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My Lovely Readers,

My first official weight gain has occurred: I am up 2 pounds.

Alright, I will admit that despite everything I have stated up until this point, this weight gain still sort of scared me. I have been either losing – or most likely maintaing – for so long that this entire concept of weight gain has sort of caught me off guard.

The real catch-22, however, is that this morning when I looked in the mirror I was actually pretty pleased with what I saw. Yes, I still have bones sticking out at odd angles and breasts so small you would think they belonged to a 12-year-old boy, but my arms were looking ripped and my stomach appeared to be almost completely flat.

And then I stepped on the scale.

At first I thought the weight gain measured yesterday had been a fluke, I must have just been backed up or something because you can’t just gain 2 pounds in 2 days. Well apparently you can, especially when you spend four days doing relatively nothing. This morning’s weigh-in confirmed that.

These past few days I have been passing the days in my favorite local coffee shop and thoroughly saturating myself with posts and forums about girls recovering and waiting 3000+ calories a day. Saturday night in particular, I became so frightened that I binged until I was so uncomfortable that I could not fall asleep.

*hint* Don’t attempt this, you feel worse than the extra hundred calories are worth.

All these forums suggest the following:

•Eating 3,000 + as a teen (2500 if you’re over 25)
•No exercise whatsoever until you reach a BMI of 21
•Wait for your body to ‘magically’ stop gaining when you reach your set-weight.

I became obsessed with reading these women’s stories and struggles, all with advice doled out by the doctor known only as Hedgren. I was thoroughly indoctrinated, so to speak, by the end of the weekend. However, after much contemplation I have found some holes in her argument and methodology.

First of all, you can not just assume everyone needs the same amount of calories based solely on age. Sure, anyone underweight needs excess calories (probably around 2500) to gain weight, but nobody simply stops gaining at a magical set point. Where do the excess calories go when there is nothing to repair? They cannot simply *poof* disappear.

My second argument comes when she says that those under a BMI of 21 should not engage in any form of exercise other than mild yoga. I personally find weight lifting to be essential to my recovery. Not only does it help build stronger bones – something I’m in need of – but it allows me to build excess muscle, rather than straight fat, and to feel much better about eating an excess of calories.

Exercise, and I’m talking about weight lifting not cardio, can actually help put the weight on faster as long as you eat the calories to aid in muscle recovery. Personally, I find that weight lifting is beneficial for the following reasons:

•It burns minimal calories but adds major volume
•It helps build strong bones
•It significantly decreases the regrets of overeating
•It gives me something more healthy to obsess over

My advice is to start slow, only use your body as resistance, and gradually move yourself up to some light dumbbells and such. Never train if you are still sore from the last one and never train more than 4x a week.

So in conclusion, these are the few tips I will take away from reading Hedgren’s advice:

•Your body can handle more calories than you think
•Exercise for enjoyment, not obligation
•Normal people don’t eat the same amount every day
•The sooner you gain, the sooner you can maintain
•Some of the weight you gain will be simply in the bones & organs, not fat.

And a few things of my own:

•Weight Training can make you feel stronger and more beautiful than an hour of cardio ever will.
•Gain until you feel beautiful, not when the scale (or some government chart) says you are.

Stay strong my lovely followers, I know I am. I will gain until I feel lovely again myself, not simply when a scale tells me to start or stop. I hope you can do the same.

Love,
Rachel