I'm too thin...seriously.

[mrs.t]

I have a 6 mo DS who I am BFing, and I plan on extended nursing so I won't be weaning anytime soon. My problem is that I am way too thin for my taste. I completely hate my body the way it is right now, but I can't seem to keep weight on. I know this may not seem like a problem to some, but I was always very thin as a teenager and struggled to gain weight. Before I got pregnant I was a very happy 115 pounds. Now I'm down to 105. It sucks.

My son seems to have some issues with dairy, so I have to stay away from it, but I need to know how to gain more weight while still being healthy about it. I don't want to eat everything just because I won't get fat doing it. I've been trying to eat larger portions, and I've been having eggs every day as well as avocados. I'm not a vegetarian, so for dinner I always include some meat. I'm not a big fan of seafood.

I looked up the components of breastmilk and it seems to be high in fat and protein. So my thinking is, I should add more fats and protein to my diet to replace what is being lost. Does this make sense? I feel like there is no point in loading up on carbs, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

What are some healthy fatty foods or protein rich foods that are dairy free? HELP!

[lolar2]

Have you been to a doctor to see if you have any kind of medical problem causing you to be too thin? Do you have nutritional deficiencies? Or is it just genetic in your family? My family has a "fat" side and a "thin" side, and the thin ones have a much easier gaining muscle weight (such as by weight lifting) than gaining extra fat, if you think that would be to your liking. Actually the fat ones have an easier time getting strong via exercise than losing weight, too. I guess the moral is that muscle is more malleable than fat, in either direction.

[cristeen]

What does a typical day of eating look like for you? How often? How much? If you give us a few sample menus of what you actually eat, we should be able to help you tweak it.

Barring that, the easy answer is to eat more. Fat and protein are crucial for your BM, but if you do well w starches, i'd add some whole grains to each meal along w your fresh fruit & veg. Your grains and produce should always be accompanied by fat so your body gets the most use out of them. You should be eating fat protein and starch at each meal. Most people who are underweight find it difficult to gain without all 3.

Once you look at your menus, meal planning would be my next suggestion. Make sure to plan snacks also. Try to have a snack available each time you sit down to nurse. When he eats, you eat.

[mrs.t]

It's definitely genetic. Both sides of my family are thin, and remain thin no matter what. Everyone on my dad's side is a lover of rich desserts of all kinds, but they are all slender and were rail thin as teenagers. My mom's side can gain weight but not easily.

A typical day for me would be:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, whole grain toast with butter, juice

Snack: granola bar

Lunch: Homemade soup (usually with some kind of meat or bean, let's say chicken noodle) whole grain roll, seltzer

Snack: avocado with multi grain crackers

Dinner: Salad with vinegar and oil, Chicken breast (usually no skin) with asparagus, soda or seltzer

Some kind of cookies or a small dessert.

Water throughout the day

Sometimes if I'm really hungry my snack will be something like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or an apple with peanut butter. Sometimes, very rarely, I will skip lunch but that hardly ever happens. If I do skip it I will have more at dinner time. I'm usually way too hungry to skip meals. I may only have one snack a day if I'm really busy or if I run out of stuff to snack on.

I get moderate exercise, usually I'll take DS for a walk around the neighborhood, which is uphill so I guess it's a pretty good workout, for 30 mins probably 4-5 days a week.

I guess I'm lacking fat, right? I've never been a huge fan of fatty foods, I'm not even sure how to get enough fat.

[cristeen]

Do you cook your eggs in a nonstick skillet?

Granola bars, broth based soups, skinless chicken breasts are all way too low fat for your purposes.

If you can tolerate butter, how about heavy cream?
Scramble your eggs w a few Tbs of cream and cook in a Tbs or two of butter or other fat. If your broth based soups are a budgetary issue, then find ways to add fats (sautee veg in fats, cook beans in fats, stir in a scrambled egg, add a poached egg, etc.). If not, find something that's a bit heartier.

Switch from chicken breast to thigh and leave the skin on. Add nuts to your salad, you can toast them in a little oil first and use that oil in your dressing.

When you dress your salad, are you mixing your dressing or just drizzling? You'll probably get more fat if you mix a dressing instead of drizzling.

Really, your menu looks pretty low calorie for a nursing mom to me. It's no wonder you've neen losing weight.

[Magelet]

I was going to say, that looks like no fat at all to me. I'm not sure it would satisfy me and I'm not nursing.

I'd up the fat a lot (stick with healthy fats like butter, coconut oil, olive oil, lard, tallow, chicken fat, rather than anything hydrogenated or vegetable oils), and just up the food in general.

[karika]

I agree that does not sound like enough food. I am nursing my 22 mo, and I eat the equivalent of what you listed in the first half of the day. I think we need something like 3000 calories just to maintain... I am also thin, or I was all my life until after dd2, now I am a more 'normal' weight at 113. With dd1 I lost too much weight when she was 3 yo and lost my milk. So- eat a lot more. Stay with the good stuff like fresh local organic fruits and veggies. I eat mine sauteed in olive oil, or steamed then served with coconut oil. Make a smoothie at least once a day with a banana, a couple green leaves, whatever fruit you have on hand, and or frozen cherries and blueberries. Add your powdered vitamins and a scoop of hemp protein powder. a bit of coconut milk or a coconut yogurt, some water if necessary and a few cubes of ice... don't count it as a meal. I eat something every hour to hour and a half. I do not concern myself with meals, I just eat all the time and whenever. I do not ingest gluten, dairy or soy. This time around, my weight is much better. I have been going meat free, but I am losing that one and still enjoying lots of chicken with skin, ham slices with a bit of fat in them. All ethically raised and butchered locally of course.... I make crepes nearly daily with 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of my GF flour mix (coconut flour mixed with brown rice flour), dash cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, 1/3 cup sugar, and 2 tbsp oil and spread them with homemade refrigerator jelly I make from fruit. I eat at least one avocado daily, at least one salad with lots of stuff every 2 days. I agree with PP, from what I read of your menu, up the fat and protein. If you are having any gastro problems, cut out gluten. I am sure that was part of why I was so skinny for so long, I am gluten sensitive and didn't know until last year. Now I am much healthier IMO.

[mrs.t]

Thank you all for the input. I guess I never really thought about it until I actually wrote it down. Adding nuts to salad is a great idea, I need to add more nuts in general.

Cristeen-That makes sense, to eat the fattier part of the chicken...plus as an added bonus it's cheaper! Butter seems to be ok but anytime I add milk to anything my DS gets extremely gassy and fussy so I'm not sure about the heavy cream. I fry my eggs in butter. Salad dressing is usually mixed in but I could definitely have more.

Magelet-What do you add the oils to? Or do you just cook in it?

Karika-I did a calorie count of everything I actually ate yesterday and it was more like 2000 calories, so I guess I'm way behind. I definitely need to pick up some more coconut yogurt. I need another trip to the health food store.

The worst part is, poor DH has been trying to lose weight! I guess I need to trade plates with him...he always goes for the dark meat and extras when I don't really eat that way.

[BirthIsAwesome]

I agree with the pp's: butter your whole grain bread/rolls liberally, cook everything in healthy oil/butter, increase your salad dressing, add things like nuts/avacado/nondairy cheese to your salads, add in a smoothie every day (protein powder, avacado, berries, bananas, orange juice, coconut yogurt, spinach, dash of flaxseed oil, dash of honey or agave), and snack more. I would also try to eat larger portions of meat and go for the fattier meats. You could stand to eat a 6 oz. portion of meat twice during the day, at least until you get your weight up. Good luck!

[carfreemama]

I'm tall and naturally thin, too; but I've learned to manage it to stay at a healthy, stable weight. Even now, though, it's a conversation point that I'm "so thin." Frankly, it can get annoying; you would never get away with these kinds of comments directed at someone who was "so heavy." For me, it's had the effect of reinforcing that "thin" is part of my identity; which raises other issues...

Anyhow, I eat olive oil and avocados every day. I start the day with whole grain toast spread with a mix of olive oil and butter, topped with nut butter and sprinkled with whole, raw hemp and sunflower seeds. Eggs are great, cooked in, you guessed it, olive oil.

Snacks always were nuts, cheese and fruit midmorning with green tea (which I love, but speeds metabolism supposedly, so maybe not so good for weight maintenance). Now that I don't eat cheese, I'm having to find another fat source. That's key, too; you can't take something away without finding a replacement. So now it's bean dip with some avocado oil mixed in.

Lunch is usually guacamole with lots of raw veggies. But LOTS of guacamole!

More snacks in the afternoon, sometimes whole-grain muffins with fruit, or more bean dip.

Supper is often fatty fish, like sardines/salmon/anchovies with pasta or something. But if you don't like fish, then definitely go for dark meat or even some skin.

I also drink things like cocoa with full-fat almond milk. I do buy yogurt sometimes and again, go for full fat. Even tofu and tempeh can add fat, if you eat any soy (I do, in moderation).

I eat A LOT. And I'm not nursing, and I have a desk job. And I'm 42. And now my weight doesn't fluctuate much at all. This is what I have to do to maintain it. It's fun, though! I found it annoying when I was nursing, because I didn't have TIME to eat so much. That part will get easier.

[lil_earthmomma]

Coconut products are full of healthy fat and great for bfing mom's because of the lauric acid! They also won't hurt your ds's tummy! Use coconut milk (full fat of course) for soups (try a thai chicken soup, or I love curry butternut squash with coconut milk! mmmm!) Cook with coconut oil, use the refined organic stuff when you don't want a coconut flavor.

Do you like smoothies? You can add coconut milk to these, and even some custard base for extra protein, and calories. I do this for my ds's. I just make custard base the way you would for making ice cream, minus the sugar. Pretty much coconut milk and some combo of eggs and egg yolks. Heat the milk, temper the eggs, whisk into the milk and wisk until it coats the back of a spoon. Don't let the eggs curdle or you'll have scrambled soup! Then I just put this in the fridge and add some to smoothies every morning. (I don't think raw eggs are very palettable personally so that's why I make the custard base.)

[Storm Bride]

I was also going to suggest adding nuts and butter, in particular. Coconut oil is also a good idea.

Keeping the skin on the chicken is also good, if you can stand it. Chicken skin makes me want to throw up, so there's no way I'd keep it on mine!

[mrs.t]

Thanks for all the great ideas!!! I went and bought some coconut milk, yogurt, and even ice cream! It looks really good. I'm definitely going to incorporate most of the suggestions here. Hopefully I'll be trying to figure out how to lose weight soon!

Any other suggestions are appreciated!