From skinny to sexy...

[ILYCOFFE]

I guess I'm one of the few people who is looking to put on some weight.

After years of eating disorder which has left me with a BMI of 15.6, 12-13% body fat, saggy boobs at the age of 18, a deflated bum, and chicken arms - I have finally had a wake up call. 2 years ago I was BMI 18, boobs size 28H - do you guys think I will get my boobs back? or is that just an impossible dream...?

Before summer I had a six pack, but traveling during summer and the plunge back into school really hit me and I lost ALOT of muscle mass.

I'm scared of the changes to my body. That's why I want to inform myself as much as possible about how to gain muscle weight with minimal fat, how to best exercises to encourage muscle growth and what exercises to do. I have an idea...but I really need something concreate. I can do 2-3 sets of 20reps of almost all exercises I have come across (tricep dips, bicept curls, launges, reverse sit ups, cruches, wide squats(sometimes I just hold this oen for 30secs) So I wouldnt say I'm a beginner....

I'm willing to invest in weights and such and I can go to the gym once a week (free from school). I just need someone to help me figure out what to do.

Also, I'm a bit anxious about nutrition. I dont want to go back to routine and staple foods and such. I have done so much work on intuitive eating, but some guildlines would be appreciated. For example, my BMR is 1500cals, how much over that should I eat to encourage muscle gain and how many servings of protein a day? I'm scared of sudden change, but if suddens change means more muscle then I'm willing to take the challange.

I used to log everything down (cals protein fats carbs) online...but I really dont want to get back to that.

Dont hesitate to ask any questions that will help you help me get some meat on!

[Trusylver]

Welcome to the forum

if you have been logging your calories before you should have a good ide of what your eating without logging your food now.

To build muscle you are going to want access to a selection of weights, either Dumbells or barbell but for home dumbells are usually easier.

You need to be working in the 8-10 rep range for building muscle with weight that is around 70-80 % of your 1 rep max. 20 reps will help with endurance but not so much for building muscle.

I have to go out now but I will write up a beginner list of exercises you can do when I get back later and link to video of how to do them.

[ILYCOFFE]

Yeah, my head is pretty much a data base of calorie numbers. I havnt been logging calories since before summer, and trying really hard to not asses a food by its calories, but by how it will satisfy me. E.g. I'll choose real food rather then a salad, cause then I won't THINK about food for a while.

Since I've been doing this I realised my body can take more rubbish then I thought(I thought I was atleast maintaining but I lost some more...) and that my metabolism has not ben mucked up. (Yay!)

That is very sweet of you for taking the time! I experimented last night and found a way to do push ups and tricep dips so I could only do 8-10reps in a set.

Also, was looking at weights now. Do you think 5kg weight is too much? Like, I have these lil weights that are actually for pilates - plastic balls filled with sand. They are 3kg and I can do reps with them like air.

Thank you SO much yet again!
Ana

[5kgLifter]

Welcome to the forum Ilycoffe

It's good to see that you've come through the tunnel, so-to-speak, concerning your eating disorder. Oddly my hairdresser often discusses what set her on that same track and how it has really mucked up her body and life...so, I was pleased to read that you are steering away from the obsessive calorie count etc. The way I do my "calories" was in working out what made up the amount that would represent a basic meal. So, 2 slices of bread with a filling etc would be ideal midday meal...and no counting involved. As I exercised I'd get ravenous, even with the 6 meals a day, so I upped it to 9 at one point...and I mainly just listen to my system, so if it wants food, in addition to the basic meals, I just go ahead and eat to satisfy. It seems to work for me.

Anyway, to the question of boobs Don't worry, apart from the underlying muscle tissue which can be aesthetically enhanced with incline bench press and ordinary bench press (no need for decline for us females due to the anatomy of that breast area), the breast consists of glands, fatty tissue etc...so a bit of weight gain should see the breasts fill out a bit. I dropped a couple of cup sizes, now since I stopped exercise they've gone up in size again, so I'm looking to reverse that a bit by getting back to my routine fully.

Hope that helped a bit.