OT Healthy Ways To Gain Weight

[allstarwannabe]

hey fiercers! i'm hoping you guys can give me some tips to help me gain some weight in a healthy manner. my doctor recently instructed me to put on 10 lbs (8lbs minimum) by eating more protein and exercising more to build up muscle mass. i've always been pretty skinny, right now i'm 5'4" and 112 lbs. i'm a pretty healthy eater to begin with & as far as exercising i walk every morning and do 45 mins of cardio (zumba) 3-4 days a week. i also do pushups & situps every other day. i honestly feel pretty clueless about how to gain this weight. i'm looking for ideas for some tasty snacks & meals i can make that are healthy and high in protein. i'm also looking for ideas to change up the way that i work out. what do you all do to keep from getting bored with your exercise regimen & what do you do for strength training/muscle building? my biggest concern is that i'll end up losing weight rather than gaining if i start working out more. please keep in mind that i don't have the extra money for a monthly gym membership, so i'm looking for things i can easily do at home and any equipment i can purchase to help me reach my goal without spending an arm and a leg. i appreciate any help and suggestions. thanks guys!

 

[ryann3794]

why did your doctor tell you to gain weight? I'm just wondering because I'm 5'6 and 106 lbs and my doctors never said anything to me about my weight.

 

[cheeeeer93]

why did your doctor tell you to gain weight? I'm just wondering because I'm 5'6 and 106 lbs and my doctors never said anything to me about my weight.

You're in the Underweight range. Optimally you want to have a BMI of about 20 (the numbers written in the chart)

@allstarwannabe - you should probably cut down your work outs. I know it's not what you want to do but all of your exercise, especially Zumba is probably burning a lot of calories. If you really want to build muscle, do something like crossfit.

 

[ryann3794]

i know I am, I try to gain weight but it just doesnt happen lol. Its probably due to the fact that I never have a huge appetite and when Im stressed (which is quite often) I loose a lot of weight. I used to weigh 112 but I had a verryyyy stressfull last half of Junior year.

 

[lakerfantlc]

:banghead: never heard my dr say those words..

 

[Deleted member 1556]

:banghead: never heard my dr say those words..

I do...then I wake up

 

[lakerfantlc]

I do...then I wake up

bahahaha

 

[cartwheels&cupcakes]

I'm glad you are pointing out that you want to do it in a healthy manner. Many people don't realize that just because they can expand more than 2,500 calories that they should eat it healthy. Just because that means you can "afford" to have 2 big macs and a large size of fries, doesn't mean you should. Eat more meat I would say. Make sure you're eating all of your food groups and getting all your vitamins and minerals in. If you do more weight barring exercises too may help make you a little heavier, without it being just flab, but real muscle.

 

[marissa.d]

wait, so i just calculated my BMI, it's 18.7 thats good right?

 

[allstarwannabe]

@ ryann3794 - i'm at the low end of the healthy range on the BMI chart. i tend to bounce around between 110 & 114 lbs. my doctor wants me to get up to and maintain a weight of 120-122lbs.

@cheeeeer93 - this may be a dumb question, but what is crossfit? she wants me to build more muscle which will help strengthen my bones while i'm still in my 20's. i'm actually more concerned about this than i am about gaining weight. plus i'm figuring that since muscle weighs more than fat, if i'm gaining muscle it'll be getting me closer to the weight my doctor would like me to be.

@cartwheels&cupcakes - thanks! i wasn't thrilled when i was told i need to gain some weight, but i'd rather do it right instead of eating a bunch of garbage and stopping exercising. i'm not going to feel good about myself and my appearance if it's 8-10 lbs of pure flab! one of my friends told me to eat ice cream everyday and i'll gain the weight in no time. not the best advice lol.

i do have a set of adjustable dumbbells that i'm going to start lifting. aren't yoga and pilates supposed to be good for building lean muscle? i really don't do any strength/weight training right now so maybe i could replace zumba with one or both of those since i'll still be getting in some light cardio on my morning walk.

thanks for the responses so far everyone! keep them coming along with protein packed snack/meal ideas!

 

[cheeeeer93]

@cheeeeer93 - this may be a dumb question, but what is crossfit? she wants me to build more muscle which will help strengthen my bones while i'm still in my 20's. i'm actually more concerned about this than i am about gaining weight. plus i'm figuring that since muscle weighs more than fat, if i'm gaining muscle it'll be getting me closer to the weight my doctor would like me to be.

One of my tumbling instructors does crossfit down the street from my gyms and she's jacked haha. But I found this video and it's insane

I would guess these are all seasoned athletes so there's probably a more introductory version that's more like a class.

 

[ErinS]

I'm confused as to why (assuming you're healthy and naturally that size) at 5'4 and 112lbs you would need to gain 8-10lbs? Also if the doctor is the one that instructed you to gain the weight, shouldn't he have given you instruction on how to do so? Sent you do a nutritionist? Prescription for protein shakes etc?

It just seems strange to me... I'm in my 20's... I'm 5'3 and 100 pounds (BMI 17.7) which really means nothing anyway and I know that my doctor would never (and never has mentioned it) me gaining 15 or so lbs. So (assuming your a teenager) I don't understand why a teen would be told to do such (unless there is some other health factor you didn't mention)

 

[allstarwannabe]

@HeresAThought - i'm 24. the only instructions she gave me to help gain weight were to get more protein in my diet (via healthy foods and protein bars/shakes) and to do more exercises to build muscle & in turn bone strength (which will benefit me when i'm older). so i know what i need to do, i'm just basically asking 'hey what do you guys like to eat that's a good source of protein and what do you guys do to build muscle outside of cheer?' because i haven't cheered since high school & my workouts have been mainly cardio since then. i've always been naturally thin (i've never weighed more than 118lbs & that was 3 years ago) but this year both my primary care doctor and my lady doctor have voiced concern for my current weight so i don't feel that i should just brush it off even though i consider myself pretty healthy & have no underlying condition. my primary care doctor is the one who actually instructed me to try and gain some weight. please don't take this response as me being snippy, i don't mean for it to come across that way but you know how the internet is!

i came on here and asked for help since i know that so many fiercers are into making smart choices when it comes to eating and working out, but now i'm starting to feel like some sort of freak for having asked for tips to gain weight rather than lose it. (this isn't directed at any one person & i'm probably being overly sensitive right now.)

 

[ErinS]

@HeresAThought - i'm 24. the only instructions she gave me to help gain weight were to get more protein in my diet (via healthy foods and protein bars/shakes) and to do more exercises to build muscle & in turn bone strength (which will benefit me when i'm older). so i know what i need to do, i'm just basically asking 'hey what do you guys like to eat that's a good source of protein and what do you guys do to build muscle outside of cheer?' because i haven't cheered since high school & my workouts have been mainly cardio since then. i've always been naturally thin (i've never weighed more than 118lbs & that was 3 years ago) but this year both my primary care doctor and my lady doctor have voiced concern for my current weight so i don't feel that i should just brush it off even though i consider myself pretty healthy & have no underlying condition. my primary care doctor is the one who actually instructed me to try and gain some weight. please don't take this response as me being snippy, i don't mean for it to come across that way but you know how the internet is!

i came on here and asked for help since i know that so many fiercers are into making smart choices when it comes to eating and working out, but now i'm starting to feel like some sort of freak for having asked for tips to gain weight rather than lose it. (this isn't directed at any one person & i'm probably being overly sensitive right now.)

It didn't come across as snippy...but the whole "weight gain" seems still seems odd esp since 112 at 5'4 isn't abnormally small. I could see if you were missing menstral cycles or something. Even still, for people with difficulty gaining weight I know that doctors normally send them to see a nutritionist.

Mind you this is coming from a girl that is (healthy) naturally small with good muscle tone...I simply don't gain weight. My doctor said to me "I don't expect you to gain weight until you have children" and even then if I'm anything like my older sister, I will be back to my normal weight in a matter of weeks.

 

[lollypop]

I'm not very knowledgeable, but my favourite protein heavy snacks are these: (1) I've managed to find a really yummy chocolate protein shake - with milk, which I sometimes heat up to have like a hot chocolate! (2) ever since I've been little I've had what I call an egg drink, it sounds gross but is really yummy. To a glass of milk you add an egg, some vanilla extract and lots of sugar. Mix it thoroughly, then drink, stirring in between sips. Hope those ideas help a little