Looking to gain

amihalik88

I just had a baby this past year and I was 5'"4 and 116 lbs before and gained a healthy 25 lbs by the end of my pregnancy. However I lost way too much afterwards very rapidly. I have been stuck at around 105 lbs for the past 7 or 8 months and it is hard to carry and lift a growing 10 month old with very little weight or muscle mass. I became very health conscious after having health problems towards the end of (and after) this first pregnancy. I am eating healthier. I cut out refined grains, pop, caffeine, juice, and most other refined sugars. I try my best to cut down on sodium especially with blood pressure issues but it is really tough because salt is in just about everything. It is even harder to gain weight since I have started exercising almost everyday to help keep blood pressure down and prevent diabetes as it runs in my family. I am having a very hard time gaining any weight after cleaning up my diet and starting regular exercise. It would be really nice to hear any advice on how I can gain weight without eating refined, processed carbs or sugars or anything laden with sodium. I eat lots of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains with protein everyday and sneak in small amounts of chocolate or honey to stave cravings but it does not seem to be enough. I am going to see my doctor soon and ask to see a nutritionist because I am just not sure how to gain weight. I am fairly certain it is not caused by anything else as my most recent blood work came back normal. Please no backlash, I know a lot of people are here to lose weight but we all want the same thing...to be healthy. I don't feel or look very healthy at this weight, I want to gain a good 10 lbs or more and just need some help.

DrFlave

To gain weight, you have to take in more calories than you burn. Use MFP to track your food and exercise and make sure you hit your calorie surplus every day. You'll have to eat back any calories you burn during exercise, so I would suggest reducing the amount of cardio you do and increase the amount of strength training. Especially if you're limiting the types of food you eat, it can be difficult to eat enough every day. There is a "Gaining Weight" group here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1124-gaining-weight which might help you get suggestions on specific foods. Another good resource I've found is: http://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/ Basically, you want to aim for calorie dense foods like eggs, meat, nuts (peanut butter!), milk, protein shakes, etc. I've been gaining for a few months and my diary is open to friends, so feel free to add me.