Oops! I don't weigh enough.
47Jacqueline
Posts: 6,993 Member
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?
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?
0
Replies
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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
) 0 -
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
Thanks0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
Ice cream?
French pastries?
Apple pie?
CHEESECAKE.0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
If you don't weigh enough (and want to weigh more), simply eat more.0
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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?0
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It looks like you can still eat pasta and rice! Try adding those to your daily meals. Whole grain preferably.0
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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.0
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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.0 -
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 0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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 0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
Exercise a bit less, eat a bit more...0
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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.
Her doctor did not tell her to gain weight. At least, OP never said that he/she did.
Based on the post, it's OP's opinion that she would be healthier with more weight on her. No reason to doubt her opinion, but it is not the same as if her doctor had told her she is underweight.0 -
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.
Pay attention to the above advice.
Google "sarcopenia" to find out why.0 -
On adding pasta in meals (and since you probably can't have sauce), maybe throw some in a salad? For example, I had a regular salad for lunch, but instead of using fried noodles, I threw in 40g of cooked alphabet pasta for bulk.
I don't have any other suggestions because my go-to foods for gaining are on your do not eat list.0 -
No chocolate ... I would change doctors.0
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No chocolate ... I would change doctors.
My opinion exactly. ;-)
As for adding straight out strength training, that's probably a good idea. I tend to go to only classes because I don't particularly like exercising alone, but the three strength training classes I take a week are definitely cardio-oriented. Maybe I'll work with a trainer for a while so I can ease into the working by myself mode a bit more easily.
I had a nutritionist a few years ago who told me to stop doing so much cardio and increase weight stuff as I got to my original goal. Also, with the Zumba training, even though it's Zumba Gold and Zumba in Chairs, it's stil pretty rigourous, in sptie of what people think. And it has the added energy outgo of being the instructor, not just taking the class.
My sister-in-law is a clinical nurse and we had a discussion about a study she read that indicated longevity was greater in people who had a bit of "meat" on their bones, in addition to doing regular exercise. Yeah, my doctcor didn't tell me to gain weight. And I haven't weighed this little since high school (yay). I am pretty health for my age in spite of the recent weight drop. My body fat with calipers is 19.6%, withi is just dipping into the athletic range. I could probably stay there with some strength training. I've gained some muscle from the Body Pump classes in spite of the cardio and I lost my "saddle bags," which is good ;-)
Hopefully, I will eventually be able to add some of those foods back, too. I'm going to google "sarcopenia" Haven't the vaguest idea what that is.0 -
Put it to you this way ... it is hard to gain weight in a good way, but it can be done.
I was very skinny not that long ago and desperate .. and I am finally putting on weight and had to resort to chocolate and ice cream binges. No joke .. it was insane. Like 2000 cal per day binges of that stuff ... and yet I only gained 8 lbs.
But honestly I look way better now .. with more fat. I am still very fit and healthy as it was only for a short time, but it kinda worked.
I still do struggle eating enough calories not to lose weight .. annoying as *****. I just eat how much I want now but healthy and I am just fine. I lost a lot of fat .. and gained muscle along the way in my deficit phase, so it is hard not to lose. But I am learning how to just eat more .. ;-)
Re strength training ... I have done it for the past 10 months or so and it has done amazing things. I recommend doing it for anyone.0 -
I retired a couple of weeks ago and found that I have the time to train daily now. I quickly realized that I needed to start eating back all my exercise calories to maintain my goal weight. I now eat 1900-2400 depending on my workouts. It felt strange to eat that much, but I feel awesome and haven't gained a pound.0
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I too struggle with reflux, and I gotta keep my fat low and my portions small to prevent pain. I have my macros custom set to 60/20/20.
I am in maintenance, and still losing weight, so I have decided to add a glass of 1% milk to my meals, and a 1/4 cup of homemade trail mix to my breakfast. I use white rice/bread/pasta/corn and potatoes to flesh out meals.
I am also having a 5oz glass of cheap boxed white wine a few times a week, but I stay away from red wine like the plague.
I still eat tomatoes, and citrus, but its a portion control issue for me. A little is fine, alot is not.
try to eat a snack between lunch and dinner, and a light dessert. I highly recommend trail mix, and lowfat milk/yogurt to up calories a bit.0
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