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Is it bad that I like being underweight?
I'm 21 and 4ft 10. My ideal weight according to my general care doctor is between 90 and 115 pounds. For a long while, I was right around 75-78 pounds, but I took the advice of my doctor to gain weight and right now I'm 84 pounds. I'm really not happy with this weight gain though because I feel like it's made a noticeable difference in my body that I don't like.
For example, I used to be able to see my ribs and I was okay with not being able to see them so much, but now I can't see very much of them at all. I also feel like I have a little bit of a pouch now on my stomach instead of it being flat like it was.
I also have B-cups which looked really good with my former weight because I was all proportional, but now I feel like they look smaller, since I've filled out around my stomach and hips more.
Anyways, I want to lose the weight I've gained now, and those close to me are concerned that I have something wrong with me, but I just don't like how I look right now and I never had any health complications when I was 75 pounds so what's the hurt?
I really don't like my current weight at all, every time I change clothes I feel like I look different and I can't stand the little bit of a pouch that I have now. It makes me paranoid all day long.
Is it wrong that I want to be underweight if it wasn't causing any health concerns?
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Weight sits differently on different people. If it was only about the amount of weight you weigh, Drs and curent health standards are very generous when they list the normal levels of poundage for adults of certain ages. When I was your age, I weighed 110 which would put me at normal for todays weight chart. However, I am almost 5 inches taller than you. The only times I gained weight was when pregnant. I did not have a body image problem and worry about if ribs were showing...they did but I was healthy. I never dieted. I just was a fine boned, active person with a very high metabolism, so no matter how much I ate, I didn't gain and the more I excercised, I actually lost weight and got scared when I ended up at 95 or lower...so I regulated how much exercise I did. Your worry about the little pooch of stomach, and whether ribs show may be a sign that you have a wrong idea of what is normal for body image and that could cause you problems your whole life if you don't talk to someone now. Your weight sounds just right to me for your size height wise. There are always exceptions to the general rules even in weight. I know how skinny I was for my height when I did too much exercising combined with high metabolism. There aren't many people like that anymore in the US. Most people are a bit over their recommended weight or very over weight. But if 95 was really not enough for me at a taller height than you, I would guess it to be a good maximum weight for you. With todays concern over anorexia and bulimia, many people have concern if someone looks a bit skinny to them. My daughters even had friends asking if their Mom was anorexic. I got that a lot. I am older now, less active and my metabolism has slowed down some so I have more weight. You may be underweight according to todays weight charts which are different from when I was your age.
But If I were you, I'd be more concerned with whether it is causing health problems or whether you may have some unhealthy body image issues. Everyone was always concerned about my weight too. But my family who knew me best, realized I was healthier than all of them, 5 family members. So they learned to not be concerned about my weight.
I will say that since you can maintain B size cups at your weight before or now, tells me that it is very likely that this weight is normal for you. This is something you will have to decide for yourself, the weight that your body functions best at for you. Don't worry about how it looks though. If looks are too much a concern, only then do I recommend seeing a counselor who can help you with body image. That is one of the greatest lies all of us have been fed and we are all so brainwashed to have personal images of what is pretty and what is not. As Razhie mentioned, all photos are photoshopped and in film, if an actress looks too chunky or bad in some way, they reshoot and change the angles of shot, or colors worn, etc until they get the look they want. No one looks as perfect as the fake images of beauty we have been made to believe in and strive for. These images are impossible for all people to meet because we are all different and yet made to think we must force ourselves into some cookie cutter shape so we can all look alike. For example, Its impossible for a taller, big boned woman with a slow metabolism to ever look like you, even if by chance she chose to become anorexic by practicing certain habits. Some things like her bone size, height and metabolism are things that can't be changed. Just pay close attention to your health sweetie and I would try to stick with the weight gain you're at cus its only 5, to 6 lbs more than your usual weight and shouldn't be making you have problems. If you gain another 5 to 10, yes, it may make you feel bad, lethargic and not be the best for your frame. In general, I take into consideration what Drs. say and would recommend the same to others. But I am also into natural health and know things about my own body that a Dr. in an office wouldn't know. They can only make general observations and not know what is really normal for me or not. Perhaps you did not feed DR enough info on whats going on with you? If I only answered just what the Dr. asked, they would never have known how to treat me for my last several Dr. visits for various complaints. Anticipate what info they may need to know but not realize is pertinant. This will help lots in your life.
In ending, in case I sensed you wrong, and you are anorexic, you do need to see a Dr. Otherwise, only get counseling if you are too hung up on what your body looks like.
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I find it a bit odd that you left out any mention of why you were you underweight to begin with... Fundamentally tho, you should listen to your doctors advice.
If it wasn't causing health concerns, then maybe, sure, but just because something is causing immediate issues, doesn't mean it's a healthy thing to do. No one thinks it's okay to smoke just because they don't have asthma or lung cancer right at the moment? We all know smoking is bad for you, even if a person isn't having any health issues at the time.
Being severely underweight can cause long-term problems. It does damage that can't always be fixed later. It's not a good state to leave your body in.
That little pouch you see is healthy and normal. Nearly everyone who is a healthy weight has it. It's one of the first things they photoshop off of models and movie stars, but it's there. They wear special underwear and suck it in on the red carpet, but it's there. That is how the human body is shaped. We have four limbs, two eyes, and a little bit of convex to our stomach area.
If you are really struggling with this, I'd strongly advise you to talk to a therapist who has some experience with people with body image issues, because you don't want your mind's idea of what you 'should look like' turn into behaviours that harm your body.
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Your doctor should have told you how bad it is to be underweight. It is actually far worse to be 10 pounds underweight than 10 pounds overweight.
The primary objective of our bodies is to keep the brain functioning. To do this the body needs to take in so many calories a day and have a certain reserve of stored fat. When your underweight you do not have the required amount of stored fat and you most likely are not taking in enough calories. When that happens the body en essence starts to feed on itself by attacking other systems.
In females one of the first system it attacks is the reproductive system. Underweight women have irregular period if they have a period at all and they have trouble getting pregnant. If the body still needs more energy then it will start attacking and shutting down other vital organs until finally the brain dies.
This is the problem with people who suffer from anorexia. I'm not saying this is your problem but being under weight as you are the problems and the harm you are doing to your body are the same. Have you ever noticed young female Olympians generally if they have any breasts at all they are usually small breasted. They also do not get a period. The reason is they train so hard they cannot take in enough calories to sustain themselves so this is a system that lies dormant until they stop training. Then that part of puberty hits them like a house on fire.
While I am not a doctor I would I am a parent and a grandparent and actually old enough to be your great grandparent. I would like to see you gain between 15 & 23 more pounds to put you in a healthy weight category. As far as any pouches you can go to a gym and see a physical trainer and ask for help in toning those areas.
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