Hi everyone- some of you may already know this, but I have been trying to gain some weight for quite some time and had the hardest time both physically and emotionally.
I am 22 years old, female, 6ft, and 135lbs. I am hoping to gain at least 5 lbs to reach 140, but possibly even 10lbs to reach 145.
I have been trying to "free" myself and eat fattier things, tried not to feel badly when I scarf down bags of m&ms (haha), but I always find myself compensating the next day and it is keeping me at a stand still!
I was wondering if any of you have had this same dilemma and if you found supplements (i.e. slim fast shakes, protein bars, etc...) to be the answer? It was suggested that instead of adding the calories in my food, I could just add a shake and a bar to my day and these could easily be taken away. What do you think of this?
My only concern is that I might have a day where I add a bar as a snack (roughly 300 calories) and then that night decide to go out to dinner with friends and someone orders cheesecake or something and I'd rather eat that as my "extra" calories. I can't predict those spontaneous things...
Is it ok to have these indulgences everyday? Is that normal?
Hi LS289
To gain 1-2 pounds over a week you need to eat about 500 calories more than you need a day. So you probably need to be eating at least 2500 calories a day. If you manage to eat more than that then thats great.
If you want to control the amount of calories then try to balance at 2500.
Im trying to put on weight aswell after an illness, and Im finding it really hard. Im trying to eat healthily most of the time, so lots of fruit and veg, protein, etc. Lots of snacks. If I get the chance to have more - eg out to dinner and pudding, as well as everything Ive eaten that day then great - what a bonus.
Eating indulgent things is absolutely fine, try to enjoy eating these foods as a treat, something nice to end the day with, something to treat yourself. When it gets to the next day just put what you ate yesterday right to the back of your mind. Each day is seperate and so don't dwell on what happened yesterday.
Hope that helps, just trying to make you feel better about what I take for granted.
I guess its just time aswell, the more you get used to having these extras, the less it will worry you.
Adding some kind of shake or bar to your daily calories is good if you can't eat alot. If you want to gain weight I would think boost plus would be better than slimfast. I think a slim fast is around 200 calories and maybe 5 grams of fat. Boost plus has 360 calories and over 10 grams of fat. THat is alot of calories but if you really do want to gain weight that is an easy way. You won't be left stuffed with food. Other than using a shake or a bar you could drink milk with meals instead of water, which would add up to around 300 calories if you drank milk with every meal. when gaining weight you pretty much want it to be from good nutritous foods. But you can defintalely have some kind of dessert if you like (even when done gaining), but like the tesss said these are treats and should not replace eating something nutritous. My best advice is to try and not make a big deal out of what you eat as long as you are getting proper nutrients.
-emily-
I'm in the same boat you are. I'm 5'1" and 97-98 pounds. I've gained around 5 pounds since I've been recovering. But lately I'm at a standstill with my weight. I eat healthy but I'm still afraid of fat, like you. I LOVE ice cream but when I do eat it it's usually low fat or fat free so again I'm restricting my fat intake. I still find myself counting cals even though I allow myself alot more than what I used to. I know I need to just let go and eat, but it's really hard. So I really have no good advice to give since I'm in the same situation I just thought I would let you know you're not alone and I know how you feel. Recovering from an ED is tough! Alot harder than I ever realized it would be. I'm hoping someday to be completely recovered and never worry about food again. That's my goal. It may take awhile to get there but I have hope. I hope the same for you. Good luck!
Thanks for your responses. I think that adding milk to my meals is a great idea! It's definitely a nutritious way to add calories and not feel extremely full.
I find myself almost saving up for that extravagant dessert or that day where I eat a ton of food and can't go to the gym, but that never happens, so that's why I'm not gaining weight. Instead of eating a chocolate chip cookie after dinner I say "Well I may want to eat a cookie tomorrow, so I won't eat one today." And if I keep doing this, I will not gain weight.
The bar idea sounded good b/c it would be a way to add calories without feeling extremely fulll and guilty, but at the same time, what if I WANT to eat more food to gain weight and I don't want to eat supplements. BUT, I have been "trying" to gain weight for 6 months now and I haven't gained more than 2 pounds, so obviously something is not working.
Piscean, it makes me feel a lot better that you are in my position. I find myself wishing that I could just eat whatever and be fine with it, but I am constantly planning meals, analyzing what I ate in the past, calculating calories, and making sure I get to exercise enough to not feel like a beached whale. I've gotten A LOT better about everything, but I still feel like I have a long way to go. What have you found to be your best piece of advice? Everyone thinks gaining weight would be so fun/easy, but it's honestly one of the hardest things I've ever had to do!!
Hi everyone- some of you may already know this, but I have been trying to gain some weight for quite some time and had the hardest time both physically and emotionally.
I am 22 years old, female, 6ft, and 135lbs. I am hoping to gain at least 5 lbs to reach 140, but possibly even 10lbs to reach 145.
I have been trying to "free" myself and eat fattier things, tried not to feel badly when I scarf down bags of m&ms (haha), but I always find myself compensating the next day and it is keeping me at a stand still!
I was wondering if any of you have had this same dilemma and if you found supplements (i.e. slim fast shakes, protein bars, etc...) to be the answer? It was suggested that instead of adding the calories in my food, I could just add a shake and a bar to my day and these could easily be taken away. What do you think of this?
My only concern is that I might have a day where I add a bar as a snack (roughly 300 calories) and then that night decide to go out to dinner with friends and someone orders cheesecake or something and I'd rather eat that as my "extra" calories. I can't predict those spontaneous things...
Is it ok to have these indulgences everyday? Is that normal?
LS,
This is kind of off topic, but I read this book on the weekend that I think you may find helpful. It is called "Desperately Seeking Self: An Inner Guidebook for People with Eating Problems", by Viola Fodor.
It is perfectly normal to have indulgences everyday. I myself try to make sure I have one indulgence a day. My indulgences are not too bad, maybe a slice of pizza for supper, an ice cream, but enjoying things like that are a part of life and normal eating.
Hello,
I can relate a lot to your situation. Also that there is a part of you that thinks in terms of "extra calories" and "what if I have to eat more later and already had a bar?", even though really anything extra would be good! And double extra calories would be good too!
I also agree with the person who said that having to gain weight is not as fun as some people think.
I have also been trying to eat more. For me ithe problem is not so much that I am afraid I will ingest too many calories if I already ate something extra and then, for example, am invited to dinner. My problem is more that I am afraid I won't be hungry anymore, and I just don't like feeling full!!!!
Except right before I go to before I go to bed. Then I can eat until I feel pleasantly full. It helps me sleep.
Kathrin
p.s. About the bars. I have thought about that too. Maybe a good idea to just have something extra that is regular. Or some supplement like "biomalt" (do you have that where you live?). I try to drink ovaltine pretty regularly when I have it.
I just can't afford stuff like extra bars, I am on an extremely tight budget.
