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What are some ways to motivate yourself to eat?

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I am a 22 year old guy and weigh only 120. I think I am suffering from some kind of disease because I have been skinny all my life and just find myself eating. Only thing I want badly is to be at an healthy weight and it seems so hard to make my brain do it. I feel so sad and depressed that I am not being able to achieve this thing in a world where majority are overweight. I am a vegetarian and it iss definitely not helping but I want to stay vegetarian. What are some ways to motivate myself and force my brain to start consuming more food. Any help pointers insights and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

Answers (2):

Answer 1:

Your height would be helpful to determine if you are at a healthy weight. Beyond that here is the advice I can offer.

Don’t wait until your hungry to eat. Schedule your meals. Either three meals and 4 or 5 snacks or 6 mini meals and 2 or 3 snacks. I’m not sure of the specifications of how many times a day you’re supposed to eat so that’s just a guess. But definitely schedule your mealtimes and always eat at those times. This will help your body get used to being hungry more often, and once you start recognizing your hunger you won’t need the schedule as much.

Don’t overeat when you do eat. That will just mess you up more. Pay attention to when your body is telling you that you’re hungry and telling you when you’re full. Remember that it takes 20 minutes for your body to tell you you’re full after you have been for 20 minutes.

Drink ensuree (I don’t know if it’s a vegetarian thing or not), eat higher calorie food that is still nutrious (i.e. chips are not a good choice as there are very little nutrients in them).

Get yourself a few vegetarian cookbooks. Do a search for vegetarian recipes and the vegetarian lifestyle. You could even do a search for gaining weight on a vegetarian diet.

Eat a lot of protein it will help you build muscle. Beans and rice are the only thing I can think of atm that are a complete protein. Start a workout program. Remember that muscle weighs more than fat so if you have well developed (not necessarily body builder developed) muscles that should help even if you do still look skinny, you’ll weigh more.

Don’t stress about being 120, well depending on your height I guess you could stress. Do a search for a BMI chart, that can give you an idea if your weight is healthy for your height. If you take care of yourself and you’re healthy it should be alright to be 120. If you think there may be a disease you are suffering from go see your doctor, have them run blood tests, diabetes, cholestorol and a basic vitamin assesment (I’m not sure what all the tests are but your doctor should know.)

I had a friend who had a really high metabolism and it was just the way he was born. He wasn’t sick or anything he was just skinny. It was harder for him to gain weight but he was still able to do it. Some ppl are just born that way.

You don’t want to eat too much or be afraid to eat because you aren’t sure you’re eating the wrong thing either. You could check with a nutritionist who specializes in vegetarian food. They would definitely have advice on what types of food to eat in order to gain weight, and they’d be able to tell you if you are at a healthy weight or not.

Answer 2:

Like you pointed out, this is very different than the majority of western civilization who has to pry themselves from thinking about food. Okay, the most critical thing is that you don’t accidentally start to eat too much or start getting on the path that a lot of people are on, where they just eat and eat and eat…even subconsciously. I would suggest that you start eating foods that are high in protein. And because a lot of protein comes from meats, and you are a vegetarian, try buying the protein drinks or mixes. Also eat things that will combine in your stomach to make proteins. Here, read this:

PLANT FOOD PROTEIN COMBINATIONS
To make a complete protein source and obtain all the essential amino acids certain plant foods need to be eaten together in one meal or at least a balance during the day. There are different combinations of plant foods that can be selected so you can choose which foods you prefer. The diagram below shows how to successfully combine plant proteins.

GROUP #1
“Breads, Cereals, Grains”
Bread, Rice, Wholewheat products & Wholegrain cereals
these include: breakfast cereal, pasta, spaghetti, noodles, wheat products, flour products, etc.

Any item from group # 1 above to be combined with any item from the three groups below.

Group # 2
“Legumes”
Peas, Beans
& Lentils:including all dried beans & peas – aduki, kidney, runner, soya, chick peas, mushy peas, processed peas, baked beans, petit pois, beansprouts

Group # 3
“Vegetables”
Potatoes &
other Vegetables: including frozen vegetables

Group # 4
Nuts & Seed
Walnuts, Cashews, Peanuts, etc Sunflower, Sesame & other seeds

Adding more protein and lifting weights should help you gain weight in a healthy manner. Good luck!

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Can anyone give me some simple healthy vegetarian dinner ideas?

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I am in a bit of a rut. All I seem to eat is pasta, potatoes, cheese and bread, and lately I’ve gained some weight. I’d like some ideas for new healthier things I could make! The trouble is I’m single and usually cooking for one so I dont want to be buying lots of ingredients- things will just go off, especially since I go out a lot and probably only eat at home once in every 3 nights anyway.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Answers (2)

Answer 1:

I’ve been in those ruts too and it’s no fun. Don’t want to scare you, but I hope you are aware that most processed cheese contain rennet which is derived from cows’ stomachs=P I didn’t learn that until I was in University unfortunately.

I think the best way to get out of those ruts is to make sure you’re getting a balanced meal. Try to follow the recommended ratio of carbs, proteins and fats which is 50:35:15. Something I’ve been having lately that tastes excellent and is easy to make, is curry sauce over beans. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to make.

Buy some canned chickpeas, or kidney beans, peas – any type of legume should work (it’s also good on most veggies)

Easy curry sauce:

1 med. onion, chopped roughly
2 cloves garlic (optional)
Saute in 1-2 tbsp of oil (in a pot) until translucent

Mix:
1/4 cup flour
4-5 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp coriander (optional if you don’t have it)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp ginger

Add to sauteed onion.

Add:
2 tsp vinegar (or lemon juice) and
2 cups milk/soy milk (or water)
1 vegetarian chicken or vegetable bouillon cube, crumbled (optional)
2 tbsp Heinz ketchup (optional)

Stir until well mixed, bring to a boil over med. heat and continue to stir and cook for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened.

Heat up some beans or peas in the microwave and spoon the sauce over them. It’s delicious!! This sauce is so easily adaptable, you can change the ingredients to taste. I’ve come to like it without the soy milk and just plain water which is less fattening. You can also reduce the oil, or microwave the chopped onions instead, but some oil/fat is good for you b/c your body needs it to digest carbs and sugars properly. Depending on how generous you are with the sauce, this recipe makes enough for 2 large tins of beans (540 mL) or 1 tin of beans and 1 400 mL tin of peas.

Try to reduce the bad carbs from your diet – potatoes are the worst. It was something that was extremely difficult for me to do – they’re very addictive! Also, if you don’t do it already, try to drink a cup of tea (green is best) with every meal. It seems to help.

Answer 2:

Hi

I am glad you’re vegetarian I can’t imagine how much weight you would gain if you had potatoes, pasta, cheese and bread with meat as well 🙂
I am a very strict vegetarian and lost around 20kg within a year. However you need to still eat healthy. You can do a search and find many vegetarian recipes. Remember to eat salad (it’s fast and easy, especially since your’e single), you can make a very filling Greek salad and add some vegetarian “ham”, tofu or whatever you can find at your local health shop. Skip the greasy salad dressings and opt for soy sauce instead, it really tastes great.Have some wholewheat, or rye bread and you’ve got a completely healthy meal in just a couple of minutes! Remember to take in some protein, I have soy milk in the morning with my cereal and maybe another cup at night with some other protein substance. I.e lentils, chickpeas, tofu, vegetarian meats ,soy sauce etc.

I still basically eat what I used to, but supplement the meat with vegetarian mince, chunks etc when recipes require meat. You can also buy eggsubstitutes at health stores, so you can really still cook anything you want.

Tip: when using dried vegetarian chunks, mince etc, rehydrate with hot water and loads of soy sauce, it makes it taste really good. (my dad couldn’t even taste the difference)

Here are some links to some very helpful sites:

http://www.ivu.org/recipes/
http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/index.html
http://www.godsdirectcontact.com/vegetarian/cook.html

Good luck and thank you for considering our fellow animals, friends, human beings and rain forests around the world.

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How can I supplement my weight gain goals?

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My body type is the definition ectomorph. I am 19 years old, 6’2 and 149lbs. I have an extremely high metabolism and usually low appetite. I don’t think that just making sure to eat three complete meals a day will do it for me. I don’t think that I have the appetite to start consuming massive calories and it’s also just not practical for my lifestyle.

I think I need to use supplements to help gain weight. Any up for consideration?

Answers (2):

Answer 1:

Try mixing a bottle of ensure, 2 scoops of ice cream, and a scoop of peanut butter in a blender then drink it like a milk shake. I’m 15 and have Crohn’s Disease so it’s really hard for me to gain weight (nearly impossible). Peanut butter and nuts have healthy protein in them to help you gain weight.
Here are a few other helpful weight gain recipes ~

INGREDIENTS

* 1 banana
* 1 tofutti cutie
* about 1 cup of juice
* about 1 cup of Vanilla Rice Dream

DIRECTIONS

1) Mix everything in a blender.

Ingredients

* 3 generous scoops lactose-free vanilla ice cream
* 1/2 can Boost

Directions

1) Blend if you have a blender, otherwise stir to a shake. Tastes best through a straw.

Ingredients:

* 1½ tsp. unflavored gelatin
* 2 Tbsp cold water
* 3 Tbsp sugar
* 2 Tbsp light corn syrup
* 1½ cups of any flavor Ensure
* 3 Tbsp corn oil
* 1 tsp vanilla extract

1) Soften gelatin in cold water.
2) Add sugar and corn syrup. Heat slowly to dissolve sugar and gelatin.
3) Combine Ensure, corn oil and gelatin-sugar mixture. Mix well and pour into blender. Blender capacity should be at least 5 cups. Blend until thick and creamy.
4) Add vanilla extract, if desired, and mix well. Or add fruit to the blender at this point. Blend well.
5) Pour blended mix into an ice cube tray and freeze until very icy.
6) Place back into blender and blend until smooth.
7) Pour into container and return to freezer until firm.
Make three ½ cup servings.

This is a shake my doctor recommended for me to gain weight:
2-3 scoops of Ice cream 1 Packet of any flavor Carnation Instant Breakfast

And any other things that you might like to add like fruit candy bars or other stuff.

Ingredients:

1 instant breakfast packet, any flavor
3/4 c. whole milk
1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. ice cream, any flavor

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. whole milk

1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

1 banana

1 1/4 c. strawberries (fresh or frozen)

3/4 c. lemon sherbet

2 tbsp. dry skim milk powder

Directions:

1.
Combine all ingredients in a blender.
2.
Blend until smooth.

Go to recipes for cystic fibrosis for more weight gain ideas
http://kidshealth.org/teen/recipes/

Good luck! Hope this helps! =)

Answer 2:

Have had the exact same problem most of my life. At 17 was 120 with goal of 150. Have not got around to checking out how negative with respect to good or bad fats, so would do that before adding one whole egg a day to your diet few times a week. Find on line healthy cookie recipe and try baking some cookies to munch on between meals. One of my family is dietitian and says all that power stuff you can get in health food stores to gain weight is mostly waste of money, because it is nothing more than de-hydrated milk with some vitamins added. Safe way to gain weight is to add muscle. Don’t all the weight loss commercials drive you nuts LOL. You are not that thin so don’t mess too much with a good thing.