Any tips on how to GAIN weight? please dont hate me!

[CeeTee]

I am underweight, I have lost 20 pounds in 2 years, & Didn't need to. I am now 108 & 5'7....family & friends comment on me having anorexia or doing drugs. I have had a very high metabolism to begin with, & I don't think stress helps either. I want to gain 20 pounds. Any ideas ....should I be checked for hyperthyroidism?

Message withdrawn

stress maybe?

Hi CeeTee,

don't know what to suggest, but just to say I have the same problem. DH's family assume that I don't eat so watch me like a hawk for signs of anorexia, but I'm afraid this is just me! I'm 5'5" and just under 7 3/4 stone. we're hoping to try for our second baby soon and I need to be at least 8 stone to 'qualify' for the birthing centre we used last time!!
Re hyperthyroidism - worth a check, but actually I have an UNDER active thyroid which is regularly checked, so how I'm underweight and not overweight is a mystery!
trouble is I love food, but prefer stuff that doesn't help to put on weight!!
any ideas for us, anyone?!

I lost a stone and a half when I was stressed recently. I normally weigh 7 1/2 stones at 5ft tall, but I went to 6 st!! I am slowly gaining weight and now weight 6 1/2 stone. I will watch this thread with interest as I need to get back to my normal weight.

Was 7 stone (at 5'4") till I was 30. I started to do weight bearing exercise which put on muscle mass and opened my appetite. I got to 7 st 10 this way and after having dd, now at 8 st 3 as now bf a six mo old and back to gym. ( I was actually 7 stone5 right after giving birth as lack of exercise must have depleted muscle mass and also had flu right after.)

Ps opened my appetite as could then have a 12 inch pizza on my own for dinner and a snack before bedtime.

Ice cream and Guinness.

I am nearly 5ft 9 and I weigh roughly 9 stone.. I find it really hard to gain weight so this is normal for me... If I have been ill I obviously loose weight, and I drink lots of caburys hot chocolate with milk... mmmmmmm and full fat yoghurts,
I eat well and always have porridge for breakfast. if I skip meals or eat late I feel sick. good luck for putting on the weight.
my pet hate is when people say... [sneering voice].. your so skinny, do you eat... I would never dream of saying to a fat person OMG your really fat do you eat all the pies!!
does anyone else have people saying things like that to them.....

Definitely don't have this problem . Perhaps a healthy way could be to add more full fat products as in full fat cheese to sandwiches and dishes and use full fat milk. Increase portion sizes slightly especially for pastas, rices, potatos and breads. Extra portion of proteins such as chicken etc. Higher fat snacks such as seeds, nuts and full fat yoghurts. Unhealthy way could be load up on pizzas, chocolate, cakes and ice-cream. Probably not your best bet though.

Ceetee - feel for you hon. Have you tried any complementary therapies to bring your stress (and therefore, metabolism) levels down. reflexology, massage, aromatherapy and reiki are all good ones. Your digestive system doesn't process food properly if you're stressed so it wouldn't make any difference how much you ate!

I was just going to post a question re putting more weight on my skinny ten year old. Hope you don't mind me kind of hijacking?....

For some reason (I can't remember what) I put my kids on semi skimmed milk... I guess I must put the skinny one on full fat milk? I think it has double the fat content of semi-skimmed...It's about the only food she really loves. She's just started secondary school, so her eating is much harder to keep track of than before. I was also interested in the stress and metabolism factors you all mention. That would def apply to her. My other two are fine.

remember that genetics plays a big role. I have the bone structure and possibly metabolism of my paternal g-mother. she had 5 kids and was slender all her life. I would eat all the healthy high carb, full fat, stuff everyone normally recommended and still wouldn't put on weight. I would not consider myself stressed either. Some people are just built that way. The thing was, I was never a junk food fan and I could never eat just for the sake of eating.

I went down to under 7 stone 6 yrs ago after having malabsorbtion probs.
I gained weight by eating at least 3 eggs on toast in the morning and using a rowing machine regurarly.
I went to 8st in just over a couple months.
I dont know why or how but it worked.

Like alot of you I can eat alot of healthy stuff and alot of bad but could not put the weight on at all. The comments dont help neither.

You can also get special dietry drinks from gp, if you feel you are underweight.

I am about 5' 9" and weigh just over 9 stone and I get snidey remarks all the time about how unfair it is that I can eat cakes etc from people in the office, like rummum I wouldn't dream of telling a fat person to put a cake down!!! FGS. My mum was exactly the same but she ballooned when in her 40's so maybe I have that in store for me too.

I was vvvvvvv thin when growing up and self conscious about it, I used to get a drink supplement from a health food shop, can't remember what it was called, but you mixed it with milk. Maybe call in one and ask the staff.

Think you should get checked out at the docs first though just in case.

xx

Im a naturally skinny person too as are 3 of my sisters and quite a few of my cousins. My mum is still slender even after having 6 of us. I am 5'6" and 8 st or thereabouts and have rarely weighted more. Ive spoken to my dr about this and also to my midwife when I was pg and they didnt feel it was too much of a prob as I was fit (do alot of cycling) and healthy. TBH I dont worry about my weight anymore just never buy any low fat spread etc. and eat good food.
I was worried about my weight about 10 years ago when I was really stressed and lost nearly 2 stone but I gradually put the weight back on by keeping a food diary and making sure I ate reguarly and snacked often. I tried to eat 4 meals a day at least as I cant do large meals. Sometimes ended up having Breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and supper .

What I did was to try and make sure I had lots of easy eating/snack food in the house. Always had cheese/plain/sweet scones in the freezer and breakfast cereals in the cupboard. I ate lots of eggs too. Dp was a great support too as he made lots of dinners so I didnt have the excuse of saying that I couldnt be bothered cooking etc.