My anorexia may have stunted my growth. Is there a way to fix this?

[ShortCircuit]

For the whole summer between freshmen and sophomore year, I survived on only 1 or 2 glasses of milk per day. I lost a grand total of 100 pounds, and I weighed 120 at my lowest.

Since then, I have gained almost 20 lbs back, about half of which is lean muscle mass. So to be frank, I am recovering quite well, and I look better than I ever have before. The only thing that has still suffered is my height.

My dad is 5'10 and my mom is 5'3. My height was predicted to be 5'8, but I've been 5'6 since 6th grade. My dad told me that his last growth spurt took place somewhere between his freshmen and sophomore year (I am a sophomore now).

So, either my height has been permanently stunted, or my growth spurt has been delayed. And I think the cause of it was my summer of borderline starvation. Is there any way I can turn this around? Can I make up for it by over-nourishing myself?

I'm on a 2000 calorie diet right now, but this summer I plan to increase my calorie intake as much as I can, and run a lot to avoid gaining too much body fat. Will that work?

[ebbyeb]

Hmm... Well, I would just try and eat extra healthy. Things like protein can give you more muscle and fat from meat can get you a bit more fat... But hmm.. I guess trying to intake a bit more nutrients than normal might revive an expired/delayed growth spurt. The sooner you do this the better I'd say. Also staying hydrated is uber important and getting lots of rest is also. Try and always stay hydrated, that'll help you more than almost anything. Since the human body is roughly 70% water. Anyways, I hope this helps ya! :)

[ShortCircuit]

I do drink about 48oz of water a day. Is that enough in your opinion?

[ebbyeb]

Hmm.. I'm actually not super sure about that.. It seems a bit on the smaller side tbh. Not sure though. I'd recommend staying at that amount if you think that it's plenty enough to keep you hydrated and lessen it a bit if you think that it's overkill. The thing with water is that you have to time when you drink it, because it takes up room in your stomach and makes you feel more full.. So if you're trying to gain a bit of weight I'd recommend drinking mostly between meals. Hope it helps :)

[lovelyhoneybones]

That's the thing about depriving your body of nourishment that it needs, you damage it. I'm not an expert so of course I can't say for sure if you stunted your growth or not. There's a high possibility that your height is supposed to be 5'6 since you said your mother is 5'3 and your father is 5'10. Genetics are a funny thing.

[Lyndsielee666]

Eh I stunted my growth when I was bad in my anorexia and I haven't grown since seventh grade. Like at all, I still fit in clothes I bought then 😂

[ShortCircuit]

I think it's different for girls though. It's pretty normal for you guys to stop growing around that age. Besides, it's not a bad thing for girls to be short. I wish I could say the same for guys...

[Lyndsielee666]

Girls grow until they're 21 😭 It's not normal for a 24 year old to still be wearin kids sizes lmfaooo
5'6" isn't bad though! Just eat healthy and drink protein shakes and you'll be fine!

[Marshall123]

well, I don't know how you could survive with 2 glasses of milk per day honestly, you made some injuries in your body, some were/will be fixed with you continuing having a normal life style, but some of them are irreversable. Your body was obligated to enter in a "survival mode" because you were eating less calouries that the ones you needed daily, your heigth could have been affected or not, wait until the end of puberty (22 or 23 years)

[ShortCircuit]

Is there anything I can do in the mean time to increase my chances of getting my growth back?

[Marshall123]

that i know no, maybe you could talk to a medic

[Gonetowardthewind]

Nope sounds like it hasn't been stunted, that's your height for good. Doctor said I would be 5'10 and the last time I went in he told me I stopped growing at 5'7"-5'8" ish.

[MMP1993]

I've known that humans stop growing up until 21 years old... so you're still young.

[ShortCircuit]

I hope you're right on that one.

[lovelyhoneybones]

Males typically don't stop growing until around 21, but majority of your height comes in around your teen years. I believe early to mid teen years.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps not but you could stop stunting your growth now.

2000 calories plus running is probably below maintenance.

At your age I ate huge amounts and was skinny as hell.

[ShortCircuit]

My maintenance is about 1700 calories, but it's my understanding that only calorie deficits reached through decreased initial intake are harmful to nutrition. I thought that by taking in enough calories it wouldn't matter how much I burned off by running, because my body already received the nutrients from the food.

[Opinion Owner]

You are incorrect. If your maintenance is 1700 and you burn an additional 1000 via exercise, if you eat under 2700 you will lose weight. Probably lean mass depressing your base rate.

If you're actually hoping to be growing you need to be eating above that.

Don't think there's any way to make up for height you've missed but you could completely stop your height where it is if you're not eating more.

[ShortCircuit]

No, what I meant is that 1700 is my resting metabolic rate. On days that I lift weights, I probably burn an additional 100-200, and on days that I run, I probably burn an additional 300-500.

I don't know what I could possibly be doing that would burn an additional 1000 calories! Anyway, what I'm saying is that you can reach a calorie deficit 1 of 2 ways. 1. Eat less calories than your RMR, which I'm assuming is not good for nourishment. 2. Eat your RMR or more, but burn off the excess calories through exercise, which I'm assuming isn't near as bad for your nourishment.

Am I wrong in my assumptions?

[Opinion Owner]

If you're running a caloric deficit you're not going to grow much. Period. No matter how you got there.

You're correct in thinking that your body needs more than calories and if you eat very little you're more likely to be short vitamins etc than you would be if you ate 3500 burned 3800.

But you seem to act like burning more than you eat is fine and if you're trying to grow it simply isn't.

[Anonymous]

overnourishing yourself isn't going to make you taller. you may just stay 5'6 which is a perfectly fine height. Don't worry too much about it. Just be healthy :)

[OfDeath]

I don't think you will get any taller now especially if you didn't grow since 6th grade.
Pair of solid boots will put you at 5'8
That's probably the best you can do.

[John_Doesnt]

There is currently nothing available to fix growth problems.