THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407130039
SECTION: HAMPTON ROADS WOMAN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
JULIE GRAVES IS ONE of those women who women love to hate.
She's thin. Too thin, in her eyes. She wishes her legs were bigger. So she's trying to gain some size. And weight.
Gain weight? Talk about swimming against the tide.
You won't find much sympathy in this Slimfast-guzzling, Thighmaster-squeezing world for someone like Juliba ``Julie'' Graves, 29, mother of four, 5 feet 4 inches, 110 pounds, and not-so-happy possessor of what her family jokingly calls ``chicken legs.''
Gyms are full of men working to get bigger; Our society treasures the big, strong, athletic man. But women like Graves often find themselves the object of disbelief, envious kidding or worse - ``I hate you, you're so thin'' - when they complain about their figure or chow down a sandwich and fries while their dieting friends pick at salads.
But the thin ones can be no less unhappy with their bodies than their friends who carry 20 extra pounds on their hips. They put to a lie at least half of the Duchess of Windsor's observation that ``one can never be too thin or too rich.''
It's just not socially acceptable to complain about being skinny in our thin-crazy culture.
``It is just as much a concern,'' said Frances C. Casper, staff nutritionist for Consultants in Nutritional Services in Norfolk. ``We always focus on people who want to lose the weight. But we do see people in our office from time to time who are just concerned about gaining weight.
``They might want to gain weight to increase their muscle strength,'' Casper said. This is the case with female athletes who make up the bulk of the small percentage of women looking to get bigger at area gyms and health-food stores.
``It could also be people - women - who feel they are not physically attractive because their weight is so low,'' Casper said. ``Body image has a lot to do with it.
``But in our culture, the media seems to play up the thin ones, the models. But there's starting to be an awareness of the dangers of being `model thin.' ''
``They told me they're all right,'' Graves said of her legs. ``But not to me - they're skinny! . . . They said they envy me because my legs are skinny. No, I don't like it.''
So she does step aerobics and occasionally lifts weights at Women's Workout & Fitness Center in Chesapeake.
That's what's needed to gain healthy weight - that, plus eating more.
No, moderate weight lifting won't make a woman all bumpy; Women don't have the bulk-building testosterone of men. And they can't just eat anything. Downing a tub of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream and a bag of Doritos each night will gain them the weight, but all the wrong types and in all the wrong places. Fat isn't as heavy as muscle, nor as healthy.
The experts say to fill up on foods high in complex carbohydrates such as pancakes, bagels, cereals, oatmeal or yogurt for breakfast, and switch from skim to 2-percent milk. Tuna or turkey sandwiches on whole-grain bread for lunch. Chicken or lean red meat for dinner.
Lots of fruits and vegetables - apples, cantaloupes, bananas, beans, sweet potatoes. Crackers. And ``any kind of pasta, you're looking pretty good,'' said Michael R. Hildebrand, a personal trainer and aerobics instructor at Women's Workout who suggests taking a basic-nutrition course.
``Also, I would try to tell them to eat every three hours,'' said Phil G. Curtin, manager of Wareing Gym in Virginia Beach. ``It boosts the metabolism, which is your body's fat-burning mechanism,'' so the weight gained is mostly good muscle.
Protein supplements you mix and drink are another way to help gain weight without feeling like you've wolfed down a bag of burgers, particularly for those with low appetites or high metabolisms.
``It's a lot easier to drink 600 to 1,000 calories than it is to eat 1,000 calories,'' said Chad J. Cox, manager of General Nutrition Center in Virginia Beach's Lynnhaven Mall. ``You can do that at McDonald's, or Domino's Pizza, but it's not really the right way to go.''
Vicki Morris, manager of Health Food Center No. 1 in downtown Norfolk, sells supplement mixes ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 extra calories a day; by contrast, the average daily intake is about 2,000 calories. Not many women buy them, although Morris has seen more since the start of summer swimsuit season.
``Just different stories,'' Morris said. ``One woman just got out of the hospital. . . . Other women just have incredibly high metabolisms.''
Nutritionist Casper said products like Ensure or even Carnation Instant Breakfast - low in fat and sugar - are helpful ``good calories,'' plus they can be found easily and more cheaply in supermarkets and drug stores.
Casper cautions that a woman so underweight that her health is affected should get checked out by a doctor. She could be suffering from anemia or some other medical condition.
While a women can do there are physical things women can do to gain weight, there's not much they can do to remedy public opinion about their plight. Even the experts admit to falling into the trap.
``Some women come in and say: `I just can't gain weight,' '' said Morris of Health Food Center No. 1 since she's a crew trainer for McDonald's. And so far she hasn't seen much change in her legs.
``No, not yet,'' she said, laughing. ``But I feel better, though, every time I work out.''
Maybe that's the important thing, anyway. As Graves added philosophically: ``Nobody's perfect, anyway.'' ILLUSTRATION: JANET SHAUGHNESSY/Staff
by CNB