Hey, people who know stuff about this shit...

[alexmegami]

Is it... really possible for a meal and/or clothes to add three pounds to your weight on the scale?

Because, um.

I do not want to weigh 110 pounds.

Comments

[roju.livejournal.com]

Yes. Easily.

[alexmegami]

Damnit.

[roju.livejournal.com]

Lol, isn't that the reassuring answer?

[alexmegami]

No, because it means that what I thought was the low end of my weight is actually the high end of my recent weight. :/ 110 pounds is not a good thing.

[sasuran.livejournal.com]

As in, too light, right? Not, like, too heavy? Because 110 lbs is definitely not too heavy.

[alexmegami]

Maybe if I were, like, a foot shorter it would be too heavy. *L*

[sasuran.livejournal.com]

I am mentally forwarding you my calories. *LOL*

[sae.livejournal.com]

According to the Wiifit, your weight can also fluctuate 2lbs over the course of the day. If you have a target you want to weigh, weigh yourself roughly the same time of day to get consistant measurements.

Yeah, it bites to step on the scale and be like "wait... wait wait wait, I did not weigh this yesterday!"

[alexmegami]

Yeah, no kidding.

[phreeque.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Wii Fit, it keeps saying to me, "You know, I haven't seen Alex in a while..."

And if you ever do come back to my place to use it again, if there's a weird spike anywhere in your activity, it's because my aunt Laurie and her son Milan used your profile to try it out.

[alexmegami]

I was actually thinking the other day that I should harass you (i.e. come by and play WiiFit).

[extramild.livejournal.com]

I don't want you to weight 110 pounds either. i want you to weigh more than that.

[kisekileia.livejournal.com]

Ditto. Alex, you're 8" taller than me now. You're not allowed to weigh less than me anymore :P.

[alexmegami]

No kidding. I keep telling people I'm taking donations...

[kisekileia.livejournal.com]

ACK. Your BMI is 16.7. That would make you anorexic if you'd gotten that thin on purpose (and weren't menstruating). You need a weight gain diet, hon.

What I did when my BMI dropped to 17.5 (90 pounds) after the bout of depression I had in first year university was: I figured out how many calories I was eating in an average day, and the fat/carb/protein mix. (One gram of fat is nine calories; one gram of carbs or protein is four calories. Product labels generally give fat/carbs/protein in grams rather than calories.) Turned out it was only 1200 calories, 20% calories from fat, 20% calories from protein. That's a weight LOSS diet, not a weight GAIN diet. I made myself start eating 1500 calories, 45 grams of fat, and either 3 meals or 2 meals and 2 snacks per day. Once I got used to that (I only gained one pound at that level), I upped the calories to 1800. Then I started eating around 2000 calories per day without keeping track, and I was gaining steadily, so I was able to eat naturally and get up to a healthy weight at that point.

I think figuring out your calorie consumption and finding ways to add calories without uncomfortably stuffing yourself, along with making sure you eat 3 meals or 2 meals + 2 snacks per day, is a good approach. (I admit, I'm only eating 2 meals per day now, but at 116 pounds/BMI 22.7 I'm well within my healthy weight range.) Dessert is a good way to add calories, though some desserts are not incredibly healthy in the long run :P, because at the end of a meal when you're relatively full, it's easier to get yourself to eat sugary stuff/stuff that tastes really good than other stuff. Juice instead of water (pop is not healthy) gives you freebie calories without being too filling. (Three eight-ounce glasses of apple juice per day: 240 calories.) Basically, find ways to add calories that don't take too much effort :).

[alexmegami]

*nod* I've started tracking my food consumption lately and aiming for 2000. If left to my own devices, I also tend to stabilize around 1200 if I'm not paying attention, although when I was getting sick it was likely less. But yeah, the uncomfortably stuffed feeling is an issue.

(As a side note: how in fuck is one supposed to eat 6 grain servings a day? If I really push I can eat about four in one meal at Bombay Bhel, but otherwise...)

[kisekileia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, 2000 sounds like a good idea.

One grain serving is only one slice of bread, half a bagel, or half a cup of pasta. (See here.) So really, most meals (or at least most meals that I, being a veggie-phobe who hates cooking meat, would eat :P) would have two servings of grains: two slices of bread for a sandwich, or a cup of pasta, for instance.

Buy some shortbread, maybe? It's in the stores right now for Valentine's, and while it's pretty filling, it is SO GOOD and has so many calories that I have noticed a tendency to gain weight when I eat it regularly.

[alexmegami]

Yeah, even then. One cup of rice or pasta is so filling that there's no room for anything else!

Mm, shortbread... :D

[kisekileia.livejournal.com]

Half a cup cooked, even? The Canada Food Guide specifies cooked rather than uncooked. Picture a smallish mug, the size that comes with a set of dishes, half full of rice. That's how much they're talking about.

And mmm, shortbread, indeed!

My old standby of a glass of chocolate milk after a meal is a good way to gain weight/keep it on, too.

[alexmegami]

Trust me, I've been measuring stuff obsessively since I started keeping track (a little over a week, now). One cup is a *lot* in terms of fullness for me.

I should probably buy more chocolate soy milk, too.

[kisekileia.livejournal.com]

Ah, I guess I'm just used to eating a lot of pasta because I like it. I can usually finish restaurant pasta portions.

[alexmegami]

Me too! I'm aiming for 125 at minimum and preferably 130. It would probably help if I developed some muscle. :P

[kisekileia.livejournal.com]

You could try resistance training with light weights (in the neighbourhood of 2 to 10 pounds). That's doable at home, and would help you develop muscle without burning too many calories.

[alexmegami]

I don't think I can even lift the 10-pound weights without hurting myself ;P

[kisekileia.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be able to either. I did light strength training with simple barbells like I'm thinking of for a while in late high school, and I started with 2-pound weights, moved to 3-pounders pretty fast, and ended up at 5 pounds. I'd like to start up again, in which case I'll probably start again with the 2s. But being able to use 10s eventually isn't unrealistic for even women with non-muscular builds like us if we keep at it consistently for several months, I don't think.

[harukami]

Maybe you should get your thyroid tested? Problems with it can force weight loss even if you're working towards gaining.

[alexmegami]

That was one of the tests they did when I was getting sick last year, and nothing turned up then. :/

[harukami]

D: Damn. I mean, not bad! But damn.

[alexmegami]

Yeah, exactly *lol* At least if it were something that had been figured out I could compensate for it, right? But nope, still random illness + weight loss. >_<

Part of it is just fighting my natural tendency to not eat much, but... blar.

[kisekileia.livejournal.com]

They checked you for anemia then, right? Because that would explain the tiredness you mentioned in your other entry, and anemia is crazily common among young women. It's especially likely if you don't eat a lot of red meat.

[alexmegami]

Yep. And I was actually kind of surprised that my iron levels were normal - I was expecting them to be low (for the exact reason you mention) - but nope. Nothing unusual turned up in the blood tests (including H. pylori and a few other things they looked for).

[kisekileia.livejournal.com]

It's funny...I was going to suggest the same thing, but I was wondering about an underactive thyroid because she's tired all the time, whereas an overactive thyroid is what tends to cause weight loss. Alex has had a crazy fast metabolism since we were kids, though--I've known her since she was in first grade and I was in second, and she was always taller than me but weighed less ;), even though I was never really an overweight kid.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

I've got the perfect cure for you.

Come live with us for a month or two. Brian cooks amazingly good food, and we are not a low-calorie household. I promise, by the time you get back you'll have gained ten pounds. :D

[alexmegami]

When you move to warmer climes, I promise ;)

[safti]

Hell, do it right and you can fluctuate 5 lbs. *drinks 2+ L of water a day*

Damn it girl, I weigh a good 60 lbs more than you do, and you are not a hell of a lot shorter than me. I agree with the resistence training and upping calorie content, of course. *insert "I'll give you some of my excess weight" comment here ;)*

[alexmegami]

I will totally take it. :P I'd like to be at *least* 15-20 pounds heavier. Sadly, my body fights me on the whole eating stuff thing. :P

[starmind.livejournal.com]

Hm, I've got roughly 15lbs to spare, even though the BMI says I'm morbidly obese, I've really only got about 15 to give. But you are certainly welcome to them.