DISCLAIMER: The info on these websites is from a variety of sources and I cannot guarantee its accuracy, effectiveness, or safety. When in doubt, please consult a physician.

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TIPS & INFO FOR SKINNY PEOPLE

• Eat AT LEAST 3 meals a day, or at least as many meals as you can.
• Drink juices instead of water sometimes. Juices are high in calories and are good for you. Grape juice and cranberry juice are my favorites.
• Skinny people frequently have gastrointestinal troubles, some of which doctors will label "irritable bowel syndrome" (especially if you get intermittent diarrhea/constipation and intestinal spasms). Abdominal bloating can be very uncomfortable. Always wear loose clothing. Keep the top buttons of your pants unbuttoned and wear a long shirt or sweater. Comfort is the key here.
• Go for lots of walks. I find that after a long walk or mild exercise, I get hungry. I never do vigorous exercise because I want to hold on to as many calories as I can!
• Try to limit stress. When I'm worried or anxious, I don't eat. Then I get stressed because I know I'll lose weight, and it can turn into a vicious cycle.
• Your body uses about 75 calories an hour just to function, so you have to take in at least 75 calories an hour every hour of the day (1800 calories in 24-hour period) just to maintain your existing weight.
• To gain weight, increase the amount of fat you eat. Fat-related health complications are the least of your problems right now. Once you gain your desired weight, you can back off the saturated fat. Also increase the amount of starch and sugars. The risk of death and serious disease as a direct result of being underweight is greater than that of even a lifetime of a high-fat diet. Plus it takes years of eating a massive amount of fat to produce a hazard to your health. If you're concerned about cholesterol, restrict your fat intake to unsaturated fats like corn oil, safflower oil, and olive oil.
• The benefits of fat:
  • Fat is the reserve of energy that powers our body.
  • Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat soluble and require fat stores.
  • Women with adequate fat stores have fewer problems during menopause because their extra fat helps preserve their supply of estrogen.
• 1 gram of carbohydrates supplies 4.1 calories, 1 gram of protein supplies 4.1 calories, but 1 gram of fat supplies 9.3 calories. That means if we eat the same amount of food, substituting fat for other components, we will more than double our caloric intake and put on weight faster. But fat also causes us to feel filled up more quickly, so we shouldn't eat food that consists of 100% fat. No more than 70% fat.
• Protein speeds your metabolism rate by about 30%, which works against us when trying to gain weight. But carbos only increase our metabolic rate by 6%, and fat only 4%.
• During digestion, carbohydrate is converted to sugar and deposited in the liver as a sustance called "glycogen". Glycogen is converted into simple sugars and can be poured into the blood on short notice to be burned up for fast energy. But if we load up the liver with so much glycogen that it can't hold anymore, the rest of the carbos we consume have no place to go and must be converted to fat, which is how we will gain weight. But as soon as we exercise the glycogen is pulled out of the liver to be used as sugar for energy, so whatever we eat will go back into the liver to replenish it. So to make sure this doesn't happen, you should not engage in any exercise for at least 2 hours after eating, ideally avoiding as much movement if possible.
• Wear a sweater or jacket when eating and never eat when you're cold. Stay as warm as possible. When we eat, our food is burned in our bodies to produce energy, which can be used to move our muscles or to keep us warm. The energy that is not used is stored as fat, which we want.
• Avoid a high-fiber diet while you're trying to gain weight because it fills you up quickly and slows down the absorption of calories from the rest of your food by as much as 20%. Instead of high-fiber carbos, we want to eat simple or low-fiber carbos. This includes "white foods" such as white flour, white pasta, white rice, white bread.
• Instead of drinking water, drink calorie-containing liquid such as fruit drinks, milk-based drinks, breakfast drinks, and fruit-flavored carbonated drinks. A special Latin American beverage called "Malta" is good for gaining weight. It has a rich sweet malty flavor and contains about 175 calories in 8 ounces. And because of it's non-alcoholic but beer-related ingredients (malt), it may even stimulate your appetite.
• The thyroid needs a constant supply of iodine to make the thyroid hormones. Certain foods "trap" the iodine in our bodies to slow down the thyroid temporarily to speed down the metabolism and help us keep the weight on. First of all, buy table salt that is not iodized. They include at least one serving of iodine-trapping foods in your diet every day, eaten raw (like in a salad): broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, cress, mustard, peppergrass, radish, and roquette. Also, eat nuts (although peanuts are not iodine-trappers).
• "Layer" your foods by adding stuff like ketchup, mustard, mayo, butter, oil, to add up the calories.
• Always carry food with you, in your pocket or purse, like cookies or other treats. Keep food in your car's glove box for when you're on the road.
• Never go to bed hungry. The best time to eat is at night before you go to bed, when your metabolic rate is the lowest.
• Raid the refrigerator at midnight, like fat people do. But if you can't do that, at least keep snacks by your bed, even in a cooler if possible, within easy reach for when you wake up at night.
• Eat when you're happy, in cheerful surroundings, having fun, in a social environment like a party. Eat while watching TV because you'll be concentrating on the TV program rather than how much food you're eating, especially if the program is interesting and exciting.
• Try new foods, ethnic foods, exciting foods, new combinations.
• The effect of low temperatures on our bodies causes a "thermodynamic effect" by increasing fat deposits on the parts of the body exposed to the cold temperatures. This is why female swimmers are always a little chunky around the front, not because of exercise, but because of the constant action of cool water on the front of their bodies. If you swim about 15 minutes a day in a pool 72-74 degrees, in about 2 weeks you should notice increased thin and uniform layer of fat deposits in your breasts and abdomen (just abdomen in men). Wear the briefest bathing suit possible.
• When we eat, the food empties from your stomach to the duodenum (beginning of small intestine), and this triggers the release of a hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK), which acts on the vagus nerve to send the message to your brain that you're not hungry anymore. So we want to eat fast, not gulping down our food, but not taking breaks in-between to talk, do work, etc. The idea is to eat as much as you can before the food reaches your duodenum and puts out the signal to your brain that you're no longer hungry. It's an average of about 13 minutes from the time you take your first bite.
• Thiamine (vitamin B1), about 10mg a day, can increase your hunger after about 3 days of taking it.
• Use behavior modification. Before each meal select a target task that absolutely has to be done within the next few hours, or at most, the next day. Then plan a meal loaded with calories. Tell yourself that you have to "eat your way" to that task, and you can't start the task until you've finished your high-calorie meal.
• Click HERE to find out about foods that help you gain weight.

MEDICAL TESTS YOU SHOULD GET

These tests can rule out any medical problems you may have that could be causing your weight loss/inability to gain weight:

1. Complete Blood Count (CBC) counts number, size, and shape of blood cells. This detects anemia, leukemia, infections, and other problems.
2. Sedimentation Rate (ESR) measures how fast the components of your blood settle; it detects infections and other problems.
3. Urinalysis identifies kidney and bladder problems.
4. Chemistry Multiphasic Panel (CMP) usually includes tests for kidney function, liver enzymes, albumin, calcium, and phosphorus, and checks blood sugar for diabetes.
5. Chest X-Ray detects tuberculosis or lung tumors.
6. AIDS test (AIDS can keep you from gaining weight).
7. Test in blood for stool if you're over 40 years old.
8. Sigmoidoscopy if you're over 50; this detects polyps and tumours in the rectum and lower colon.
9. Pap smear for women, which detects cervical cancer.
10. Mammography in women over 40, which detects breast cancer.
11. Prostate-Specific Antigen test for men over 50 to check for prostate cancer.
12. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) test. Your thyroid may be overactive if you are very high-strung, perspire more than most people, get heart palpitations, feel restless, have shaky hands, have prominent eyes, and unexplained diarrhea.
13. Stool samples for bacteria as well as parasites and ova
14. You may want to ask your doctor about Marfan Syndrome. This is a genetic disease of the connective tissue and involves the heart, vessels, eyes, bones, ligaments, and muscles. People with Marfan's Syndrome are generally very tall and thin and cannot gain weight.

1. Look for a shelf or countertop about waist height that is too heavy for you to lift.
2. Stand facing it and put the palms of both hands under it as if you were going to lift it. Push upward hard with both hands and at the same time stand up on your tiptoes.
3. Hold that for the count of 3. Then let your heels drop until you're standing flat on the floor again.
4. Repeat 5 times, gradually increasing to 15.