Aa
What is a healthy way to gain weight.
I am 73 and underweight. I stay around 95 lb. and I am 5'2". I'd like to weigh about 105-115, but just can't seem to gain even a few pounds.
Hi luvencasa,
I suspect you are asking for a healthy way to gain weight since according to your profile you stay pretty active and eat healthy foods (which is great!). I've never been in your position. I'm a 38 year old woman, have hypothyroidism, and am currently at a "healthy weight" but would love to lose about 5 pounds in the next few months before a marathon, but to do that without losing any of the muscle mass that I need for my running (all while still being a little hypo). I am not a medical professional, but since I do pay a lot of attention to what I'm eating, I'll share what I think about your situation.
I'm guessing you want to stay active and put on both a little fat as well as some muscle, which I know can be hard at an older age. One thing you could do would be to first look at your diet and try to calculate how many calories you are currently consuming vs. how many calories you think you are burning each day. Plugging your info (73, female, 5'2", 95 pounds) into a basal metabolic rate calculator, I came up with about 1020 calories a day for your BMR. This is the minimum number of calories you need to consume, just to stay the same weight, even if you don't do any exercise or movement at all. If you have hypothyroidism, then this number will be lower, if you have hyperthyroidism, or if you are more active, this number is going to be higher.
To gain weight, you need to be consuming calories above your BMR plus the additional calories you burn during exercise. To do this in a healthy way, I would suggest aiming to eat about 200-500 calories above the amount of calories you are burning a day. 500 extra calories per day should add about 1 pound a week. Let's say your average daily calories burned is around 1350 (moderate exercise 3-5 days a week), you will need to eat more than 1350 calories a day to gain weight.
There are lots of ways to consume extra calories, but as an active person, I would suggest starting by making sure after you go to the gym, consuming a recovery drink or snack. In my experience with losing weight while maintaining muscle mass, I've found drinking a protein powder shake helps prevent muscle soreness and aids in recovery from my runs. I usually use whey protein powder mixed with water or sometimes almond milk, and I find it very easy on my system, easy for my body to digest and absorb (instead of eating a high-in-protein steak). I also sometimes use a plant based protein powder, but I find whey protein dissolves very easily in water compared to plant based proteins. I don't eat mammals, but I'm aware beef protein powder exists but it is not on the menu for me. You can also find pre-mixed drinks like Ensure, Pure Protein, Muscle Milk, Boost, and Vega that are high in protein, don't involve having to use a shaker bottle.
Most of the pre-mixed protein drinks tend to be higher in calories than just protein powder, and would be excellent to take after a workout. The premixed ones I have tried all seem to be around 220-350 calories, have a balance of protein, fats, and carbohydrates, and might be a good place to start if you are trying to gain weight.
I hope this helps - I'm not an expert in how to gain weight in a healthy way, but as someone who is quite active I'm not going to tell you to move less and eat more. I guess my answer is "keep moving and eat more".
I suspect you are asking for a healthy way to gain weight since according to your profile you stay pretty active and eat healthy foods (which is great!). I've never been in your position. I'm a 38 year old woman, have hypothyroidism, and am currently at a "healthy weight" but would love to lose about 5 pounds in the next few months before a marathon, but to do that without losing any of the muscle mass that I need for my running (all while still being a little hypo). I am not a medical professional, but since I do pay a lot of attention to what I'm eating, I'll share what I think about your situation.
I'm guessing you want to stay active and put on both a little fat as well as some muscle, which I know can be hard at an older age. One thing you could do would be to first look at your diet and try to calculate how many calories you are currently consuming vs. how many calories you think you are burning each day. Plugging your info (73, female, 5'2", 95 pounds) into a basal metabolic rate calculator, I came up with about 1020 calories a day for your BMR. This is the minimum number of calories you need to consume, just to stay the same weight, even if you don't do any exercise or movement at all. If you have hypothyroidism, then this number will be lower, if you have hyperthyroidism, or if you are more active, this number is going to be higher.
To gain weight, you need to be consuming calories above your BMR plus the additional calories you burn during exercise. To do this in a healthy way, I would suggest aiming to eat about 200-500 calories above the amount of calories you are burning a day. 500 extra calories per day should add about 1 pound a week. Let's say your average daily calories burned is around 1350 (moderate exercise 3-5 days a week), you will need to eat more than 1350 calories a day to gain weight.
There are lots of ways to consume extra calories, but as an active person, I would suggest starting by making sure after you go to the gym, consuming a recovery drink or snack. In my experience with losing weight while maintaining muscle mass, I've found drinking a protein powder shake helps prevent muscle soreness and aids in recovery from my runs. I usually use whey protein powder mixed with water or sometimes almond milk, and I find it very easy on my system, easy for my body to digest and absorb (instead of eating a high-in-protein steak). I also sometimes use a plant based protein powder, but I find whey protein dissolves very easily in water compared to plant based proteins. I don't eat mammals, but I'm aware beef protein powder exists but it is not on the menu for me. You can also find pre-mixed drinks like Ensure, Pure Protein, Muscle Milk, Boost, and Vega that are high in protein, don't involve having to use a shaker bottle.
Most of the pre-mixed protein drinks tend to be higher in calories than just protein powder, and would be excellent to take after a workout. The premixed ones I have tried all seem to be around 220-350 calories, have a balance of protein, fats, and carbohydrates, and might be a good place to start if you are trying to gain weight.
I hope this helps - I'm not an expert in how to gain weight in a healthy way, but as someone who is quite active I'm not going to tell you to move less and eat more. I guess my answer is "keep moving and eat more".
You are killing us here with your inability to gain weight. Since most of us here are hypothyroid, I am sure there are members who would be glad to transfer a few pounds to you. LOL
In your situation the first thing I would be suspicious of is a high metabolism, related to thyroid. Have you ever been tested for thyroid related issues? If not, it would be good to test for TSH, Free T4 and Free T3 (not Total T4 and Total T3), and cortisol.
Do you have any other symptoms?
In your situation the first thing I would be suspicious of is a high metabolism, related to thyroid. Have you ever been tested for thyroid related issues? If not, it would be good to test for TSH, Free T4 and Free T3 (not Total T4 and Total T3), and cortisol.
Do you have any other symptoms?
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