[Cataclysm Ballet]

For as long as I can remember, I've been a picky eater. Beyond that I've never had a consistent appetite. I feel hungry at inconvenient times and have specific cravings. Sometimes I feel really hungry and can eat till I'm stuffed and other times I don't finish even a modest sized meal. I also have a high metabolism. There was a time when I was starting to improve, but I started smoking shortly afterward which has set me back.

I think at least part of my anxiety stems from this. I just don't feel comfortable in my own skin. I'm not anorexic or anything, it's not like I don't want to gain weight... I just can't seem to maintain any increases in my weight for very long.

Can anyone else relate? Has anyone overcome this?

 

[shadowmask]

I've never had to deal with it myself, but I can give you a few suggestions that may help

- Drink a gallon of milk every day. I know it may be very hard to drink that much, but I promise you'll gain weight if you do this.

- Eat at least 3,000 calories daily. Again, harder than it sounds, but it will produce results.

- If you have access to a gym or the necessary exercise equipment, do this routine: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224

If not, do this one: http://trainforstrength.com/workout1.shtml

 

[Redefine]

I used to be very skinny and insecure about it. I was like 5'9 130 or so and hated it. I decided I was going to gain weight and started working out and it did wonders. Now I'm about 150. I still consider myself thin and want to gain more weight but it was a hell of a lot better than before.

Go to bodybuilding.com and search for some workout program to follow. Of course you need to eat more. The best way to do this is eat 4-5 small meals a day to get the calorie intake up. Eat healthy carbs, protein and even fat. Fat won't hurt you, just don't go eating fast food. The key is don't eat any empty calories. If you're extremely skinny you'll put on weight pretty fast. However, you'll slow down and reach a plateau eventually and you'll have to increase your calorie intake again.

Another thing that helped me gain weight fast was creatine. It's mostly water weight but it still helped increase the confidence and it helps with the workout tremendously.

Good luck, you can do it.

 

[organicwildroot]

Probably just need to get more fats in your diet. Not bad ones but things like peanut butter and good fats, but high in fat. I've gone up and down with my weight since I was 12 so I haven't been freakishly skinny since I was probably 9. If you have a high metob which isn't really a bad thing I don't think, it probably isn't going to matter what you eat. I know of a girl who eats more than me and worse types of foods then me and she is still skinny. Sometimes building muscle will put a little more tone in your body and the way it looks. Otherwise I guess you should start eating McDonalds and Burger King everyday.

 

[mkp1974]

All through my teenage years I was really skinny. When I graduated high school i was like 120 pounds at 5'9. I was always insecure about it, and I think it contributed alot to my social anxiety. Through the years I put on weight. I am 35, and last year I got up to 180, which sucked too because i had a big gut and I was too fat. Now I have struggled my way back down to 160. I don't know what the moral of this story is. I guess it is that being skinny sucks, but being fat sucks worse. Check and see what your BMI should be and try not to get above what it suggests, because it will just make you feel more tired and depressed.

 

[Hellosunshine]

I agree with shadowmask! My sister used to be anorexic and one day she reached out for help. My mom bought her a gallon of milk every couple of days. She gained so much weight just eating cereal and milk. It really works. Eat lots of breads and carbs! They’ll help you gain weight easily.

As for me, I get only really skinny when I am at really depressed because I lose my appetite. There’s one time I lost 10 pounds in a week. I can get really skinny but I try to maintain a healthy weight by timing myself to eat each day. At a certain time no matter what I am doing, I have to eat. Otherwise I’ll just wither away.

 

[dax]

Yah- drink whole milk- it tastes good and it's easy to pick up a lot of extra fat and calories. And on the work outs, you should focus on certain exercises that make you look bigger- i.e. work out your shoulders and rotator cuffs a lot and it can make you look a lot bigger even if you only end up gaining a few pounds in muscle. If you're born skinny tho, chances are you always will be on the skinny side- alot of it- like with me- has to do with the size of your frame. Some skinny guys can work out forever and eat a ton and still end up looking skinny because they have narrow frames. But you can def look bigger by taking in more calories etc. and of course working out in the right manner.

 

[bunnie]

I am all bones. I can't stand it. It's so hard having zero curves when you're an adult woman. I have the body of a 13 yr old. I like to eat, but I have weird eating patterns that are based on my moods.

When I went away to college, I gained about 10-15 pounds and I finally felt normal. Then I came home and it just fell off. I too am a picky eater, and college helped because I had a generous meal plan and less stress (due to being away from my strict family).

I feel your pain. It is very hard to maintain weight gain.

 

[PickleNose]

There was a time when I was starting to improve, but I started smoking shortly afterward which has set me back.

Yeah. Smoking is bad. I won't give you a hard time since I know it sucks when people do that (I smoked for 20 years). I'll just say here a month or so ago, I thought I had lung cancer and have never been more scared. Days turn to months and years and quitting is so hard but if you can, you should.

I think at least part of my anxiety stems from this. I just don't feel comfortable in my own skin. I'm not anorexic or anything, it's not like I don't want to gain weight... I just can't seem to maintain any increases in my weight for very long.

Can anyone else relate? Has anyone overcome this?

Well, I used to be fairly thin. I don't know if there's such a thing as freakishly thin. That's harder than you think. People have different body types. I pretty much just accepted mine when I was thin. I had other problems to worry about anyway. For instance, I would have been happy to be thin with a nice face or a magnetic personality.

Anyway, I haven't been thin for a while. I was thin until my late 30s (Edit - That should have been late 20s. That was weird). After that, gaining weight just came naturally. I'm probably actually overweight now.

 

[Cataclysm Ballet]

I checked a little bit ago and right now I weigh about 125 and I'm around 5'9. Before I started smoking 3 and 1/2 years ago, I weighed about 130.

I rarely eat breakfast because I always wake up late and in a hurry to get to work. A lot of people of normal body weight tell me that they don't eat breakfast either, so I don't know if I can blame it all on that. But they probably snack on things a lot more than I do.

My parents are both a little bit overweight. My dad was underweight until he was about 30, but I don't think he was ever as bad as I am. I've been thinking about ditching the cigarette habit, but I can only see myself cutting down for the time being.

I'm going to start drinking milk tomorrow.

 

[odd_one_out]

That would put your BMI on the threshold of being underweight. If the changes you make don't work, you could get supplements from your doctor.

I am underweight due to difficulties with food (but do not have anorexia) and have to have liquid supplements twice a day, which my doc prescribes. I just don't have much appetite.

 

[Post_Punk_Proclivity]

When I was around 13 or 14 i lost all my 'baby-fat' and turned into a skinny little weed. I never ate a lot and I was surprised my body could grow so much when I was often getting sick, partaking in excessive levels of exercise and getting little sleep.

Now I eat almost anything but then again my occupation is like a daily workout so for the moment my heart can wait till 30 or so before i give it a break and start to eat a little healthier again.

 

[UltraShy]

The lowest weight I've ever been able to attain within the last 20+ years is 172. It's over 200 now, so I have the opposite problem. All time high was 289.

 

[Georgina 22]

Yeah I am skinny and i'm 22 years old. I feel uncomfortable when I see other woman my age who ain't skinny they are a medium build.
I have a fast metabolism. I love food and some days i can eat like a horse and I still don't put on anyweight.
I used to get myself a 6 pint bottle of milk and i used to pour some out and drink it whenever I was thirsty. But i got bored of drinking just milk and i found i wasn't still putting on weight.
I looked up on the internet any weight gaining drinks i could buy and drink and i found on that looked good and brought it, it was a cookies and cream flavoured herbal life powder shake that you put into milk and you drink three times a day along with 3 meals.
I tried it for 2 weeks i think but then i realised it tasted horrible even though people have said on the site that it tastes yummy unlike other shakes they have tried. It said that i could gain weight within 3 months. I used to weight myself now and again and my weight didn't go up much only a bit and i kept looking at the areas on my body where they are skinny and thinking if they were filling out but no so i gave up and the powder stuff is still in the cupboard LOL
I dunno what else to do

 

[kos]

YES im convinced this is where most of my insecurity comes from. Im 6'3 180 pounds. The thing that bothers me the most is my arms. No matter how much I eat it seem like it is impossible for the fat to go to right places on my body. Most of it is distriputed into my legs and ***. For a period of about 6 months i eat and eat and eat and lifted weights and there was very little improvement. The thing I hate most about it is other guys will tell me to eat more and lift weight and im just left infuriated because I use to eat more in a day then they did in 3 days. I think if you are a guy and your skinny its pretty much the same as being an overweight woman. You get far less attension from the opposite sex and it just kills me inside that someone can work 3 times harder then someone else for something yet they come out on top.:get

 

[strawberryjulius]

Yeah I am skinny and i'm 22 years old. I feel uncomfortable when I see other woman my age who ain't skinny they are a medium build.

I feel uncomfortable when I see girls that are thin, weird haha. I'm sitting there thinking, "why aren't my legs thin like that." And then I have to remind myself, "Genes. And you're already underweight, shut up."

My weight just keeps getting lower and lower. And it's not even intentional either. I was suffering from some disordered eating a couple of months ago but I've kept it (mostly) in control right now. The doctor said I was okay if I stayed at 39kg (That's almost 86 pounds) but it keeps getting lower. I eat bread and cheese almost every day, what the hell. :b

 

[PolarBear]

I wish i was even remotely skinny...

 

[AceRimmer]

<--- 5' 8.75" and 108 lbs. Does that count? I mentioned before that I look like Gollum with the big head and skinny skinny frame. I see girls that I think are super skinny but they turn out to be shorter and weigh more than me. I can only imagine how freakish that makes me look in the eyes of others, especially when you're a guy.

 

[bobthebuilder]

Yup, 3 yrs ago i was 5'9 125lbs. I look very scrawny. Cant stand my elbows, they look weird and bony. I almost looked anorexic, could see my ribs and stuff. Worst part is clothes. Nothing looks good on thin guys. I actually think this is the biggest contributor to my SA....poor nutrition. I never liked eating, something id just rather not do. just kinda forced food down. Even when i get really hungry, i dont care to eat and would just wait it out. So, i had poor body image, looked younger than i was, and had no energy. Not a good mix when trying to talk to people.

Now tho, ive started working out and look MUCH better. ive only gained a few pounds, but it shows. lol my shirts actually fit correctly, some are stretching around my arms. Im 143 now, altho i did not gain it all from working out. most of it was from eating more at work, very fatty foods. Im still low on energy, mainly because i struggle with eating enough food. Its expensive, and hard to remember.

 

[Drew]

Yes, I am! Here's a post I made a while back about my experiences being skinny.

Ok, I'll add in my experience...

I was at a point in my life just a few years ago where my lankiness was unacceptable. Combine that with Pectus Excavatum and it just about pushed me over the edge. I even got tested for Marfan Disease, a connective tissue disorder that causes people to grow very tall and thin.

I have had little kids look up at my 6'3" figure and say something along the lines of "You're really skinny!" I'm that skinny.

My skinny body being unacceptable, I dove hard into a weight gain program that involved a strict regimen of protein rich meals, supplementation (all safe and legal) and weight lifting. It took me about two years to realize I wasn't going to get what I wanted out of life doing this. No matter how much weight I gained, it wasn't enough. I had to accept that I was always going to be skinny, but I couldn't accept it.

It consumed me. I felt so trapped because of it. It was something about me that I couldn't seem fix no matter how hard I tried.

Fast forward to now. I don't mind that I'm skinny anymore. I don't like it and I never will, but it's not something that's on my mind all the time like it used to be.

How did I get from unacceptable to acceptable?

CBT for my social anxiety and specifically for my feelings about my body.

Before I started CBT for my social anxiety, I blamed all my problems on concrete things. For example, I don't have a woman in my life because of my body.

Doing CBT helped me realize that those really had nothing to do with it. Sure, some women wouldn't be interested in me because of my skinny body, that's fine, I don't expect all women to be attracted to me just as I'm not attracted to all women.

Early on some of my behavioral exercises included taking off my shirt at a beach, something that was profoundly terrifying for me. One of the later "behavioral exercises" was an intimate relationship with woman I found very attractive. She didn't even care about my skinniness or my Pectus Excavatum.

I still notice that people look at me and notice how lanky I am, but I honestly just don't care anymore. I can point directly to the CBT I did for that.

Look, I know that I can't type something here that is going to change your mind about how you feel and I don't think weight lifting is a bad thing, but don't get caught up in doing it because you view your body as unacceptable how it currently is. If that's how you view your body, that's likely how you'll always view it, no matter what mass gains you make.

I highly recommend pursuing CBT treatment if you feel it's getting in the way of you living the life you want to.

Good luck to you!