Posted on 09/20/2004 9:55:06 AM PDT by Dubya
With Americans' obesity driving the focus on weight loss, scant attention is paid to the other side of the scale: underweight people who are trying to put on pounds.
Being underweight is not a common problem in the United States, affecting only about 2 percent of adults, compared with two-thirds who are overweight or obese.
But people who are too thin can be vulnerable to disease because they may have weakened immune systems; they are also at higher risk of osteoporosis.
There are varying reasons why a person may be underweight. Some may have fast metabolism and burn calories off quickly. Others may be recovering from an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia or from the side effects of disease such as cancer or AIDS.
People looking to shrink their waistlines often have a wealth of information to help them reach their goals, from diet books to weight-loss programs to support groups. But for those wanting to fatten up, it is often a lonely struggle.
"We are so preoccupied with the idea that people might gain too much weight that we almost don't want to admit that any weight gain is normal," said Joanne Ikeda, co-director of the Center for Weight and Health at the University of California at Berkeley.
While there isn't a one-size-fits-all plan to gain weight, the key is to take in more calories than you burn. Eating an extra 500 calories a day usually leads to a gain of a pound a week.
For the naturally underweight looking to beef up, health experts advise eating five or six times a day, spacing the meals throughout the day to avoid feeling stuffed and keeping in mind that not all foods are created equal.
Choose nutrient-rich foods like bread, cereal and pasta and dairy-based products like milk, cheese and yogurt. Snacking on high-calorie avocados, nuts and dried fruits is also a good option.
Lay off the sugary soda and junk food, which only add empty calories.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ONLINE: American Dietetic Association, www.eatright.org UC Berkeley Center for Weight and Health, nature.berkeley.edu/cwh
Add calories to gain wait? You're kidding me!!!!!!
OMG! Does this mean you cut calories to lose weight!
This one must have been developed by Einstein!
Eat large meals of pasta, 20 ounce steaks, and lots of ice cream. Works for the rest of us...
Often, people with some diseases have no appetite. My mother-in-law had breast cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (lung damage from radiation therapy for the breast cancer, not smoking). She was just bone thin. We tried to get her to eat yummy stuff with lots of calories, things like avocados and nuts. She'd nibble a little just to get us to shut up about it, but she didn't eat enough to gain any weight. She was unbelievably wasted when she passed away.
Eat more calories - kinda intuititively obvious, but getting someone who is ill to eat more can be like rolling boulders uphill.
 This MUST be Investigated! |
My fiance is naturally skinny. He can eat all day long and doesn't gain an ounce. His doctor says he's healthy, he just has a very fast metabolism. I guess it could be worse. :-)
Actually, it's difficult for him to work out vigorously, because he loses too much weight. He's been mostly sedentary since starting college 7 years ago but once he hit the quarter-century mark he realized he needed to start exercising regularly for his future health. We're trying to start with some weight lifting to bulk him up a little before he starts adding in cardio.
Guinness.
I'm one of those people who just can't eat much, and it's not because of disease.
Food, especially in the morning, just doesn't appeal to me. I've tried smoothies and yogurt, cereal, cooked traditional breakfast food... It's a struggle to get it down.
Any suggestions out there?
The University Of Minnesota got a grant for $300k a couple of years ago to study exercising for maintaining weight control. Their conclusion, exercising does help control it.
Seriously, for anyone who wants to gain weight without just adding fat, they need to add proteins and dietary fat (preferably low in saturated fats, also try to include a healthy dose of Omega-3) and focus on weight-training rather than aerobic exercise. This will add muscle mass rather than fat. Complex carbs can be increased to provide energy if necessary, but sugar and white flour are probably the "wrong" way to add pounds.
I eat lotsa chips, cake, cookies, drink lots of fruit juice, it doesn't put on the pounds and only makes other people envious.
The eat-lots-of-calories advice just doesn't work with high metabolisms.
I'm a skinny guy myself. In highschool I was 6' 165lbs(I ran track and X-Country, and still got the ladies so don't feel bad for me), and am at 6'1" and 185 now. It is VERY demoralizing for a skinny person to start working out to gain muscle and then drop a lot of weight - it really holds you back mentally. That's why you must start a little slowly to build a base and drop the fat at an acceptable rate. Much like the chubo's crying about not being to lose weight when they sneak in their pound of Oreo's every other day, there is a HUGE psychological hurdle that needs to be traversed 1st. And simple, fun physical activites can do this, provided he sticks to it.
Underweight folks should get into bodybuilding and build some muscle tissue. Last thing you want to do is eat a ton and get fat, especially that "skinny/flabby" look. Sickening..
Food, especially in the morning, just doesn't appeal to me. I've tried smoothies and yogurt, cereal, cooked traditional breakfast food... It's a struggle to get it down.
Any suggestions out there?
I'm like you in that I don't eat much. My full signal tends to go off alot faster than most people's does. I also have to be up for several hours before I can tolerate the thought of food.
I've always been thin except for when I was pregnant with my son. Even then I was able to fit into my pre-pregnant jeans within 5 days of his birth.
Not too long ago I became ill and ended up losing 20 pounds. Now I really look like a walking skeleton! Being underweight has made it harder to recover because I have no energy and am weak from the additional weight loss.
I finally resorted to drinking a can of Ensure Plus late in the afternoon or evening. I've been told Carnation Instant Breakfast can help too. Eating 5 or 6 small meals helps too. I don't eat typical meals either. After I've been up for awhile I'll eat what sounds good and not necessarily what might be good for me. It seems like if I can get over the initial hurdle of eating something/anything then I don't have that much of a problem eating stuff the rest of the day.
So far I've managed to gain 8 of the 20 pounds I lost while I was sick.
"It seems like if I can get over the initial hurdle of eating something/anything then I don't have that much of a problem eating stuff the rest of the day."
You said it best. I've told my husband that I have a real problem eating on an empty stomaach.
I thought about Instant Breakfast, but I don't tolerate sugar well.
I was a fat kid, lost weight at 18 and other than my pregnancies, haven't gained anything back. I'm 50, 5'6" and 113. Weight training is good, but it just can't be done without food. Does Ensure have a lot of sugar?
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