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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    How can I regain weight and muscle tone?

    Related Topics
    Fitness and Sports Medicine Nutrition Weight Management
    I am under weight by 15kg I am out of ideas how to regain weight.

    I have also lost most muscle tone and excercise daily only lightly
    • 2 answers
    • Joanna Baker
    • Andrew Dowler
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    Joanna Baker

    Nutritionist, Registered Nurse

    Everyday Nutrition founder Joanna Baker has been working in healthcare for 2o years. As an Accredited Practicing Dietitian and a Registered Nurse, she has seen … View Profile

    The first thing I'd like to know is if you've lost weight suddenly or lost a lot of weight recently without trying to. If that is the situation, then I'd probably suggest that you go visit the GP to find out why and see if there is any metabolic or underlying digestive issues that need to be sorted out first. Secondly, if all of that comes up OK then obviously gorging on junk food is not a sustainable way to gain weight. In that case, what I would suggest is trying energy dense AND nutrient dense foods, things like nuts, seeds, cheese, avocado and so on. Eat regularly, six to eight times a day and try and make each meal a little bit bigger so just add a few more calories to each meal. It's a good idea to either add nuts, dried fruit, avocado, or cheese on top of each meal as it also adds a bit of extra energy.

    To increase muscle you want to be eating plenty of protein rich foods, things like lean meat, fish, poultry, and full fat dairy including milk, yogurt, and cheese. Protein is the building blocks for muscle tissue.

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    Andrew Dowler

    Exercise Physiologist

    As an exercise physiologist i concentrate my practice on postural re-education, and orthopaedic rehabilitation delivering individualized exercise interventions for a wide range of conditions.Working closely … View Profile

    Hi,

    I agree with Joanne, firstly i would visit your  GP to rule out any health conditions ect.

    If all is good tegarding general health then we can address the 2 key areas required to gain weight, nutrition, and exercise.

    I would recomend duscussing your nutrition with a dieticians (Joannes tips above are great), but as a general guideline, a balanced diet incorperating a range of naturally grown friut, vege, and meats will go a long way to providing  the nutrients the body needs. Protien supplementation can be benefical, in a form of a smoothie/shake, and a good multivitamin canbe helpful, but the majority of your diet should be from real foods.

    In terms of exercise I would recomend a combination of light intensity cardio (walking, cycling), up to 30 mins 3-4  pw, plus light resistance training, using functional compound movements (4-6 exercises, 2 sets, on 8 reps is a great range to start with. If you havent done any resistance training before then i would recomend sourcing a good Personal Trainer or Exercise Physiologist to set you up on a intro program. You can visit www.essa.org.au to find qualified EPs.

    The resustance training will stimulate muscle growth, neurologically amd hormonally, and with adequate rest between exercise sessions muscle gain can be expected to progress smoothly. Its hard to predict the rate of muscle gain, but a consitent training program of 8 weeks should start to see some weight return. 

    If you have any further questions i would be more than happy to answer them.

    regards

    Drew

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