Tag Archives: weight gain

Dietitian Advice, Nutrition Education

Where should I set my weight goal?

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Where should my weight goal be?

Why does my body keep on gaining when I want it to stop?

Why have I reached a plateau?

If you were perfectly in tune with our bodies you would be able to eat when hungry, stop when full, even decide what to eat whilst thinking about the signals your body was sending out. This would likely result in your weight remaining relatively stable. Why? 

The theory is that the body has a genetically determined weight set point. This is the point where the body functions best. It will work to gain/lose weight back to this point. So with small losses and gains of weight your body will adapt it’s metabolism to bring your weight back. 

If you constantly ignore the bodies hunger/fullness signals you can override this system and push the body into a new “settling point”. Your body will work to get back towards it’s set point but external factors may mean this is not possible so it compromises. This can explain why you find it easy to gain/lose a little weight below your normal weight but then have to make bigger changes to alter your weight further. It also shows why a WEIGHT BAND is needed and not a single figure. 

Dietitian UK: set-point-theorywhere-should-i-set-my-weight-goal

Looking at the research on weight restoration after people have been at a low weight you find it takes time for them to get back to their healthy weight bands. For example simulation using the data from the Minnesota starvation study show it took over a year for the men’s bodies to resettle back to within 5% of their original body fat. 

In my practice of eating disorders I see similar results. Getting the body to regain weight back to it’s former set point is not as easy as you would imagine. There can be phases of regular weight gain and then plateau periods. It can take a few months for weight maintenance to be established. Almost as if the body is testing to make sure it is safe for it to settle into it’s groove again. Following a pattern of either bingeing and restricting or eating more and then compensating another day will make it harder for the body to normalise itself. Mindful eating, a regular pattern of meals and listening to your body’s signals is the key.

When you lose weight, below the set-point, your metabolism decreases. Your body uses less energy for jobs such as digesting food. Your overall energy expenditure decreases and your resting energy expenditure decreases. So you use less calories than you were using. As you start to weight restore your metabolism will at some point start to increase alongside this. This can result in a weight plateau, but it can also help you justify eating more.

How do your work out your set-point?

This is the tricky bit. There is no direct way to measure it and it can change over time. For some women pregnancy will change the set point. Ageing can have an affect. Medications and illness too. 

What we do know is it isn’t likely to be dead on a BMI of 20. BMI is a guide and a range it isn’t definitive. So you may have to continue gaining past BMI of 20 and listen to your physical health signals. Your energy levels, your menstrual cycle, your bone health, the condition of your hair and nails, your blood results. Ignore the numbers on the scales and think about your body as a whole.

General tips: look back over your weight history. If you have had a stable period when you ate normally and were moderately active then your weight at this time will be a huge clue. 

Look at the weight of siblings and parents. If you are female think about the weight when your menstrual cycle was occurring regularly, this is a huge clue. 

Remember, the body wants stability and to feel safe. So give it a routine and listen to what it is asking you for. 

If you need any advice then do get in touch for a Skype or face to face consultation.

 

References:

CCI: set point theory http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/docs/set%20point%20theory.pdf

Mirror-Mirror : Set Point Theory: http://www.mirror-mirror.org/set.htm 

Muller, JM et al (2010). Is there evidence for a set point that regulates human body weight? F1000 Med Rep. 2010; 2: 59. Accessed via PubMed.

Eating Disorders, Nutrition Education

Boosting your nutritional intake – the healthy way to weight gain.

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I work in the topsy turvy world that is eating disorders. Most of the media focus, food manufacturers, shops and nutrition business is on how to lose weight…. whilst I work with people on how to gain or maintain their weight. Gaining weight may sound like it is easy to do… but it often isn’t. You need to increase your dietary intake by 350-500kcals per day to start gaining weight. Now if you don’t have an eating disorder that may seem like no hard thing. A latte and slice of cake will easily hit the mark. However often the clients I work with are keen to increase the energy density of their diet in healthy ways. Now I’m all for eating plenty of veggies but you will have to eat a whopping amount if you are going to gain weight on extra veggies alone As I had to explain to one client recently – 350kcals extra in salad alone would mean you would be eating salad all day long. However there are options, if you can keep an open mind. 

Foods like nuts, seeds, avocado, dried fruit, nut butters, hummus, yoghurt, cheese, eggs, olive or rapeseed oils and fruit juices, will provide a nutrient dense way to increase the calories of your diet.

Dietitian UK: Why almonds are so good for you

 

Some of these foods may be on the scary side but they all provide nutrients that the body needs.

Dietitian UK: Gaining weight the healthy way for eating disorders

Here are some of my top suggestions of ways to boost up your intake by around 350kcals:
 
Add 1 tbsp seeds and 1 tbsp dried fruit to your normal cereal then top with your usual milk plus 2 tbsp yoghurt and add a glass of fruit juice.
Make your own snack boxes with nuts, dried fruit and small crackers (e.g: 15 almonds, 5 dried apricots, 7 rice crackers).
Homemade smoothies with yoghurt, chia seeds and fruit (e.g. 1 banana, 100g yoghurt, 100ml milk, 1 tbsp chia seeds and 1 handful blueberries).
1 serving Granola with 1 serving of Greek yoghurt.
1/2 avocado on 1 slice toast with a glass of fruit juice.
2 tbsp almond butter on 3 oatcakes with 1 banana sliced on top.
3 peanut butter cookies with a portion of fruit.
 
To read my healthy eating tips for Eating Disorders go here.

 

Nutrition Education

Take the Fizz out of your Life – Sugary Drinks.

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 Sugar Sweetened Beverages are drinks that have sugar added to them, these include juice style drinks, sports drinks, some flavoured waters, some milkshake drinks, and of course fizzy drinks. The market for these type of drinks has rapidly grown over the past few decades and they are now drunk regularly on a daily basis by many rather than being reserved for treats and special occasions. 

 Some of these drinks are obviously not healthy, but some look on the surface to be a good choice – but are they? The problem is these drinks contain “empty calories”, but virtually no nutrients. People often don’t think about the calories in them, so these turn into extra calories resulting in weight gain. 

 One study conducted on over 100,000 people showed drinking sugar sweetened beverages was associated with a mean weight gain of 0.36kg over 4 years. It was suggested that replacing sugary drinks with 1 cup of water per day would lead to 0.49kg weight loss over 4 years (1). That’s from drinks alone!

 Research shows us that sugary drinks are responsible for increasing weight gain, fat gain, blood glucose levels and decrease fat metabolism. Regularly drinking them has been shown to change the way the muscles used fuel, leading to them choosing sugar over fat and similar changes are seen in the body as seen in people with type 2 diabetes and obesity (2). This shows that sugary drinks can predispose us to these chronic diseases too.

 So if you want to look after your long term health and your weight these sugary drinks need to be kept as a treat. Swap them for water, no added sugar squash, milk, herbal/fruit tea, tea or coffee.

 

This post was written for Slimsticks.

 

References:

1. Int J Obes (Lond). 2013 Jan 15.

Changes in water and beverage intake and long-term weight changes: results from three prospective cohort studies.

Pan A, Malik VS, Hao T, Willett WC, Mozaffarian D, Hu FB.

 

2. Eur J Nutr. 2013 Apr;52(3):937-48.

Adaptive metabolic response to 4 weeks of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in healthy, lightly active individuals and chronic high glucose availability in primary human myotubes.

Sartor F, Jackson MJ, Squillace C, Shepherd A, Moore JP, Ayer DE, Kubis HP.