Hey,

I have a few questions about hormone imbalance. I did the survey on www.johnleemd.com and I had a couple of symptoms from group 5 (I have oily skin, prone to spots and I get little hairs on my chin) though I get bloating which is group 3. So this probably means I'm group 5 (i.e. excess androgens) right?! Do you think that I should get an imbalance test done just to be 100% sure and if so can you recommend any reasonably priced tests? (I live in UK). Also, if I have excess androgens what does this mean for my NBE programme?

Second query, I did one of those BMI tests today and it said I was 16.5 which apparently is anorexic - though surely you can't be anorexic if you eat loads?! So I'm thinking I should fatten myself up a bit before attempting NBE again (I've already tried Breast Success, Wonderup and Brava to no effect). Have been looking into ways of increasing my calorie intake without giving myself a heart attack and thinking I might combine that with yoga or pilates to tone my body (so I don't just end up a big flabby mess, lol) as the exercise I do at moment is not good as it burns fat. Anyway, have heard that saw palmetto can help with gaining weight. Should I start a programme of just saw palmetto and see if I can gain some weight and maybe that alone might help me to grow some breasts, lol?! I'm a 32B so maybe if I put on some weight my breast size might go up too? Also, taking saw palmetto might make my skin less oily. Do you think this is a good idea and if so what quantities should I take it in? Or do you think there are better ways of increasing my weight?

Sorry, I'm pretty clueless as I'm not a very sciency person so any advice would be very helpful and greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Hey, :) I also have a very low bmi. I'm 5'8" tall and weigh 113 lbs, naturally. I eat a LOT. I've grown my breasts from 34Bs to 36Bs. If you're like me and have a very high metabolism, I would even suggest NOT exercising for a little while, just to gain weight. It sounds like if your BMI is under 17 and you're eating a lot, you probably won't gain a lot of weight anyway because your body burns more than you consume, naturally. I'm pretty active and I walk a lot, however I don't do pilates or any intense cardio because they would just suck the fat and muscle out of me. I can eat six meals a day, for weeks, and still lose 5 lbs by the end of the month. So, if you're anything like me, the last thing you want to do is overwork yourself. regardless of hormones and NBE, you ae NOT gonna see huge gains in breast size until your metabolism slows down a little bit. I'm sorry if you mentioned your age in your post and I forgot, but, how old are you? Because of you're young then you should be able to more easily fill out in your college years. I am 18 going on 19, and in my family, people are too skinny up until the age of about 22, when we finally fill out and then look normal. I know how you feel because a lot of people will just say, "be greatful that you're so skinny." and it isn't always the compliment they think they're giving you, because it can be very hard to go lose as much weight as we can. It takes a toll on my energy levels, so I drink whey protein every day plus meals and lots of snacks in between.

If you really want to exercise, then lift weights to gain muscle - AFTER you've gained a little bit more weight. You don't want to really overwork yourself at this point because unlike people who really are overweight, you don't have the extra energy reserves. So eat as much as you can and try to do daily moderate exercises like walking. Walking will tone everything and give your entire body a nice shape. Just don't overdo it because you could end up burning too many calories.

I hope this helps you. If you have any other questions or if I missed anything, just tell me. I'm happy to be able to help someone else who has the same body type as I do, because I it very rarely occurs naturally. Be strong and think positive, OK? :)

Thanks for the advice - what you said certainly makes sense. I'm 25 years old, my weight has only increased by half a stone since the age of 18 so I failed to bulk out during my college years, lol. Anyway, I'm going to see my doctor tomorrow so will see if she has any suggestions!

cupcake25