Wife wants to gain weight

Back story real fast..
She has always been tiny. Size 0, xs-xxs shirts. 94lbs currently. She has never been past 98. She wants to get to 120 and has tried everything we can think of. She works at Walmart and is active a lot and typical walks 2.4 miles a day when working because we have one car. However this will change soon.

Any advice you can give us to help her out?
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Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,023 Member
    Agreed, is she logging? She needs to eat a bit more calories than she is burning. She should be set up as active with a goal to gain 0.5lbs per week. If she has always been a low weight, and is used to the amount she's eating, measuring and logging will help her ensure she really is eating "more". Sometimes our perception can be quite a bit different than reality! For those who have been overweight for a long time, they tend to think they are eating less than they are, and those who have been overweight think they are eating more than they are.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member

    If she doesn't eat much at certain times of the day/night, add peanut butter or olive oil to her foods.

    Eat things like ice cream before bed that more easily consumed for more calories.

    Basically change the habits that prevent her from eating more where possible.



  • FireVixen_Fayth
    FireVixen_Fayth Posts: 154 Member
    If she wants to gain weight then she needs to be eating more than her body burns.

    I assume she has a MFP account and has set up a weight gaining goal?

    No she doesn't but I'll talk to her about it.

    kimny72 wrote: »
    Agreed, is she logging? She needs to eat a bit more calories than she is burning. She should be set up as active with a goal to gain 0.5lbs per week. If she has always been a low weight, and is used to the amount she's eating, measuring and logging will help her ensure she really is eating "more". Sometimes our perception can be quite a bit different than reality! For those who have been overweight for a long time, they tend to think they are eating less than they are, and those who have been overweight think they are eating more than they are.

    No she isn't logging and ya I told her she needs to eat more than she burns.

    Chieflrg wrote: »
    If she doesn't eat much at certain times of the day/night, add peanut butter or olive oil to her foods.

    Eat things like ice cream before bed that more easily consumed for more calories.

    Basically change the habits that prevent her from eating more where possible.



    I will have to start doing that!

    Also I should note everyone that she also has gastritis and has for a few months, we think it's stress related but it limits what she can eat without it hurting her.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    If she wants to gain weight then she needs to be eating more than her body burns.

    I assume she has a MFP account and has set up a weight gaining goal?

    No she doesn't but I'll talk to her about it.

    kimny72 wrote: »
    Agreed, is she logging? She needs to eat a bit more calories than she is burning. She should be set up as active with a goal to gain 0.5lbs per week. If she has always been a low weight, and is used to the amount she's eating, measuring and logging will help her ensure she really is eating "more". Sometimes our perception can be quite a bit different than reality! For those who have been overweight for a long time, they tend to think they are eating less than they are, and those who have been overweight think they are eating more than they are.

    No she isn't logging and ya I told her she needs to eat more than she burns.

    Chieflrg wrote: »
    If she doesn't eat much at certain times of the day/night, add peanut butter or olive oil to her foods.

    Eat things like ice cream before bed that more easily consumed for more calories.

    Basically change the habits that prevent her from eating more where possible.



    I will have to start doing that!

    Also I should note everyone that she also has gastritis and has for a few months, we think it's stress related but it limits what she can eat without it hurting her.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1

    this thread should help.
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
    Is she having treatment for her gastritis? I suffer from this and it can make it difficult to eat enough.
    I find it easier if I eat 5 or 6 small meals rather than 3 larger ones but I'm also on medication for my gastritis.
  • FireVixen_Fayth
    FireVixen_Fayth Posts: 154 Member
    And of course my post vanished.. Long story short in response to both of you I have bookmarked the link, she is being treated for the gastritis. Her health comes before mine. Our stomach problems are caused by unneeded stress due to our roommate. Doctor is now 90% of it after I went today for my stomach.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    Back story real fast..
    She has always been tiny. Size 0, xs-xxs shirts. 94lbs currently. She has never been past 98. She wants to get to 120 and has tried everything we can think of. She works at Walmart and is active a lot and typical walks 2.4 miles a day when working because we have one car. However this will change soon.

    Any advice you can give us to help her out?

    You didn't mention her height. That weight would actually be okay if she's 5' 0" or less. I personally know a woman who is almost 70 years old who's never ever reached 100lbs either. I've never thought she looked unusual in any way. It's simply the weight for her size.

    To gain weight if necessary, yoir wife is going to have to increase her daily Calorie intake. How much is the calorie goal suggested for her by MFP? Is she having difficulty reaching that amount?
  • berrysteph55
    berrysteph55 Posts: 5 Member
    I had this problem. High calorie Protein shakes after every meal. I never thought I'd be able to gain but I did. Have to be consistent with it though.
  • FireVixen_Fayth
    FireVixen_Fayth Posts: 154 Member
    Ya we have protien powder for her. She is logging her food with MFP, not sure if she is consistent or not
  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
    Back story real fast..
    She has always been tiny. Size 0, xs-xxs shirts. 94lbs currently. She has never been past 98. She wants to get to 120 and has tried everything we can think of. She works at Walmart and is active a lot and typical walks 2.4 miles a day when working because we have one car. However this will change soon.

    Any advice you can give us to help her out?

    To gain weight, she needs to eat more. Because she is active, it probably means her metabolism is high, but I highly suspect she doesn't eat much. Only way for to gain weight is to eat more calories than she burns.
  • FireVixen_Fayth
    FireVixen_Fayth Posts: 154 Member
    Yes i ujderstand the fundementals. She went a week of eating 4000 calories a day almost and didnt gain a pound. A lot of it was junk food as well. I know this because it was stuff like a whole box of mac and cheese, bag of chips, ramen noodles half 2 litre of pop.. Etc.
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
    It sounds as though she may not be logging accurately - when I started logging my food I found I'd been overestimating how much I was eating.
    It's possible not to see much of a gain in one week - she needs to log for a few weeks to see a pattern emerge. It doesn't make any difference whether or not it's junk food. If she's taking in more than she burns, she should gain weight
    Do you eat together? I mean, do you see her eating?
  • FireVixen_Fayth
    FireVixen_Fayth Posts: 154 Member
    I see her eating 90% of the time and she does eat around 3000 a day. She did start an account but had a hard time logging. The only time I don't see her eating is when she is at work.
  • Movemoreguy22
    Movemoreguy22 Posts: 387 Member
    I had to eat 4500 to gain weight I gained a stone then it stopped but I was happy with the stone.. my diet consisted nuts and raisins (alot of them) bananas, big tubs of yogurts,meats, rice,pasta, homemade fat shakes, eggs, beard bla bla bla.... it was hard work but it worked.... eat 6 to 7 meals a day
  • jondspen
    jondspen Posts: 253 Member
    BTW...when I was in the Marine Corps, we did cold weather training. You have the standard MREs, which are about 1200 calories. In cold weather, you are issued a cold weather ration that is double that caloric count, since you burn more energy trying to stay warm. Doubt this is the issue, but with winter coming up she might need to eat a bit more calories than in summer.

    I agree with others, she needs to log not only calories, but also exercise (including work). She might have high metabolism, but if she was maintaining weight at X calores/day, then X+500/day should start showing up on the scales as about a 4 lbs gain over a month, if everything else is equal.
  • jseams1234
    jseams1234 Posts: 1,216 Member
    Yes i ujderstand the fundementals. She went a week of eating 4000 calories a day almost and didnt gain a pound. A lot of it was junk food as well. I know this because it was stuff like a whole box of mac and cheese, bag of chips, ramen noodles half 2 litre of pop.. Etc.

    You say she really doesn't log - so your estimate is just you and her eyeballing her intake... or if she does log it's sporadic. Eating a huge meal or even eating that way for a day isn't going to do much if it's not consistent. To put it into perspective... I'm 6'1 and 210# at the moment. I spend 5 hours a week or more in the gym and walk about 10K steps a day minimum. I also hike on the weekends and walk my dog three times a day. I'm *bulking* on 4K calories a day (gaining about half a pound a week) and I'm male, over twice her weight, relatively lean and moderately active.

    You two aren't logging her intake accurately and she isn't eating enough. For a 94# female to not be gaining on 4K a day would require a LOT more physical activity than you are describing. I don't think she would need that much even if she was a competitive athelete training for a marathon at her size.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,481 Member
    edited August 2018
    Just a note from a small person.

    When your SO did the 4000 cals days, she probably followed them with quite low cal days, I know that would be my pattern.

    I love food, but don't enjoy the full stuffed feel so stop eating way before I reach that point.

    If I am physically feeling full, and am lacking in protein, or calories, I will drink a protein drink (mixed with water), a V8 type drink, coconut water, broth, clear soup, or juice.

    This doesn't happen often, but I do know my fall backs.

    If your SO can't stomach higher calorie food, or volume, look at 'thin' liquids. I was going to suggest full fat milk, but to be honest, if I can't eat any more, I can't down a glass of ff milk.

    Cheers, h.
  • FireVixen_Fayth
    FireVixen_Fayth Posts: 154 Member
    I'll have to have her do that. The protien powder she doesn't like the taste.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Ya we have protien powder for her. She is logging her food with MFP, not sure if she is consistent or not

    Normal protein powder may just fill her up with not too many calories. You may want those "mass gainer" powders and bars. If she doesn't like the taste of powders, she could do protein bars. Some of them taste like candy but have 400 or so calories.