Cant Gain Weight?

[holdthegluten]

I have lost 15lbs in the past 4 months since going gluten free. I probably consume about 2500 calories a day. I used to be at 150lbs and not fat, but had a little extra fat in the midsection. Now i am 135lbs and i am 5'6" male. I am not losing strength, but i am very lean now. I want to gain like 10 lbs of muscle, but can't. I dont have any malabsorption issues, so i dont see why i cant gain. Any ideas?

[par18]

I have lost 15lbs in the past 4 months since going gluten free. I probably consume about 2500 calories a day. I used to be at 150lbs and not fat, but had a little extra fat in the midsection. Now i am 135lbs and i am 5'6" male. I am not losing strength, but i am very lean now. I want to gain like 10 lbs of muscle, but can't. I dont have any malabsorption issues, so i dont see why i cant gain. Any ideas?

I assume you are active. The only way I know to gain weight is to take in more calories than you burn. I don't know how often you eat during the day but the more often the better. You don't have to eat a lot at one time but you do need to eat a certain amount every few hours. Like I said if you burn calories you will have to eat enough to maintain and then a little extra to gain. After I gained back to a healthy weight I became very active again. I still have to make myself eat something throughout the day because I want to stay at my present weight. Hope this helps.

Tom

[Betty in Texas]

I will trade with you, I will box all my up and ship it to you I have about 40 lbs I can share.

[Cornhusker]

I have lost 15lbs in the past 4 months since going gluten free. I probably consume about 2500 calories a day. I used to be at 150lbs and not fat, but had a little extra fat in the midsection. Now i am 135lbs and i am 5'6" male. I am not losing strength, but i am very lean now. I want to gain like 10 lbs of muscle, but can't. I dont have any malabsorption issues, so i dont see why i cant gain. Any ideas?

What Tom said. I was in the mid 150s and dropped to the mid 130s prior to diagnosis. Clawed my way back to mid 140 and then had a setback this spring...back to 137. Over the past 2 months I've gotten back to 147, but it takes constant focus on calorie intake. 2500 wouldn't cut it for me. I make sure I have a solid breakfast, snacks during the day, an early dinner, and then a late dinner with the family. Snacks again at night. One thing that I think has helped me significantly is that I've increased my activity level. Joined a gym and have been doing some strength training. What's coming back is muscle...mostly. But it has really revved up my appetite making the eating a lot easier.

It just takes work.

[debmidge]

My husband throughout the years needed to re-gain his weight and despite all the calories he ate, he did not re-gain all he lost, maybe about 15 lbs. he gained back but it was fat not muscle. In the beginning of his illness, I can only describe it as "active malabsorption" and it then became a "quite malabsorpton." Now that he's been gluten free since 2003 he has only gained back 5 lbs. and consumes a lot of calories compared to his low level of activity. He should be at least 150 lbs, but he struggles to keep 133 on his frame.

[knowledgeandpower]

My husband throughout the years needed to re-gain his weight and despite all the calories he ate, he did not re-gain all he lost, maybe about 15 lbs. he gained back but it was fat not muscle. In the beginning of his illness, I can only describe it as "active malabsorption" and it then became a "quite malabsorpton." Now that he's been gluten free since 2003 he has only gained back 5 lbs. and consumes a lot of calories compared to his low level of activity. He should be at least 150 lbs, but he struggles to keep 133 on his frame.

I as well have been misdiagnosed for about 15 years. I finally got a doc that did not go to the "its all in your head and your depressed" card. It actually took a 6 day hospital visit and about 4 changes of gastro doc's, a visit to the psych hospital, countless attempts at different medicines, 1 therapist, 2 psychologists to prove it wasn't in my head, and alot of other expensive events before somebody would consider that it wasn't all in my head.

I dropped 52 lbs in a few months so I understand where he has been as I am sure many others on this chatboard are as well. I have been gluten free now for about 2 months. I have been able to stabilize my weight at 133 lbs but can't seem to gain. If you do figure out how to gain back some of the weight let me know. Right now, I battle each meal to eat. During all of this sickness I lost any and all appetite and I used to love food. I have watched my muscle waste away and wonder if the misdiagnosis of depression, IBS, anxiety, and all the other wrong things have done irrepairable damage. Before this all happened I didn't even know what gluten was. I feel horrible for people like your husband and others on this chatboard who have had to go through each day wondering what it would be like to eat and not hurt.

Thanks for letting me complain. If I can begin to gain, I will let you know what I have done to do so (I keep detailed lists of my caloric intake each day to make sure my calories are up).

Best wishes.

[codetalker]

Right now, I battle each meal to eat. During all of this sickness I lost any and all appetite and I used to love food.

I have the same issues of being underweight and not being able to gain. I have found that loss of appetite sometimes can be dealt with by making sure I have enough B vitamins. Not megadoses, just 100% RDA. It just takes a day or two of supplements to kick my appetite back into gear. Of course, a good appetite is of little value when food choices are limited.

[dally099]

I have the same issues of being underweight and not being able to gain. I have found that loss of appetite sometimes can be dealt with by making sure I have enough B vitamins. Not megadoses, just 100% RDA. It just takes a day or two of supplements to kick my appetite back into gear. Of course, a good appetite is of little value when food choices are limited.

hi well im a women so its a bit different for us, but i allways was fairly thin even after my kids, however i got really sick last november (this is when we figured out celiac disease) now im 5ft 5" with a small build, i was at 109lbs and in about 6 weeks i dropped down to 95lbs (ugh i looked like nichole ritchy horrible!) now 10 months later if im carefull i can keep my self at 110lbs, allthough i can drop down to 106 pretty quickly. i am a runner so i have had to change my workout routine a little, as well i do kickboxing, and these are two very calorie burning activities, so i know lift way more weights and when i run i do a lot more hill training. i also eat things that years ago you wouldnt pay me to eat, i have to admit that i eat at mcdonalds now, (bunless 1/4 pounder and fries), ice cream, and god help me doritos. im still a very healthy eater, love my salads, chicken that kind of stuff, but i have just learned to add fat in my diet. i have issues with soy so that dosent help but the biggest thing that i did that makes a difference is full fat dairy, (ugh again couldnt have paid me years ago!) and im a fairly heavy coffee drinker, i used to drink it black, i now add cream and sugar. i also bake now, cheaper than buying gluten-free stuff, and i accually eat cookies and stuff now. i still wont eat egg yolks but i hope this helps, i have started getting the muscles back nice and toned and my endurance is finally back up to where it was last year this time, be patient it will come, hope this helps!