My Dr wants me to gain weight as I am underweight. I was eating about 1600-1700 calories a day.
breakfast - 2eggs/2 Whole Wheat bread - 32g carbs
snack - nuts
lunch - cold cuts/2 whole wheat bread 32g carbs
snack - nuts
dinner - chicken, whole wheat pasta, veggies 40g carbs
He wants me to add more calories but I don't want to add a huge amount more of carbs, any ideas?
The best way to gain weight is to increase protein. I lost too much weight eating low carb & wasn’t willing to eat more carbs. I slowly added more protein to each meal until I gained what I needed to & kept it at approximately the same portions to maintain weight.
One bonus of eating more protein is that it keeps hunger away. I did have to increase my insulin slightly for increased protein intake. Though carbs have the most impact, protein effects BG as well.
I had a hard time eating enough protein, so I used protein shakes. The highest protein is in whey isolate protein, not the cheaper hydrolyzed form. The unflavored type is very low carb & makes delicious milk shakes. I use unsweetened almond milk (lactose in milk sends me soaring), two scoops of whey isolate powder, unsweetened cocoa powder & sweetener (I use zero carb stevia powder). Sometimes I add a raw egg & a splash of heavy cream (for more calories). Great when you need a fast, filling meal. Protein powder can also be used in baking.
I’ve tried several brands & like NOW brand the best. It dissolves easily & tastes great. My health food store carries it in bulk.
peanut butter, nuts, cheeses are high fat and have minimal effect. Although restricting dinner to 40 grams is really good for blood sugar control, I would still increase the carbohydrate at dinner or add an extra 40 gram snack somewhere in your day. We don’t have any problems as long as we keep carb load around 60 grams. By “no problems” she still goes high or low on the same food, same basals sometimes, just in general, up to 60 grams seems to be manageable. Olive oil is 100 calories a tablespoon, so using a home made dressing on salads, not diet or low fat, should help.
A 40 gram snack!
For most men, a diet of 1600-1700 calories is seriously deficient. You need to seriously eat more. Gerri gives you great advice on the protein, but I would actually suggest that you “double” your calorie intake. Most men need about 2500 calories, you want to gain weight, you need even more. To get a clear idea of the calories that one might need, plug your height, weight and age into the BMR calculator (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/). Then add in your activity factor (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/) and my bet is that if you will be surprised at the calories needed to just sustain you let alone gain weight.
thats my dinner, 40g lol
im just a bit nervous to eat so much protein, i am on 2.5mg of and ramipril for high protein in my urine and my dr said not to eat excessive protein…maybe if i increase the dosage to 5mg (with his approval) i can eat more protein and add calories
I believe we have talked about this before. Ramipril is a blood pressure medication used to “prevent” kidney problems. You were only diagnosed in april and have a HbA1c of 5.6, hardly the diabetic track record for kidney problems. What exactly did your nephrologist say?
If you can’t eat protein, you can certainly eat fat. And although Dr. B would probably smack me, you have tight enough control that you probably could accept an increase in some carbs.
Gerri, this is one thing I do not get. How is it that eating high protein/high fat can result in BOTH weight loss, as promoted by the Atkins crew, and weight gain?? I’m not trying to be difficult, but that seems to be a contradiction. I had a CDE once tell me that if I replaced some carbs with protein, my body would “just know” to not lose weight if I “didn’t need” to lose weight (I’m 4’8" and 92 lbs, so I do not need to lose any weight and there is some research that says mortality is reduced for type 1s whose BMIs are > 23 and < 30). That is a fairly ridiculous statement, IMNSHO. When I asked my endo at that time about maintaining/gaining weight, he indicated that if I wanted to gain weight, I should simply add a few more carbs and increase the insulin to compensate for the increase.
Question, Rich: Before you had the urinanalysis for kidney problems done, had you run or done any heavy-duty exercise? Your numbers can be elevated if you heavily exercised 24-48 hours before the test was done. If that’s the case, you might want to have your numbers re-checked. I’d talk with your endo and if you have a nephrologist (kidney specialist), I’d talk to him/her, too.
Pepperoni, salami, peanut butter, cream cheese…
Does seem contradictory. It’s dependent on how much protein. I had to gain 10 lbs. Doesn’t sound like much, but I’m small also. I lost weight eating low carb–protein, fat, low carb. Once I added just several more ounces of protein per meal. I gained weight. Nothing else in my diet or exercise changed.
For anyone interested, this is a great calculator from Jennny’s site for protein needs on lower carb based on age, desired weight, gender, carbs & activity level http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/DietMakeupCalc.php. I was eating too little protein.
What about adding in some fresh fruit? I know you don’t want to add the carbs, but adding an apple or orange for a snack might help a little bit with the weight gain…
I think the things that work for a child don’t work as well for us adults. Once I go past 50 carbs for a meal, my bolusing is less predictable. And I don’t snack or I would gain weight.
I used to have a skinny friend and I struggled with my weight, so since we couldn’t make a deal (“here’s 10 pounds I’m not using at the moment!”) I told him just do what I do.
I agree with lots of cheese and nut butters. Those are two things I love, low carb but I worry about weight gain from. Looking at your menu, I couldn’t eat 2 pieces of bread, unless it’s low carb, but if you can do it and not spike too much, then go for it. Also I recommend all fat products such as yogurt, milk, sour cream (all the things I don’t do!)
Cheese and nuts full of calories but very diabetic friendly.
That is an interesting calculator Gerri. Thanks.
It seems the more carbs you eat less protein you need. I guess that calcuator is based more for people who want to lose weight. No suggestions for gaining weight - but I guess it is obvious you just eat more than the Maintain requirements. Going low carb, I can honestly attest to the theory that cutting out the carbs will make you lose weight (even if you don’t want too) which is why you need to replace those carb calories with more protein and fat ones to maintain weight. Besides, most of those carby calories will end up on your waistline anyhow it seems while at least the protein calories can help you build muscle. Would rather have muscle weight gain than stomach fat weight gain.