here and there...

I know what you mean though when you say you can't overeat. When I eat too much, especially chocolate or sweets, I feel really bloated and quite sick. I think I have a weak stomach because when I eat too much, I have stomach pains all through the night... and I can never eat anything before I sleep.

Reply 8

luckylaura05

Thanks for all the advice guys!

I still seem to have this psychological complex though - there is a voice inside of me that seems to want to restrict me from eating more - rather than less. I know this is obviously not easily solveable as i cant click my fingers and get rid of this complex.

just when it comes to being offered food etc. i automatically refuse - this voice inside of me panics and thinks- no u mustnt eat that and argh.

i probably sound like quite a strange person with all these references to "voices" but i hope you guys get what i mean!

i realise i have issues..and am trying to overcome them! appreciating the support and advice though!

xx

Reply 9

~~hannah~~

I know how you feel exactly, I found the best thing to do is drink juices if youre trying to maintain/gain weight, because you know in youre mind really that they are healthy and its not too hard to get your head around consuming. nuts are a good one too, but i personally found it took a while till i could eat them without feeling guilt, try pistachios, the whole shelling them thing takes your mind off it.
hope that was of some help x x x

Reply 10

Jonatan

a)Eat a propper breakfast
b)Eat a propper lunch
c)Eat a propper dinner

Take it from there. Make sure you don't leave the table hungry. I'm bad at eating 3 meals a day myself, primarely because it takes some effort to prepare it.

Reply 11

clouddweller

to maintain your current weight you just need to eat the same amount of calories as you burn off...to gain you need to eat more.
just eat healthily :biggrin:

when i wsa gaining weight after my ED i swear to god it was all cereal, cheese on toast and fruit. Worked for me.

Reply 12

Dalimyr

i probably sound like quite a strange person with all these references to "voices"

Not at all...it's a bit like thinking that people who talk to themselves are strange, yet myself and quite a few of my friends openly admit that we do it.

i realise i have issues

You and everyone else, hun. We've all got some dark problem that haunts us, and although it's not always easy to do, talking about them is often a good way to try and overcome them :smile:

I would give you advice, but although I eat and eat and eat, I SOMEHOW actually manage to lose weight all the time. It's not healthy food I eat, either - I've got a vegetarian housemate who seems to think of me as only eating meat and/or deep-fried food...he's got a low opinion of me as far as my eating habits are concerned, but I can't really argue with him :biggrin: