What to do if I am underweight?
Sandra, a teenager with body image issues writes, “My height is 153 cm. I’m a gentle person so I don’t really participate in sports, it’s just not my thing but I do go for plenty of long walks and I do yoga weekly. I eat pretty healthy, maybe too healthy, because my mother is Japanese and what she cooks doesn’t contain much fat. I’ve been trying to make myself eat heaps of fruit and bread lately so much that it’s been disagreeing with my stomach, and when I can, I try to eat from McDonalds. I had a look at the bmi calculator link you gave me, and I found out that I am at 16.7 which is way below the normal range of 18.5-24.9. In other words, I am underweight. I try so hard to put on weight that it distresses me. I recently went to doctor and requested weight gain pills but was heartbroken when he told me they did not exist. I must have a really fast metabolism or something. I have heard of Keira Knightley and I idolise her in a way, but she gets so much verbal abuse for apparently looking like a ‘10 year old boy’. It’s hard having to deal with this issue in high school, hardly any boys seem attracted to me as I don’t really compare to so many other girls who have so much more curves. I would like to exercise more but I don’t really want to go to a gym. I know it sounds foolish for me wanting to kill myself, but I feel like such a freak and not a normal person. I should be lucky for not having a disability and feel guilty for having these thoughts but I can’t help it and I just find myself so miserable. I’m so conscious of all the clothes I wear and it’s so hard going shopping as nearly nothing fits me, as where I live they don’t make too many clothes for small people and seem to think that everyone is larger nowadays. I hate going out and meeting friends now and I guess it’s severely impacting my social life.”
I don’t think that you need to go to the gym. Do whatever exercises work for you.
I know Japanese cooking very well and I know it is very healthy but little by little you should make dietary changes (yes, your body will need to adjust to those changes) so that you can gain weight. Trust me you will gain weight because people all over the world have the opposite problem — how to lose weight?
And no there are no weight gain pills but if you do more exercise you will feel hungrier and that way you can gain weight.
I know how it feels to not look like everyone else but read this article from a teenager with small breasts like you.
Note: If you have words of encouragement for Sandra, please write them here.
I hope that little by little you will become more womanly and life will be just fine for you. In the meantime stay positive and just think of a difficult period in life that will soon be over. Finding the right clothes is a problem for many people. Trust me I am not a skinny person like you but I am just a healthy male, but in the United States where almost everyone is fat, I have to look for clothes for me and when I find one that fits right I buy even if it is expensive.
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