mama's wanting to GAIN weight, tips?

[lovebeingamomma]

It's so hard (for me)...so depressing..so little understanding..sick of all the "oh I wish I could give you my weight!" remarks, as if my situation somehow pales in comparison to those who are trying to lose weight.  You have no idea how much I understand I'm just at the opposite end.  So the details are: I'm nursing, I'm 105lb and 5' 7'', so obviously not a very healthy weight.  I don't eat enough.  I've always struggled with eating, not eating is my stress relief, yet somehow by some miracle I'm still making milk AND got my period back, so I must be JUST healthy enough for those things...but help me please...are there any protein shakes someone can rec that don't taste like crap?  Or other tips? (other than, oh just eat!  no it's not that simple)...any encouragement from women who have been here?  I hate it, I'm becoming depressed over it, I get remarks about my appearance and it just kills my self-esteem :(  Thanks...

[Dmitrizmom]

  Saw your post and couldn't not respond.  I have only small advice for you, but wanted to let you know from one mama to another that you are not alone.  Weight issues suck on both ends of the scale.  I hope you are able to find the information you need to gain weight and feel better.
 

I know that my dad has found the only way to make his protein shakes tolerable is to use chocolate milk to make them. 

[MelW]

I've been there while breastfeeding my first, and agree that the comments are awful (it was hard to hear "you look terrific" and "I wish I could lose weight like that" when I was struggling to hard to maintain and had NO energy for exercise).

I had my thyroid and other bloodwork checked to make sure there wasn't any other reason for the weight loss. In my case there wasn't, but it gave me peace of mind to know that there wasn't anything wrong with me.

I never did protein shakes, but tried to drink calories where possible- substituting juice for water (though I don't really like juice) and make smoothies with avocado for extra fat. I also ate a lot of potato chips, which is probably not the healthiest way to gain weight or add calories, but was an easy snack when I was busy. What ultimately made the difference for me was my daughter increasing solids and cutting down on some of the calorie expenditure from breastfeeding, but this was just a matter of waiting until she got a bit older. When I finally stopped losing (was 20 lbs below pre-pregnant weight when she turned one) and could balance calories in/calories out a bit better I starting having better energy to exercise and build some muscle mass for weight gain.

Good luck!

[Amanda_Reyasmom]

My Sister in law has a tiny tiny body type and I ... uh don't.  don't and never have LOL! Clothes shopping with the 2 of us is hilarious at best.  

I wanted to throw out a plug for shakeology.  It's such good stuff, real food ingredients, and it is like taking your multivitamin! I really enjoy the chocolate and they send you a month worth of recipes to mix it up so you don't get bored.  Things like add peanut butter for a peanut butter cup shake.  A friend of mine mixes hers with OJ and swears it tastes like a chocolate orange you get at Christmas.  

As a rule I mix mine 1/2 milk and 1/2 water, but when I feel like I'm needing extra calories then I bump it up to 100% milk and add frozen strawberries and such.  

PM me if you'd like a sample! 

[gitanamama]

lovebeingamomma-- I've never struggled with this but a close friend of mine, who is very petite to begin with, really struggled to keep her weight on while breastfeeding. She was also going through a rough separation from her partner so I think stress played a big role in it, like you mentioned. She found it helpful to ask others to feed her, as funny as that may sound. She would come over to my house for meals, or I'd bring food to her. Her mom and other friends also fed her. I think we can get so busy caring for our little ones that we forget to really care for ourselves, especially with nurslings. Do you have any family or friends who could bring you meals? I know it's usually only customary in the first week or two after your baby is born to have people bring you food, but it might help. And I'm sure your friends/family would be happy to help. 

Also, I couldn't help but wonder from your post whether you're suffering from an eating disorder. Even though you're trying to gain weight, is there a part of you that maintains control through restricting food? It might take some real soul searching and/or counseling if this is the case, in order to change your mindset--like you said, it's not as simple as just eating more. I don't mean to slap the "eating disorder" tag on you---it's just hard to tell from one post what's going on in your heart/mind.