Being sickly skinny
 

I'm already underweight as it is and I have a feeling it's going to get worse. Whenever I was in school, I'd eat more because I had more of an opportunity to be around food. I'm out of school now and won't get around food. There's never really anything I enjoy eating in my house so I just don't eat. My mom prefers buying stupid stuff to go broke with or goes to buy food that he only enjoys eating. I'll be moving out soon and won't have much money to feed myself with, so the weight is going to go down more than it should. I honestly won't be surprised if I get to around a near 100 pounds within the next month. I'm getting close to that point anyways, so I'm scared it is going to get worse.

Not quite sure what to do. :/

That doesn't sound really good...>A<;;
Are you really picky with food?

Yes, I am super picky when it comes to food. If I start to eat something I dislike, my hunger will go away instantly and I'll stop eating.

Well, that's the problem there...>A<;
and it's not very easy to change that kind of attitude towards food.
If a person is super picky...he/she will stay like that for years...

I don't really know what to do about it.

well, I used to be picky...
but I had to force myself to eat the things that I don't like because I was freaking skinny before... >.<;;
but that's not a good thing to give as an advice: "force yourself to eat"

See I love white rice, so I buy a box of instant rice. Costs 5 bucks for a box packed to the brim (no plastic bag FYI which is awesome)
I put a cup full in a bowl it pretty much fills my dinner. (I tend to have 2 cups) the box is hardly even dented after a week. It lasts a long time and fills you. Why do you think the Japanese eat it all the time?
Just buy quantity not quality, don't buy fruits they don't last. If you buy fruits buy the big sacks of them that cost way less. Eat vegetables lots, they last and are extremely cheap.
Spaghetti/Pasta is extremely cheap meal that fills a family you just need noodles and sauce. And ground beef if you want meatballs.
Don't buy juices/pop, they don't last. You want something to drink? Tap water, or milk. Go easy on Milk its very cheap but it lasts. Eat the off brand cereal its healthier and cheaper.
When you want meat think small, get ground beef and chicken. Its cheap, never buy chicken off the bone they give you less meat actually then chicken breasts and by the time you compare the pricing chicken breast costs way cheaper then chicken on the bone. And you can do a lot with ground beef, just don't make anything that require buns AKA hamburgers, ect. Bread costs at weird prices, the only bread you should buy is the 1 dollar dinner loaf that you throw into the oven and cook.

Well I'm stopping there xD (I could go on...) If anything I said interested you try it.

Illusion... I don't know how to cook. :X

Microwave pizza. That's what I eat.
I'm realllly picky and realllllly skinny. Like I have zero fat on my body, even when I DO eat like a pig.
Try and find at least one semi-healthy thing to eat that's cheap, and eat a lot of it.
Also taking a multi-vitamin can help.

One of my problems is that I get tired of eating the same damn food all the time and need a variety.

Trust me, I love my microwavable pizzas and sadly we have none at the moment. My mom said she is going to bring me home something to eat, but I'm sure she will "forget" and be like, "Oops. Too bad."

For starters, learn to cook at least basic things. Vegetables and raw food is much cheaper than prepared and instant stuff. That's one of the first things I learned in college. Also, if you have the option, shop around and look for the good prices on things. I've often found that fruit and vegetables from a farm market or veggie store are cheaper than those from a standard everything food market. Butchers are often cheaper for meat than an everything store, etc. Buy whatever is one sale.

Cooking actually doesn't require all that much. I hate doing it too but I managed well enough. Cooking veggies is easy because they can be eated raw anyway so there's no problems with undercooking on the health end.

Unfortunately, one of the only ways to deal with weight loss from not eating enough is to just make yourself eat more. The less you eat, the less your stomache is able to hold because it gets used to not having much in it. I've been there lots and it's not easy to do but making yourself eat more is pretty much the main thing to focus on. I had to have meal replacement supliments for a while when I was ill, and i still keep those around since I rarely eat breakfast. Those are pricey though.

I have pretty much the same problem, only, I don't eat. Period. I don't like food, and I'm trying to repair the relationship I have with food. I'm currently 114 pounds, and it doesn't seem like I'm going to be gaining any time soon. My problem is the exact opposite of yours-- we have money for food, and we buy things that are extremely healthy, I just can't bring myself to eat. And if I do, I feel horrible about it later, and work out like a fucking maniac to work off what I've eaten. Its a horrible habit.

You remind me of my brother, and considering that I haven't figured a way to help expand his self-limited diet, I can't and won't ask you to force yourself to eat what you don't want to. However, as the previous comments suggest, you need to eat something. I suggest that you learn to make what you like, and buy the fresh ingredients for it. Sure it's not immediate but in time it could work. What do you/don't you like to eat, anyways? Maybe I can give you a good recipe or something.

@Quiet: I need to learn to cook. xD
@Cupcake: I'm a guy and my mom just doesn't know how to spend money. We have food in the house that she enjoys eating, but I don't. If it tastes bad, I won't eat it. Also, I'm not 100 pounds, I'm 109 pounds. I'm just scared of getting to that point. Also, I'm 18 years old.
@Batty: I can't bring myself to eat food that I don't like. I'm not willing to do it.

What food's in the house? Salad ingredients and fried Eggplant?

Yes, pretty much. My mom is dieting and I don't want to diet with her.

Also, on a regular basis, I eat about once or twice a day. Luckily, my mom brought me home something to eat, but my stomach wasn't happy with it and I had to go to the bathroom.

Nanka, I used to not really know how to cook anything basic, but I used to watch a show called "Good Eats" on the Food Network, and I have to say it taught me enough about cooking methods to have at least more courage to cook without following a specific recipe. I don't know if you can manage to watch that and see if it helps you or not.

As for what you like/dislike. If there's something simple you like, such as rice or pasta, go for that and do something different with it each time. Both of those make a good base and as what was said earlier is rather inexpensive. Those two are easy to add things to, like veggies or sauce, and still be filling and mostly healthy.

Also, perhaps an odd question, is how much exercise do you get? If you sit around a lot and don't use a lot of energy your body won't give you as many signals that it needs nourishment. Try maybe taking a 15-20 minute walk every day and see if maybe it makes you hungrier, perhaps it might help you overcome the "won't eat if I don't like it" thing.

Good luck Nanka :3

Good Eats is an awesome show, if cheezie, and Alton Brown recipies are really easy to follow. One can look them up at the Food Network website online. I've done that a few times. Another show I like to watch is Chef at Home with Michael Smith, because he cooks very simple meals that are easy on low budget.

Nanka, have you been checked out for food allergies? If food makes your stomache or system feel uncomfortable it's possible something you're eating is irritating it. My family is full of dietary concerns and some are surprising.

Also, if you've been underweight for most of your life, it can be really hard to change it. Is your weight thing new or something that has been fairly constant? I have been slightly underweight for the bulk of my life which means it's really hard for me to gain weight, but it also means that any weight I lose tends to come back if I fix my eating habits quick enough because a person's body, once it's accustomed to being at a certain weight for a long period of time, doesn't like to change.

I love rice so that might be something to think about.

Ummmmm, I was always skinny, but then I got fat and became underweight due to starving myself on purpose. I'm trying to eat more to fight against it...

I wish you luck on your struggles then, unless you still need more direction.

How tall are you, Nanka? I went from 135 lbs. to 110 in a year and a half all of a sudden and I'm 5'2. Any lower than 110 lbs. and I would have been worried. My mother always bought this really cheap frozen chicken from Wal-Mart and I HATED it, and she always cooked it, even though I said I didn't like it. Anytime she made anything good, my step dad would hog close to everything there was. Whatever was on my plate was what I got for dinner every night. I was left half-hungry sometimes and it was really sickening to watch him down half a pan of lasagna while my stomach was growling an hour later.

For a picky eater, I would start off with snacking. What snacks do you like? If you pick out snacks that you like that are on sale, it would be an affordable start and your mom might get an idea of what you like to snack on. If she doesn't know, make her a list, stuff it into her pocket, and tell her "Don't forget to take a peek at that. I don't need everything on it, but the ones that are on sale would be nice. If there isn't anything on the list that isn't for sale, the ones with stars are the ones I'd like most. Thank you!"

=)

The thing is that I never know what I want from the grocery store unless I am actually there in the grocery store looking around. My mom has this tendency to just go without me even though I told her I want to go so I can pick out food I'd like to eat.

Also, I'm 5'5" and male if that counts for anything. I just weighed myself this morning and I'm 110 pounds.

I hope you can get to the grocery store. I agree with Ginger, try to find some snacks you like and eat those for now, until you move out. Also.. if money is limited make sure you go and sign up for food stamps. I didn't want to but when I couldn't work my last job anymore I forced myself to and at least I had money to buy food.

@Ginger, is there any way you can serve yourself at dinner, and at least give yourself a large portion if it's something you like? If you want a second helping I think you should get it, that's an unhappy situation you are in and I hope it gets better for you :x

Also, Ginger, your Step Dad sounds like a douchebag pigfucker. Just going to say that now. /PERSONAL VENDETTA AGAINST STEP PARENTS

I'm probably going to apply for Food Stamps when I can.

i was 110lbs (5'10" tall) until a few months ago. my mom is a tv dinner kind of gal. Otherwise she lives on a diet of cereal. She eats so much cereal she got kidney stones from it - no joke.

Anyway. What I did when I wasn't eating out, was to keep lots of ramen, totino's $1.00 pizzas, cans of chilli and cans of soup stored in my room (not the pizza, but the rest) so that when she hadn't picked up some sort of fast cook thing to eat, I still had something. When I moved out I was able to get food stamps to buy things I actually enjoyed (but i don't know ify ou can get those). You just have to learn to shop effectively when you can afford to and to make sure you have something in reserve as best you can.

Luckily, my mom is going to Target to pick me up stuff to eat. I'm hungry right now, but I have to wait till she leaves work and actually gets food. xD

Nanka - I am glad to hear ^^ Yeah, 110 pounds is definately not healthy for your gender or your height.

Serra Britt - Yes there is a way but my mom never told me when dinner was ready. She'd just bring it to me and expect me to be full off of whatever she put on the plate for me. My step dad eats the rest of whatever is left before I'm even done with my first plate. Luckily I am moved out though and live with my boyfriend's parents. I am very grateful that his mom offered me a place to stay. I am no longer hungry all the time, and I'm doing way better in terms of social interaction. I've been living with them since the very beginning of February.

I personally like being 110 pounds, but I want to at least maintain 110 pounds instead of losing more weight. c:

Cupcake where are you finding your numbers? The one medical site I checked had the weight ranges within 10 pounds or less, it said my ideal weight would be between 149 and 153 >>

Nanka, as long as you exercise and eat enough you probably won't drop too much weight :3

I don't exercise much, but I should do it more. I just don't like doing cardio very much because of my stupid asthma.

It doesn't have to be cardio, Nanka. Even something aerobic is better than nothing. But I'm afraid I'm not a good example as I can't actually exercise much ><

I like to make excuses of why not to exercise! 8D

Snacking is a good thing. It's what I started doing when I was so skinny the doctors where threatening to feed me through a stomache tube. It helps if you aren't able to hold a lot of food in your stomache at once, and also keeps some fuel in your system to that your body doesn't start chewing on fat or muscle to feed itself.