Could My Friend Attend Class?

[kerry b]

Ok the situation is a bit different to most people wanting to join class.

My friend is most definitely not overweight. If anything she is underweight. She was extremely ill last year and had a feeding tube for quite a few months as she was unable to eat at all. The tube has been out for a year or so now but she is struggling to put on weight.

My question is does she have to say she wants to lose weight to join a sw class or would she be able to join to help her gain weight or maintain her weight? She has been listening to me talk about the way I now eat and feels that SW might help her by providing a healthy balanced diet. She is not looking to lose weight and as I don't attend a class I can't ask anyone.

Thanks.

 

[jaylou]

She wouldn't be able to join. You have to lose a minimum of half a stone, and there are lower weight guidelines too. She may even be below that.
Perhaps you could help her by giving her a list of all the foods you can eat freely and that may help her, or she may need the help of a nutritionalist?

Sorry it's not the answer you probably want to hear hun. xx

 

[kerry b]

Thanks, not what she wants to hear but saves her a wasted trip to class. She does see a nutrionalist but only every 6 months and was hoping that attending a class to eventually maintain her weight would help and encourage her in the way it does all of us struggling to lose. Maybe she can try it from home with the help of my books.

Thanks again x

 

[lardylady]

I'm at a loss to understand why someone who is underweight would want to follow food optimising. The sole purpose of SW is to enable people to eat healthily and lose weight in the process.
The maintenance programme may be of some help, I suppose. Is that explained in the SW pack?

 

[paperclip]

No, the maintenance programme is only explained to you once you reach target.

In general, you stick to the plan (EE, Green or Red days), the 5-15 syns a day and one/two A choices (as per the plan) - you add as many healthy B choices as required to maintain your weight. It usually takes a few weeks to work out how many B choices to have to maintain so consultants usually recommend 5 B choices every day if you're under target weight (and therefore need to gain a few pounds).

Perhaps your friend could try this healthy approach to gaining weight?

 

[kingleds]

I know it might sound silly, but perhaps she could follow an 'anti sw' programme if she wants to gain some weight? Eg, cook with oil & butter, eat as much bread, cereals, cheese & milk as she wants.
She could still follow the SW principles around fruit & veg, as thats just good for you anyway, and free foods aswell.

Must have been awful to have a feeding tube. My youngest niece has a gastrostomy tube & its not nice, but she's never known any different.

 

[Shirleen]

My mum had oral cancer and lost stones of weight, unfortunately due to the treatment she's permanently on a peg feed.
But the advice she was given before treatment (as she was underweight before then), was to follow a calorie rich diet, so to add fats to normal meals.
She was told to:
Swap SS milk for full fat and gold top
To add butter and cream to dishes like mashed potatoes, to make cheese sauces with cream and cheese.
To buy ice cream like clotted cream ice cream, a lot of ice cream is low fat (high sugar),
To eat scrambled eggs with cream or gold top added.
To snack on nuts (impossible the pain she was in lol).
Some fats can be added without bulk like adding peanut butter or other nut butters to cereals like weetabix porridge etc.
To eat five a day.
To avoid high sugar snacks (at least whilst trying to gain weight, as sugar has a quick burn then the body may switch to fat burn!).

So fat=fat!

But also to start and maintain an exercise plan that includes using weights to improve muscle tone, increase energy etc!

 

[kerry b]

My mum had oral cancer and lost stones of weight, unfortunately due to the treatment she's permanently on a peg feed.
But the advice she was given before treatment (as she was underweight before then), was to follow a calorie rich diet, so to add fats to normal meals.
She was told to:
Swap SS milk for full fat and gold top
To add butter and cream to dishes like mashed potatoes, to make cheese sauces with cream and cheese.
To buy ice cream like clotted cream ice cream, a lot of ice cream is low fat (high sugar),
To eat scrambled eggs with cream or gold top added.
To snack on nuts (impossible the pain she was in lol).
Some fats can be added without bulk like adding peanut butter or other nut butters to cereals like weetabix porridge etc.
To eat five a day.
To avoid high sugar snacks (at least whilst trying to gain weight, as sugar has a quick burn then the body may switch to fat burn!).

So fat=fat!

But also to start and maintain an exercise plan that includes using weights to improve muscle tone, increase energy etc!

That totally makes sense and my friend was also told this by her nutritionalist but unfortunately she couldn't stomach the rich diet and it made her vomit everytime she ate something high in fat it ended up making things worse.

Her thinking is that if she had to weigh every week at class she would do more to maintain a healthy weight and instead of thinking I can't face eating something she would make the effort to cook a healthy dinner. I suppose it's a bit like me trying to do SW at home. If I go off plan and have a gain then there is no-one except me to motivate myself to get back on plan (except you lovely people if im brave enough to say I messed up). I have been trying to follow Sw at home since January 2010 and from that day til now I have lost a total amount of 2lbs because half the time i'm playing at it. Tonight I joined a class in the hope that having to get on the scales in front of other people will give me the kick up the backside I need. she is looking for the same sort of help. Unfortunately for her there is not a class for people who are trying to gain weight.
She is going to try and maintain her current weight with a bit of help from me.

Thank you for all helpful replies

 

[Shirleen]

That totally makes sense and my friend was also told this by her nutritionalist but unfortunately she couldn't stomach the rich diet and it made her vomit everytime she ate something high in fat it ended up making things worse.

Her thinking is that if she had to weigh every week at class she would do more to maintain a healthy weight and instead of thinking I can't face eating something she would make the effort to cook a healthy dinner. I suppose it's a bit like me trying to do SW at home. If I go off plan and have a gain then there is no-one except me to motivate myself to get back on plan (except you lovely people if im brave enough to say I messed up). I have been trying to follow Sw at home since January 2010 and from that day til now I have lost a total amount of 2lbs because half the time i'm playing at it. Tonight I joined a class in the hope that having to get on the scales in front of other people will give me the kick up the backside I need. she is looking for the same sort of help. Unfortunately for her there is not a class for people who are trying to gain weight.
She is going to try and maintain her current weight with a bit of help from me.

Thank you for all helpful replies

How about she joins a gym and gets weighed there?
If she were exercising regularly her weight would increase with the muscle!
It's funny I have a friend in Edinburgh who is underweight! Just a weird co-incidence!

 

[MartinD]

Would protein like those used by bodybuilders help? Easy to digest and not high fat. Smoothies with high fat dairy might they be more digestable.

With her exercise, getting into the gym and doing reps on weight based equipment (machines or free weights) between of between 8-12 will help with hypertrophy esp if she enhances her protein intake. However she will need to eat sufficient carbohydrates still.