Hi ladies! Sorry if this is a little long...

I'm 5"5 and since Christmas have gone from a healthy 105lb to just under 98lb, which looks like a big change on my very small frame. My doctor advised me to gain a few pounds back in May, but I dismissed this until I saw a photo of myself at an event I attended yesterday. I looked really thin, and as much of the weight has come off my face and chest, I feel a lot less attractive.

I need to change this, but the question is - how? It might sound silly, as there's a very obvious answer, involving chocolate, whipped cream and cake! However, I enjoy eating healthily, and want to keep it that way. My diet is already high in protein; I try to eat plenty of lean meat and fish. I also eat a lot of fruits and vegetables; however, I rarely snack.

My own ideas involve incorporating another healthy protein shake into my diet (I already drink one after a workout, but could stand to add another before work) and perhaps trying to snack healthily on nuts and....here's where I get stuck!

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I'm very keen to make this work, but don't want to just start loading up on carbs - because while that would make me gain weight, it would all just land on my butt!

I'd also like to add that my weight loss is not due to any underlying health issue, but more likely stress-related.

Thanks in advance!

Honestly, the only thing that has really helped me gain weight were protein shakes. Like you, I only drank them after a workout, but I've been adding it 2-3x along with my meals. I hate drinking them, but I hated looking so thin and scrawny. Adding the shakes have added more "leverage" and I look more lean and fit than I ever did before.

Originally Posted by bernz84

Honestly, the only thing that has really helped me gain weight were protein shakes. Like you, I only drank them after a workout, but I've been adding it 2-3x along with my meals. I hate drinking them, but I hated looking so thin and scrawny. Adding the shakes have added more "leverage" and I look more lean and fit than I ever did before.

Hmm. Well, it's very encouraging that you did notice a difference, but I'm in a similar position to you - I really don't enjoy protein shakes. Maybe I'll try to figure out a good recipe for protein powder cookies or something, to try and keep myself going. "Lean and fit" sounds very good to me though, so thank you so much for your reply!

Try adding some foods that contain healthy fats like avocados, nuts, maybe some full-fat yogurt and cottage cheese.

Originally Posted by vhdos

Try adding some foods that contain healthy fats like avocados, nuts, maybe some full-fat yogurt and cottage cheese.

All good points...I'm already addicted to avocados, and am trying to snack on nuts, but the yoghurt and cheese are definitely areas that I can work on. I have been trying to stay away from dairy for a while, but I should try bringing it back into my diet, especially through foods like Greek yoghurt and ricotta, both of which I love.

Thanks for the tips!

You sound like you really don't eat a whole lot of foods that would allow you to gain weight so adding some of the things others have suggested would be a good idea.

My Mom is going through chemo and heavy doses of Prednisone right now and she decided to cut out almost all processed foods and she was already thin and then lost about 10 pounds in addition just from only eating lean meats and lots of veggies, fruit and Greek yogurt...Fage is an amazing brand of Greek yogurt, btw :-). Anyway, I think if you add more food and even some carbs to your diet you will be able to gain if you really want to.

It's hard to give advice when we don't know what you are eating now. You say you eat healthy, but HOW much do you eat? If you're consuming 1000 calories/day and burning more than that off, you aren't going to gain. It may be as simple as continuing to eat all the same foods you are enjoying, but increasing your caloric intake by 250 or so calories per day. This way it stays healthy and you can continue to enjoy lean proteins, non-fat yogurts etc thus keeping things healthy and not raising your cholesterol level and other assorted things. I don't think you need to suddenly start eating pastas at every opportunity. Why would you need to start drinking protein shakes? Aren't they for athletes and bodybuilders to make sure they get high levels of protein needed to build up muscle through weightlifting and exercise? It's much healthier to get all your nutritional needs through actual real foods, not some powder.

can I have this problem?! haha

Originally Posted by Chanel522

You sound like you really don't eat a whole lot of foods that would allow you to gain weight so adding some of the things others have suggested would be a good idea. My Mom is going through chemo and heavy doses of Prednisone right now and she decided to cut out almost all processed foods and she was already thin and then lost about 10 pounds in addition just from only eating lean meats and lots of veggies, fruit and Greek yogurt...Fage is an amazing brand of Greek yogurt, btw :-). Anyway, I think if you add more food and even some carbs to your diet you will be able to gain if you really want to.

So sorry to hear your mother is going through chemo at the moment. I hope she's doing okay, and wish you and your family all the best.

I'm starting to realise that you're probably hitting the crux of the matter when you say I should incorporate more carbs.....that's something I seem to find quite difficult, for some reason. I think perhaps in my efforts to be "healthy", I may be going to extremes and ending up pushing myself in the other direction.

Definitely switching up to full-fat Greek yoghurt! absolutely love Fage, but need to switch up to the 4% rather than 0%, I think!

Originally Posted by V0N1B2

It's hard to give advice when we don't know what you are eating now. You say you eat healthy, but HOW much do you eat? If you're consuming 1000 calories/day and burning more than that off, you aren't going to gain. It may be as simple as continuing to eat all the same foods you are enjoying, but increasing your caloric intake by 250 or so calories per day. This way it stays healthy and you can continue to enjoy lean proteins, non-fat yogurts etc thus keeping things healthy and not raising your cholesterol level and other assorted things. I don't think you need to suddenly start eating pastas at every opportunity. Why would you need to start drinking protein shakes? Aren't they for athletes and bodybuilders to make sure they get high levels of protein needed to build up muscle through weightlifting and exercise? It's much healthier to get all your nutritional needs through actual real foods, not some powder.

Okay, some very fair points. To give you a better idea of my current diet, I believe I tend to come in at about 1700 calories on a day when I'm not working out, and around 1900-2000 on a day when I do work out. I had thought that this would be enough to maintain my weight, but I must have this wrong, because....well, I'm losing weight! I signed up for http://www.myfitnesspal.com today to try helping me to keep track of this.

I suppose my difficulty with your other advice is that I think I'd find it hard to say, increase my portion sizes, which is why I'm trying to "sneak" extra calories, through protein shakes and snacks. The protein shakes are something that my trainer has advised; I'm doing fairly high intensity workouts, and am trying to develop a more toned physique, so the extra protein helps. Actually, I do agree with you, and would rather achieve my goals with something less artificial, but given that I've already shown myself to be a little bit rubbish at getting the calories I need, I think the shakes are probably a sensible plan for me at the moment - at least until I've gained a bit of weight, and muscle!

You know, it sounds silly, but this:

Originally Posted by V0N1B2

It may be as simple as continuing to eat all the same foods you are enjoying, but increasing your caloric intake by 250 or so calories per day.

kind of feels like a bit of a revelation. As a reasonably sensible human being, I already KNEW this....but you just make it sound so much more simple than I've made it seem in my head - and that's how it should be!

Okay. I definitely have some things to think about....thank you for your help!

Originally Posted by ahs483

can I have this problem?! haha

Haha, I'll try keeping this in perspective .

You need to stop worrying and start acting. My advice for you would be to join a gym and do weight training. But begin with less heavy machines or dumbbells in order to avoid injury. Start eating foods rich in proteins as well as carbs as they are healthy. Consume a handful of dry fruits everyday. Banana can also help you to achieve your goal much faster.

Try this tips for yourself and see the changes. Hope it helps.

kitty89:
I hope you didn't think I was being a smartazz by telling you to eat more (not my intention). It's just that I have always viewed protein supplements as a way for people to increase lean muscle mass (which I think is technically the purpose of them) while eating an otherwise balanced diet and lifting weights combined with cardio.
You just want to put a few pounds on your frame, not build muscle. Or at least that's not the impression I got from your original post.
I understand it's hard to eat more if you aren't used to it - or even snack more for that matter. I just think if you usually eat a 5oz pice of chicken for dinner, go for 6ozs, add three more asparagus spears, etc. Think small increments; the purpose is just to add those extra little calories without adding high amounts of sugar and fat. That's not a healthy way to gain, IMO. Why start eating foods that you wouldn't normally eat? The trick is to gain slowly by keeping your diet the same - like healthy choices. You could go to a 2% or 4% fat yogurt, or use 1% milk instead of skim etc. Do you go to Starbucks or anything? Try a regular latte instead of a skinny/non-fat latte. Kind of the reverse of what I like to think of as the healthy way to lose weight.
I think your calorie tracker will be really good. They're just good in general. I wondered about your current diet because I have a friend who is very thin (too thin) and she claims that she's always eating and has a good appetite. The truth is, she's always eating in her mind. She is a busy mum and will have a few bites of food while she is getting dinner for her kids but doesn't actually sit down and eat a meal. She kind of just snacks all day, you know? Yogurt cup, nuts, hard-boiled egg, iced cappuccino...
Good luck with your healthy weight gain and I hope you keep us all posted.

Originally Posted by V0N1B2

kitty89: I hope you didn't think I was being a smartazz by telling you to eat more (not my intention).

Nooooo, please, don't worry! I didn't think you were being a smartazz at all I asked for opinions, and you very helpfully gave yours, so I'm grateful!

I do fundamentally agree with you. But to clarify, while I do want to add weight to my frame, I am also keen to resume building muscle - this was why I began using protein shakes, about a year ago. Nowadays, I use them to "cheat" when I eat enough to compensate for what I burn, but not enough to actually gain weight, especially as I still work out four times a week and regularly lift weights. I picked low sugar, low saturated fat shakes, and while they're a lifesaver for now, they're not part of my long-term plan for healthy eating.

Your advice on increasing portions incrementally is so sensible. I was thinking I'd have to eat TWO chicken breasts for dinner instead of one, or something crazy, which seemed insurmountable! But now I'm starting to look at this differently, and am doing things like adding seeds/nuts to my greek yoghurt, and snacking on hard boiled eggs and fruit between meals. I will also start buying bigger chunks of chicken!

My problems are obviously all in my head, lol. I mean, my gut reaction to your (perfectly reasonable!) idea to "try a regular latte" is "WHAT?!?! A REGULAR LATTE?!" like you've suggested I drink cyanide or something, which is crazy!

I think I'm stuck in this mentality that you shouldn't ever choose 2% while 0% exists, and that eating bread (even wholewheat) is like some sort of death sentence....which is probably excessive, given that I lead an active lifestyle. Like your friend, I'm probably also overestimating the amount I eat, which is where the calorie tracker comes in.

I will try to keep you posted! I don't really have any specific weight gain goals, but just hope that I'll start seeing the numbers on the scale inflate soon.

Thanks again for all your advice!

Originally Posted by kitty89

I'd also like to add that my weight loss is not due to any underlying health issue, but more likely stress-related.

Originally Posted by kitty89

...But to clarify, while I do want to add weight to my frame, I am also keen to resume building muscle - this was why I began using protein shakes, about a year ago. Nowadays, I use them to "cheat" when I eat enough to compensate for what I burn, but not enough to actually gain weight, especially as I still work out four times a week and regularly lift weights. I picked low sugar, low saturated fat shakes, and while they're a lifesaver for now, they're not part of my long-term plan for healthy eating. Your advice on increasing portions incrementally is so sensible. I was thinking I'd have to eat TWO chicken breasts for dinner instead of one, or something crazy, which seemed insurmountable! But now I'm starting to look at this differently, and am doing things like adding seeds/nuts to my greek yoghurt, and snacking on hard boiled eggs and fruit between meals. I will also start buying bigger chunks of chicken! My problems are obviously all in my head, lol. I mean, my gut reaction to your (perfectly reasonable!) idea to "try a regular latte" is "WHAT?!?! A REGULAR LATTE?!" like you've suggested I drink cyanide or something, which is crazy! I think I'm stuck in this mentality that you shouldn't ever choose 2% while 0% exists, and that eating bread (even wholewheat) is like some sort of death sentence....which is probably excessive, given that I lead an active lifestyle. Like your friend, I'm probably also overestimating the amount I eat, which is where the calorie tracker comes in.!

i have some thoughts:

1. get rid of the stress (easier said than done, i'm sure)

2. your current exercise regime might not fit your goal. if your goal is to gain muscle, then you should primarily be lifting weights: heavy weights with moderate reps. if you limit the rest in between, you should get your heart pumping so that you don't need an additional cardio workout. your muscle increase should come pretty quickly. i was an athlete and when my coach started me on weights, i gained 10% of my body weight with no increase in my waist size in less than 2 months.

muscle mass increase will only happen if you are consuming enough calories. your body usually takes care of itself, meaning if it requires more calories, it should be making you very hungry. however, from your post, i think you are one of those disciplined eaters who have learned not to listen to their body so you'll need to consciously change your food intake.

with that: increase your protein and fat intake - whole milk in your latte is a good idea as are high fat nuts. take a break from chicken breast (one of the least interesting pieces of meat) and try dark meat, duck, oily fish, a nice well marbled steak. drink juice in the morning which will increase your carbs. you might want to drink juice with your lunch as well or increase your fruit intake. i'm not a fan of protein shakes (too many weird ingredients and they always taste off) but if you need more calories and nothing else will do, then go for it. personally i'd rather have an ice cream shake - it should all get burned with your muscle building anyway. have a piece of chocolate once in a while. basically enjoy food and eating - you're in the rare category of being able to eat anything they want!