When Gaining Weight is a Losing Battle

Environmental Nutrition, November 1, 1989

ROBYN FLIPSE, MS, RD

They're the people we love to hate - the skinny ones who can eat whatever they want and never gain weight. With the high incidence of obesity in this country and with dieting a national pastime, it's hard to imagine that anyone would complain about being too thin. Yet, gaining weight is as difficult for some people as losing weight is for others.

The causes of underweight are as diverse as those of overweight. For some people, underweight may be due to a "wasteful" metabolism that burns more calories to do a given amount of work than is required by a heavier person with a more "conservative" metabolism. Or irregularities in feelings of hunger or fullness may be responsible for lower body weights.

Genetics may also explain in part why some people have trouble gaining weight. Many families - even entire cultures - exist in which food intake and energy expenditure seem to be out of sync with the rest of the population.

The set point for body weight that so often sabotages the efforts of people trying to lose weight can be equally harsh on those trying to gain. For the underweight, the mechanism simply works in reverse. The more calories thin people eat, the faster their metabolic rates become to use up the excess. As a result, an additional 500 calories a day may produce only one-half pound per week of weight gain instead of the expected one pound per week.

Making the Most of Every Mouthful. The path to weight gain is not paved with rich desserts, greasy snacks and a trail of candy wrappers. Even thin people can suffer the ill-effects of such a diet.

What can be done to add pounds without peril is to select foods with a high caloric density. What that means is that the calories in the food are more concentrated. This makes it possible to increase the number of calories eaten without dramatically increasing the volume of food.

One way to do this is with high-fat condiments that can be added to foods or used in their preparation. A medium potato contains approximately 100 calories. Add sour cream when it's baked, mayonnaise when it is served cold or fry it in oil, and you can double or triple the calories of that single potato. But don't overdo, too much fat in the diet carries health risks.

Another option is the use of dried or condensed foods. Moisture takes up space without contributing calories. Dried or condensed foods have more calories per ounce. Nonfat dry milk, for example, can be added to fluid milk, soups, sauces, yogurt or shakes to boost their calorie counts. Selecting dried fruit as a snack instead of fresh will also provide more calories per mouthful.

Avocados, beans and legumes, nuts and nut butters are few of nature's most calorically dense garnishes. Used liberally in salads, casseroles or mashed into dips and spreads, they can turn any meal into a feast.

Adding Meals to Meal Plans. Trying to consume three "killer meals" per day to get in all those extra calories is just as doomed to failure as are the semi-starvation regimens attempted by many overweight dieters. A better approach is to plan to eat five or six moderately sized meals each day.

For example, eating two breakfasts, one at 7 am and one at 10:30 am. The early breakfast could be pancakes (fortified with nonfat milk powder) and a fruit shake. The later one, a whole grain muffin made with dried fruit and topped with a generous spread of peanut butter. The first lunch at 12:30 pm could feature chili with beans and rice, followed by a sandwich and yogurt at 3 pm.

Dinner at 6 pm might be spaghetti tossed with olive oil, olives and tomato sauce. An 8:30 pm repast might be a baked sweet potato stuffed with candied apple slices and melted cheddar cheese. Additional side dishes and beverages should complement each meal to reach the desired level of calories.

An even simpler way to get six meals per day is to make half of them liquid meals. Many of the popular fortified liquid meals on the market for weight "losers" can be prepared with milk and used in addition to regular meals to promote weight gain.

Winning at Gaining. Forget about miracle weight-gain potions. Neither protein and amino acids supplements, over-the-counter growth stimulants, nor any other commercial product claiming the secret to weight gain is going to help. To tip the scales in favor of weight gain takes the same careful menu planning, attention to portion sizes and meal/snack timing as does weight loss. It's all in the calories, so every calorie counts.

COPYRIGHT 1989 Environmental Nutrition, Inc.This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.