cant gain weight, not sure why, help pls

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-11-2003
cant gain weight, not sure why, help pls
2
Thu, 06-09-2005 - 3:28am

Hi y'all. well I've got a big problem. I'm 18 years old, I'm 5'1 and my weight fluctuates from 89 to 93. I've never hit 100 pounds. I'm not sure why it's so hard for me to gain weight but there are a lot of factors that could be involved. 1. I'm a vegetarian and my family seems to think I can't gain weight because I don't eat meat. 2. I'm on birth control(Yasmin) and my doc said it might effect my weight. 3. I'm a hip-hop dance instructor and I dance every day so my theory is I dance off the pounds. I am looking for any tips on how to gain weight WITHOUT eatting meat and without having to change my birth control & job. Can anybody help or suggest anything? I appreciate any advice, thank you :)

-Kimberleigh

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-05-2004
Thu, 06-09-2005 - 1:55pm

Basically to gain weight you have to take in more calories (energy) than you use up, so you need to try and choose "denser" foods, food with "more calories per bite" so use nuts for protein, spread avocado on sandwiches, or pesto, houmous and tahini are good additions to sandwiches too. Stir fry or saute veggies/tofu/nuts/beans in olive oil rather than just steaming them. Do you eat dairy? drinking milk is a good way to up cals, or drinking fruit juice if you don't have dairy - don't just drink water. Pasta with a rich sauce, bagels, big bakery bread, dried fruit, avocado, nuts, olives, cheese if you eat dairy, tofu, peanut butter or other nut butters, tahini, are all good dense foods.

Kath

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-20-2003
Mon, 06-13-2005 - 11:50pm

I am 4'10", so I know that small people sometimes have weights that can seem absurdly small but be healthy. That was one thing I was telling myself when I was 18 through 24 (I'm now 26) and weighed in the 90s. A great grandmother who was around our heights never managed to reach 100 lbs, despite her best efforts.


But when I was 24 we found out I have a medical condition called Celiac Disease. Now, there's no reason from what you've posted to suspect that that's your problem. But CD causes damage to the intestines that keeps you from absorbing nutrients, so most of my food was literally going straight through me. Sticking to a diet free of wheat, barley, and rye prevents the damage to my gut and since I know what

Jaseann

co-cl-Celiac Disease