Underweight
Underweight
Look Svelte, Not Scrawny
While most women find it all too easy to put on an extra ten pounds, others eat like mad and can't seem to gain.
If you're underweight, you're probably accustomed to envious comments from friends. And while some research indicates that slightly below average weight may lower your risk of heart disease, high cholesterol and diabetes, excessive thinness is another story.
"For women, the most important indicator that they're medically underweight is if they start having menstrual irregularities," says Mary Ellen Sweeney, M.D., obesity researcher at Emory University School of Medicine and an endocrinologist and director of the Lipid Metabolism Clinics at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, both in Atlanta. This sometimes occurs in women who overexercise, particularly marathon runners. And estrogen levels drop when women don't eat enough to meet their needs.
Underweight women who don't menstruate have a hard time becoming pregnant later on, says Dr. Sweeney. And over time, low levels of estrogen can erode bone density, which can lead to osteoporosis (brittle bone disease).
When To See A Doctor Some women are naturally thin and don't give it much thought. That's no cause for alarm. But others have an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though they already weigh less than normal. If you fit this description, you may be developing an eating disorder, says Bonnie Worthington-Roberts, Ph.D., professor in the Nutritional Sciences Program at the University of Washington in Seattle. See your doctor or contact the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, Box 7, Highland Park, Illinois 60035.
Also, any unintentional weight loss of more than ten pounds warrants medical attention.
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What Women Doctors Do Say Yes to Sweet Treats Bonnie Worthington-Roberts, Ph.D. Blame it on what she calls a busy metabolism. Bonnie Worthington-Roberts, Ph.D., professor in the Nutritional Sciences Program at the University of Washington in Seattle, knows how hard it is to gain weight, because she's been trying to put on pounds herself. Her method? Indulging herself with sweet treats once she has eaten her "real" meals. "I'm five feet five inches and weigh 116 pounds," says Dr. Worthington-Roberts. "I'm kind of bony in spots, and I'd just like to fill out a little. So I'm trying to gain five to ten pounds. "Once I've done the nutritious thing, then I go for the ice cream. For the past five months I've been really digging into pie and cake and ice cream."
Dr. Worthington-Roberts has several pounds to go, so she figures that gaining the weight will take some time. "Meanwhile, this stuff is fun to eat."
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INDULGE WISELY
If you think that you could use some extra weight, here are some suggestions from women doctors.
Indulge in a little fat. "Everyone is bent on eating less fat, but less fat usually gives you fewer calories," says Bonnie Worthington-Roberts, Ph.D., professor in the Nutritional Sciences Program at the University of Washington in Seattle. "If your blood cholesterol is within normal limits, you can be less rigorous about fat."
So start with a bean-grain-vegetable diet, but then go ahead and add a pat of butter to your baked potato, and say yes to that rich dessert, Dr. Worthington-Roberts says. Just make sure to keep the fat to no more than 40 percent of your diet, or 600 calories if you're trying to take in 1,500 calories a day.
Try a liquid supplement. Liquid food supplements such as Ensure or Sustacal, available in supermarkets and drugstores, contain about 250 calories per can and are usually fortified with a good portion of all the essential vitamins and minerals. "One can is a whopping dose of good nutrition," says Dr. Worthington-Roberts.
Optimally, supplements should be used as just that--additions, rather than substitutes, for regular meals, says Dr. Worthington-Roberts. But if you just can't eat breakfast, a supplement is better than no food at all, because it will get needed calories into your body.
Build up with weights. If you feel weak and scrawny, a weight-training program can help you get stronger, says Kathleen Little, Ph.D., exercise physiologist and professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She suggests working out with barbells or dumbbells or--if you have access to a gym--weight-resistance equipment, two or three times a week for 30 minutes.