How to gain weight? (With healthy foods.)

Family, Education, Health and Pets
41
OP: On this topic, if I were you, I would place a lot of faith in Tom's advice. I know very few people as qualified/successful as him on this matter Seriously.

42
But, then do a google for information regarding nuts and pregnancy in case that affects your food decisions once you are pregnant. Best wishes.

43
16 weetabixes sounds a wee bit over the top

And I do like extremes, usually.

44
Ahhh. Yes, I was in a similar situation. Need to get my BMI to get onto IVF lists, but when it reached 20 I conceived, well, not naturally, I was on Clomed, but no turkey basters were involved. (now THAT'S tmi )

In order to put on that weight, I did pretty much what I suggested. Most of it was cheese though, which is not good for you. Stress is not good for putting weight on, but romantic dinners are. And you left out an important part of your exercise regime there! working on making babies is excellent cardio! Keep up the pilates and yoga but drop the running and (other cardio) slowly.

And have a good breakfast. Porridge made with milk, with bananas. Also eat marmite, excellent source of folic acid!

45
Mediteranian diet sounds good, lots of yummy fatty things..veggies, some light protein, ton of olive oil. I think I would give myself pizza, sun dried tomato in yummy oil and olives diet, nice dark bread with seeds. Fatty, but not high chol. In fact, hols in Greece now would be a nice, chick fattening idea

46
Drink beer. Works for me

47
As others have pointed out, it can be hard to manage a dramatic increase in caloric intake if you're naturally skinny. Your body is programmed to shut off and is doing a pretty good job of it.

You don't need a lot of extra calories to add weight -- an extra 500 calories a day add up to a pound-a-week of weight gain.

I found that I could trick my system with olive oil. There are 120 calories in a tablespoon, so if you can find a way to sneak 4 tablespoons into your diet each day, you've made it. A simple way is to mix it with a little balsamic vinegar and mop it up with a piece of bread. Do it towards the end of the meal (or as a late-evening snack) as the oil tends to trigger the body's satiation response (eg, you'll feel full).

I used to do it all at once -- I would make a protein shake just before I went to bed (300 calories) and throw in an extra two tablespoons of oil (200 calories) which you barely tasted. I found that by drinking this just before bedtime, I didn't upset my appetite at other times of the day.

48
You have to put them in a mixing bowl, add loads of milk and wait until they go soggy - then you can shovel them down.

But, aside from the medical problems in being female, under-weight, and trying to get pregnant; as Niranjan mentioned, as long as you eat fairly healthily most of the time, and eat unprocessed food, your body is really good at self-regulation with regards to weight.

I've lost stupid amounts of weight doing stupid things (in the mountains etc) but I've always managed to put it back on without any difficulty on my return.

To the OP. Here's some useful advice on eating for conception and pregnancy.

And don't forget to take your folic acid now. It's better to start taking it before you get pregnant.

(You probably knew that anyway )

49

amusing---but if she wants to get preggo this is a bad idea!

I love a good troll comment more than most, but not too comfortable with this one.

50
Too be fair, I think this also helped me conceive. That and being away from my husband for 2 weeks..... absence make more than the heart stronger. I was in the US, which certainly helped with the bulking up. Although mostly trans fat, salty and or sugary food there, nothing really healthy, although I did go hiking and swimming so was exercising.

51

Alright--whatever, this is a open public forum and a free world and I'm no doctor (yet) but if my SO is trying to get pregnant, she is definitely going to stay away from beer/alcohol and cigarettes. I don't want to increase the risks of a miscarriage.

52
It's true. I have read somewhere the latest French research has actually figured out it is really not healthy to drink at all, since they finally have some long term research data. All the short term effects they had before would say, yes, vits, relaxation, blood cells, yady yady, and now, zero alcohol, even irrespectively of pregnancy. Apparently it is considered carcinogenic (mouth, larynx, tongue and gastro). I know at home and in the UK they were saying a bit of alcohol is a health boost, but now, apparently, none. Hm. I agree with you, definitely stay away from any of that, at least in the pre pregnancy and pregnancy.

We are advising the girl so much, all this pressure...It's often the dude, though. I know at home men pop vit E for conception, but not sure if it is still done (no booze either, since it can be sperm damaging, too, no tight underwear, no pot, etc.)

53
Yep! And selenium supplements may help too. But if you are going to increase your nut intake you should be OK.

54
Yup, get some nutrition advice, but you might ask for personal trainer advice too. A good diet and good exercise habits are nice goals.

55
For a good three weeks now I've been doing this food log and had quite the reality check, as my portion sizes were definitely too small.

What I will do now with this information I still don't know, as I already try to eat more after I am full, and I feel nauseated...

In my desperation I googled for weight gaining supplements/shakes.

Anyone experience with this? Or are these products a scam?

(E.g. http://www.evitamins.com/incredible-...t-g-vitol-2733 )

56
It's good for you to have found out it's something straightforward but it's additionally interesting to know that your findings are the same as most studies - namely overweight people actually eat more than they think they do and underweight people actually eat less than they think they do.

Personally, I would avoid those supplements - they'll give you far more protein than is good for you.

57
We have seen several dieticians because my son has Type 1 diabetes (genetic, not caused by diet) - but the dieticians are there to help him eat 'healthy for life'...

Personally, I'd like to say that a good dietician is awesome for sorting out food myths from facts, and giving small tips to make a big difference.

My other advice is that if you have not yet been to a good fertility doctor, then go and find one...and my third advice is to start with the sperm test. Personally, it annoys me dreadfully that many women go through lots of invasive testing (and lots of blaming) before they find out that their husband is the one who has a problem (and it's really not an invasive test)...

The other recommendation I can make is a book - called 'natural way to better babies' by Francesca Naish. It's an Australian book, and if you can get past the 'naturopath' stuff (I'm not a big fan) it's an awesome source of info about basic fertility, healthy lifestyle, and conception...

If you are not having regular menstrual cycles, then increasing your BMI could resolve that (or maybe not) but it's a bit simplistic to assume that it's the only problem - plenty of very skinny women conceive, and plenty of fat ones don't...

Top advice - see a fertility doctor - although the 'common advice' is to wait 12 months or more - my best friend had her 1 in a million baby, and only found out 5 years later when the second child did not appear...and the clock was ticking...

58
The dieticians we see recommend :

breakfast, two healthy snacks during the morning, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and a supper if still hungry. The portions are not very large (two slices of bread, one small glass of milk and a piece of fruit for breakfast), snacks are basic (small glass of milk, half a tub of yoghurt, a banana, a few crackers), and as a general guideline it's something like 1 serve of protein, 2 carbs, 2 veg... for a main meal.

For 'fattening up' protein is the key - this is what the Paed's recommend for sick kids - increase dairy, healthy fats - tinned fish, avocado, nuts, good oils, meat, eggs.

I would be inclined to think that the high cholesterol is either a sign that your body is storing it because it's desperate for nutrition, or because your balance of intake is wrong, and if you build up to a 'healthy balanced' diet then the cholesterol levels might just take care of themselves...

But then again, I'm no expert, and I really do recommend seeing a properly qualified dietician..I'm quite sure your doctor in Switzerland could refer you to one...

59
You gain gain a lot of energy from what you drink. If you drink 2 liter of milk per day instead of 2 liter of water in protein alone you will get an extra 70 grams. Besides that there is the carbs of about 90 grams. And if it is low fat skimmed milk, then as low as 2 grams of fat.

This should be a good addition to your regular meals.

It amounts to about 3000 kj or more than 1/3 of a fairly normal grown womans diet.

Should you need even more energy, you can add protein powder or make banana smoothies.

You can try this calculator. It shows gains in weight too. It is in danish but should be simple enough to understand anyways:

http://www.vaegttab.nu/tal/kalorier/

ill translate the inputs.

Male/female

Age

Current weight

Wanted weight

Height

Time (for weight loss/increase)

Good luck.

PS: For those looking to lose weight, cutting energy in drinks and adopting smaller portions is a far easier way than any kind of exercise, although physical exercise will help you increase metabolism in general.

60
Have you thought about keeping a diary about what and how much you actually eat? It gives you the real data about your food intake instead of what you think you're eating.

I've just started one because it seems that I keep loosing weight since I arrived in Switzerland without actually trying to.