Oops! I don't weigh enough.

47Jacqueline

I never thought I'd have this issue. I was moderately overweight when I sarted with MFP. 155lb, 5'4", age 67. I was a yo yo dieter when younger, but had pretty much stabilized except for the year my mom started deteriorating.

My goal was 127 - 132. When I got there, I started maintenance. Good. No problem there. But I started having trouble eating the goal set by MFP due to a lot of exercising.

Then my doctor diagnosed me with silent reflux and gave me a list of foods to avoid. This threw me off balance. I have not been able to even get to my base calories, let alone include any of the exercise calories.

My diary is open. You will see I am not eating enough to maintain. This morning I weighed in at the gym. I don't have a scale and don't weight myself except about every two weeks. I was 123 1/2 lb. This is not good. At my age I would be healthier with more weight on me. I think I am also exercising (cardio) too much because in addition to the classes I take, I'm training to be a Zumba instructor specializing in seniors and special populations.

I have heard that the building I am living in, which includes some services for the residents, has finally hired a new dietician. Boy! will she be surprised. I hope she has some experience with helping people with this issue.

Any help?

3laine75

Thats a tricky one, as we don't know what's on the list of stuff you shouldn't have.

How about just gradually increasing portion size and adding some form of fat to everything?

ETA: go for full fat milk and 2% fage and ditch anything that's low-fat (unless thats one of the things you can't have )

47Jacqueline

Her's the list of stuff I'm not supposed to eat right now. I've been told that this diagnosis is not chronic, but the result of a sore throat and cough I developed last winter, but it's a problem right now.

Chocolate
Peppermint (including tea)
Fried and Fatty foods including creamy cheeses, nuts and peanut butter
Alcohol, esp. Red Wine
Smoking (no problem there)
Tart fruits and Juices (Citrus, cranberry)
Blueberrries and strawberries
Onions
Tomatoes & Tomato sauce
Carbonated beverages

Thanks

DianaJaneD

I would suggest eating 6 meals a day. Carry snacks with you when you are out and about, to have for mid-morning and mid-afternoon. I like to keep a a quality protein bar, cheese stick or nuts in my purse. Also eat a little something before bed. Another helpful hint is to plan in some calorie dense fats like olive oil, avocado, etc. Can your restrictions allow olive oil? It's easy to add extra olive oil on salads. And it's good for our joints and skin! I like Quest Bars as a protein/snack option. I buy them here: http://www.questproteinbar.com/ .If you don't give yourself enough fuel for that Zumba, you will hurt yourself in the long run and not have enough energy to keep up. I like the idea, too, of just eating bigger portions of what you already like to eat.

3laine75

Her's the list of stuff I'm not supposed to eat right now. I've been told that this diagnosis is not chronic, but the result of a sore throat and cough I developed last winter, but it's a problem right now.

Chocolate
Peppermint (including tea)
Fried and Fatty foods including creamy cheeses, nuts and peanut butter
Alcohol, esp. Red Wine
Smoking (no problem there)
Tart fruits and Juices (Citrus, cranberry)
Blueberrries and strawberries
Onions
Tomatoes & Tomato sauce
Carbonated beverages

Thanks

Nightmare!

Bigger portions or just squeezing in an extra meal or snack seems like your best bet.

neandermagnon

Do you do any kind of strength or resistance training? This plus eating more protein may help to build up your lean body mass a bit more (you didn't say what foods you had to avoid so hopefully it doesn't include all the foods that contain protein). This also helps protect against osteoporosis. I'm going to try to get my mum into some kind of strength training for this reason (family history of osteoporosis). For prevention of osteoporosis, strength training + adequate calcium intake + adequate protein intake is important. And of course this will help you to gain more healthy weight too (and prevention of osteoporosis is probably one of the reasons your doctor wants you to gain weight). You need to eat at a calorie surplus to gain weight, but if you're doing the strength training then the gains will be in muscle mass and bone density. The older you are the more important this kind of thing is. It's also not impossible to gain lean mass for older individuals... I've seen success stories of people in their 70s getting fit, lean and strong, and ending up with bodies that look like the bodies of 40 yr olds.

47Jacqueline

I do 3x a week Body Pump and a Free Weight class of an hour each.

Good idea the olive oil. I don't use enough oil. Tend to use just vinegar or fat free dressing.

Yes, too much cardio, esp. with the Zumba training added in.

Don't like Quest, but I eat Simply Protein bars, even though they have chocolate in them.

EvgeniZyntx

Ice cream?
French pastries?
Apple pie?

CHEESECAKE.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Hmmm. Did he give you an idea of how much fat you can have?

I'd add bread and other carby things that aren't too much fat. Cereal with skim milk, granola bars (I like the Kashi ones), low fat ice cream.

Smoothies are a good choice too-- you can make them with greek yogurt and bananas to increase the calorie count.

Did he tell you how long you'll be under these restrictions? It might be a good idea to cut down on your cardio for the duration.

JoRocka

I do 3x a week Body Pump and a Free Weight class of an hour each.

Good idea the olive oil. I don't use enough oil. Tend to use just vinegar or fat free dressing.

Yes, too much cardio, esp. with the Zumba training added in.

Don't like Quest, but I eat Simply Protein bars, even though they have chocolate in them.

So. not for nothing- but you aren't doing any strength training- you're right when you say lots of cardio.

Get thee to the weight room- and lift some weights. If' it's a "class" odds are it's more cardio than weights- there should be RESTS- you should not be huffing and puffing and going "great burn" You'll sweat yes- but you don't want to be dripping sweat and huffing.

more weight training and find the highest calorie type foods you can consume.... then eat more of them.

cwoyto123

If you don't weigh enough (and want to weigh more), simply eat more.

AliceDark

Could you add some kind of starch to your dinner? Maybe a potato or sweet potato, some brown rice, etc.? Also, what about adding another whole egg or even an egg yolk to your breakfast?

VeryKatie

It looks like you can still eat pasta and rice! Try adding those to your daily meals. Whole grain preferably.

ckays82

One of my friends has been going through the same thing over a course of a year. She had back surgery and the pain pills did a number on her stomach, killing her appetite even long after recovery. If she tries to eat more it hurts her stomach. A doctor recommended milk shakes and high fat cheese to boost it up. He even recommended getting a McNugget meal a few times a week! What seemed to help was eating bagels with full fat cream cheese in the mornings and afternoons since it was easier on her stomach.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Pasta/rice and potatoes are good suggestions. On a similar note, couscous could be a good choice.

My trouble with pasta would be a low-fat but non-tomato based sauce. Maybe something simple like lemon garlic butter and herbs (light on the butter)?

I feel your pain, OP-- I had these issues when I was bulking. Trying to get in a lot of calories without a lot of fat can be tricky.

kittyr77

You are bang in the middle of healthy BMI (21.1, range 18.5-25) so I wouldn't get yourself too worried about it just now (worrying might make you feel unable to eat!) but I agree if you keep losing this could be detrimental.
I'm afraid it's simply eat more and/or exercise less - is there anything you could cut out of your exercise routine? And how about trying gradually increading portion sizes of what you currently eat, focusing on the higher kcal foods, to gradually get used to it?
good luck!
xx

scrittrice

I'd do pasta with an oil-based sauce of some kind. Do you like fish? High-quality canned fish like tuna and sardines in oil rather than water? Those aren't excessively fatty, but they're very nutritious and get some "good" fat into you. (This time of year, I'm a big fan of a salad of white beans and canned tuna--great for hot weather.) Also, I know avocados have a fair amount of fat in them, but they're very mild and not acidic (I'm guessing that's the reason behind most of the items on this list). And I agree that drinking smoothies, milkshakes, fruit juices, even sweetened almond milk is a good way to get calories when you're not feeling terribly hungry.

My sympathies, though--aside from cigarettes, that reads like a list of my favorite foods.

neandermagnon

You are bang in the middle of healthy BMI (21.1, range 18.5-25) so I wouldn't get yourself too worried about it just now (worrying might make you feel unable to eat!) but I agree if you keep losing this could be detrimental.
I'm afraid it's simply eat more and/or exercise less - is there anything you could cut out of your exercise routine? And how about trying gradually increading portion sizes of what you currently eat, focusing on the higher kcal foods, to gradually get used to it?
good luck!
xx

The middle of the BMI range is not healthy for everyone, depending on frame size. If her doctor has told her to gain more weight, then maybe she needs to be at the high end of the BMI range. People's frame size varies (i.e. width of shoulders, rib cage, pelvis) and this affects where you should be within the BMI range. The middle is only ideal for people with average frame sizes. Small framed people should be at the low end of the range and large framed people should be at the high end of the range.

kittyr77

You are bang in the middle of healthy BMI (21.1, range 18.5-25) so I wouldn't get yourself too worried about it just now (worrying might make you feel unable to eat!) but I agree if you keep losing this could be detrimental.
I'm afraid it's simply eat more and/or exercise less - is there anything you could cut out of your exercise routine? And how about trying gradually increading portion sizes of what you currently eat, focusing on the higher kcal foods, to gradually get used to it?
good luck!
xx

The middle of the BMI range is not healthy for everyone, depending on frame size. If her doctor has told her to gain more weight, then maybe she needs to be at the high end of the BMI range. People's frame size varies (i.e. width of shoulders, rib cage, pelvis) and this affects where you should be within the BMI range. The middle is only ideal for people with average frame sizes. Small framed people should be at the low end of the range and large framed people should be at the high end of the range.

And older people tend to be ok at the lower range of bmi given differences in body comp

neandermagnon

You are bang in the middle of healthy BMI (21.1, range 18.5-25) so I wouldn't get yourself too worried about it just now (worrying might make you feel unable to eat!) but I agree if you keep losing this could be detrimental.
I'm afraid it's simply eat more and/or exercise less - is there anything you could cut out of your exercise routine? And how about trying gradually increading portion sizes of what you currently eat, focusing on the higher kcal foods, to gradually get used to it?
good luck!
xx

The middle of the BMI range is not healthy for everyone, depending on frame size. If her doctor has told her to gain more weight, then maybe she needs to be at the high end of the BMI range. People's frame size varies (i.e. width of shoulders, rib cage, pelvis) and this affects where you should be within the BMI range. The middle is only ideal for people with average frame sizes. Small framed people should be at the low end of the range and large framed people should be at the high end of the range.

And older people tend to be ok at the lower range of bmi given differences in body comp

her doctor told her to gain weight

"tend to be okay" - not necessarily. Being underweight as you age can have health consequences and should not just be regarded as normal for old age. People do tend to lose lean mass as they age - and protecting that lean mass, i.e. not losing it, helps protect against a number of age related problems. And underweight depends on her frame size - BMI is just a ball park figure based on averages, not everyone is average. So I think she should trust what her doctor says is underweight for her, rather than looking at a BMI chart.

ChunkLaFunk

Have you considered getting your current % bodyfat (body composition) analyzed? Ideally, by water displacement or by caliper (impedance isn't very accurate so wouldn't recommend this method).

The scale isn't the best tell-all indicator. If you weighed post-class, you could have sweated off 2-3 pounds, even if you hydrating during the class.

More information may be enlightening before you make any drastic changes to your diet and exercising program. Especially if your body is recovering from something. May not want to add additional stresses right now.

Besides, with your activity level, sounds like you're doing very well.