Now I can't gain weight...

RonW956 · January 2014

LOL. so whats the problem right?

Well I started off by weighing 211lbs and began walking 5-7 miles a day and limited my calories to around 1200-1600 on average by eating mostly vegetarian and occasional chicken, only water, no soda or caffiene.

That was 8 months ago and I now weigh 158lbs, Im 45 yrs old never smoked or drank and I'm 5;11" tall. Had some bloodwork done recently and my cholesterol is 148, tricycerides is at 58, HDL 48 and LDL was 78. My Blood pressure was at its highest 161/101 and its now at 138/89...

I eat either a high fiber breakfast or oatmeal with sprouted whole grain toast for breakfast every morning.... On my days off maybe one or two days a week I'll have scrabbled eggs with 1 piece of toast... My lunches are pretty much the same each day, 2-3 cups frozen mixed veggies w/ some boneless skinless chicken or a couple potato & onion perogies... sometimes I'l just have a good ol' fashioned PB&J sandwhich with some grapes or a chobani 6oz yogurt.... Dinner, more or less the same thing..

Thing is, I'm still losing weight... I was 160 couple weeks ago and now Im 157.4lbs.... I feel perfectly fine, I remain active, just getting skinny now and not used to it.... As of right now I'm kicking up my calories to at least no less than 2000 a day.... but its real hard because in order to consum that many calories eating veggies I have to almost be stuffing my face every few hrs and I cant... I find myself feeling full real fast and I dont feel hungry between meals.... I'm all ears...

Atishi87 · January 2014

Drizzle olive oil on your veggies. Two servings through out the day should bump your calories by 240 of good healthy fats. And you could add more protein at each meal. Some Salmon, Tilapia, Lean Turkey.

Phaedra2014 · January 2014

Olive oil, nuts, nut butters, avocado.

AlayshaJ · January 2014

In the morning or whenever, drink a protein shake with oats, peanut butter, bananas, with whatever milk you like and throw some sort of oil in there. (coconut or light olive oil shouldn't effect the flavor) That will be a good chunk of calories and you can just adjust the proportions to fit your macro/calorie goals.

DavidCHobby · January 2014

You're ahead of me, but I am on almost exactly the same path. 1400 cals/day, walking 10 miles a day. Losing weight steadily, healthily, feel great, numbers are great.

When I get to maintenance (another 25 lbs to go) I will have to up my cals by 1000 a day. I have retrained the way I eat and I honestly do not feel hungry. Just energized. Dunno how I will be able to up it 1000 cals a day and still eat clean (which is my primary food goal both now and later.)

Interesting thing on the cholesterol numbers. Mine have gotten drastically better and I credit eating an apple a day. Seen a couple studies to back it up, too. Would never take statins unless totally necessary, as I cannot afford any calf muscle probs. But appls? Yeah, I can eat apples. And they knocked down my LDL like crazy. It was like flipping a switch.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2212116/How-apple-day-cardiologist-away--lowering-bad-cholesterol.html

mccindy72 · January 2014

LOL. so whats the problem right?

Well I started off by weighing 211lbs and began walking 5-7 miles a day and limited my calories to around 1200-1600 on average by eating mostly vegetarian and occasional chicken, only water, no soda or caffiene.

That was 8 months ago and I now weigh 158lbs, Im 45 yrs old never smoked or drank and I'm 5;11" tall. Had some bloodwork done recently and my cholesterol is 148, tricycerides is at 58, HDL 48 and LDL was 78. My Blood pressure was at its highest 161/101 and its now at 138/89...

I eat either a high fiber breakfast or oatmeal with sprouted whole grain toast for breakfast every morning.... On my days off maybe one or two days a week I'll have scrabbled eggs with 1 piece of toast... My lunches are pretty much the same each day, 2-3 cups frozen mixed veggies w/ some boneless skinless chicken or a couple potato & onion perogies... sometimes I'l just have a good ol' fashioned PB&J sandwhich with some grapes or a chobani 6oz yogurt.... Dinner, more or less the same thing..

Thing is, I'm still losing weight... I was 160 couple weeks ago and now Im 157.4lbs.... I feel perfectly fine, I remain active, just getting skinny now and not used to it.... As of right now I'm kicking up my calories to at least no less than 2000 a day.... but its real hard because in order to consum that many calories eating veggies I have to almost be stuffing my face every few hrs and I cant... I find myself feeling full real fast and I dont feel hungry between meals.... I'm all ears...

Start adding in higher-calorie foods and carbs so you aren't trying to stuff yourself with low calorie foods that won't help you reach your calorie goals. Cook with fats like olive oil and coconut oil. You don't have to stick strictly to veggies and lean meat to keep at a calorie deficit, so change to maintenance mode.

mccindy72 · January 2014

You're ahead of me, but I am on almost exactly the same path. 1400 cals/day, walking 10 miles a day. Losing weight steadily, healthily, feel great, numbers are great.

When I get to maintenance (another 25 lbs to go) I will have to up my cals by 1000 a day. I have retrained the way I eat and I honestly do not feel hungry. Just energized. Dunno how I will be able to up it 1000 cals a day and still eat clean (which is my primary food goal both now and later.)

Interesting thing on the cholesterol numbers. Mine have gotten drastically better and I credit eating an apple a day. Seen a couple studies to back it up, too. Would never take statins unless totally necessary, as I cannot afford any calf muscle probs. But appls? Yeah, I can eat apples. And they knocked down my LDL like crazy. It was like flipping a switch.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2212116/How-apple-day-cardiologist-away--lowering-bad-cholesterol.html

You need to start slowly adding in calories now, a hundred or so at a time, so when you reach your goal weight, you aren't trying to eat 1000 more calories than you are currently. It will slightly extend the time until you get to your goal, but you'll feel better doing it and the transition to maintenance will be much easier.

nxd10 · January 2014

My sons are thinner than you, although one is in his teens and the other 26. Oldest if 6'2" and 154 - that's the heaviest he's every been. People differ. Both are muscly and very healthy. So if it doesn't bother you and you're happy, I'd go with it.

It isn't hard to add some good healthy calories to a day if you don't want to lose more weight. Add oil, butter, or cheese to foods. Drink milk - good food and a lot of calories per glass.

Any food that a cuisine is built around has a lot of calories - legumes, cheese and dairy, figs or dates, grains (cup of rice, pasta, etc.).

Couples slices of toast and some butter will add 500 calories to your day.
Big glass of milk can add 300.
Add cream cheese to eggs for breakfast or put it on your veggies.
Five figs or dates can add several hundred calories.

It doesn't take a lot to add a lot of calories. That's the problem. That's why my homemade egg burritos are 170 calories and McDonald's are 300.

kimosabe1 · January 2014

u can also opt for fatty foods. Pizza is a great start added with bacon, whole milk always tasted better & eat some fiber like fiber one bars to keep it steady moving.......

einzweidrei · January 2014

I eat either a high fiber breakfast or oatmeal with sprouted whole grain toast for breakfast every morning.... On my days off maybe one or two days a week I'll have scrabbled eggs with 1 piece of toast... My lunches are pretty much the same each day, 2-3 cups frozen mixed veggies w/ some boneless skinless chicken or a couple potato & onion perogies... sometimes I'l just have a good ol' fashioned PB&J sandwhich with some grapes or a chobani 6oz yogurt.... Dinner, more or less the same thing..

Thing is, I'm still losing weight... I was 160 couple weeks ago and now Im 157.4lbs.... I feel perfectly fine, I remain active, just getting skinny now and not used to it.... As of right now I'm kicking up my calories to at least no less than 2000 a day.... but its real hard because in order to consum that many calories eating veggies I have to almost be stuffing my face every few hrs and I cant... I find myself feeling full real fast and I dont feel hungry between meals.... I'm all ears...

You're still losing because of what you're eating. It's so light. Add more calorie-dense foods like others suggested.

BTW-My maintenance calories are around 1980 a day being a "lightly active" female---by that I mean very little exercise (just walking) and moving around a lot at work. I'm female and a little over 5'9". Based on that, my guess is that 2,000 should be your minimum if you want to stop losing.

RonW956 · January 2014

Thanks for all the great responses! And all of you are right, of course... I consider myself to be medium build, I mean I can take my thumb and middle finger and wrap them around my wrist and they easily touch. So I dont think Im heavy boned at all. As far as my weight and how I feel, I feel frickin' fantasic compared to when I was at 211... At 211 I can feel my heart beat when I lay down at night, now, I cant feel it all, in a good way I mean..

Well my goal was 155lbs, and Im 157 now. I just checked my body fat % and I'm 9.85% bodyfat. I agree that I may benefit from protein shakes, as I'm not a big eater, just need to bump up my protein & calories a bit. I was so used to being bigger and now I'm wearing size 32 jeans that before I couldnt even dream of sticking a leg thru... So to all you folks out there trying to lose weight, dont be discouraged, keep it up! The human body is a amazing machine.

Now I can't gain weight...

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