Weight Gain support group.

[vixenmeister]

It's amazing what people think they have the right to comment on LB.
Maybe a few witty reposts would be useful such as 'Why thank you - have we both put on about the same amount of weight?' ?
Me - I am really upset. I have lost just over a stone in 3 weeks. Again people feel the need to comment or make jokes like 'turn sideways you'll disappear'. I could cry.

[loosebones]

huge vix. I know what you mean. This weekend I've also had to put up with a lot of comments and it does get you down, especially when everything else is going tits up.

Keep going though hun, we all have weight fluctuations but one day, hopefully we will get it under control.

[sarahh]

Hi LB you are doing really well hun thats really good. Don't worry about what others say ignore them it has nothing to do with them.

Hi Vix hun that it alot of weight to lose but just ignore peoples pathetic comments clearly they have nothing better to do I used to have the same even at work. They used to say to me you could do with a big fry up and I am thinking erm no I don't really want to clog my arteries thank you. Another you seem to be losing weight everytime I see you used to make me so annoyed.

I weighed myself last night still at 7 stone.

[hannah]

Well, this isn't so much needing to gain weight as needing to maintain weight.

I think most of us posters on here are of the type who stop eating when stressed rather than comfort eat? I certainly am.

So, I can't do much about my stress levels at the moment - I'm being as constructive as I can with the situation. But it means that eating is really difficult. Something I have to make a real effort to do, and make myself do it.
Unfortunately made worse by my autonomic dysfunction because when PoTS is bad (such as when stressed) I really struggle to digest - at times I have to lie down and completely switch off after eating because so much energy has gone to ''digest" that I kinda crumple.

I'm trying to eat little and often. But it is still a struggle. I suspect I've lost around half a stone over the past 2 months and I really can't afford to loose much more (I'm still within the 'normal' BMI, but only just)

I will eat a sandwich soon. But right now I'm having a few salted peanuts cos I've discovered that I can eat a few of them almost anytime without feeling mega sick.

H

[loosebones]

Ok I need to revive this thread now - I've recently had food poisoning and now my weight has dropped to 6 stone 9 and I'm losing about a pound every 2 days. There's a lot of food I can't eat but does anyone know how I can build up my weight? I can supply a list of what I can't eat if that helps. In the mean time, I'm on baby food.

[Lindsly]

Loosebones, a list sounds like a great idea.

Can you have some nuts? Healthy and high in calories. Peanut/almond/cashew butter?

(The hard part so far is thinking of calories while avoiding too much sugar (like drinking grape juice and such all the time) and loads of fat (like noodles with cream sauce). Hmm....)

[loosebones]

Thanks for the response Lindsly. Unfortunately I cannot eat nuts, sugar, wheat, gluten, dairy, beef, sage, yeast, egg, mustard, lentils, oranges, kale, peaches, nectarines, lettuce, haricot beans, millet, honey, tea and sulphites.......... this sort of restricts my food choice

[shen]

LB, thanks quite a list! anyway I have found something that may help.

http://nutrition.about.com/od/dietsform ... Weight.htm

Build up drinks on top of your regular meals should also help. Although it might also be useful to eat little but often rather than 3 big meals if your stomach is still upset.

Most of all I would suggest visiting your doctor for some advice about how to gain weight, especially because of your food intolerances.

[Lindsly]

Loosebones, it's easy to see why you're stumped. Is food from scratch an option? With special items like rice flour, egg substitute, etc.? I believe I remember your mother making a mixture of ground vegetables for you. And if you can use speciality items for baking from scratch, how hard is it to avoid sulphites?

[mami2four]

I'm wondering if I can get some advice from you all on this thread.

I am constantly being told that my 3 daughters are way too skinny they are 9(twins both with hypermobile symptoms but no issues as yet) and 7(Lili-Mair has HMS/HEDS) When I did a check online they are all 3 ever so slightly under weight. Now Lili is a very fussy eater and doesn't have a big appetite but Erin and Ffion eat like horses and are still the same, but so were myself and my brother when we were kids( I have seen some old photo's recently and we looked like our parents starved us or something) We get comments off mums at school and compared to their kids yes they do look skinny but their children are on the chubby side and I would never dare comment on that!

Lili had a physio appt today and I was really miffed because the woman told her that she should eat lots of cake, biscuits and sweets so she would gain weight and have more strength, surely this isn't healthy advice is it? Doesn't a well balanced diet(including junk food as a food group of course lol) lead to a healthier stronger body? I'm not against them having junk by any means but I do try and encourage healthy eating where possible(which is what the government has been drumming into us for years)

Anyhoo my main question is what should I be encouraging them to eat more of? Are there any foods in particular that you all find the most helpful to gain weight? Of course you all may agree with her that cake is the way to go and I will stand corrected lol

Katie

[loosebones]

Katie - one way of gaining weight healthily is to increase muscle mass with certain exercises (though I can't remember what they are at this time of the morning). It sounds like your girls are perfectly healthy and if they are having no health issues with being slim then I would try not to be too concerned. If there are health concerns arising then eating junk food is not the way forwards - I've been told to increase the amount of times I eat a day and to graze continually in order to build up my weight. Just a thought anyway - I hope some of this makes sense, I'm not really awake yet

My urgent referral to a dietician has come through for a months time but I'm trying to bring it forwards. We shall see. In the mean time, my weight remains the same and I'm struggling.

[mami2four]

Thanks LB, I'm not overly concerned to be honest, I think I just needed someone else to tell me that lol but maybe I will start giving them a couple of extra snacks through the day.
It makes me feel like people are accusing me of not feeding my kids properly, when even the audiologist who did Ffion's hearing test a couple of months ago started asking me questions about her diet and why she was so thin!

Its terrible that the NHS class a month as a suitable wait for an emergency appt! You may be lucky and get a cancellation if you phone them. You really seem to have had a bad time of it and that list of food restrictions really isn't helping you is it We have our own battles with food sensitivities here too(though nothing compared to you!) Erin, Ffion are sensitive to all fruits and tomatoes, this year is the first year we have managed to slowly give them small amounts of fruit without any reactions so fingers crossed if we don't go too quick, they will be able to tolerate more and more. I was the same as a kid but was much older before I could tolerate so they seem to be better than i was
My son who is 4 is lactose intolerant and I'm still keeping my fingers crossed he will grow out of it too. My mother cannot tolerate gluten, so making her birthday cakes that everyone can eat is fun lol
I have to be honest I do lot's of searching on the net for different recipes and any that I have written down tend to have lot's of extra substitutions for almost every ingredient.
There are many types of flours available now and vegan foods and the free from ranges are much better nowadays. Can you tolerate seeds? They are very healthy for you, if you'r not fussy on them you could bake them into things chopped up small to hide them. I just did a quick google search for gluten free vegan muffin recipes that brought of loads of stuff up, muffins are great as they require very little stirring(great for hms wrists) and you can pack them full of lots or goodies and make them savoury or sweet.
I can find one of the recipes if you want

Katie

[loosebones]

Those recipes sound great Katie - yes please. There is a recipe thread somewhere - ah here it is http://www.hypermobility.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=5879&hilit=recipe so maybe you could post it in there?

I've tried ringing to change the appointment but they're impossible to get through to...I've left a message so can just hope for a reply soon as this is daft. How can I even think of returning to uni in just over a week when I can barely walk?

The ironic thing is that I went to see my GP about my weight and was told I'm not eligible to be given build-up foods on prescription even though I'm underweight as I'm too young

[kayle_d]

Wow! Never seen this thread before.
At 5'4" my weight is usually around the 7 1/2 stone mark (however it fluctuates a lot from just below 7 stone to just below 8 stone). However there is a new test out now to replace the BMI (haven't had chance to read through all the posts in this thread as there are so many!!), where you measure your waist to hip ratio. If I find the test again I will post it up.

I love Eloise's post on the first page!!

One of the things I used to do was make up an angel delight with full fat milk at the milk-shake proportions (I think 2 pints and a packet) and drink that every evening. (as well as trying to eat 3 or 4 meals - however small) Be careful reading packets. I am sure the "low fat" angel delight used to have more calories than the normal so I used that!

This is a great reason to have angel delight!! (however I am lactose intolerant so I make it with soya milk). A few months ago I kept making up the butterscotch one with chocolate chips in it (dark chocolate of course)... I love angel delight and this is a great excuse to eat it (and a good reason to help justify eating it so much )

[kayle_d]

copied from the bbc website:

Body mass index (BMI) has been used by doctors for many years as a simple means of assessing whether someone's weight puts their health at risk. But, increasingly, the value of this familiar measure is being called into question.

...

Recently, it's been suggested that waist-hip ratio, which measures the proportion of fat stored on your body around your waist and hips, is the best predictor of a person's risk of a heart attack, making it a more accurate measure than BMI.

Measure your waist-hip ratio while standing relaxed and naked. Measure your waist at its narrowest point. This is usually around your navel. Next, measure your hips at their widest point. Most often this is around the buttocks. It's important not to pull the tape tight when doing either of these measurements - let the tape rest on your skin.

Finally, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement.The figure you get from this calculation is your waist-hip ratio. For example, if your waist is 85cm (33in) and your hips are 100cm (39in), your waist-hip ratio is 0.85.

If you're a man and your ratio is more than 1.0, or a woman and your waist-hip ratio is more than 0.8, it means you're an apple shape and at greater risk of health problems.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/your_weight/medical_bmi.shtml


I have also had a problem with the bmi test as I am very petit framed anyway and obviously it doesn't take your body build into account, my dad also had problems with it as he is 5'7" but has the chest size of someone who 5'10" so his always come back as obese (even though he clearly isn't as he is training for triathlons).

There was also a calculator somewhere which told you if your had healthy reading on the hip-waist test.