How to gain weight?

[Guest guest]

I have what most people would call a " luxury " problem. I am skinny in

nature. With SAD I maintain a on a skinny side healthy weight. I am

5'5 (165cm) and weighed then about 115lb. In January I started to cut

out processed food and eat now mosly raw or cooked wholefoods. I would

say I am about 50% raw but I am aiming at 95%. However, since January

I have lost about 10lb, and beeing so slim allready this is not good.

I need to gain weight!! How do I gain (or at least maintain) weight on

a raw daiet?

 

I do eat lots of avocado, use oils and I am definitely not a person

who is known to eat small portions. In fact, poeple often comment on

much much I am considering my size.

 

I must say that although I have lost weight and look almost sickly

skinny, I feel MUCH better than before. I am able to exercise like

never before and have much more energy throughout the day. I just

don't want to loose any more weight and I am not sure how to prevent

it on this diet.

 

I would love to go on a juice fasting (I know i have a lot of junk

stored up in me) but that is just not possible with my weight beeing

so low... I think?

 

Any helpful advice, truth or opinion is appreciated!!

 

Jessica

[Guest guest]

Hi Jessica..

 

I noticed two differing things being said in your question.

One was " I need to gain weight!! " and the other was:

 

I must say that although I have lost weight and look almost sickly

skinny

[for me, this is just a " societal view " of what's healthy vs. sickly.

Since we live in one of the sickest nations in the world, normal is

unhealthy, and likewise fat.]

I feel MUCH better than before. I am able to exercise like never

before and have much more energy throughout the day. [Wow - really

nice!]

 

I just don't want to loose any more weight and I am not sure how to

prevent it on this diet. - adding muscle mass through exercise - see

below.

 

I would suggest that you're doing great! We can really only add two

types of weight:

either lean mass (including water) or fat. Water weight is the quickest

and easiest to demonstrate; if we drink a gallon of water, and then

weigh ourselves, we'll weigh just about eight (8) pounds more. This

" weight gain " is obviously temporary. We can also easily gain weight by

eating fat - lots of fat. Our bodies are good at storing fat, and

generally do so. Lots of fat is not healthy, however.

 

I couldn't tell from your description either how many calories you were

eating in a day,

or what % body fat you had. Both of these would be helpful inputs. My

guess is that you're under consuming calories as you've ramped up your

exercise, and that your% body fat is approaching a healthier level. I

suggest that % body fat may be a better health indicator than body

weight. If we exercise more, and are not eating more calories our

body's only choice is to burn extra fat for energy, causing our " weight "

to go down.

 

Quoting from a recent post by a good friend on mine on another board,

I offer that you may be facing " ... one of the 'ultimate RF paradoxes':

On one hand, your body contains excess body fat right now ... yet your

total body weight seems fine, even a tad low, and you perceive yourself

as very thin. In other words, you seem to be overweight and underweight

at the same time. How can we explain this? I'm guessing (having never

seen you) that you have a deficiency of lean tissue ... of muscle mass,

primarily. I read that you are physically active, so I would inquire

about the nature of that activity. Our body builds lean tissue (bone

mass, muscle mass and strength, etc.) in response just to any form of

activity, but primarily in response to activity under a load (weight,

resistance to gravity). In fact, EVERY part of our system develops under

load, or modest stress. This includes all our physical organs, tissues,

and systems, and also every part of our mind. Would you be willing to

talk a bit more about the type of activity in which you love to engage

these days? One final point. We live in a society that has a completely

deranged perception of what a biologically normal human body looks or

feels like. If we look out in Nature, we may readily observe that most

of the animals are lean. We can see the rib cages of the elephants and

the big cats as they walk. And just try to " pinch an inch " on a dolphin

or whale!!! So you may be just FINE!!! And we would not wish to fix

something that is not broken. It is possible that the only beneficial

change for you to make is in your perception of your own body. :)

 

We can only add muscle, a desirable lean tissue, by exercise. There is

no food that will add muscle for us. Or, paraphrasing Doug Graham :

" ..all of the bodybuilders would in kitchens or restaurants, rather than

in gyms. "

 

At some point in the future, you may want to consider " fasting " . I'd

recommend water fasting vs. juice fasting.

 

Have fun!

 

Best,

 

Bob

I used to post here frequently, then at RawSchool, and most recently at

PathOfHealth.

 

 

rawfood , " moonblue400 " <jessica400 wrote:

 

 

I have what most people would call a " luxury " problem. I am skinny in

nature. With SAD I maintain a on a skinny side healthy weight. I am

5'5 (165cm) and weighed then about 115lb. In January I started to cut

out processed food and eat now mosly raw or cooked whole foods. I would

say I am about 50% raw but I am aiming at 95%. However, since January I

have lost about 10lb, and being so slim already this is not good.

I need to gain weight!! How do I gain (or at least maintain) weight on

a raw diet?

 

I do eat lots of avocado, use oils and I am definitely not a person who

is known to eat small portions. In fact, people often comment on much

much I am considering my size.

 

I must say that although I have lost weight and look almost sickly

skinny, I feel MUCH better than before. I am able to exercise like

never before and have much more energy throughout the day. I just don't

want to loose any more weight and I am not sure how to prevent it on

this diet.

 

I would love to go on a juice fasting (I know i have a lot of junk

stored up in me) but that is just not possible with my weight being so

low... I think?

 

Any helpful advice, truth or opinion is appreciated!!

 

Jessica

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I don't like this implication that super skinny is normal for all raw

foodies. Please note, even those of us on a 100% raw diet will always be on

the " thick " if not pudgy side no matter how little or how much fat, etc we

eat. And for us, its normal.

 

Maybe you wernt trying to step on anyone's toes, but please remember we come

in all shapes and sizes - even not so skinny.

 

Carla

 

On 5/21/07, Bob Farrell <BobFarrell wrote:

>

>

>

> I must say that although I have lost weight and look almost sickly

> skinny

> [for me, this is just a " societal view " of what's healthy vs. sickly.

> Since we live in one of the sickest nations in the world, normal is

> unhealthy, and likewise fat.]

> I feel MUCH better than before. I am able to exercise like never

> before and have much more energy throughout the day. [Wow - really

> nice!]

> We live in a society that has a completely

> deranged perception of what a biologically normal human body looks or

> feels like. If we look out in Nature, we may readily observe that most

> of the animals are lean. We can see the rib cages of the elephants and

> the big cats as they walk. And just try to " pinch an inch " on a dolphin

> or whale!!! So you may be just FINE!!! And we would not wish to fix

> something that is not broken. It is possible that the only beneficial

> change for you to make is in your perception of your own body. :)

>

> Have fun!

>

> Best,

>

> Bob

> I used to post here frequently, then at RawSchool, and most recently at

> PathOfHealth.

>

> --

>