Too much weight loss.

[Pistol4901]

I am bordering on being underweight and have recently lost 10 lbs to not eating enough. Reasons for that don't really matter for this discussion but if someone has questions I'd be happy to elaborate. When I did the Whole 30 last time I lost 10-15 lbs which put me underweight. It's one reason I couldn't maintain the diet. I want to succeed this time but don't know how. If it happens again I will be severely underweight. I know this is the opposite problem as many others but was hoping someone had advice on how to avoid any more weight loss and bonus points on ways to gain some weight back. Thanks!!

[ShannonM816]

This article has some tips for maintaining weight on Whole30.

 

Basically, eat to the upper end of the meal template (choose 2 palm-sized portions of protein, 2 thumb-sized servings of fat, and aim for 3 cups of veggies at each meal). Choose calorie-dense foods as much as possible -- heartier vegetables, including starchy vegetables, over lettuce, salmon over shrimp. Definitely don't skimp on the fats -- cook in fat, add mayo or sauces to your meals, have whole avocados. The article has other tips relating to exercise and stress as well, but eating more is definitely going to be key.

 

 

 

(If any of this is related to an eating disorder, keep in mind that Whole30 is not always a great option for people with eating disorders as it can trigger its own disordered behaviors. If this is an issue for you, read this article, and be sure to seek out professional help if you need it. If that's not at all what's going on here, great! Just ignore this bit and carry on.)

[Pistol4901]

It's not an eating disorder. I've always had low weight and high metabolism. (Like when I was born- full term- the hospital had to use surgical masks for diapers). I didn't weight above 110 lbs until I was in my last year in college when I gained a lot of weight due to medication. My track coach had told me in high school to eat an extra 1,000 calories a day and told me she didn't care if I ate candy bars to get it (at the time I was running 6 miles a day). My doctors now are wanting me to really push caloric intake.

My reasoning for wanting to do this again is because I've been really sick and have been in the ER twice this week with serotonin syndrome. This is the 4th time I've had it and it is really rare. They're referring me to a toxicologist. The Whole 30 helped a lot last time. I was having debilitating migraines for 6 weeks at a time. I found out with the reintroduction that any soy would have me curled up in a ball from pain within minutes and dairy and either gluten or wheat (I could never figure it out) would cause mild problems. So if I start getting a migraine, I strictly cut out dairy and gluten for several days and it helps a lot. I don't eat a lot of either. Dairy was the hardest for me to maintain and probably ultimately why I stopped trying.

The main triggers for weight loss have been being sick for two weeks (vomiting and diarrhea), not having energy to cook or being able to safely drive to get food. So I normally weigh 125 at 5'6" and Thursday weighed 114 at 5'6". That puts my weight teetering on underweight.

I'm wondering if there is a way to supplement my meals. Because I think one of the issues was I felt full but would get hungry again quickly. While not on the whole 30, I've used ensure shakes. They obviously aren't compliant but wondering if something else may be technically compliant but not recommended?

[ShannonM816]

Did you check out the first article I linked above about maintaining weight? It has a link to some really high calorie options that are compliant. While smoothies are discouraged for most people, for people who need to maintain or gain weight, they can be an option. Continue to make them with compliant foods, obviously, but they might be helpful. Adding oil/ghee on top of your foods can increase your calories without increasing your volume of food.

 

For your meals themselves, focus on cooked vegetables -- salads are not going to be very calorie dense, and even for other vegetables like carrots or broccoli, it's just easier to eat a greater volume of them when they're cooked than raw. Choose fattier cuts of meat when you can, as an easy way to add more calories without increasing the volume of food too much.