Story of the skinny girl

‘Losing weight’ has been a trending topic over the last few years. The world has become almost ‘obsessed’ with obtaining the perfect body by doing sports and eating healthy; people in general have become more aware of health. But what does it really mean, ‘being healthy’? What if, being healthy for you does not mean losing those last few pounds, but gaining them? The latter is a subject we don’t discuss very often, while there are many women (and men) out there trying to gain weight, preferably the healthy way. Me, for example. Over the last few months I’ve worked my ass of to get myself where I am now: 5 kilo heavier and 100kg happier. Let me explain.

Chocolate-eating monster
As a kid I’ve never been very chubby or overweight. I was just a normal kid, not too skinny, not too big. When I started growing taller at the age of 12, however, I became skinnier- regardless the fact that I ate like shit. Sure, in general I ate the fruit and veggies someone at that age needs (thanks mom), but during the day I ate every (unhealthy) snack that crossed my sight. Burgers, candy, chocolate- as every teen around that age I had a great love for junk food, and so I still had a few years later. Not the most healthy lifestyle I’d say. As if it couldn’t get any worse, I had this huge aversion for sports or any activity at all: even though I had tried all sports you could think of, including team sports, nothing seemed to work for me. I simply was a lazy, chocolate-eating monster. Still, I wasn’t fat at all. ‘You lucky bastard’ I can hear you think, but healthy on the inside doesn’t always mean healthy on the outside: I had no energy, no endurance and often suffered from ‘a cold’ or small virus due to lack of resistance. I decided it was time for a change. The beginning of my journey.

‘She must be anorexic’
I started running 4 times a week, slow pace and short distance, combined with a healthy ‘diet’. I felt better day by day and slowly build up endurance, speed and distance. After a few months I was finally able to run my first 10 kilometre: I was happier than ever before! Still, there was a negative side to this: all the running in combination with healthier food choices made me lose weight over the long run. At first I didn’t notice it myself, but after some months people around me started making negative comments. ‘She must be anorexic’ and ‘Look at her, too thin’ or ‘Does she even eat?’. Such comments shocked me at first sight: how could they think such things of me? How could this have happened? I had always been skinny, but not ‘too’ skinny. I never intended to be! The fact that others thought such things of me and the way I looked in general made me feel terrible. When I look back at it, it’s not that strange after all: from eating tons of junk food to exercising daily and eating healthy of course results in weight loss, when not carefully watching your intake, at least.

Strong, healthy and happy
This is when I decided to specifically watch my food intake and workout routine in order to try to gain weight. I understand it might seem ridiculous to some: first losing weight and then trying to gain it back? Though there is a big difference between how I was before, during and after this decision. I went from ‘skinny but not healthy and no muscle’ to ‘too skinny’ to arrive where I am now: strong, healthy and happy. I know there are countless girls out there that are simply ‘build athletic’ and therefore easily lose weight while doing cardio or eating mostly ‘clean’. You might even have had a problem with eating disorders in the past but now made the decision to change. No matter what your reason is; you’re ready to get strong, healthy and kick some ass. With this article I hope to make you realize that also for you, gaining (muscle) strength and obtaining that fit, healthy and strong body really is possible, as long as you believe in it yourself too! It may require sweat, tears and discipline but believe me when I say it’s totally worth it.

Tons of peanut butter
Now what did I do in order to gain 5 kg’s and increase my lean muscle mass in only such a short amount of time? The answer lies for 80% with my food intake: I started eating, a lot. Normally, someone of my height, age and weight at that time would need only 1700 calories per day to remain at a constant weight. I made sure my daily intake was about 1000 calories above this amount, varying from 2500 to 3000 calories a day. Secondly, I reduced the running and joined a gym close to home, where I at least spend 1.5 hour twice a week. Once a week I do strength training with the equipment I have at home, meaning I do strength a total of 3 times a week. My focus still lies with running (obviously- I’m Runninglau ;-)) so I chose to visit the gym a limited amount a week. You, however, could obtain even greater results when going 5 to 6 times a week while training different muscle groups at a time! In the beginning eating such large amounts of food can be quite a challenge for someone with a small tummy, but don’t worry, your body will get used to it over time. May I give you another tip? Eat peanut butter. Peanut butter is your best friend and goes together perfectly with pretty much everything edible. In this case, you are allowed to call yourself a lucky bastard. Tons of peanut butter are on every women’s wish list, am I right?

Last but not least: don’t judge a women (or men) on just the outside. He or she might look healthy, but from the inside turns out to be the opposite. It could also be the other way around: that skinny girl might be trying her ultimate best to gain weight and kick some ass. The outside does not always define what’s going on, on the inside.

Keep in mind: as long as you want to be fit and healthy, you can be. Believe in yourself, focus on your goals and train HARD. You will get there before you know it. And always remember that peanut butter is your best friend.

Lots of love,

Lau