Seeking Help with Weight Issue

E.-
Have a baby. Haha just kidding. I'm 6' tall and I was 135 lbs before I got pregnant and now I'm at 180 and my son was only 7 pounds... sad. On a more serious note, try eating more carbs.

this may sound crazy, some really hard core exercise.But muscle weighs more than fat. So if you makes some trips to the gym, and bulk up you will put on some weight and gain some mass, and feel so much better.

Hi Liz,
well i never did weight that much before but i did once here a ped. say that if you eat more carbs. that it should help you pack the ppunds just because thats what all Dr. say stay away from carbs so am saying if you eat more carbs the oppsit of what someone does who trys to lose the weight it might work? well good luck with the weight gain .......

M.

When I was younger I could not gain weight for the life of me. At 16 I was 5'6'' and 95 lbs. At 26 I was 5'6'' and 113 lbs--still quite skinny. When I was in college I did a dietary analysis for one of my classes and discovered that on average I ate 6000 calories a day (3xs RDA)but I was also running competitively 45-50 miles a week. A nurse practicioner once told me that the only way I could gain weight was by working out and building up muscle. I also had a doctor prescribe a rich chocolate shake--you use french vanilla ice cream, some chocolate syrup, chocolate carnation instant breakfast and some milk. You could probably do a variety of flavors. It's probably not very healthy but it was very yummy!! I'm not as active any more so I'm probably not eating anywhere near 6000 calories. When I got pregnant with my first I was 27 and 113 lbs, I worried about gaining enough weight but had no problem gaining 30 lbs, I had a 8lb 3oz boy. 11 months later my weight dropped down to 116 but its never the same . . . its in different/wrong places (and I'm pregnant again so bring on the weight). When time comes for babies you only need an extra 300 calories a day while you're pregnant and an extra 500 calories when you're breast feeding. How much I could eat at once decreased but how often I ate increased. So enjoy your body. As long as you eat well, you're good to go.

high protein, high carb diet. But don't forget your vegetables!!!

Just wait to you have kids. That will solve the problem. Well, seriously though, have you tried weight training? That would add the muscle w/o the fat. Drink protein drinks.

increase your caloric intake. If weight loss is eating less and burning more, then weight gain is eating more and burning less.

You are definitely not in the typical group of women when you ask how to gain weight. I'm not a dietician or anything, but I can tell you than when I was 15 yrs old - many, many, many years ago, I had a huge growth spurt and at the beginning of my sophomore year I was 5'9" and I weighed 100.5 lbs. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and never really seemed to gain weight. That changed a bit in my 20's when I was actually in the 120's. Your height and weight sound fine, and I can tell you, as I'm sure many other women can tell you, that as you age you will gain weight - like it or not. Whether the weight gain comes from having children or simply just by aging, it will eventually get there. I would caution you against trying to gain too much for one simple reason - your height. If you gain the desired 10 lbs now, then put on the usual weight from aging, you may not like it much. And, 10 lbs on a 5'3" frame can make a huge difference in how you look, as opposed to my height - I've gained 30 lbs since high school and people still think I'm thin.

My real question for you is if you feel good with your body (and 100 lbs at 5'3" I wouldn't consider skinny, but more likely thin), why do you think adding 10 lbs would make you more healthy? You could try taking a regular multivitamin (they tend to make me more hungry) and add a nice strength-training workout that would add size/weight; remember to keep a healthy diet.

But I think if your doc has said you're fine, and you've felt fine with how you look, there has to be some other reason for your desire. If it's coming from someone other than you, ignore it because you can't change yourself to make others happy. I did it for too many years and it doesn't work out well. Only do it if it's truly for YOU. Those who care for you and love you should accept you just how you are. And, if it's coming from someone who's not in those two groups, it really doesn't matter what they think anyway.

Hope I didn't ramble too much for you, but I think you need to take a serious look at your reasons for wanting to gain weight. Hope all works out well for you.

When I was your age, I was in the same condition. Getting pregnant fixed it for me. Also permanently made it hard to not gain weight. If you want to have fun with it, you could always enjoy desert. :)

I am 5' 4" and when I was your age, I weighed 99 lbs., so I know how you are feeling. At least, for me, I received comments like, "You're so skinny!" to which I was really embarrassed, hurt, etc. I mean, who would go up to an overweight person and say, "You're so fat!" ? I certainly didn't get the "compliment" then, but realized later that that's all they were doing. When my own daughter (who was then a preteen) received the same kind of razzing, I told her to enjoy it...she would appreciate her weight when she was my age. Now I am a 56 year old grandmother of 22 and weigh 145 lbs. (I've given birth to five kids and have eight) and am trying to knock off about 10-15 lbs., where I was about three years ago. I'd say listen to your doctor: it sounds to me like you're fine! Enjoy your weight and continue to feel good about your body!

try drinking ensure in addition to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. i'd recommend it for anyone who wants to maintain or gain weight. try weight lifting too, it builds muscle strength which could help you gain ten pounds. if your still at a loss, try talking to a dietician, they should be able to help.

Don't let people get you down about after pregnancy or having children because it is different genetic makeups for everyone. In my family we are very lucky the weight just comes off after pregnancy and especially when I was pumping for my twins. I could of ate everything in my pantry everyday and wouldn't of gained a pound. But, now I have to eat proportional meals, exercise about 20 mins. a day, and watch it. Life is good, take advantage of it at this time in your life!!!!!

Dear Elisabeth N,
Please check your thyroid! Ask your doctor about it. But as lots of doctors do not know so much about the issue, check it out on the Internet, Google it!
If you don't get the right support, keep to diet which are used for overweight in the sense of G.I. = Glycomic Index. Eat protein food, not a lot of carbs, add to fat foods, but avoid French Fries f.inst., eat beans and lentils, eggs and meat. Leave out anything with white flour and sugar!!! And processed food. Keep healthy, but avoid carbs. Good luck to you!
Best wishes S. from Norway

Hi, I hope this helps. My sister is very small like you and underwent chemo for nonhodgkins lymphoma. She found it extremely difficult to keep a healthy weight. A doctor told her to drink a shake with every meal. Whether it be a healthy protein shake, or an ensure, or even a milk shake. She was able to put on a little weight then. Good luck.

Hi I am involved with a nutritional line USANA that not only has the #1 nutritional products, it also has a food line that includes shakes and bars which have the proper amt of fat, gd carbs and fats in them. They can be used to gain wt in a safe manner. We offer health and wellness tips along with this program. If you would like cantact me and I can email you more info thanks P. ###-###-####

Hi E.,
I am also 5'3". Before I had my 5 children, I weighed 117.
I am now a grandma and 50 lbs over weight. Love it and ap-
preciate it if you only weigh 100. With each child you gain
weight and your body changes. You've got a boost on keeping
slim after you have had your family. Enjoy !!! Got any help
for me ????? Just kidding. Good luck with everything.

I used to have the same issue. I was always skinny and people asked me if I ate. I am 5'5" and used to weigh 117. I am now 36, mom of 3 kids and finally have a few extra pounds on my frame (125). If you are serious about gaining a few pounds, the best way to do it is to eat a high protein, high carbohydrate diet and eat frequently. Otherwise, time will take care of it. Don't obscess about it. If you are comfortable with your body, leave well enough alone.

Hi E. -

My suggestion would be to make sure you are eating more calories than you are burning. If it is the other way around you will continue to maintain or start losing weight. Make a food journal and add up your calories. Then total up your activity and compare. If you need to add some calories do it with good things - an extra sandwich with lots of veggies or an extra cup of yogurt with healthy granola. You don't want to add calories with sweets or salty foods because those add nothing to your health. You probably won't have to add a ton more food to your diet to see some progress - an extra 300-500 calores a day would probably do the trick.

There is a great website www.dietpower.com where you put in what you have eaten and your activities and it gives you a grade on what you are doing. It is a program you download and have a free trial period (15 days). There is no obligation to buy at the end of the trial - the program just stops working but I highly recommend this to help you get started.

Good luck!

E.,
1. you have such a a beautiful name
2. I am sure you are beautiful also
3. One way to gain some weight might be
eating good dinner right before going to sleep.
Also, if you like cakes and cookies, go for it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/niravameen/2337909151/in/set...
If you gain weight, be happy.
If you won't gain weight, be happy!
All the best to you and your husband!!!

Dont worry about your weight. You will be healthy if your eat plenty of fruits and vegitable and exercize. If you add weight traning you could gain some muscle weight.

Good Luck!

You won't have to worry about being to thin once you have kids. As long as you are healthy, enjoy your figure!
C. B

Sorry, cannot help you other then to offer up my 10lbs that I don't need! I would say go along with what your Dr says and not worry, if he was concerned then you should be. I wish I had that worry, I don't think I will ever hear in my lifetime I need to gain weight..consider yourself blessed!! :)
You body will change in due time...you are young and don't have kids! :)

Hi E.,
My name is M. and I am 49 years old. I have been involved with the fitness field for many years and used to teach exercise classes. What I would say to you is check out a local rec center and talk to someone there. If you started to lift weights (I am talking only about small hand weights), you will start to gain more muscle mass in your body and that adds weight to your body. You can also work out on weight machines but talk to a certified trainer first. You are still quite young and it sounds like you have a high metabolism so you burn calories quickly. Eat a healthy diet! Make sure you eat fruits, vegies, grains, etc. I have a been a vegetarian for 30 years and that has helped me to be healthy. I also don't smoke or drink alcohol or use drugs. I drink water all the time. Don't eat junk food or start drinking sodas just to gain weight! Some people tend to be on the slim side so that sounds like you. Exercise is so important so start out by walking outside in a park every day plus check out fun exercise classes at the rec center or gym. The main thing is to feel good and have energy. Eat smaller meals but more often during the day. Carry healthy snacks with you like nuts, apples, etc. Maybe you and your husband could start exercising together as a fun activity to do together. Walk, ride bikes, jog, go dancing! Take ballroom, swing, or salsa classes together. Once you have a regular exercise program, you will start to have energy and feel good and you won't worry so much about your weight. Good luck and have fun exercising!
M.

I have the same problem. The only difference is, I'm 5 foot 9 inches tall, supposed to weigh 120-125, My normal weight is 115lbs. No joke. I've even had 1 kid already. i thought that I was going to at least have to go to the gym to work it off, nope. It just fell off. I was upset. I've been trying to gain weight since I was in Highschool. The only thing I can really say is, hopefully when you get older, I dunno how much older, your metabolism should slow down. Unfortunatly, its the waiting part that gets hard. I even invented my own gain weight diet, Eat nothing but pound cake for a week, it didn't work. I gained one pound and it quickly went away. Just keep eating healthy, excersise, etc, and if you still have a problem, at least you know your weight is normal. Good luck.

That will all change once you deiced to get pregnant. but in the mean time if you want to gain weight you need to be healthy about it. I would try weight lifting (not to bulk up but to tone) and you could take a weight gainer. My husband is in the Army and is very thin so to gain some weight and get stronger he got a weight gainer from the health food store. Good luck.

I would suggest you drink a couple of ensures a day. Carnation breakfast shakes work well, too.

There are a lot of us who wishes we needed to gain a little weight. My advice to you, start lifting weights. Not to become a body builder or anything, but adding extra muscle will help your bones be stonger and you will feel better. You don't want to gain fat, just muscle.

Try drinking the ensure products that are out there. They are hight in calories and are good for you.

Talk to a trainer and/or nutritionist to find out how many calories you need to gain a healthy ammount of weight. Try lifting weights or using some machines at the gym. Your legs will probably be the most responsive. And, eat lots of lean protien! Drink protien shakes. I keep lots of frozen fruit in the fridge and just put it in the blender with some juice and/or soymilk (use milk if you want) and add two scoops of soy protien shake mix. Sometimes I add some walnuts or flax seed before I blend. Just make sure there is enough liquid to barely cover the fruit and such. You can also buy them in the produce or health isle in the supermarket. Protien bars are also a great way to gain some weight. The best tasting to me are Luna bars and Clif bars. Good luck!

E.,
My husband & I own a health & fitness consulting company & we help alot of people put on weight in a healthy manner and help people get tone & fit. We give specific guidelines of what to eat & how much & when to eat it along with a cardio and resistance training program that fits into your lifestyle. You can check out our website at THFonline.com- our office is the Salt Lake office, but we do phone consultations as well. My husband said we have 2 guys in our office that he would recommend for you. If you are interested you can call us at ###-###-#### and ask for Brian- he is my husband. Good luck. :)

try protein shakes found at the health food stores

Your body is healthy at whatever weight it stays at on it's own. In other words, if your body maintains a weight whether you eat salads or steak then that's the weight that's healthy for you.

Take it from me (personal experience), once you start messing with your metabolism you will have to watch it for the rest of you life then it's all downhill from there.

T.

Well, I wouldn't recommend the eat anything in sight diet. That is unhealthy weight and you wouldn't want that. I might try some more foods that everyone tries to cut out of their diets. Potatoes, bread, protein, meats, beans, Of course, you can have sweets, but always moderation, don't want to cause other health issues.
I always been bigger, 6 foot and 195. I don't look it becuse I am so tall, but I love food and I love to cook. Maybe you could take up cooking, you always have to taste first, that might give you an added boost.
Good luck

Wow! This is a first. You want to GAIN weight! I would suggest visiting with a nutritionist to come up with a diet plan. I work with a natural health consultant --- Jane Colby. Check out her website at www.realpeople-realhealth.com or email her at ____@____.com.(She is on vacation for a week --- so you might have to wait for a response if you email her). I also would recommend lifting weights. Building muscle will give you definition and help you gain good weight. Good luck.

Honestly...tone up! Instead of putting on fat...start weight training and put on muscle. You will want to do high reps with low weights...mean 20-30 reps with 2-5lbs weights. That will give tone and definition. Also...it will make you healthier and instead of gaining fat...it will be muscle (muscle weighs more than fat). Once you start this...you may have to increase your calorie intake by 200-800 calories...depending on how hard you work out. Also...you should do cardio as well as weight training...

P.S. I am jealous...I have never in my life had to gain weight...only loose!