Why Weight Gain Isn’t a Bad Thing

The holidays are a challenging time for many people, especially individuals who struggle with eating disorders or disorder eating behaviors. During this season— a time filled with food and family, high expectations, and weight loss resolutions — it’s important to remember that weight gain is not a bad thing.

With that thought in mind, let’s look at a case study that serves as an excellent example of a time when weight gain was best for the patient’s health.

In a recent YouTube video, nutritionist Elaina Efird, RDN, CD, CEDRD, CSSD discusses a female individual who is 5 feet, 4 inches tall. When she first came into The Kahm Clinic in January 2021, she weighed 134.1 pounds with a lean mass of 82.5 pounds and a fat mass of 51.6 pounds. By December 2021, she weighed 178.5 pounds with a lean mass of 99.5 pounds and a fat mass of 79.0 pounds. In April 2022, she checked in at 179.3 pounds with a lean mass of 100.7 pounds (slightly higher than December 2021) and a fat mass of 78.6 pounds (slightly lower).

You may look at these numbers and think, “What happened to cause her to gain weight? How is she going to lose it?” This mindset, though, assumes that her weight gain is a bad thing. In truth, it was the healthiest outcome for her.

Prior to her first visit with us, she was engaging in severe disordered eating behaviors. 

She restricted her intake to 1,000 to 1,200 calories per day and exercised for as much as three hours while working full-time. In order to fit that much exercise into her day, she was only sleeping about six hours each night. Additionally, she occasionally purged her intake. On average, she did so once every three weeks or whenever she ate a portion that she deemed “too big.” This behavior was detrimental to her body and overall health.

During our time together, we focused on three main goals: learning to fuel her body well, stop overexercising, and stop purging. We increased her intake to 2,000 calories per day. We also encouraged her to only exercise once per day and to take one rest day per week. As a result, she, of course, gained weight.

As you can see in the numbers above, she began to plateau between December 2021 and April 2022. “This was so much healthier for her body than restricting and overexercising in order to maintain that 134 pounds,” Elaina explains. 

There’s a lot of stigma around gaining weight, but weight gain is not a bad thing. 

In this example, it was an important part of her recovery process. Plus, her self-talk, thoughts, and obsessions improved during this time. She wasn’t constantly counting calories or worrying about what she ate. Her mood was better too. Ultimately, she was much happier and healthier at a higher weight.

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