Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Thanks, Heather.....(more)

Hi - I honestly don't think you're already at a high daily calorie count, or that increasing the amount of food you're eating will lead to a weight gain. Just at a rough glance, you seem to be eating about half as much as I do, and we have about the same workout schedule too.

I definitely think you can add more protein and a bit more healthy fat. Have either seafood, skinless chicken breast, or egg whites every day. How do you do with lentils instead of soy or other beans? What if you added in something like a fresh fruit smoothie with some added rice protein powder? And something like a low fat hummus with the saltines, or a salsa? Adding in more fruits and veggies carefully would be a good idea, and a bit more filling too. Something like scrambled egg whites with veggies sauteed in are good. You can also wrap this up in a flour or corn tortilla, with a bit of rice. I would try to add more variety as well as quantity.

If you haven't been eating enough, and you increase your calorie intake a bit and keep working up, odds are your metabolism will actually go up because your body will no longer think it's being starved.

I'd definitely add up all the calories you're eating every day and see what you get. Anything under 1,5000 calories and I'd say you absolutely need to increase. Aim for a good 2,000 calories, and if your activity level warrants it you could go up to 2,500.

No matter what you won't suddenly gain a ton of weight, so don't worry about that. You're just going to gradually increase the amount of food you're eating till you're no longer hungry after meals.

- Heather

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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!

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