How can I gain weight so I'm not extremely underweight?

How much do you eat in a day?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390521/

Sure, it’s possible to gain weight. Eat more calories than you expend. How much and what do you usually eat?

trust me…

Add things that are good for you but highly caloric:

—nuts
—whole milk yogurt
—protein shakes
—things like pesto, hummus, tabbouleh(sp?)

And, you know, the occasional cupcake, bowl of ice cream, brownie, etc. :D

*Add an extra meal in per day

*Add nuts and nut butters as snacks

I eat A LOT, mainly because I’m constantly on the move with work and our horses. It’s usually a protein shake in the morning with nutella on toast, then it varies with the other meals, but my portions are rather large because I’ve been working all day. It’s always homemade meals though.

@MrBr00ks I’ll keep that in mind.

@rangerr Have you ever had your Thyroid checked? If you’re underweight, you could be hyperthyroid.

@SpatzieLover I haven’t thought about it because I’ve always been thin. I was pretty sick when I was little [which I probably could have mentioned earlier], so I stopped gaining weight. I’m just getting frustrated that I’m in college, and the weight of a middle schooler.

@rangerr I’d get checked out by my doc if I were you. It just takes a blood panel, no big deal. If that comes back normal, then ask for a referral for a good nutritionist in your area.The nutritionist can help you add healthy vegetarian friendly cals to your daily routine.

(Could you add peanut butter or almond butter to your morning routine with that Nutella? You’d be adding in 200cals right there ;)

@SpatzieLover I’ll look into that when I go in next week.
And peanut butter, it is. Thanks [:

Don’t do it by eating junk. Add oils to your diet; hemp, flax and cod liver. These oil will help you gain weight and help with joints, cells and brain power. You can make salad dressing with the flax oil. You can take the cod liver oil straight, they usually have some flavor, or you can take capsules. You can add any of these oils to your smoothies, probably don’t want to add the cod liver (may be fishy). Don’t cook with these, they usually don’t hold up to the high heat. Also coconut oil or milk can be added to meals and can be used for baking. Let me know if you need any recipes.

http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/ Better get life insure though, because you will get a heart attack just from looking at it.

@jqlyn Recipes would be great. We rarely have meals that aren’t home-cooked.

@markyy Despite being vegetarian, some of that actually looks good. >.<

Some cookbooks to look at would be Whole Life Nutrition and the Anti Inflammation diet book by Jessica Black ND. They use some of these oils, though not specifically for weight gain but for healthy diet. Also Babycakes is a new desert cookbook that uses a lot of coconut oil. If you need more let me know.

I also suggest you get check out by a doctor or naturopath.

I would also suggest adding another meal a day, and snacking in between. And try to choose calorie-rich foods, like avocados and granola.

Um…how tall are you and how much do you weigh? Maybe you’re not as “underweight” as you think. I’m 5’8” and I was 29 before I ever broke 130. I was told I was “thin” but I felt great. I also am not having much worry about gaining weight was I get older. I’m about 138 now. Do you feel good? Maybe you’re just fine.

My normative weight should be around 180 or so. I was as thin as 145. Not healthy. I ate peanut butter, complex carbohydrates, (meat, for which you must substitute I don’t know what) rice, and beans. Plus I allowed myself candy and desserts which I don’t do now that I weigh 175.

First, find out if you are at a healthy weight for your body type. That would start with a doctor visit.

Then, if your doctor agrees that you need to gain weight, develop the habit of adding high-fat additions to your food, such as butter, cheese, mayonnaise, and all those other things the rest of us have to limit. Also try to increase your protein, so you have a chance to build muscle as opposed to just adding fat.

You may actually be just fine and just designed to be slender.

@Val123 I’m 5’9 and haven’t broken 100. I feel fine, I just don’t like being so skinny.

Oh, yeah. That is quite underweight, IMO. do you know how many anorexics would LOVE to be in your position naturally?! I guess you might want to check with a doctor. See if it’s unhealthy. As you get older, you WILL start putting on weight, and maybe your natural thinness will be a blessing.

My mother was 5’ 8” and weighed 98 pounds for the longest time. However, once childbirth and middle age happened she bounced up to 120 and stayed there. Now in old age she is shrinking once again and is down to about 80 pounds. She has made it to 84 so I suspect in her case being “skinny” was just part of what she was supposed to be.

Folks who are healthy but somewhat underweight tend to live longer than almost any other group of people. Consider yourself blessed.

@Darwin GA. But still…I’d double check with your doctor. Part of the problem may be that so many people are overweight, and I’m sure they’re making comments to you. I know they did to me!

Actually @Darwin, it is now thought that slightly overweight people live longest, but there is some evidence that at least in infra-human animals that extreme dietary restriction can increase longevity.

I would think about the exercising more than anyone you know. If you are active in the normal course of your life, it shouldn’t be necessary to workout or strenuously exercise like running. Also you seem to pay very close attention to your food intake. Both of those things can indicate the early signs of an eating disorder.

Before everyone jumps on me about healthy diet and exercise being good for you, there can be too much of a good thing and eating disorders start with hypervigilence in diet and exercise and denial.

@rangerr Rather than seeing a Dr you might want to visit a nutritionist and take a relative or close friend along to keep you honest.

@galileogirl—she’s concerned about being extremely underweight, so there wouldn’t be anything to keep her honest about…unless I misunderstand the comment. But I agree, a nutritionist would be able to tell her if it’s dangerous for her health. I think. I don’t know!

If someone is in denial about eating or any other issues, they need to be kept honest about what is really going on-something her mom or sister can do.

We need to check….has she been thin all of her life like this? Eating disorders usually come about with the onset of puberty, and the person effects drastic eating changes, away from what she “used to” eat. As you said, “eating disorders start.” I don’t think this is the case, but you could be right.

@galileogirl Read above: ”@SpatzieLover I haven’t thought about it because I’ve always been thin. I was pretty sick when I was little [which I probably could have mentioned earlier], so I stopped gaining weight. I’m just getting frustrated that I’m in college, and the weight of a middle schooler.”

Sounds like she has a health concern, not an eating issue. I already suggested a nutritionist after a blood work up. If she’s nutritionally unsound, the blood work will show it.

@rangerr I feel compelled to mention that I have a friend from HS that had battled leukemia twice (8th grade & 10th). He never has been able to be a normal/healthy weight. He isn’t a vegetarian, so ensure shakes, malts, burgers-etc are on his menu to help him maintain the low weight he is (he’d love to gain but has never been able to).

Personally, I admire the fact that you remain on a healthy diet even at a low weight. It can be difficult to eat healthy and gain weight/muscle mass.

@galileogirl It’s not that I’m working out on a regular basis, it’s that I live on a farm. We have over 50 horses. That’s a lot of physical activity.
Call me biased, but I’m pretty sure that not wanting to be thin doesn’t equal eating disorder..

@SpatzieLover That’s a lot to recover from. How is he doing now?

@rangerr He’s doing well now but is very thin. He was naturally a small guy, but the illness during puberty didn’t allow for regular growth. He also has a physically active job, which makes gaining weight that much more difficult.

@rangerr I wanna come riding horses! Can I? Can I? I’ll buy you a milkshake! Please?!”

I’ll bet you’re actually healthier than average, rangerr! The weight will come….

@val123 Sure, I’ll stick you on our biggest horse. then slap his rear and watch you go

@rangerr No! Don’t do that! Not right away! I haven’t ridden in years! I’ll probably fall off just trying to get on! I used to have a horse. I was one with that horse. I’d ride like I was part of her. Not any more!!

Going through old questions:
Since asking this, I’ve reached 107 pounds. WOOOOO!
Then somehow dropped it back down to 103.
I’ve given up on gaining weight, but I’ve stuck to eating healthier.

I would seriously consider the suggestions mentioned of getting your thyroid checked. I had a very similar problem to yours growing up, and if there is only one regret I have—it’s that I didn’t get my thyroid checked.

I was chronically underweight for most of my life—to the point where people assumed that I was anorexic. I was constantly hungry and ate all the time however. I was also constantly agitated and jittery (though I called it “on the go”)

At about 20, I was tired of being scrawny and I started eating lots of protein shakes and high calorie foods to try to gain weight and it didn’t work. But when I was 25, I suddenly gained 10 pounds out of nowhere. I gradually started slowing down, I got severely depressed and I felt cold and tired all the time. When I was 30, I suddenly gained 50 pounds in a very short period of time.

I thought something was wrong with my thyroid, but my doctor was saying that my TSH levels were normal. I kept gaining weight and slowing down and feeling terrible. I finally went to a different doctor that measured my T3 and T4 levels and those were low—even though my TSH levels were normal.

She asked me if I were unusually thin growing up and I said yes. She said that it was very likely that I had undiagnosed Graves disease (hyperthyroid) and my thyroid was working like crazy until it finally “broke” and I became hypothyroid. I’ve gained almost 100 pounds overall, and it’s really hard to lose weight no matter what my diet is or how much I work out. It’s also caused a whole lot of other health problems for me that make the weight gain seem minor in comparison.

Get it checked out. Hyperthyroid also does a lot of damage—I found out I had some cardiopulmonary problems related to having my thyroid going overtime for so many years. It something you need to get taken care of—and probably better to take care of it before your thyroid gives out.