Gaining Weight

[ThatGuy2006]

After a flare up, what are some good ways to gain weight back. I am 5'8'' and I weigh 125 right now. I would like to get back up to about 150-160 and also have some build. I don't want to just eat fatty, unhealthy foods...yeah they help but high cholesterol runs on both sides of my family :tongue:

Thanks

 

[Kittee]

Just get on some Pred. =P that will put lbs back on you. (At least in my case.) hehe.

 

[Jeff D.]

If you aren't in a flareup and you want to gain some weight you will need to get onto a proper diet and weight lifting regime. Check out some of the how to gain weight area's in the diet section of this forum. BWS(Benson) and I have written quite a lot of info on this so check it out. If you would like me to help you decide what kind of diet that would be best for you and a weight training regimen I would be happy to help. Check out some of the threads on the topic and see if you need help or not.

 

[ThatGuy2006]

I am on 40mg a day of prednisone...its helped before...but it just doesnt seem to be doing anything. I am still in a lot of pain, and I think it may just be more than a flare up.

 

[Jeff D.]

If your flaring then don't worry about gaining weight just focus on being healthy. After that then you can gain the weight you want to gain.

 

[My Butt Hurts]

I'm no help with healthy weight gain, but I gained 40 pounds in 4 months once I started Humira. I drank a carnation instant breakfast drink every morning with too much flavored creamer in it. Mmmm.
Then I got fries or mozzarella sticks and a milkshake every other day after work and still ate a normal dinner.
I would say try to gain slowly. Mine came back differently than I lost it. :-(

 

[BWS1982]

What Jeff said, you want to focus on getting healthy so you can get off the pred. I (like Ben Morrison) gained about 8 pounds of face on pred, but I didn't gain anything other than cheek (seriously) only because by default I'm used to watching what I eat and controlling it.

If you're on pred, especially a high dose like that, you probably shouldn't workout much, my GI instructed me no weight training at all the whole time I was on it until about 10 mg a day....It puts too much stress on the heart and hormones as it is. Every appointment, I'd ask him if I could go workout again, and get his head shaking. The sooner you can get off pred, the sooner you'll be better (usually how it works unless pred's not doing enough for you, like it did with me), and then that means the sooner you can work out. Now I'm not up to it much and it's quite difficult due to symptoms, but if your doc says it's okay, and your symptoms allow it, go for it.

For now, I'd say talk to your doctor on it, ask what he thinks about your state of health and disease to find out what activities you can do. If you haven't been doing well lately, a few extra calories and some moderate activity (if able) may help you bounce closer to your normal weight, it just may help you gain a few extra muscle-pounds, if you used to have it. The body is odd like that, if you've lost muscle recently, it's possible you may gain some back just by doing some normal activities, kind of like when someone gets Mono or a bad illness for a few weeks, is bed ridden, and they lose muscle (and water & fat), then gain some muscle back when they resume normal activities again, even without weight training. The body has normal amounts of muscle for normal tasks (walking, going up stairs, lifting "normal" objects, carrying "normal" things, etc...) and if you've lost that, as it sounds like (from your first post saying you dropped a bit), you may be capable of gaining it back fairly easily.

Don't pig out, your first inclination in your post was right, not just for blood cholesterol levels, but for just about every other logical reason not to.

Rather than tell you to come back when you're capable or wanting to lift weights, these are some of the threads Jeff mentioned...

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=3482

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=3343

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=3528

 

[ThatGuy2006]

Thanks for the awesome advice! I am so glad that this forum actually talks back to posters. Also, I am calling my doctor today and I also have an appt on the 10th so I will keep you guys posted. I know I am full of questions but is there something besides boost or ensure because I seem to have trouble with both of those?

 

[BWS1982]

"trouble" as in worsened symptoms? Certain ones have lactose, and others don't, if that helps.

 

[ThatGuy2006]

trouble as in it makes me feel bad (gives me bubblegut) all day.

 

[BWS1982]

probably the lactose, if you look for ones with "Plus" on them, they often have no lactose, and more protein, but cost about 20% more. There's even generics for "Plus" versions. See if that helps.

 

[My Butt Hurts]

My doc said that I could drink Slim-Fast instead of Boost or Ensure. Not sure how similar the ingredients are, but it tastes better for sure.
Also, the carnation instant breakfast powder can be mixed with milk, soy milk, or rice milk.

 

[Kittee]

Yep I did Slimfast and Boost.

 

[frenchfrog]

I know where you are coming from, I lost 15 pounds before I was diagnosed with Crohn's. That said, it is definitely hard to gain weight if you are still in pain, I know that I can hardly eat anything when I'm in pain. My advice is to get that pain down, and then figure out a few high protein foods that don't mess with your intestines... I eat a lot of pop-tarts/toast with butter and jam/bananas/peanut butter. Nothing fried or too greasy though. Regardless it will take some time. I have been out of the hospital 3 weeks now and I am still not back at my former weight. Good luck!!

 

[Clover]

I have strugled with the same thing. Over the last year and a half I have gone from ~190lbs to now at about 135lbs. I have been doing eveything I can but have not been to successful yet. I drink Muscle Milk by the way. I has a lot of protien and vitamins and what not and I seem to tolerate it okay. I figured that would be better then slim fast as I am trying to build back the right weight. I wish I could give more advice but I am not exactly a success story.

By the way when I work out now I get super light headed, then comes the head ach and general miserableness and then I end up vomiting blood and water. Does any one else have this problem. I told my doc and he said that the blood is probably from my stomach tearing from the intense cramps that I get. I don't know, it does not sound right to me. Anyways, I have had to stop working out until I get everything underr better control because of it.

 

[BWS1982]

If you're vomiting, you're right, you're in no condition to push yourself like that. Headaches for me came in workouts when I was dehydrated, even if I had drank most of my jug of water for the day, I knew I was still low on water. I'd take a bit of a breather, drink extra water, and be okay. Headaches in general can happen with dehydration, as well.

 

[Babe123]

im seeing a dietician atm to gain weight and she suggested little things like adding an extra spoon of sugar to my hot drinks.. drinking full fat milk ( although im only drinking semi skimmed cos i cant tolerate full fat) if i could tolerate it. adding a spoon of jam to my rice pudding. swapping diet coke for normal coke. the weight is coming back on.. slowly though ( i lost a stone within 2 weeks... andits 3 months from then and ive only put on 1 pound

my GI suggested drinking slim fast drinks aswell as eating food. so its like eating 2 meals

dont do too much exercise either... that burns calories
x

 

[Creepy Lurker]

my GI suggested drinking slim fast drinks aswell as eating food. so its like eating 2 meals

dont do too much exercise either... that burns calories
x

This disease does have it's perks

 

[Babe123]

This disease does have it's perks

its having an excuse to be lazy its brill. well with a disease like this there had better be some perks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
x

 

[tehtamponlord]

Baby we will get through this ^_^ I love you!

 

[My Butt Hurts]

Uh, something you want to tell us, Babe?

 

[Creepy Lurker]

Baby we will get through this ^_^ I love you!

Pleeease be a troll. We have enough stalkers already

 

[ThatGuy2006]

Nah, not a troll. She is my girlfriend! She signed up the other day. She has been my everything through this and I dont think that I could ever tell her how much I appreciate her being there for me!

 

[BWS1982]

"tehtamponlord".......Ha, good name though, "Christ bleeds for us all!!"

 

[ThatGuy2006]

By the way, I am off Flagyl now and have noticed that my appetite has improved...not great...but improved. I am snacking more, and trying to eat smaller, more frequent meals. I feel like I am gaining weight but maybe that's all the Big Macs I have had in the last week...

 

[Sparky]

I'm trying to gain weight, but even though I feel like I'm eating loads, nothing's happening

I'm struggling to find a diet that allows me to gain weight, but doesn't cause problems with my already high cholesterol. Why oh why is it so complicated?

 

[BWS1982]

"feels like I'm eating a lot" is often subjective, and in actuality it's less food than people think, just like many people actually underestimate their portions too, and eat more than they think. Counting (estimating by rounding) your calories can help.

Healthy fats (peanut butter, certain oils, fatty fish, eggs) pack on calories a good bit (9 calories per gram of fat, as opposed to 4 cals per gram of carbs/protein), and then you really don't have to worry as much about cholesterol.