Hello everyone,

I need a bit of help. I've been adding more fat to my diet. 1 whole avocado with dinner few times a week, nuts for snacking, and a raw hemp powder (not ideal but I really like it and feel its doing no harm). So, I thought maybe I'd be able to gain a bit of weight as I'm pretty thin. But it seems to be having the opposite effect. I don't weigh myself, I hate scales and like to go by how I feel not a measurement (I can barely do math in my head, I don't think my body gets it, he he) So, does anyone know why this is happening? Maybe my body will adjust and balance out eventually? My bowels are the same, nothing changed there. Any advice? I do exercise a bit, not vigourously or anything, I just like to casually walk and stretch out in my room doing my own type of yoga according to how my body feels. I don't like to work out hard as I feel its unnatural for me and stresses my body. I'd like to put on a few pounds as my hip bones stick out. I feel fine, maybe this is the way my body wants to sit. It really doesn't bother me, I just hope I have enough fat to hold on to all my vitamins. I don't like doctors, I've had horrible experiences and so I fear having blood tested. I did get it tested not long ago (less than a year) and everything was fine. Sorry this is so long, and if you've read it, thanks Happy Thursday to everyone

Sorry, I just realized is this very similar to another post on here.

Adding more fat to your diet will only add fat as extra weight. To gain muscle, you need to do some anaerobic exercises and make sure you get plenty of rest and sleep.

But the extra fat is making me lose more weight, which I just don't understand. I'm not concerned about muscle, I can see my muscles and used to weight lift ALOT! I think I've still got alot of muscle from that. I just want a bit more flesh on my body, but maybe I don't need it. I do get plenty of rest and sleep about 7-8 hours a night. I wake up refreshed for the most part, except for when I eat ALOT of fat.

It sounds frustrating, but there are alternatives. You CAN try to lower your metabolism a bit. Water fasting for a couple of days will definitely do this. Eating fewer/larger meals will help in this regard as well. And additional muscle mass - as Bryan indicated. Avoid medications and stimulants - especially caffeine or nicotene.

These are some things you can do - if it would make you more comfortable with your body.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Thank you all for the comments. I will try to make some changes Once again, this place is so awesome

I'm female and small. I notice that eating more fats doesn't cause me to gain much weight; but if I eat the same amount of fats plus a lot of greens, then I do gain weight. That seems strange I guess, especially since greens have the least calories by weight and very little fat. But this is definitely the case for me, and I've been all raw for a long time.

Something you might try - if you'd like to gain a little more weight - is staying with relatively the same amount of everything you're currently eating, but adding more great big green salads to your diet.

I've never heard that working out can be unnatural. If you're eating enough, a good workout should be beneficial.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2009 08:29PM by suncloud.

Thanks for the tips. I do try and drink alot of green juices as I'm still healing from IBD, so that's probably part of the problem too. Maybe my body just isn't ready for more strenuous workouts at this point so it just feels forced. Don't know. But thanks, I'll try and add in more green juices, I think that would be the same as eating large salads. Do you eat alot of fruit too?

Hi Lizard,

Yes, I eat a lot of fruit!

If you're healing from IBD, I agree that it probably has something to do with why your weight may be lower than you like.

I kind of think the salads might be better for gaining weight than the green juices, but I couldn't say for sure since I'm not a juice person.

If eating whole greens is a problem with the IBD, increasing the green juices might help. When you're feeling better, you could try introducing some whole greens gradually.

About the exercise: if you were to gradually increase the walking (and even bring along some light handweights?) this could be beneficial for your digestion. And the more fresh air, the better!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2009 09:38PM by suncloud.

Hi Lizard,

did you exchange the fat for something? Do you maybe now eat avocado and nuts, but cut down something else?

I think you better gain weight if you combine fats + carbohydrates.

So try mashed banana+avocado, or dried fruits + nuts. Maybe this will help?

Adding at least 1/2 cup of coconut butter in a smoothie 2x per day alway puts weight on me~

I have a hard time gaining weight as well.

In regards to weight gain, What DavidMason said helped me the most: slowing the metabolism by eating fewer/larger meals, as opposed to more/smaller meals (or instead of snacking all day) helped. And combined with what Bryon said: 'anaerobic exercise' is also good.

Figure out where your metabolism works best in the Sunfood Triangle (balancing carbs, fats, and proteins).

Hi Lizard,

What is helpful for weight gain is a high calcium/phosphorus ratio. The best calcium foods are greens, but when juicing greens a lot of the calcium is lost because it is bound to the fiber in the pulp. So I guess eating salads would be better for weight gain than green juices.
High phosphorus compared to calcium would favor weight loss. I think that can be one reason why people report loosing weight when adding nuts and seeds to the diet, most of which have high phosphorus. I find the only nuts which do not upset the balance are macadamia nuts. Generally lots of nuts and seeds also supply a lot of omega 6 fatty acids, but macadamia nuts are a lot better in that aspect too.

Greenpower



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2009 01:03AM by greenpower.

That's very interesting green power. Thank you for that insight. I'll start eating the more calcium rich greens and juicing them less.

Liz, people with IBD-related symptoms are known for not handeling/digesting fatty foods very well. For both healing and calorieuptake in your intestines.

Also, remember to check your calorieintake and see if there is a change there also with cron-o-meter.

Lizard,
I find this post very interesting and helpful for me also. I have been transitioning to high raw, and I have lost weight. For a lot of people this would be welcome. For me I like the amount of fat that I have lost, but it seems like I have lost muscle as well. I go for walks, but I have started doing push ups and weightless squats. When I get stronger I am going to start some other exercises which I used to do. Like push ups in the handstand position. I don't remember what those are called.

Anyways, Today I saw someone I haven't seen for awhile. He said, "you look....thin" his pause didn't exactly make me feel like it was entirely complementary. He then added that I looked younger, which I guess is good. I feel so much better, but I don't know if I even like the rather sudden weight loss.

I was looking in the mirror, and I sometimes like the new me, and sometimes not. The flatter stomach is great. The thin arms and neck, maybe not so much. My legs are interesting, At first I thought that I lost muscle, but actually they are the same, just stripped of some fat. I could actually stand to loose more. If only one could pick and choose where the weight is lost! I guess one can by building up muscle.