Wife wants to gain weight
FireVixen_Fayth
Posts: 154 Member
Back story real fast..
She has always been tiny. Size 0, xs-xxs shirts. 94lbs currently. She has never been past 98. She wants to get to 120 and has tried everything we can think of. She works at Walmart and is active a lot and typical walks 2.4 miles a day when working because we have one car. However this will change soon.
Any advice you can give us to help her out?
She has always been tiny. Size 0, xs-xxs shirts. 94lbs currently. She has never been past 98. She wants to get to 120 and has tried everything we can think of. She works at Walmart and is active a lot and typical walks 2.4 miles a day when working because we have one car. However this will change soon.
Any advice you can give us to help her out?
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Replies
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Agreed, is she logging? She needs to eat a bit more calories than she is burning. She should be set up as active with a goal to gain 0.5lbs per week. If she has always been a low weight, and is used to the amount she's eating, measuring and logging will help her ensure she really is eating "more". Sometimes our perception can be quite a bit different than reality! For those who have been overweight for a long time, they tend to think they are eating less than they are, and those who have been overweight think they are eating more than they are.2
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If she doesn't eat much at certain times of the day/night, add peanut butter or olive oil to her foods.
Eat things like ice cream before bed that more easily consumed for more calories.
Basically change the habits that prevent her from eating more where possible.
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DeadliftsAndSprinkles wrote: »If she wants to gain weight then she needs to be eating more than her body burns.
I assume she has a MFP account and has set up a weight gaining goal?
No she doesn't but I'll talk to her about it.Agreed, is she logging? She needs to eat a bit more calories than she is burning. She should be set up as active with a goal to gain 0.5lbs per week. If she has always been a low weight, and is used to the amount she's eating, measuring and logging will help her ensure she really is eating "more". Sometimes our perception can be quite a bit different than reality! For those who have been overweight for a long time, they tend to think they are eating less than they are, and those who have been overweight think they are eating more than they are.
No she isn't logging and ya I told her she needs to eat more than she burns.If she doesn't eat much at certain times of the day/night, add peanut butter or olive oil to her foods.
Eat things like ice cream before bed that more easily consumed for more calories.
Basically change the habits that prevent her from eating more where possible.
I will have to start doing that!
Also I should note everyone that she also has gastritis and has for a few months, we think it's stress related but it limits what she can eat without it hurting her.0 -
FireVixen_Fayth wrote: »DeadliftsAndSprinkles wrote: »If she wants to gain weight then she needs to be eating more than her body burns.
I assume she has a MFP account and has set up a weight gaining goal?
No she doesn't but I'll talk to her about it.Agreed, is she logging? She needs to eat a bit more calories than she is burning. She should be set up as active with a goal to gain 0.5lbs per week. If she has always been a low weight, and is used to the amount she's eating, measuring and logging will help her ensure she really is eating "more". Sometimes our perception can be quite a bit different than reality! For those who have been overweight for a long time, they tend to think they are eating less than they are, and those who have been overweight think they are eating more than they are.
No she isn't logging and ya I told her she needs to eat more than she burns.If she doesn't eat much at certain times of the day/night, add peanut butter or olive oil to her foods.
Eat things like ice cream before bed that more easily consumed for more calories.
Basically change the habits that prevent her from eating more where possible.
I will have to start doing that!
Also I should note everyone that she also has gastritis and has for a few months, we think it's stress related but it limits what she can eat without it hurting her.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1
this thread should help.2 -
Is she having treatment for her gastritis? I suffer from this and it can make it difficult to eat enough.
I find it easier if I eat 5 or 6 small meals rather than 3 larger ones but I'm also on medication for my gastritis.0 -
And of course my post vanished.. Long story short in response to both of you I have bookmarked the link, she is being treated for the gastritis. Her health comes before mine. Our stomach problems are caused by unneeded stress due to our roommate. Doctor is now 90% of it after I went today for my stomach.1
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FireVixen_Fayth wrote: »Back story real fast..
She has always been tiny. Size 0, xs-xxs shirts. 94lbs currently. She has never been past 98. She wants to get to 120 and has tried everything we can think of. She works at Walmart and is active a lot and typical walks 2.4 miles a day when working because we have one car. However this will change soon.
Any advice you can give us to help her out?
You didn't mention her height. That weight would actually be okay if she's 5' 0" or less. I personally know a woman who is almost 70 years old who's never ever reached 100lbs either. I've never thought she looked unusual in any way. It's simply the weight for her size.
To gain weight if necessary, yoir wife is going to have to increase her daily Calorie intake. How much is the calorie goal suggested for her by MFP? Is she having difficulty reaching that amount?2 -
I had this problem. High calorie Protein shakes after every meal. I never thought I'd be able to gain but I did. Have to be consistent with it though.0
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Ya we have protien powder for her. She is logging her food with MFP, not sure if she is consistent or not0
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FireVixen_Fayth wrote: »Back story real fast..
She has always been tiny. Size 0, xs-xxs shirts. 94lbs currently. She has never been past 98. She wants to get to 120 and has tried everything we can think of. She works at Walmart and is active a lot and typical walks 2.4 miles a day when working because we have one car. However this will change soon.
Any advice you can give us to help her out?
To gain weight, she needs to eat more. Because she is active, it probably means her metabolism is high, but I highly suspect she doesn't eat much. Only way for to gain weight is to eat more calories than she burns.0 -
Yes i ujderstand the fundementals. She went a week of eating 4000 calories a day almost and didnt gain a pound. A lot of it was junk food as well. I know this because it was stuff like a whole box of mac and cheese, bag of chips, ramen noodles half 2 litre of pop.. Etc.4
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It sounds as though she may not be logging accurately - when I started logging my food I found I'd been overestimating how much I was eating.
It's possible not to see much of a gain in one week - she needs to log for a few weeks to see a pattern emerge. It doesn't make any difference whether or not it's junk food. If she's taking in more than she burns, she should gain weight
Do you eat together? I mean, do you see her eating?1 -
I see her eating 90% of the time and she does eat around 3000 a day. She did start an account but had a hard time logging. The only time I don't see her eating is when she is at work.0
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I had to eat 4500 to gain weight I gained a stone then it stopped but I was happy with the stone.. my diet consisted nuts and raisins (alot of them) bananas, big tubs of yogurts,meats, rice,pasta, homemade fat shakes, eggs, beard bla bla bla.... it was hard work but it worked.... eat 6 to 7 meals a day0
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Ya that's what I told her too. I think she had a hyper active metabolism tbh.6
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BTW...when I was in the Marine Corps, we did cold weather training. You have the standard MREs, which are about 1200 calories. In cold weather, you are issued a cold weather ration that is double that caloric count, since you burn more energy trying to stay warm. Doubt this is the issue, but with winter coming up she might need to eat a bit more calories than in summer.
I agree with others, she needs to log not only calories, but also exercise (including work). She might have high metabolism, but if she was maintaining weight at X calores/day, then X+500/day should start showing up on the scales as about a 4 lbs gain over a month, if everything else is equal.3 -
FireVixen_Fayth wrote: »Yes i ujderstand the fundementals. She went a week of eating 4000 calories a day almost and didnt gain a pound. A lot of it was junk food as well. I know this because it was stuff like a whole box of mac and cheese, bag of chips, ramen noodles half 2 litre of pop.. Etc.
You say she really doesn't log - so your estimate is just you and her eyeballing her intake... or if she does log it's sporadic. Eating a huge meal or even eating that way for a day isn't going to do much if it's not consistent. To put it into perspective... I'm 6'1 and 210# at the moment. I spend 5 hours a week or more in the gym and walk about 10K steps a day minimum. I also hike on the weekends and walk my dog three times a day. I'm *bulking* on 4K calories a day (gaining about half a pound a week) and I'm male, over twice her weight, relatively lean and moderately active.
You two aren't logging her intake accurately and she isn't eating enough. For a 94# female to not be gaining on 4K a day would require a LOT more physical activity than you are describing. I don't think she would need that much even if she was a competitive athelete training for a marathon at her size.
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Just a note from a small person.
When your SO did the 4000 cals days, she probably followed them with quite low cal days, I know that would be my pattern.
I love food, but don't enjoy the full stuffed feel so stop eating way before I reach that point.
If I am physically feeling full, and am lacking in protein, or calories, I will drink a protein drink (mixed with water), a V8 type drink, coconut water, broth, clear soup, or juice.
This doesn't happen often, but I do know my fall backs.
If your SO can't stomach higher calorie food, or volume, look at 'thin' liquids. I was going to suggest full fat milk, but to be honest, if I can't eat any more, I can't down a glass of ff milk.
Cheers, h.2 -
I'll have to have her do that. The protien powder she doesn't like the taste.0
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FireVixen_Fayth wrote: »Ya we have protien powder for her. She is logging her food with MFP, not sure if she is consistent or not
Normal protein powder may just fill her up with not too many calories. You may want those "mass gainer" powders and bars. If she doesn't like the taste of powders, she could do protein bars. Some of them taste like candy but have 400 or so calories.0 -
FireVixen_Fayth wrote: »DeadliftsAndSprinkles wrote: »If she wants to gain weight then she needs to be eating more than her body burns.
I assume she has a MFP account and has set up a weight gaining goal?
No she doesn't but I'll talk to her about it.Agreed, is she logging? She needs to eat a bit more calories than she is burning. She should be set up as active with a goal to gain 0.5lbs per week. If she has always been a low weight, and is used to the amount she's eating, measuring and logging will help her ensure she really is eating "more". Sometimes our perception can be quite a bit different than reality! For those who have been overweight for a long time, they tend to think they are eating less than they are, and those who have been overweight think they are eating more than they are.
No she isn't logging and ya I told her she needs to eat more than she burns.If she doesn't eat much at certain times of the day/night, add peanut butter or olive oil to her foods.
Eat things like ice cream before bed that more easily consumed for more calories.
Basically change the habits that prevent her from eating more where possible.
I will have to start doing that!
Also I should note everyone that she also has gastritis and has for a few months, we think it's stress related but it limits what she can eat without it hurting her.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1
this thread should help.
Yes this thread is so helpful! Have her or you read. It is not that she has a fast metabolism, that really doesn't exist. It is likely she just compensates when she eats more so has trouble gaining. The most important fool proof way is to just count calories. Otherwise it is too easy to compensate by eating less other days or being more active.3 -
middlehaitch wrote: »Just a note from a small person.
When your SO did the 4000 cals days, she probably followed them with quite low cal days, I know that would be my pattern.
I love food, but don't enjoy the full stuffed feel so stop eating way before I reach that point.
If I am physically feeling full, and am lacking in protein, or calories, I will drink a protein drink (mixed with water), a V8 type drink, coconut water, broth, clear soup, or juice.
This doesn't happen often, but I do know my fall backs.
If your SO can't stomach higher calorie food, or volume, look at 'thin' liquids. I was going to suggest full fat milk, but to be honest, if I can't eat any more, I can't down a glass of ff milk.
Cheers, h.
Yes, this exactly! Most "naturally thin" or "hard gainers" simply do not eat enough calories because of their behaviors. If they counted calories and ate enough for any average person their size to gain, they would gain just like anyone else.
The issue is that they naturally seem to eat less after eating more or move more which balances it out and thus don't gain. Drives me insane when people say "oh I just have a fast metabolism, I can't gain weight". It is not the metabolism that is the issue, it is the behaviors that end up making you eat less than you burn.0 -
Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »middlehaitch wrote: »Just a note from a small person.
When your SO did the 4000 cals days, she probably followed them with quite low cal days, I know that would be my pattern.
I love food, but don't enjoy the full stuffed feel so stop eating way before I reach that point.
If I am physically feeling full, and am lacking in protein, or calories, I will drink a protein drink (mixed with water), a V8 type drink, coconut water, broth, clear soup, or juice.
This doesn't happen often, but I do know my fall backs.
If your SO can't stomach higher calorie food, or volume, look at 'thin' liquids. I was going to suggest full fat milk, but to be honest, if I can't eat any more, I can't down a glass of ff milk.
Cheers, h.
Yes, this exactly! Most "naturally thin" or "hard gainers" simply do not eat enough calories because of their behaviors. If they counted calories and ate enough for any average person their size to gain, they would gain just like anyone else.
The issue is that they naturally seem to eat less after eating more or move more which balances it out and thus don't gain. Drives me insane when people say "oh I just have a fast metabolism, I can't gain weight". It is not the metabolism that is the issue, it is the behaviors that end up making you eat less than you burn.
This
I always thought I had a fast metabolism until I came here, bought a fitbit and started logging my food (using a scale) and eating back my exercise calories. I'd previously been eating far less than I thought, and I have discovered I'm much more active than I thought. After that I started gaining with no problem
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