Gaining weight with Crohn’s

nighlark
nighlark Posts: 4 Member
edited November 23 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Started
Hey guys, first of all I’d like to wish everyone a happy new year. I’m not new to the healthy eating and excercise but until last year I suffered from issues eating and gaining weight before I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Since then I have found red meats, produce high in fiber and lactose to be triggers for my symptoms. Since cleaning up my diet I’ve found the issues to have calmed significantly however I am still unable to put on any weight. I was hoping for some advice from anyone who may be experiencing or know anyone whose experienced these issues. Any advice on nutrition or excercise suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks everyone!

Replies

  • Hamsibian
    Hamsibian Posts: 1,388 Member
    edited January 2018
    Welcome! I am half asleep so my post will be poorly phrased and autocorrect fails. I have been living with CD for 14 years. My weight has never been stable, and the list of no foods increased over the years. I am doing an elimination diet to pinpoint the triggers, and I am still gaining on it despite my limitations. I am different from you since meat, eggs, seafood, and most cooked produce are my safe foods atm. Heavy dairy, beans, raw produce, high carbs, and coconut are definite nos!

    You have a pretty good idea of what you can eat, so that's great! As annoying as this sounds as I'm sure you have heard it often, but you need to eat more. If you are dealing with malabsorption, you might have to eat considerably more than what MFP gives you. For instance, I was told to eat around 1900 calories to gain. I actually started out with 3500. It was so hard especially since , so I doused everything in oil. Overtime, I started adding a more real food (mainly protein). Learned some neat tricks like adding mayo to scrambled eggs.

    I don't know where you are at energy wise, but I would also suggest getting some movement in. After an awful flare last year, I could barely get up. So I started out just walking around the house for a few minutes at a time, and built it up from there. Now I weight lift 3 times a week. It helps with circulation and muscle building, builds confidence, and it makes me hungry! I hope some of this helps.
  • nighlark
    nighlark Posts: 4 Member
    It does, thank you very much I appreciate it!
  • Hamsibian
    Hamsibian Posts: 1,388 Member
    It was so hard especially since

    I meant to say since I didn't have an appetite.
    nighlark wrote: »
    It does, thank you very much I appreciate it!

    You're welcome! More will come to my mind and feel free to ask me anything.
  • jmule24
    jmule24 Posts: 1,382 Member
    I've had Crohn's disease since 1996... as you can see from my profile picture I've been able to change my body composition with hard work. The key is finding calorie dense foods you can handle. For me I still struggle to get to a higher body weight but I'm thankful I've been able to gain muscle along the way.
  • jmule24
    jmule24 Posts: 1,382 Member
    When I've tried "bulking" gaining weight, I always get stuck around 175......then when I go to keep that weight and trim the fat I always end up back around 155-160 range. That just seems to be where my body wants me to be.

    I'm not sure how your bathroom issues are but even after 22 years of having Crohn's I'm still in the bathroom double-digits daily. We've never been able to find anything to control it either.

    Feel free to add me if you want more support on here.
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
    I have ulcerative colitis which is similar. Like Hamsibian, I find I have to eat a lot more than mfp suggests, even just to maintain. I've found there are some calorie dense foods which I can tolerate - eg, nut butters which I always assumed would upset me - and so I concentrate on those. During flare ups when I don't feel like eating, I stick to home made protein shakes and cut down on my activity levels. I've managed to gain around 10 kgs and am happy with my weight. It's nice to know that if I get really sick my body will have something to fall back on!
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