Low weight/BMI - how best to correct and how big a problem?
Discussion
Long story short.. I've always been a bit on the skinny side, typically my weight is between 9 stone if I'm being a lazy git and about 8.5 if I'm actually doing that exercise thing, a couple of years of a sedentary life style and eating nothing but pure crap once saw me reach the heady figures of 10.5 stone but I don't think I've ever been above that. Currently however I'm finding myself tipping the scales at 7 stone flat and as a 5'8" 33 year-old male I'm thinking that might be something of a problem.
Thought I'd canvass PH opinion on what the best thing to do is as googling around generally throws up a ton of information for anorexic teenage girls which I'm pretty sure I don't qualify as so trying to work out what would be the best way to put some weight back on and what sort of potential problems I should be on the lookout for in the meantime and whether there is anything I can do to mitigate any ill-effects?
And yes, yes I know.. worst "I'm not a fat b
d" post ever 
Thought I'd canvass PH opinion on what the best thing to do is as googling around generally throws up a ton of information for anorexic teenage girls which I'm pretty sure I don't qualify as so trying to work out what would be the best way to put some weight back on and what sort of potential problems I should be on the lookout for in the meantime and whether there is anything I can do to mitigate any ill-effects?
And yes, yes I know.. worst "I'm not a fat b
d" post ever Zod said:
Are you sure you are not ill?
Not sure I suppose.. but I've got a pretty good idea that it's stress related as the weight loss is a recent thing that correlates with some pretty crappy stuff work-wise. And as they say if it looks like a duck etc etc 
LordGrover said:
Eat more, move less.
IANAD
IANAD
Love seeing the standard PH advice in reverse!More seriously though I'm actually moving very, very little. My days tend to consist of driving to work, sitting at my desk for ~ 8hrs then driving home and lounging on the sofa for the evening. I'm certainly not doing any exercise! In terms of eating more I am trying - lack of appetite is a problem though as is feeling "full" relatively easily. I am taking advantage of any times I do have an appetite and trying to ensure that I eat a large quantity of decent-ish food at those times
BenM77 said:
Eat more, move more
I agree with Asterix. Get yourself to a gym or do some weights at home. Eat more food at every meal time and slowly but surely your capacity will increase.
What do you eat in a day to stay so small?
Might try and work some sort of exercise in if possible.. I've never been a weights person to be honest though!I agree with Asterix. Get yourself to a gym or do some weights at home. Eat more food at every meal time and slowly but surely your capacity will increase.
What do you eat in a day to stay so small?
In terms of what I eat in a day it varies a bit but to give you a picture of the last few days:
- Friday - I had no appetite during the day - managed a burger & chips from the chippy in the evening and then had most of a chocolate bar later.
- Saturday - Had a pretty decent sized meal of quality pizza & nachos, again most of a bar of chocolate later on.
- Sunday - Croissant for breakfast/lunch and then decent sized plate of chilli and rice for tea.
Haven't eaten anything yet today... will probably try and get something substantial tonight.
You could have an overactive thyroid. I went snowboarding with a guy who had this once. We were all dressed up in thermals and he just had a t-shirt and light jacket. When we stopped for lunch, he took his jacket off and he just steamed for about ten minutes. It was weird and freaked out the locals. He burnt calories at quite a rate.
Have a look at Nerdfitness.com - they have some useful information for all kinds of people from Fatties who want to be thin, to thin people wanted to add weight. The term they give it is hard gainer and I think the guy behind the site, Steve, classifys himself as that and has some great advice on how to put on mass.
KaraK said:
Might try and work some sort of exercise in if possible.. I've never been a weights person to be honest though!
In terms of what I eat in a day it varies a bit but to give you a picture of the last few days:
Haven't eaten anything yet today... will probably try and get something substantial tonight.
No wonder you're fading away - that's barely enough to keep a sparrow alive. It's clear to me you're not eating enough - whether that's down to some underlying issue I have no idea.In terms of what I eat in a day it varies a bit but to give you a picture of the last few days:
- Friday - I had no appetite during the day - managed a burger & chips from the chippy in the evening and then had most of a chocolate bar later.
- Saturday - Had a pretty decent sized meal of quality pizza & nachos, again most of a bar of chocolate later on.
- Sunday - Croissant for breakfast/lunch and then decent sized plate of chilli and rice for tea.
Haven't eaten anything yet today... will probably try and get something substantial tonight.
Count calories for a day or two, plenty here swear by an app (the name of which escapes me) - you may be surprised how little you're eating.
Ta. 
Asterix said:
So pretty much one meal a day with the odd snack.
And you don't exercise/lift.
And you wonder why you're a tad skinny?
Sorry mate but there's only one way to rectify it - train/exercise and eat at least three decent meals a day. Snack all you want as well.
Yep.. not eating anywhere near enough at the moment. In fairly recent memory I'd happily be eating 3000+ calories a day and I was knocking around the 9.5 stone mark, I'm pretty confident my appetite will return on it's own if I can remove the stressors (was away on holiday for a few days a couple of weeks back and ate everything in sight) but I'm aware that I could probably be doing something in the meantime to manage me through really And you don't exercise/lift.
And you wonder why you're a tad skinny?
Sorry mate but there's only one way to rectify it - train/exercise and eat at least three decent meals a day. Snack all you want as well.
You don't have to go mad with the weights. You could buy a set of dumbbells and a chin up bar from argos to start with.
Start eating at least three times a day. Breakfast is very important IMO. It can be quick too.
Porridge (golden syrup big bag = 2.5mins) + 2 slices of toast and jam + a glass of orange juice.
Lunch = meat and carbs.
Dinner = meat and carbs.
If you are serious about putting some weight on then you will need to eat more. The weights/exercise will make you a lot happier about the weight you put on = good incentive
KaraK said:
Asterix said:
So pretty much one meal a day with the odd snack.
And you don't exercise/lift.
And you wonder why you're a tad skinny?
Sorry mate but there's only one way to rectify it - train/exercise and eat at least three decent meals a day. Snack all you want as well.
Yep.. not eating anywhere near enough at the moment. In fairly recent memory I'd happily be eating 3000+ calories a day and I was knocking around the 9.5 stone mark, I'm pretty confident my appetite will return on it's own if I can remove the stressors (was away on holiday for a few days a couple of weeks back and ate everything in sight) but I'm aware that I could probably be doing something in the meantime to manage me through really And you don't exercise/lift.
And you wonder why you're a tad skinny?
Sorry mate but there's only one way to rectify it - train/exercise and eat at least three decent meals a day. Snack all you want as well.
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