To gain weight intentionally?

[Tooskinny]

Anyone ever done it and felt good about the results?

I'm tall and skinny, always been slim. But at 37 and post kids am slimmer than ever with a BMI of 18.5. I'm struggling with my energy levels and needing to sleep a lot to feel human (9 hours). I think I'm starting to look haggard and I disappear when I turn to the side.

The thing is, my diet is excellent. All from scratch, minimal processed food. I eat dark chocolate every night and a glass of wine a few times per week. I don't feel I restrict anything so I'd have to intentionally add quite a bit which feels so counterintuitive. Plus maybe it'll all just pile on my stomach and I'll still look haggard...? I have daughters and am starting to feel uncomfortable about being so skinny.

I can't find anything online because all the dietary advice is tailored towards people who are overweight. Please no 'nice problem to have' - I'm starting to feel really self conscious about it.

Similar situation as you, went Dr's for full checkup, have some issues to deal with (but none are reason for me to be this skinny) but I am going dietician tomorrow in hope that they can guide me. Can let you know if I put on the weight! Also tall and 58-60kg mark.

Haha this is me but turns out I have a fatty liver! I maintained my weight with healthy food AND a whole cake or a whole tray of tiramisu, 2x xxl dominos np. I eat healthy but if I cut out chocolate and cake I lose circa 2.5kg a week. I had complan shakes, protein shakes, butter on everything, nut butters, olive oil, nuts etc I am really trying as now I can't rely on sugars to keep my weight up so going dietician for help! So the inside can be rotten if one eats like this. And I've been like this since I can remember "lucky" but turns out not too healthy even though I'm on 15 - 20k steps a day. I can't fix this with exercise, it's pure diet, and I am struggling to have enough healthy only calories. Fatty fish, avocado.

When we have had to up dc weight we just added fats in. So lashing olive oil on salads or in most foods. Full fat milk or cream. Butter on veggies.

That sounds like a full time job though tbf! My friend (approx 20) was a bit lazy with her eating. She ate well when we went to the canteen for meals, or got a baguette. She didn't eat badly. But she did always carry around an arsenal of chocolate. I'm not in touch with her anymore so can't investigate as to a fatty liver situation.

Maybe add some carbs, if you are getting really tired maybe get iron b12 and vit D checked out.

I had to gain some weight to fall pregnant (it worked!). It was such a strange feeling- both because it seems so counterintuitive in a world in which all the advice and concern is about losing weight, and because, like with you, it wasn't a case of 'Oh I'll just stuff my face with chocolate every day' because I still wanted to eat healthily as well. In the end I added in lots of nuts which I like to snack on anyway, ate sandwiches with peanut butter rather than lower-calorie toppings, and just tried to eat larger portion sizes.

I wonder whether you have got used to portion sizes which are just a bit small, but feel normal to you. Perhaps if you push yourself to eat a little more than you normally would for every meal, and perhaps get used to having a little pudding after dinner, after a few weeks you will adjust your 'normal' to something a bit healthier. It has to do with our perceptions I think but they can change if you make the effort for a few days/weeks.

When I cut out upf and switched to a whole food diet the calories I needed to maintain weight went up from around 1600 to 2000 (I did also weight train at the same time so that will also have contributed). I also stopped feeling hungry a lot of the time and my bmi dropped from 24 to 18.5 without cutting calories.

I am only 5'4" so as you are a fair bit taller and if you are fairly active I would suspect you need more than 2000 calories to gain. The question is whether it is better for your health to gain or whether you should just trust your body to regulate your weight.

I also do all the healthy fat advice on this thread but it makes zero difference. The thing with nuts I suspect a lot of the calories just pass through your digestive track unabsorbed. Maybe I would gain more if I ate more smoothies but I don't enjoy them.

I am eating a surplus at the moment as I want to gain muscle but it feels odd trying to eat when I am not hungry. I have had every blood test going to check for underlying conditions but appear to be healthy.

I know I could easily gain weight if I added back in the upf as it would make me hungrier but I see no reason to do so as it would be worse for my health and I just don't enjoy it anymore.

Yes it feels so odd.

First thing people ask is how are your periods. The answer is regular as clockwork and conceived 3 times with no issues! Before kids I was about half a stone heavier - they have drained the life out of me!!

This is so interesting as I have children same age and also would like to put on weight. I have had low bmi in all my pregnancies and have always been tall and slim and find it hard to gain weight. I have heard exercise is good to build muscle but think it may cause weight loss? I am constantly on my feet all day and don’t snack as well as I should