CR went out of control NEED HELP

[kinase]

I dont count calories but i try to be constant hungry all the time, but this time i went on overdrive and ended up with just a BMI a little above 15. It's worth knowing that my normal BMI was never maintained above 18 so it's not that bad, but i do look anorexic when i look in the mirror and in my hands and face so I know i really abused this time.

 

So now I want to gain a little bit of weight, I know just eating will make me regain the weight, but I want to be very careful, i dont want to put waist fat and such things, and i want to correctly get out of CR the more safe way possible. I don't want to yo-yo with my body and doing fast changes.

Does anyone have good tips to get out CR correctly and gain weight correctly. I have been reading research on anorexic people and it seems they gain fat around the waist and so on in the initial weeks/months and then it turns back normal, i suspect this is because they force feeding these anorexic people to eat and gain weight too fast, the endocrine balance is throw off a little bit.

 

 

[TomBAvoider]

You are asking for medical advice, and unless someone is a *qualified* physician, I would be careful with following such advice. 

 

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A DOCTOR AND THIS IS NOT MECIAL ADVICE.

 

My thoughts (see disclaimer above) are that you should really not go much below a BMI of 18 - you don't specify if you are male or female, or have any special medical needs or conditions. These are very general observations. I really believe you must track your calories - sorry. How else are you supposed to know if you are experiencing malnutrition or eating enough? I would start out with getting your baseline health evaluated, full blood panel etc., so that you can find out where you stand: are you deficient in f.ex. vitamins and minerals, is your liver stressed etc. That will inform your diet. Use software such as cronometer so that you know if you are getting all your micronutrients and can build your diet around measurable ingredients. Once you have a full picture of your health status, you can build your diet and establish caloric goals using healthy foods and macronutrients - it's imporant not to shortchange your protein and fat intake. Build up gradually, while engaging in some physical exercise, that way you should not accumulate visceral fat. Depending on your height, sex and build, you can shoot for a BMI of around 18, and stay there. Do it gradually.

[Gordo]

If you want to gain weight but still eat healthy foods, you start with a healthy diet, and just eat about double what you’ve been eating until you hit your goal BMI. But the fact that you have to ask this may indicate the need for mental health assistance. Anyway, lots and lots of nuts, whole grains, fruit and avocados my friend... wish you well.

[mccoy]

In my life, at 21, I went thru a phase like that, wanting to eat very little. From my usual BMI of 23, I dropped to 16.5 and felt pretty weak and developed anemia. When I realized the mistake, It was very difficult at the beginning to regain weight, mainly because the digestive function was impaired. Exercise was fundamental to that respect, made me hungry again but I made my parents and above all my mother real, real worried.

 

With todays' tools (cronometer) and knowledge, you should be able to regain an healthy and lean BMI following the suggestions given by the other posters. You might try and increase gradually your food intake, ensuring that micronutrients meet the RDAs, that macros and above all amminoacids are above the RDAs and  doing resistance exercise which will ensure that your gains are going to be mostly lean muscle mass.

 

In my case, I didn't develop visceral fat at all, my muscles just grew bigger and of course a moderate, healthy amount of fat tissues reappeared. It just happens that a little fat is useful, needed, and also not so horrible aestetically. I didn't yo-yo either, maybe the yo-yo effect is due to changes of mind, alternating refeeding to extreme CR, since the habit may be hard to break.

[kinase]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I did blood work pre and post CR, and i dont have any nutrition/mineral deficit, or feel weak or anything, i feel good. Keep in mind that my BMI was never mantained above 18 during all my life, even before i even knew what a BMI is, losing or gaining 6 or 5 kg is the difference between being 18 and 15.
If i ever go above 18 I would not be on CR, simple as that, i would need to force myself to eat and eat high caloric foods to mantain it, it's complety absurd.

[mccoy]

Does anyone have good tips to get out CR correctly and gain weight correctly. I have been reading research on anorexic people and it seems they gain fat around the waist and so on in the initial weeks/months and then it turns back normal, i suspect this is because they force feeding these anorexic people to eat and gain weight too fast, the endocrine balance is throw off a little bit.

 

 

All the tips given above are good, use cronometer, keep avoiding nutrition/mineral deficit, gain those 6 or 5 kg lean mass by not feeling constantly hungry and by practicing resistance exercise.

 

You'll have to forget about strict CR for a while and enter a phase of controlled refeeding. That in my experience does not cause waist fat or endocrine unbalance.

[TomBAvoider]

I think staying at BMI 18 is a good idea. If you need to hit BMI 18, you can always try to build muscle with weightlifting, which will be good for you anyway (easier for men).

[kinase]

Just want to update everyone, I'm safe and gaining weight and everything is going great.

I didnt have time to review all the literature on it, but in order to not destabilize the hormonal porfile caused by starvation, i decided the best way of refeeding would be while supporting the growth hormone secretion, which is suppresed upon refeeding.

So I decided to run small distances and hike, in theory it stimulates growth hormone secretion. My appetite increases the days i do exercise and i let myself eat, so far im not gaining any middle section fat, and it's actually a good feeling. Thanks for all the suggestions, they did help.