cant gain weight

Roar
Roar Member Posts: 269 Member

it took me 7 months to gain 10 lbs. after my hernia operation i got sick for a week and lost it all. i just had my first double quarter pounder with cheese and fries and a coke since last year when all this crap began. i drink 3 ensures a day, bagel and cream cheese for breakfast and usually a good dinner. i cant figure it out. the good news is i was actually pretty close to fully tasting the hamburger and fries. i never in my wildest dreams would have ever thought that i would have a problem putting on weight.another thing that i keep thinking about is my imune system - seems i was never sick more than a day a year if that. now if someone sneezes by me it seems i get sick. is there any way to help our imune system rebuild?

Comments

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    Your body is still putting itself

    back together after having been through a war.....that takes energy.  I'm pretty sure that's where the calories go.  I gained 7 lbs back in the first nine months, but nothing since....I still look like a refugee....and nothing I eat is light in calories (lots of creamy soups like clam chowder, loaded potato soup, brocolli/cauliflower and cheese)....and don't forget the icecream I try about every other day.  Like everything else, it's going to take time....hell, enjoy it while it lasts.  I love eating whatever I want with no guilt Laughing.

    The white cells seem to take a long time coming back after chemo, too.  Mine were still low in May....that was 11 months out of rads....and 9 months out of chemo....so that can account for the low immunity.  I was working alone at night, so never caught anything after treatment.  I also am a hand washer....I wash my hands several times a day.....that does help keep the "bugs" away.

    p

  • debbiejeanne
    debbiejeanne Member Posts: 3,102 Member
    glad u could taste the food! 

    glad u could taste the food!  that's a big plus.  sorry 2 hear u get sick so easily.  that will probably get better w/time.  ur body has been thru battle and it will take a lot of time 2 heal.  hang n there and keep moving forward.  Cool

    dj

  • fishmanpa
    fishmanpa Member Posts: 1,227 Member
    I eat but....

    Hi Roar,

    I'm taking in an average of 2500 + or - calories a day and I'm pretty much sedentary. I go for a walk a few times a week but other than that I'm sitting in my chair at work or at home. I've stayed right around 170 (down 60 pounds since last Fall before the 2nd heart attack) since the end of treatment. I gain a pound, lose a pound... depends on bowel activity... TMI?...nahhhh... you all know what that's about! 

    Keep on eating! Try a mass builder whey product... I have one that's over 700 calories a serving when made with milk! Still, with what our bodies have gone through, it'll take more than calories to gain weight. I hope to be back to the gym in the next 6 months or so and start lifting again. At my peak, I was 225lbs with a 32" waist. Now I have the same waist size but weigh 170... I'm skinny and weak and I don't like it at all! 

    Positive thoughts and prayers

    "T"

     

     

  • yensid683
    yensid683 Member Posts: 349
    Weight gain

    I was struggling to gain weight too as I wanted the PEG tube out.  I was tracking my calories and I found that I needed to take more than 3000 calories a day to gain any weight. 

    I tracked what I ate and drank and found that based on my age, height and weight, I needed a base line of around 1800 calories a day to maintain my weight, but I found that if I got less than 2500, I would lose weight.  Keep a food journal, I found it easier to keep up with calories (lots of protien ones) by keeping a ledger of what I ate and the calorie count.

    Phrannie is again right, your body is working to rebuild itself.  I still find it easy to lose weight and I'm more than a year out of treatments.

    glad to hear that taste is coming back.

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    health & happiness

    Roar,

    To gain more weight ingest more calories.

    For better immunity buy a bubble.

    It is a good time to start being conscience of what steps you can take to improve your health moving forward.  It is something we all contemplate and implement to various degrees.

    Hamburgers is one of the “healthy” foods I like (tongue in cheek).  You do realize that the ultimate healthy people do get cancer too.  All in all, eat right, drink right, avoid sick people and wash your hands often.

    7 month calorie blues,

    Matt

  • TracyLynn72
    TracyLynn72 Member Posts: 839
    I'm with ya!

    I'm maintaining and that's about it.  My doctor seems to think I should have been able to gain at least 5lbs by now (ummm...I'm one month out of treatment with a PEG).  I'm eating "real food" AND using the PEG for extra calories.  I want it out, but he wants me to gain first.  I'm proud I've been able to maintain :)  I'm craving fruits and veggies which aren't much for packing on the pounds!  

    I work around kids, so I'm washing my hands, or using sanitizer when I can't wash, ALL the time!!!  I also try to get in a little rest each afternoon to help my body recover from the day. 

  • donfoo
    donfoo Member Posts: 1,771 Member

    I'm with ya!

    I'm maintaining and that's about it.  My doctor seems to think I should have been able to gain at least 5lbs by now (ummm...I'm one month out of treatment with a PEG).  I'm eating "real food" AND using the PEG for extra calories.  I want it out, but he wants me to gain first.  I'm proud I've been able to maintain :)  I'm craving fruits and veggies which aren't much for packing on the pounds!  

    I work around kids, so I'm washing my hands, or using sanitizer when I can't wash, ALL the time!!!  I also try to get in a little rest each afternoon to help my body recover from the day. 

    one a day

    Hey,

    Here is an easy way to get 5 pounds in no time. MENU

    All you need is a Baja Fish Taco and Pecan Pie and in a couple weeks you will have your 5 extra pounds Laughing

     

    Or even faster at Carls Jr. MENU

    Actually quite shocking and scary how many calories can be had in a single setting. A six buck burger, fries and a shake can get you 2200 calories. You'd gain that 5 pounds faster than you can blink. Then again you'd have to be a reall pig to consume that much in one meal. Then again you could snak on it and eat it throughout the day. LOL

  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    not fast food

    As others have said, your body is rebuilding so it needs gooid fuel not high calories (fast food). Jim struggled to gain as well. It wasn't until he went back on the whey protein once a day and has gained back most of the weight he lost. Most of the weight loss is muscle and muscle needs good quality protein to rebuild, ask any weight lifter.  When you eat food, eat foods high in enzyms and nutrients, not fat and sugar. OK I will get off my soap box. Best of luck in your weight gain.

    Debbie

  • donfoo
    donfoo Member Posts: 1,771 Member
    jim and i said:

    not fast food

    As others have said, your body is rebuilding so it needs gooid fuel not high calories (fast food). Jim struggled to gain as well. It wasn't until he went back on the whey protein once a day and has gained back most of the weight he lost. Most of the weight loss is muscle and muscle needs good quality protein to rebuild, ask any weight lifter.  When you eat food, eat foods high in enzyms and nutrients, not fat and sugar. OK I will get off my soap box. Best of luck in your weight gain.

    Debbie

    OMG. LOL! My turn again on the soapbox.

    I love it. Thanks Debbie. Someone else who is waving the whey protein options. I had nearly given up to all the canned sugar fans around here. Quite a number of the Ensure like products are all sugar with some vitamins and minerals sprinlked in. To me, not any better than having a fat burger. "calories is calories" so sings the choir.

    In fact, hardly any need for me to restate the much healthier option of gaining nutrition and calories via protein powders. That said, we are talking about two totally different scenarios - those you can drink vs those you can eat orally. Of course you can, and many do, drink protein powder drinks even when they can consume solids but my point is if you can eat solids and HAVE to gain to jettison the PEG, then we all know fats have twice the caloric punch than carbs and protein.

    One can make the case to eat nuts, peatnut butter, olive oils, etc. - good fats - but hey, if the goal is to ditch the PEG, then I would offer that any method is fair game. Even stuffing lead shot in the boots like P, lol. don

  • fishmanpa
    fishmanpa Member Posts: 1,227 Member
    donfoo said:

    OMG. LOL! My turn again on the soapbox.

    I love it. Thanks Debbie. Someone else who is waving the whey protein options. I had nearly given up to all the canned sugar fans around here. Quite a number of the Ensure like products are all sugar with some vitamins and minerals sprinlked in. To me, not any better than having a fat burger. "calories is calories" so sings the choir.

    In fact, hardly any need for me to restate the much healthier option of gaining nutrition and calories via protein powders. That said, we are talking about two totally different scenarios - those you can drink vs those you can eat orally. Of course you can, and many do, drink protein powder drinks even when they can consume solids but my point is if you can eat solids and HAVE to gain to jettison the PEG, then we all know fats have twice the caloric punch than carbs and protein.

    One can make the case to eat nuts, peatnut butter, olive oils, etc. - good fats - but hey, if the goal is to ditch the PEG, then I would offer that any method is fair game. Even stuffing lead shot in the boots like P, lol. don

    There's always

    Constipation ~lol~ Pain meds are notorious corks... "say no more, say no more, nudge nudge, know what I mean?"

    Marcia was upset that I lost 2 pounds in a day... I finally "vacated" for goodness sakes! Calm down! ~lol~

    "T"

  • MICH4EL
    MICH4EL Member Posts: 73
    Calories

    I too was frustrated by having lost a lot of weight and having trouble gaining anything back.  I was taking in 2500 calories a day based on the recommendations of the nutritionist.   I eventually upped by daily calories by drinking extra Ensure Plus mixed with half-and-half.   I started gaining weight after I upped my daily intake to 3500 calories.  I have now gained 8 pounds and add another pound every 3-4 days.  A bottle of Ensure Plus and a cup of half-and-half is 670 calories.