Gaining weight is so hard

So... outside limiting medical conditions- any reason why you are on low fat?

and if there aren't any limiting issues- start ramping the fats back up.

You need fats- low fat is the worst thing to happen to this country and trying to gain weight on low fat is a chore.

^This.

Cut out most dietary fat? Why? You need it.

And yes it is that easy.

^And this.
Dietary fat is essential for hormonal balance and and a whole host of health reasons. Weight gain will be considered healthy if you have a healthy lifestyle - weight & cardiovascular training, along with other choices. Staying away from certain foods doesn't make you healthy. The fact of cutting out an entire essential macronutrient group is considered unhealthy. Eat all the foodz.

Why is it that you would like to gain weight? Your BMI is in the healthy range (very low end, but still acceptable). I suspect that the smoking kept your metabolism high in a very unhealthy way. Congratuations on quiting smoking, that's the best thing that you can do for your health. Unless you have current health problems I would accept your weight. Some people are just made to a little thinner. If you start losing weight, I would start adding healthy fats to everything such as avocados, olive oil, nuts, etc. But, if it is purely for asthetic reasons I wouldn't worry too much about it. I have the same BMI as you and I am healthy and don't look too skinny.

Avocados, nuts, peanut butter, pesto, olive oil, sesame oil...these are all things that you can add to whatever you want to increase your calories. One of my best girlfriends from high school has always had this problem. She is just naturally and effortlessly thin even after having 2 children.

Gaining weight is so hard and frustrating. Add to it that I get zero sympathy from any one and always the same comments, "Eat more" or "I wish I had your problem"
I'm 55, 5'2" and weigh 98 pds. I have never weighed over 110 except when I was pregnant and then I got up to 128.
I quit smoking finally 5 weeks ago, and even that hasn't helped.
I do have an ulcer and GERD so that makes it harder. But we have completely changed our diet in the house, so a lot of foods are out.
We don't eat any foods that come out of a box or a can. No fried foods ever. No hot dogs, hamburger or for the majority, no pork.
So my problem is to even get 1,700 calories a day and I want to have at least 2,000.
Example:Breakfast was a bowl of cheerios, small banana, 8 oz of Kefir
lunch: Peanut butter sandwich with strawberry jam and a bottle of ensure
supper last night, grilled salmon with garlic, 2 servings of beets and a glass of water with a fresh lemon squeezed into it.
Sometimes I will have some strawberries before bed or a splurge of a ice creme bar.
We also walk 20 mins a day.
How and what do I eat that is healthy and yet gain weight?
So very frustrated.

No wonder if that's all you're eating. What you expect people to say, of course they're going to say eat more. You have nothing out of a box? Last time I checked I'm pretty sure Cheerios came in a box!

Your relationship with food is completely wrong if you ask me.

Eat more!

Have more cheerios, have more peanut butter sandwiches. Eat handfuls of nuts! Have full fat milk with instant oats and whey protein in the shake and a spoonful of olive oil. Then come and tell me you can't put weight on.

echo what others are saying - add some healthy fats - i.e. avocado. If you can do nuts (although with ulcers, perhaps not) great way to get extra cals. Sweet potatoes or heck white potatoes. Maybe a baked potato with dinner with some sour cream & full fat butter? if i were trying to gain weight, i'd probably bring back in all the white food i eliminated. pasta salad as a side. just add a little on at each meal. maybe have a boiled egg as a snack? lots of ways to get those cals in. i managed for a lot of years and i ballooned up. eating at chipotle once a week wouldn't hurt either. rice, beans, chicken, sour cream. you'll pack it on. worked for me.

You need fats- low fat is the worst thing to happen to this country and trying to gain weight on low fat is a chore.

This could not be any more true. The low-fat fad has not done anything to help the American diet. Protein, Carbs (shhhh paleos ), and fats all serve a vital role. Even saturated fats such as stearic acid have their roles to play. Please, please, don't cut out fats because they sound bad.

Rodduz:

Yes, I started tracking calories/day on my iPad ... and that's when I discovered my current menu ranged 600-2000 cal/day. I was much surprised that the day that was 600 calories was a day on which I ate a whole /bunch/ of stuff... just none of it had much for calories. I'm rebuilding menus today to get closer to 1800/day consistently. Hard to do with the allergies I'm working around, but I can do this!

^this is the right attitude.

Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity. It's been a tough day...

I managed to get up to 365lbs just by accident!! I guess I'm just gifted.

completely unhelpful.

Purposeful gaining of weight and muscle is difficult. It's significantly more difficult than losing weight.
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OP- find foods you eat- and eat more of them. Any high calorie- "empty" foods- (these foods usually are labelled 'junk') are great options.

peanut butter, ice cream- milk- chips- pasta.
nuts- butter and oil to everything- bacon- eggs- milk- reeses- peanut butter and jelly- cheesecake in your smoothies.


My question about the burger upsetting your stomach- have you been eating a low fat diet mostly? Because often times that's what happens- people eat a low fat diet- go for one burger- get sick and swear off burgers because they are unhealthy- and the reality is their gut just adjusted to a low fat diet and the extra fat threw the balance out. If that's the case- you can rebalence by adding more fat in slowly.

Yes, completely unhelpful (the people who said gaining weight is easy and comes naturally). What Jo said is helpful.

To those who said gaining is easy, I know this may come as a shocker, but what's easy for you isn't easy for everyone. Gaining weight is difficult for me, but losing is easier. So do I walk around telling everyone that losing weight is easy (all you have to do is eat less). No! Because I'm cognizant of the fact that everything in life is easy for some people and difficult for others.

OP- I see you have ulcers and other medical conditions. I'm not sure what specific type of diet you need to be on for those conditions, but if you are able to, try and eat foods from all the macronutrient groups (as others have said). If you have to exclude certain foods, just rule out those foods which affect you negatively, but don't rule out fats completely (unless you really do have to be on a low-fat diet). I think it's good that you're trying to gain weight, because the health detriments of being underweight are usually not discussed, but being underweight can in fact be unhealthy. Of course, just like being overweight, it depends on the person as to how detrimental it is.

OP, the thing that helped me the most was working on re-defining my definition of "healthy." As women especially, the message that gets pounded into our heads is that healthy = low-calorie or low-fat. If you're a little more educated about nutrition, it's that healthy = low-calorie, low-fat and nutrient-dense, but low-calorie is still part of that stupid equation.

If you need to gain weight, that formula is 100% wrong.

If you need to gain weight, the healthiest choice you can make is one that gets you to meet your calorie goal.

Yes, it's important to choose nutrient-dense foods for overall health, but at the end of the day if you're low on calories, it's better to choose ice cream AND strawberries. If you're low on calories, the ice cream isn't a splurge -- it's a necessity.