Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with weightgain and diet

Just tell me what to eat so I don't have to think about it.

Felicity Rilke — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:03:28 -0800

What's the best/easiest way to increase my protein intake when eating is difficult for various complicated reasons? I am starting chemotherapy in two weeks for my second ovarian cancer recurrence in less than two years. To manage the associated anxiety, I am taking Wellbutrin, Celexa and Oxazepam daily. The combo (particularly the Celexa) has killed my appetite and made me pretty food-averse. Switching to something else is not an option. I've lost about 14 pounds in the four weeks since I started Celexa but I need to slow down/halt the weight loss before I start chemo. I also need to increase my protein intake to 90-110g a day (ideally the higher end of that) while undergoing chemo.

That seems like an unobtainable goal right now and it's just going to get harder once I start treatment. Meat and eggs are mostly intolerable. I can't eat a lot of soy. I can't have whey or casein protein powder. I can only eat a small amount of legumes a day (1/2 a cup, maybe a full cup depending on the preparation).

Adding protein seems pretty daunting since I don't want or can't have most high protein things that I can think of.

Typical food for a day is a piece of toast with goat cheese and tomato, an apple, and a bowl of something for dinner (last couple of days it's been about a cup and a half of whole grain pasta with a kale+walnut pesto and roasted vegetables). I'm eating the same thing every day with occasional variation in dinner.

What are the most protein-dense foods I can add? Simpler is better. I'm interested in snacks/small things. I don't mind having to prepare something, as long as it is something I can prepare and snack on for days, so recipes are welcome. I'm not worried about gaining weight at this point, just stopping the weight loss.

Easy-to-Make Protein Shakes?

WasabiFlux — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:40:33 -0800

How do I make it easier to make and drink protein shakes with a limited selection? Bonus points for protein powder recommendations and shake recipes. I need to increase my protein and calorie intake. There are tons of protein shakes and powders that should make it easy, but of course my restricted diet screws it all up again. My requirements for protein/shake powders:

Low potassium and phosphorus, must be labeled. By "low," I mean somewhere below 200 mg of potassium and 150 mg (15% DV) of phosphorus for a serving that includes 25 g of protein.
No non-nutritive sweeteners. I can't stand the taste and aftertaste of artificial sweeteners, stevia, or sugar alcohols. Plain old sugar or maltodextrin are far preferable.
Mixes easily. If I can get away with stirring or shaking, I'd prefer that to having to clean a blender.

The only powders I've found that meet the first two requirements are pure, unflavored whey protein isolate. I've tried only one brand, and it didn't mix well by hand. So, I'm looking for flavored protein powders that taste good, fit into my diet, aren't artificially sweetened, and mix easily. Do you know of any?

Since that seems to be a long shot, the real focus of my question is this: assuming I have to use pure, unflavored whey protein powder, how do I mix it into a high protein, high calorie shake easily enough that I can do it every day? What should I put together to make a nice shake? Banana, milk, ice cream, and more than a couple ounces of Greek yogurt are out, but protein powder + sugar + flavor in almond milk would work.

Is there an easier way to make it without lumps than in a blender? Do the shakers with wire balls work well enough?

Leptin doctor?

zeek321 — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:55:20 -0800

Can someone recommend a "leptin aware" doctor, nutritionist, or dietitian in Philadelphia? All the basic blood tests show me to be in perfect health, but I'm way too hungry between meals, have no energy, keep getting sick, and, if I wait too long between meals, I lose both my appetite and too much weight, too fast. And I start having panic attacks. If not a specific person, what kind of doctor (e.g. an endocrinologist???) should I make an appointment with?

Foods/resources for healthy weight gain?

Fifi Firefox — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:48:13 -0800

I'm looking for specific foods I can add to my diet to gain weight. Caveats: no dairy, and I'm not trying to 'bulk up' or gain muscle. I'm a girl, and I'm very underweight right now due to an illness. I'm doing better now health-wise, but haven't gained the weight back. It's possible that there's another reason for this, but my doctor suggested that I try eating a higher-calorie diet for a while before we do anything more drastic.

Sounds easy, but my stomach's a little touchy to begin with, so I can't just load up on doughnuts and burgers (that would just make me sick). I'm lactose-intolerant, so a little cheese here and there is cool, but dairy- or whey-based supplements are out. I don't eat much meat but do like chicken. I'm not a big sweets person either, rich or sugary things just make me feel gross.

I've been looking for resources - online or books - to help me devise a diet, but nearly all of what I'm finding is aimed at sports nutrition or bulking up for muscle mass, which is so not what I want.

So far, I've been eating almond butter (with added flax seeds for omega-3's) on bread or crackers, which is a start, and I've been trying the different types of Naked juices for extra vitamins and such. Are there any other foods like these that you can recommend? I'll take high-calorie, high-fat, or just super healthy.

Explain my gain (weight) and my loss (motivation/sanity).

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:49:57 -0800

I gained 6 lbs. overnight. WTF! I am a committed runner and healthy eater who lost 50 lbs. over the last year by changing my lifestyle and eating habits completely. I am now at a weight I am happy with and work to maintain it.

On Saturday night I snacked A LOT because I was, heh, a tad inebriated and stopped policing myself so damn vigilantly. I ate chips, bean dip, salsa, carrots, grapes, even some m&m's. A LOT of all of it especially considering I'd had a big, indulgent dinner.

All the stuff I ate was from Trader Joe's and so it was mostly the not so bad for you kind of bad for you food--flax seed chips, blue corn tortilla chips, bean dip, salsa and crackers with good ingredients, etc. However, I ate a ton and I felt totally manic while doing so. Having lost a lot of weight and becoming somewhat obsessive about maintaining not just my weight, but my commitment to eating mindfully (I used to be a wicked bad emotional/bored/anxious/angry eater), it feels horribly bad to overdo it like this.

I guess my question is how did I gain 6 lbs in one night? Will this weight stick or is it water retention weight from salty snacks? I'm already 2 lbs. lighter, so I guess it's already showing itself to be not "real" weight gain. I am trying to think of this as "relapse is part of recovery" and use it as a good reminder to not go crazy like this. My other question, if it's kosher to ask something related, is can you help me see this in a different way and not be so down on myself about it that I lose motivation or beat myself up? Obviously I need to lighten up a bit on myself and not let it run the rest of my weekend (which, yeah, it did) because I'm obsessing about what I ate or what I should eat/not eat to "compensate" for the binge.

Thanks, a lot, hive mind. I'm going a little crazy.

Is my almost-vegetarian diet making me fatter?

Unicorn on the cob — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:03:23 -0800

My boyfriend is an avowed vegetarian, almost vegan. Out of respect for him (and the desire to live healthier), I have switched to an almost completely vegetarian diet. Now I've gained weight... why? I'm thinking that it's the switch from eating meat to eating lots and lots of soy products, which I know can affect estrogen levels in women. I also had a wicked sweet tooth before (imagine eating half a pound of candy in one sitting... that's me!) and have just recently cut back significantly on sugar in an effort to drop the unwanted weight (the past 60 days I have only consumed sugar for about 6 days total, and you can guess when). A few more tidbits:

1. I am a 35-year-old female.

2. I work out at least 4-5 times a week, with a minimum of an hour cardio, preferably 90 minutes of cardio with 15 minutes of weight training, should I actually make it to the gym. At the gym I use the elliptical, stair climber, recumbent bike and treadmill, and vary my times/workouts each time I go to avoid stagnation in my workouts. Otherwise, I use my elliptical at home and hand weights.

3. In the year we've been dating, I have cut back to eating meat maybe 3-4 times per week (usually in a sandwich or soup form), and our typical meals consist of such things as: tofu and veggie stir-fry, veggie burgers, Quorn fajitas with beans, falafel on pita with baba ghanoush, fake-lunchmeat sandwiches and low-fat cheez-its (I know, I know... sodium!).

4. I only drink alcohol once a week and drink coffee maybe 3-4 times per week, one cup or less. I drink regular sodas at the movies maybe twice per month and mostly drink spring water or sparkling, and avoid fruit juice and sweetened tea.

5. I am on birth control pills.

6. Over the course of the year, I tapered down on eating meat until I now no longer eat meat at all in his presence, nor do I keep it in the house, unless it's in a can of soup. At the same time, I worked out LESS at the beginning of our relationship due to the honeymoon factor, and now work out probably twice as much as I did six months ago.

7. The majority of the weight gain has been in 3 pound increments, very suddenly, over the course of, say, a two-week period when I notice it and then can't get it to budge.

8. I still drink regular, 1% milk and eat regular 2% cheese, but have subbed out Quorn or soy-based products for virtually every dinner meal where I would normally have eaten meat instead.

Now, a co-worker of mine recently gave up meat and dairy in an effort to curb her food allergies and she ALSO gained 10 pounds in 6 weeks. She is a woman in her mid-40's. She and I were commiserating over this fact on Friday, and we both thought... hmmm, is it all the soy? Could the extra estrogen be making me gain the weight? I'm trying like hell to lose the weight and I just... can't.

I have reduced the number of calories I eat, I'm pretty sure, because I no longer eat sweets or snacks (except things like birthday cake if it's a special occasion). I realize that over time, cutting out the sweets will probably help me lose the weight, but for right now, I'm beyond frustrated. The most I can get my weight down is like maybe 3 pounds, and I want to fit in my clothes again! I know this is a time in my life when my metabolism slows down, but this seems really sudden to me and not gradual at all. I searched previous questions and didn't see this exact issue addressed. Hope me, hive mind!

Will going off of Paxil help me lose the weight I gained while on Paxil?

dumbledore69 — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:50:44 -0800

I gained a lot of weight after going on birth control pills & antidepressants. Will going off these make it easier to lose this weight? In college, the year I went on birth control pills was the year I gained 50 lbs. That was several years ago. Two years ago, I went on antidepressants. First I was on Effexor, then Paxil. Right now I am on both Paxil & Wellbutrin. The first year I was on antidepressants, I gained 70 lbs. In a single year. The second year, I worked my ass off and lost about 15 lbs, which I keep yo-yoing with, despite my best efforts to keep it off and keep losing. Note that I have never had trouble losing weight before OR keeping it off with minimal effort. My efforts have been far more than minimal with crappy results.

Three months ago, I went off of birth control pills & am now using non-hormonal birth control methods. So far, I am still struggling.

My question is - assuming that the weight gain was a side effect of the antidepressants, will going off the antidepressants make it easier to lose the weight I've put on?

I'm really interested in personal anecdotes.

I know you are not my doctor/pharmacist/etc & that my mileage will vary.

Calorie intake and gaining modest amounts of muscle

peep — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:22:12 -0800

Calorie intake and gaining modest amounts of muscle (i.e. not hardcore body-building). Plus, what is happening when your muscles are getting stronger and harder, but you've been running on a calorie deficit and losing weight? I know that the question of "can I gain muscle while I lose fat?" is plastered all over the internet, and the answer from anyone remotely reputable is "no" followed by a bunch of stuff that seems to muddle the answer, summed up with, "not really."

So I think I understand the basics: to lose fat you consume fewer calories than you expend. To gain muscle, you must do weight-bearing exercise and eat more calories than you burn. But is that last part correct? Must you eat more than you burn, or do you try to break even with calories in/calories out? This would be for an average (in height, weight, and fitness level) woman who is trying to gain 5 or 10 pounds of muscle.

Also, I know that there is no such thing as "toning" or "firming" a muscle. You can build muscle or lose muscle. So what is happening when your muscles are getting stronger and harder, but you've been running on a calorie deficit and losing weight?

Note I am not talking about just the definition of the muscle, which is probably just from fat loss allowing the muscle to show, but actual physical hardness of the muscle, plus the ability to lift more or heavier weight.

How much weight will I gain?

bunglin jones — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 22:38:09 -0800

Can your weight increase by a greater amount than the weight of the food you eat? It seems to me that if I eat 500g of cake, then it couldn't possibly increase my body weight by more than 500g. Does this make sense? All my searching regarding this stuff deals in calories rather than mass/weight.

Beef and guns

saysthis — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 06:31:44 -0800

I am: vegan, mildy exercise-induced asthmatic, non-car owning & often-biking, slightly scoliotic (not visibly, but there's back pain here and there), have virtually no access to exercise equipment other than a set of ancient free weights, weight bench, and mat, without much money. I desire hulking guns and beefiness all over. It's high time I started exercising. I look sturdy, I'm not noticeably plush, and I've been told by various people that a larger upper body would complement me nicely (these are not understatements/I am not a pear/I am however vain). Since I don't eat meat, protein intake can be a problem. I tried a regimen recommended by the dude at the health club a few eyars ago and it made me lose muscle. Another issue is that with my back and lungs the way they are, I'm limited in how XTREEM I can make my exercise. Neither are a problem so long as I'm not moving especially fast for long periods of time or lifting three times my own body weight. I'm looking to accomplish mainly more toned legs, bigger shoulders & chest (without losing too much fat in that area), and a tighter jawline (I hear face exercise exists?). There's a Mr. Universe in all of us (with steroids, even the ladies). Help me make mine visible.