For years I have been scrawny,weak and had low-self esteem. Through out high school I competed in basketball and baseball so I lifted weights, but was never really serious or concerned about getting bigger. Unfortunately three years ago I fell into a deep depression and began to stop eating. After losing over 30lbs I was hospitalized and diagnosed with anorexia. After years of therapy and hard-work I am finally happy in my life and want to continue my passion.
Fast-forward to today I am now in college and have begun training seriously since October. Unfortunately in mid November I had to take a break from lifting because I broke my right leg in a bicycle accident. Only recently have I begun to train on a regular schedule. My short term goal is to put on as much lean mass as possible for the next 6-7 months. Currently I weigh 149 lbs at 6’2 (19 years old).
My split is legs/push/pull/rest/ repeat.
Below are current pictures the front pic is not flexed
Hey man, I’m not huge by any means, but I have a similar background to you. I played basketball in HS and started off lifting at 135 standing 6’2". In to see your progress broseph.
[quote]mattd534 wrote:
Thanks for reminding me . I’m currently at 3000 calories macros are : 73f 383c 200p[/quote]Watch the scale and mirror, and if you aren’t gaining, then eat more. Seems a little low in my mind.
the best part about being THAT skinny is the gains will come quick. your scale can only go up at this point. if you were truly anorexic at one point, going on a high protein diet will really make a difference.
If you’re gaining weight on 3000 cals, then just stay with it until you stop. Shoot for about a pound a week right now I’d say.
Glad you’re eating the protein, but if you have an issue eating that much, replacing some of those cals from protein with carbs/fats could be beneficial. Just hitting 150-175g should be good for you.
Your routine looks decent, but I would avoid doing supersets with cables and such as you describe in one of your posts. Stick to the basics. As long as your bench press, squats, deadlifts, rows, chins, barbell curl etc are increasing, you’re doing fine.
As for diet, get on the scale once a month or bi-weekly. As long as your bodyweight is increasing (along with strength going up), you’re doing fine. If your weight plateaus, eat more. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with keeping a rough food log, but your main concern right now is simply eating enough to grow. Don’t obsess over macros, or “eating clean.”
Here is a thread you might want to read. This guy went from skinny to huge, and used to post a lot on here.
As someone who similarly started lifting after dealing with an ED (which I still battle now), just a suggestion that at least to start, you focus less on your bodyweight and meticulously gauging your bodyfat changes and instead just focus on the weights you’re lifting increasing from week to week. People on here who would advise otherwise may not really get how much the scale number of bodyweight and its increase is associated with negativity for someone recovering from something like anorexia. I wouldn’t get too meticulous about your diet to start off with unless you can honestly say to yourself that you’ve moved past the proclivity for becoming obsessive about your weight and/or food. Because ultimately you may end up substituting one negative activity for another.
