Advice on training and weight gain!

[OhLea]

Hi let me introduce myself! Im 20 yrs old and 5'3. Do to anorexia nervosa/athletica I have dwindled to 93 lbs. I am in recovery and am trying to put on muscle as I do this. I have always been very active and have lifted and done lots of carido but I need your advice! I realize not eating enough will not allow me to gain muscle...so what do you reccomend as far as calories? I previously used a calculator online for hydroxycut or something (recommended by another board) and this is what it gave me:

High, add muscle
CHO 303 1210
PRO 102 408
FAT 72 651
Total 2269

moderate, add muscle
CHO 278/1110
PRO 93/372
FAT 66/597
total 2079

mod, maintain weight
CHO 237/948
PRO 93/372
FAT 57/510
total 1830

high, maintain weight
CHO 262/1048
PRO 102/408
FAT 63/564
total 2020



high=exercise 6-7xweek
mod=3-5xweek
the nutrients are set up like this; CHO- 303 (g) 1210 (calories)

I eat every 2 hrs or so, and aim for 14-1500 calories a day now, which Im pretty sure everyone agrees is not enough to gain muscle. But Im working on upping them. I have a very bad habit of lowering my intake to around 1200 on off days. Sometimes people tell me I only need around 1100 for RMR bc I am at a low weight or short. Whats the deal here? I eat a very clean diet of whole grains, veggies, fruits, protein shakes, tofu, low carb yogurt, eggs, hummus, etc. suggestions?

my schedule is something like this-
mon-30 min cardio, legs
tues-30 min cardio, arms
wed- 30-45 min cardio, sometimes lunges
thurs- 20-30 min cardio, legs
fri- 45-60 min cardio
sat- 30 min cardio, arms
sun- off

occasionally on a leg day I will not do cardio.
Now-if I am obviously not trying to lose weight, should I cut out the cardio? Or to 2-3xweek? I dont want to gain a ton of fat, which I know I will gain some bc that comes with gaining...but I would like to keep muscle tone like I have now (I have suprisingly large muscles when I flex and I can see them bc they are defined...which I attribute to the fact that I, throughout my ED, worked out like mad), but I realize I need to gain weight to be healthy. (I just dont want to become "soft" like a lot of previously eating disordered people do-which Ive seen happen) Can I avoid this by weight training? What have your expiriences been? Is it possible to maintain my tone and bulk with muscle? I am trying to shift my focus from skinny mary-kate to toned, fitness models instead...how can I acheive this?

I take Designer Whey protein shakes at night and occasionally after workouts (which I know is when I need it most...) and sometimes for breakfast. Should I get a casein powder to take before bed instead?

Thank you for your help!

ps I have a lot of pictures that I can post for you all to see if that would help you!

[Paichka]

Welcome!

I don't have a lot of experience with ED, but there are plenty of ladies on here who can help you with that. There is a ton of wisdom on these boards and a lot that can be gained by reading some of the journals and getting ideas from there.

Now, for your diet. It looks very good in terms of what you're eating, but I think you are definitely going to need to up your calories...slowly, obviously...if you intend to build muscle. At your proposed activity level, 1500 is not enough, even for someone of your small frame. What works for some people is upping the cals by 100-200 every week...which is adding in one small snack like a half cup of cottage cheese or a tablespoon of PB...until you've reached your desired intake.

Additionally, I think you're doing too much cardio. That much cardio is going to strip away your hard earned muscle. If muscle is your goal, and it's an admirable one, I would drop to no more than 4 cardio sessions a week. 6 30 minute sessions is fine for someone who's attempting to drop fat, but that isn't something you need to do. 4 sessions of cardio -- 2 of high intensity interval training, 1 of hills or plyometric work, and 1 day of long steady state cardio -- is my recommendation. If you turn out to be a hard gainer, or you aren't making the progress you'd like, you might want to cut cardio out entirely while you're bulking up, and add it back in when you reach your desired bodyweight.

hope this helps, and good luck to you,
Sunny

[ItFit]

I agree with Paichka.

I'm in the process of gaining muscle right now. I only do cardio 2-3 times per week, & I only do it between 20-30 minutes (depending on how I feel). So far I think I'm making positive progress.

Sure, you could get casein powder to take before bed. Or even just have yogurt/cheese/milk (reduced fat/fat free). I eat yogurt & just a little bit (1/2 cup) of no sugar added fat free frozen yogurt before bed. It's been working for me :-)

Where did you get all of those calculations?

[Foxy_Blonde]

I had annorexia and "recovered" more or less by accident. I did Atkins (hoping to lose weight) but found that actually I could eat lots of calories and still be thin, not flabby thin....but lean and strong.


So at first I was still scared of the calories. I ate 1200 per day, logged them all on fitday.com, and i started doing cardio (1 hour, 5-6 days a week) and lifted weights. Once I got used to that, i found I could eat even more calories...this actually helped my metabolism speed up after so long of restriction...I got really fit and healthy looking . I prefer this sexy womanly look so much better now. My whole body image has changed for the better b/c of fitness the healthy way.


I'm still sorta preoccupied with my body, but I'm so much better off thatn when I was annorexic. Take it in baby steps. Also get a good fitness magazine like fitnessrx for women or s/th and look at the models for role models. Part of my prob before was trying to look like high fashion models. good luck!