Trying to gain weight but losing it instead?

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Voi6
Voi6 Posts: 1 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
At 96lbs my doctor told me I need to gain weight to stay on a medication and I haven't made great progress but at least some nonetheless. Recently I got sick and found it hard to eat anything for a few days and when I went to the doctors I was down to 87lbs. Over the passed week as I've been able to eat regularly again I have significantly increased my calorie intake and tried to incorporate more protein, I've also done different forms of strength training nearly everyday. My goal is to try to build muscle to put on weight but stepped on the scale only to have lost another 2lbs in a week. I know I shouldn't expect immediate results but didn't expect to see further loss especially so quickly. I'm guessing where I'm struggling is getting enough calories to gain but I think I'd at least be hitting enough to maintain. I have always struggled with gaining weight but have been able to slowly, but at 5'4 and 84lbs now I need to gain quick but seem to be taking steps back.

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  • bojaantje3822
    bojaantje3822 Posts: 257 Member
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    Is the problem that you hate the way many types of food taste? Is the problem feeling full? Or is the problem not knowing enough about calories?

    If flavour, you could try to eat more of the stuff you do like or you could try those miracle berry things. They could help make food taste better for you. They've been used with cancer patients and people who lost their taste with covid.

    If the problem is feeling full, you could try eating calorie-dense foods (often with many fats) like peanut butter, nuts and all kinds of oils. (Chugging oil helps some people with their bowel movements so do be aware of that.)

    If it's calories, you say you "significantly increased" them but you don't mention by how much. You need to eat at about 500 cals above maintenance every day to gain only a pound per week. If it's really very urgent that you gain weight, and it sounds like it is, your "significant increase" should be at least 1000 calories. That might seem like a lot but personally I still lose weight at 3000 cals a day so you can't be afraid of the big numbers.

    I'm not saying this is you but people with anorexia are typically put on a strict order not to exercise at all. It's nice that you want to build muscle but you're probably overdoing it and would be better off doing nothing (ideally bedrest) for a few weeks or months until you gain some weight. I don't wanna say a specific number but definitely double digits. Being this underweight is likely more dangerous for you than not exercising for a few months.

    There's also a hard gainers thread in the must reads of this topic. Reading through it could help you figure out some of the facts and knowledge you might lack.

    Mostly I hope you take this up with your doctor. You don't say anything about an eating disorder but even without one it could be helpful to see your gp or a dietician or a psychologist or someone who can help you beyond the basics.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    You need to be eating 500-1000 calories per day above your maintenance requirements consistently to gain the kind of weight you need to gain. It's great that you want to put on muscle, but I'd say right now isn't the time to make that a primary concern...you need to put on weight period. Hitting the gym and any exercise you do increases your maintenance calorie requirements and thus the requirements you will have to hit to put on weight.

    You say you've increased protein, but I'm not sure why you mentioned that...it's fine and all, but increasing protein doesn't default to gaining weight. Protein itself isn't particularly calorie dense and can also be quite filling...a chicken breast for example, which is quite satisfying is only about 120 calories. When you need to increase calories, dietary fat is your friend...it is more than double the calories per gram than fat or protein so you don't need to eat a lot of extra volume for the calories.
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
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    In addition to what's already been said, drinking your calories might help you get a few more in each day; consider adding some protein shakes or smoothies to your daily menu, or drink full-fat milk (dairy or alternative) with your meals. Nuts and dried fruit are a good way to add calories to your day as well, they're easy to munch on and quite calorie-dense.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    edited July 2022
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    goal06082021 wrote: »
    In addition to what's already been said, drinking your calories might help you get a few more in each day; consider adding some protein shakes or smoothies to your daily menu, or drink full-fat milk (dairy or alternative) with your meals. Nuts and dried fruit are a good way to add calories to your day as well, they're easy to munch on and quite calorie-dense.

    In regards to drinking calories, when I was in my late teens and nearly underweight (not for a lack of actually eating) I ended up having to use a mass gainer supplement to keep my calories up. I ate plenty...whatever my mom would put on the table and then some, but I was a competitive athlete in football, track, and swim team and then just in general active being a 16-17 yo teenager.

    Mass gainer was the only thing that did it for me without me eating my parents out of house and home. It's easy on the appetite so doesn't get you really full. I used to have two shakes per day at 625 calories per for a total of 1,250 calories per day on top of my food and it's just as easy on the appetite as drinking a regular protein shake, only way more calories.

    I went from 5'10" and 134 Lbs to around 150 in about 3-4 months and it just looked liked good weight. I still had 6 pack abs, I just didn't look like a rail anymore. After that I cut back to one shake per day. Then I stopped and inadvertently lost around 10 Lbs sometime during my senior year.
  • emgracewrites
    emgracewrites Posts: 455 Member
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    I don’t have much advice to offer unfortunately but I’m in the exact same boat that you are. I will say that tracking my food with this app has helped me be more cognizant about what I’m eating throughout the day. Sometimes I’ll graze on junk food all day and think I’ve gotten enough because I feel really full but then I log it on here and I’m nowhere near where I thought I was.

    Good luck, and just remember that you’re not the only one struggling with this.

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