Weight Gain

What does 7lbs mean? That seems awfully specific. Is it a question of BMI or something? Can you perhaps chat with your doctor and get him/her to give you a clean bill of health?

Yes

I'm going to offer advice on the premise that you do not have an eating disorder right now. If that is incorrect, read no further and seek professional help as my advice won't be of any real help.

101 is underweight, but not terrible. A lot of good Kenyan runners are underweight. A lot of good American distance runners are underweight. 108 is about the right weight for you according to the bmi scale, but if you're built lean and geared toward the longer distances, ie more an xc guy than a mid d guy, you'll struggle to stay there all your life.

Anyways, despite that I think there are no problems and you should be fine running right now, I'll give some tips. First a lot of your weight loss is likely water loss. In the summer you sweat a metric shi7 ton just by existing add running to that and the amount of water you need to drink is probably illegal in some deserts and California. Second, you need calorie rich foods, ideally those that don't taste like shit. Eat pb/almond butter sandwiches on multigrain bread with good almond or peanut butter. With this have greek yogurt and soup or fruit or something. Include a banana with pb or almond butter in addition to other foods at breakfast. Eat frozen fruit for a snack and possibly yogurt. At night eat a bowl of granola with milk, thats a ton of calories. Pizza isn't very filling and it has a ton of calories, but again it shouldn't be the crappiest cheap brands. Get it with chicken and veggies, not pepperonis and sausage. You might want to eat around 3000 calories a day to gain weight if you're still running. Just some suggestions. Get the racing weight book and cookbook by Matt Fitzgerald and start making stuff in there.

Here is a big thing: you can probably gain 4-5 lbs in just a day or two by drinking a ton of water, you'll make yourself overhydrated, and have to piss it out, but if you get up to like 103-104 and want to make the scale say some number, it should work. This is a one time trick though, you don't want to stay way overhydrated or get that way once a week or something, so you'll have to keep gaining weight.

Asbel Kiprop has a bmi of 17.1 btw and I don't hear anyone saying he's too skinny to run.

I had the same thing happen to me when I first started running. I dropped a lot of weight at first and my parents got on me. Made life really blow at the time. HS running should be about having fun and trying to make all state or whatever an immediate goal is, not stressing about this.

edward teach wrote:

if you're built lean and geared toward the longer distances, ie more an xc guy than a mid d guy, you'll struggle to stay there all your life.

Isn't Bailey a female name?

Does this mean LRC has two known females!?!?!?!

This is groundbreaking news

Counseling is the best recommendation for you and your parents. You should be able to arrange something with a guidance counselor at school or your pediatrician.

You are not communicating well with your parents and vice-versa. The best way to make headway is to sit with someone knowledgeable about weight and ED issues in girls your age.

Why that number? wrote:

edward teach wrote:

if you're built lean and geared toward the longer distances, ie more an xc guy than a mid d guy, you'll struggle to stay there all your life.

Isn't Bailey a female name?

Guess so, didn't think girls posted here that much. Anyways women are even more predisposed to be below the bmi numbers than men but same advice applies.

Lol Yes I am a female, and no I don't have a eating disorder anymore. That's the major problem my parent's can never get past that bump in the road any anytime my number drops on the scale they flip sh*t, it drives me crazy it's like I don't suit there wants sometimes and it hurts, but I know their just doing it out of love and concern. And also yea I love PB and Almond butter, and greek yogurt and all of that. I eat it a lot, in fact I think I eat a lot of healthy stuff in general it just doesn't seem to be enough I guess :(. Having a faster metabolism is both a blessing and a curse...

The key to preserving your "fast metabolism" is to eat without restricting calories, never diet, and always exercise intensely at least 4 times per week.

Kmart special wrote:

The key to preserving your "fast metabolism" is to eat without restricting calories, never diet, and always exercise intensely at least 4 times per week.

What? Metabolism hardly changes for a specific individual (save for changes in total body mass/ body composition).

Of course if you lose weight, your metabolism goes down (less body mass = less energy required to "maintain" it).

Your BMI is like 17 which is really low for a female. Are you getting your period? If not you really need to gain. Your running may be ok now but if you stay at a really unhealthy weight for your body for too long you will get injured! I'm 5 foot 5 and 120 pounds, female, and people think I'm too skinny! Really I would cut the exercise and go to DQ or something and pig out for a week.

Eat more! Maybe aim for 3000 calories a day like an earlier poster said. Maybe halve your mileage until your weight goes up, that will give you an incentive to eat better.

Eat real food wrote:

Eat more! Maybe aim for 3000 calories a day like an earlier poster said. Maybe halve your mileage until your weight goes up, that will give you an incentive to eat better.

This "Kiprop is skinny so everyone should be" argument is driving me crazy I swear.

When I was training at 5'4 and 100 pounds in high school, I lost my period and got 1 stress fraction and 2 reactions at once. It was terrible and I had to stop running for a year. Am I saying this is going to happen to you? Of course not, your body is obviously different from mine. But being underweight while training hard greatly increases the risk of injury.

So if I were you, I would try to gain some weight. Ice cream and milkshakes helped me get up to 112, at which I have my period back and no more stress fracture problems yet.

Order this and eat it. You'll gain weight and feel good.

https://www.caloriecount.com/calories-papa-johns-original-crust-pizza-i54243

injury girl wrote:

This "Kiprop is skinny so everyone should be" argument is driving me crazy I swear.

When I was training at 5'4 and 100 pounds in high school, I lost my period and got 1 stress fraction and 2 reactions at once. It was terrible and I had to stop running for a year. Am I saying this is going to happen to you? Of course not, your body is obviously different from mine. But being underweight while training hard greatly increases the risk of injury.

So if I were you, I would try to gain some weight. Ice cream and milkshakes helped me get up to 112, at which I have my period back and no more stress fracture problems yet.

Eat dairy girl. Put the weight on.

Pics?

runn9 wrote:

Your BMI is like 17 which is really low for a female. Are you getting your period? If not you really need to gain. Your running may be ok now but if you stay at a really unhealthy weight for your body for too long you will get injured! I'm 5 foot 5 and 120 pounds, female, and people think I'm too skinny! Really I would cut the exercise and go to DQ or something and pig out for a week.

runn9, it does not matter if people think you're skinny or fat or normal. Your health is your business.

I agree with the poster who said you and your parents need to communicate more.

Have you and your folks talked about sitting down with a nutritionist together? A nutritionist can help you come up with a good meal plan and help give your parents peace of mind about your eating behaviors.