BMI 17.8 - Am I unhealthy?

[Marcomat]

1 hour ago, Dean Pomerleau said:

Boy time flies. It seems like it was only 5 days since we last spoke. 🙂

if your weight doesn't start creeping up again in a day or two, stick to plan and eat more calories.  Nobody said it would be easy for you. But eating 2500+ kcal in a day isn't that challenging for someone with a healthy relationship to food.

Maybe a nutrutionist could help you figure what foods you could eat more of. But I still think that your issues are more psychological than nutritional. 

Yes that’s the point- I don’t have a healthy relationship with food, thank you for your help but both the therapist and me failed to help with my eating disorder. I am just sorry for myself that I relapsed , to be honest at the moment I am unable to increase my calories, I maintained an underweight body almost all my youth so my body is used to be undernourished and it’s a real challenge to consistently eat to gain to BMI 19, which was my goal. I will see what I can do, that’s my best guess 

[Ron Put]

On 2/5/2023 at 11:06 PM, Marcomat said:

I completely agree with you, no doubt that strength training is especially good for thin people like me, I don’t wanna become old and frail, and weak. Ageing and getting older is literally my nightmare which is also part of the reason I got into calorie restriction in the first place.

BMI of 18.5 is totally fine, as long as you are healthy, and your doctor says so, right? Healthier than the vast majority of the population.

You don't need to go to the gym to maintain good muscle mass and bones. Do push ups, pull ups, squats, planks... You can do these spread throughout the day, one set of something at the time and focus on one area each day. Start with whatever you can do and increase the reps as you can, every week or two.

The key is consistency. Once you get into a rhythm, it will get both easier, and you will start seeing results. Do a DEXA scan every year or so to track how muscles and bones look and progress. Presumably, you don't have a visceral fat issue that plagues most of the population, especially as you appear to run.

I am curious what exactly is your relationship with food and do you track nutrients with something like Cronometer? Are you male or female (I read through really quickly, may have missed it)?

 

[Marcomat]

9 hours ago, Ron Put said:

BMI of 18.5 is totally fine, as long as you are healthy, and your doctor says so, right? Healthier than the vast majority of the population.

You don't need to go to the gym to maintain good muscle mass and bones. Do push ups, pull ups, squats, planks... You can do these spread throughout the day, one set of something at the time and focus on one area each day. Start with whatever you can do and increase the reps as you can, every week or two.

The key is consistency. Once you get into a rhythm, it will get both easier, and you will start seeing results. Do a DEXA scan every year or so to track how muscles and bones look and progress. Presumably, you don't have a visceral fat issue that plagues most of the population, especially as you appear to run.

I am curious what exactly is your relationship with food and do you track nutrients with something like Cronometer? Are you male or female (I read through really quickly, may have missed it)?

 

I am now at BMI 18,5 and I am eating an average of 2400-2700kcal a day, my body is really stuck here because I cannot seem to gain more. I went from my calorie restriction regime where on average I ate 1800-2200kcal a day and maintained a bmi of 17-18 to now eating about 2500kcal daily average, some days less some days more. Well BMI 19 would be most ideal but since my body really wants to stay here, I guess I am fine? I don’t count calories I just started now because I noticed a few weeks ago that I was underweight after I didn’t weigh myself for hover a year, I just ate listening to my body, about until I am 80% full and I ended up underweight so now I count calories to make sure I hit the minimum range of 2200-2400kcal minimum . So no I didn’t use to count calories . My doctor said I look “quite” healthy and all my blood work is excellent in terms of blood sugar, blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol etc. I didn’t check DEXA tho probably I should. Thank you for your input my relationship with food now is a bit more controlled compared to before, I count calories to make sure I eat enough but I don’t like it, I would rather return to intuitive eating . But since I ended up underweight with intuitive eating now I am counting a bit. Anyway, I am a runner and as such, even if I eat a lot I always stay thin, I run very long distances and have a very active lifestyle . I guess my BMI is the result of my training, because my diet calorie wise and nutrient wise is very sound as of now.. I also think BMI 18,5 is fine but I didn’t check dexa