Underweight, but struggling to eat more food!!

[Alex424]

Hi

After being half starved for the last 4 years and eating little and not often (1400 calories a day tops) (I'm a bloke too), mainly out of laziness and lack of appetite i have reached the point of sorting my diet out and gaining some serious good quality weight. I currently am 5ft 7 inches and 125 pounds. I have also been under a lot of work stress recently and am wondering if this is an issue?

In terms of diet i am eating good quality food now, but i am having major issues with eating more often and larger amounts of food. My stomach just can't seem to handle it and i get a bloated, nausea feeling when i eat stretching up to my throat. All i can figure is that my stomach is tiny from eating small amounts of food for a long time and will not accept larger amounts. I am trying to eat 1800 calories a day now with the aim of increasing this futher when i can. I am eating now 6 smallish meals a day but this is a battle.

Is it worth perservering and eating to the point of being completely bloated for a few weeks? Is this the best way for my stomach to begin to accept normal amounts of food more easily? How long will it take for my stomach to feel normal?

Any advice very appreciated.

[Blarg]

You will get used to eating more.

You can also up the calories with things like protein shakes between meals, or by eating more small meals instead of just cramming all the calories into 2 or 3 big meals.

[droopy0021]

You don't mention anything about exercise in your post. I would think incorporating some workouts (lifting weights, running/biking/walking) will help increase your appetite and possibly reduce the impact of work stress. With a quick google search I found this article (amongst others) on fighting stress:

Exercise to fight stress

[Buckeye81]

Hi Alex,

I can attest to the fact that a regular exercise program will do WONDERS for your stress level. My general day-to-day stress level is easily at it's lowest point ever since I started a regular exercise program. Lifting big, heavy things is a great way to relieve tension in a healthy manner! The best part is you will likely notice the effects fairly quickly (it didn't take me longer than 1-2 weeks to notice an improvement in my own stress levels).

As for your diet question, use the search function to find similiar threads. I know several have been done that contain good advice if you want to add on the pounds. It's probably going to take some time for your body to become acclimated to taking in more calories, just keep eating and give it some time. Good luck!