Just had food poisoning - need to gain weight fast

[Anonybrit]

A couple of days ago me, my brother and father had raw oysters. About 30 hours later we all fell ill with food poisoning. I've only just recovered, but still feel completely drained and have no apetite.

 

The actual food poisoning was pretty severe; chills, fever, abdominal pain, cramps and violent vomitting. I've been to hell and back!

 

Anyway, I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and I'm significantly thinner around the face, arms, legs and torso than I was even during the infection. I hadn't been able to eat anything, had vomitted up everything I had eaten, and could barely even hold down liquids, so I assume my body was running on reserve the whole time, fighting off the disease and repairing the damage etc. and I guess in doing so it went at my fat reserves.

 

So basically I need a way to gain weight, fast. Can anyone advise any kind of diet, or suppliments, or anything I can do to achieve that?

[Timebandit]

This is not a medical opinion, but honestly, I do not think there is any need to do something special to gain weight fast. If you have been sick and have lost weight, you will normally get it back very fast. Easy goes, easy comes.....

 

Just take the opportunity to eat some of your favourite dishes, and you will be back to normal very soon.

 

I think it is just as important that you get enough to drink (not coffee, cola or something like that), to avoid any risk of dehydration.

[Ellie2006]

Hey there,

Just my two cents worth but if your body is still healing, trying to gain weight fast might upset your balance even more.

 

Have you consulted your doctor about this matter?

The best thing, IMO, is to start small w/ clear soup, then broth with a bit more density, then slowly proceed to real food.

 

And keep yourself hydrated (warm tea is probably preferable to cold drinks) to flush out any residual toxins in your system.

 

Also, I think it helps to keep you mid-section warm (e.g. keep a water bottle on your tummy).

 

Hope you feel better soon, Anonybrit!

[Anonybrit]

Well I gave in to a craving for egg and bacon just now, and so far so good, but I think I'll keep things simple, soups etc. like you say, until at least tomorrow night.

 

Thing is, I'm going to the developing world to do aid work for half of next year in Feb, and I'm expecting to find it hard not to loose a little weight while I'm there, being that the food available is not as nourishing as it is here in the West. Combine that with the fact that I wasn't underweight, but a little thinner than I'd like to be, prior to the food poisoning - so basically, once I feel I'm up to it, ie. hopefully after 7 days or so, I'm going to switch to a high proteign high fat diet, and get to the pool a couple times a week until I leave.

 

I mean that'd be a good idea anyway, but considering where I'm going, I think I'd better.

 

Cheers guys,

[Ellie2006]

Hey Anonybrit,

 

What a wonderful thing you're doing -- going off to do volunteer work in a part of our world that deserves the attention and support of the global community!

 

Good luck to you and hope the experience is rewarding to you as your presense will reward those you encounter there.

 

Take care of yourself!

 

Best wishes,

Ellie 1:

[BellaDonna]

Eat the "BRAT Diet"

 

Bananas

 

Rice

 

Applesauce

 

Toast

[Day_Walker]

I dont believe that you should worry about gaining the weight back fast, because that is not healthy. Instead your normal diet should suffice to get you back where you should be.

[PinkValiant]

Just increase your calorie consumption. But not with bad food like mcdonald's or whatnot. Best way is to have more of what's healthy. Maybe drink more juice, you get calories and a fruit serving, but it won't fill you up as solids would so you'd be able to drink more. As for the diet you're going to go on, I'm not too sure the high-fat is a good idea IMO. Unless it's healthy fat like olive oil and such then sure, but if you're going to gorge on steak or things smothered in fat, well then yes it's going to make you gain weight, but also increase your cholesterol and make you feel very lazy and tired.

 

Hope this helped!

[Anonybrit]

I don't touch fast food, and my diet is mostly Mediterranean due to my background, so I'm naturally a pretty healthy eater. What I've done is stocked up on a bunch of decent, frozen pizzas - nothing insane, just pesto, mozzarella, tomato etc. - that I'll chuck in the oven for lunch, and have pasta, rice and red meat dishes in the evening.

 

I think I might snack during the day on bowls of rice and pasta, and yeah, bananas and fruit juices.

 

Like I say I could have done with putting on a little weight anyway, and I need to be on top form for my big move!

 

Oh and thanks for the kind words Ellie

[annie24]

yeah, definitely don't worry about gaining the weight back or fast. just eat slowly and not a lot. it will come back in time. remember that a lot of the weight you just lost was water weight, I doubt you lost more than a few pounds. you will look normal again once you are rehydrated.

[Anonybrit]

I think you're right about the dehydration. I was pretty severly dehydrated during the infection, to the point of light-headedness and chills, but have been drinking a good bit since, and I think I at least appear a little more "full" than I was the other day. Particularly my face - when I woke up the day after, my face seemed so much thinner, but yeah, it's all returning to normal now.

 

I'm not used to all this you see, that was by far the most ill I've been... perhaps ever. I'm generally always in very good health.

 

Anyway, if anything, I was slightly jolted into realising I could do with putting on a bunch of extra pounds, and I'm incoroperating the ideas you guys have given into a non-extreme diet, with the intention of just building up a couple more mm of adipose.