Heath is so much more important then weight , isn't it?

I'll have what he's having!  But that's because I NEED to lose weight, so I'm being silly.  But I hope he's healthy.  I have a very skinny hubby & he can't afford to lose any weight.  So, hoping the best for you both.

Excellent topic!
My husband has had some of the same issues, he has an extremely high metabolic rate and so has always had a hard time maintaining or gaining weight, which is not to say he is too thin but he WANTS to get a little bigger and build muscle mass, because he doesn't feel healthy/strong/vibrant at his current weight. Naturally, going vegan has made it even more difficult to gain but he has been hitting the gym several times a week and working on strength training and we added in hemp protein shakes which help too, he went up a couple pounds over the last 2 weeks, hopefully this will continue.
Even though perhaps the medical community would say that a man who is 5"11 and 140 lbs is not unhealthy every person's body is different and every person carries weight differently so one man might feel spectacular at 140lbs and another might feel better at 160 and another at 180. Medical standards can be helpful to gain perspective but are in no way absolute for each and every person, perhaps for you health is more important than weight but for another individual weight might be a key factor in whether they feel healthy, or not. 

I don't hink Canola is an oil that would be benficial for him as suggested Emma. Would politely suggest checking on Canola and it's process/origins.

I just searched and found this discussion.  JUST what I was looking for!!  I have the same problem of losing weight I don't want to lose!  I'm approx. 5' 7'', always used to be 130-135 lbs., for the past 8 or so years.  Luckily I never had a weight problem.  But now I'm down to about 126, at last weigh-in.  I know, not a big difference, but I notice it in the way my clothes fit and other people are even commenting at how thin I look (some say "fit" depends on their perspective I guess).  My whole life I've been "skinny" and lift weights pretty regularly mainly to try to bulk up and add muscle.  I've succeeded, for the most part.  But with changing my diet, mainly dropping so much sugar (as I hadn't eaten much meat previously...although I did eat cheese, which now that that's gone, I'm sure that has something to do with the weight loss as well), I am dropping pounds.  I exercise quite a bit also, out of enjoyment, and I have dogs, so I walk/run with them. 

Anyway...... I basically thought the same thing as I've seen your reponses saying.  I'm trying to eat higher calorie foods and MORE food.  But I still want to be healthy and not eat junk.  So, glad to hear I'm not alone in the more unusual complaint of being too thin and wanting to GAIN weight for a change!!  :-) 

Ive always been around 135-140lb but recently after having my baby last year (went up to 162lbs during pg), nursing and flirting with veganism I am down to 114lbs.  I am 5'3 and starting to worry about looking too frail.  I hate working out but I might need to start eating lots of nuts again.  :-(

It all depends on his frame or his constitution. In males the fat stores are intertwined with the muscles, meaning that he might just be losing fat from the tissue within his muscles.

 I am 6'2 and 140 lbs. I work out alot and eat a vegan diet. But I have alot of muscle and very little fat. I'm also young which might contribute.=]Its genetics as well, I inherited both of my parents already streamline frame and that, paired with a healthy vegan diet and excersize. . . The charts might say that one is underweight, but its the perportions. theres people who are within a healthy weight class who have fat instead of muscle which is not healthy.

 Too many fats and oils might make him gain weight but that could lead to other problems as well. Its not unhealthy to be thin, its how he feels, does he feel week? is he tired all the time or get dizzyness when he gets up or sits down? Funky blood work?  If he looks gaunt in the eyes as well.

 For gaining weight ,maybe afew food swaps can be made that are just higer caloric forms? sweet potatoes instead of gourds/ squash, mangoes, coconut, pears,  pineapple and dates instead of apples, melons, oranges, plums, berries. Use sweet rice ,sticky rice, andbasmati instead of the grain berries, wild rice, or oats. Uhmm. . . tahini, pecans, and brazil nuts instead of almonds, pistachios, and seeds. . . and for protiens, I think useing tempeh, seitan, fava, and kidneys and mungs are good as apposed to chickpeas, small red, adukis, black beans, and cannelinni. Just keep in mind to have variety and include all fruits veggies nuts grains and legumes, but make these the more regulars because they are mroe nutrient dense.

I hope this helps anyone else who views this page. =]

I think, to a point, one has to accept their body type and be happy with it.  As Emma said, check BMI, but so long as someone isn't considered underweight, I wouldn't stress about being "skinny."  

First, there are people who adhere to a rigorous lifestyle of counting calories, perfectly calculated to provide the nutrients they are meant to have, all to maintain a rail-thin physique because it is supposed to prolong life significantly.  (I believe an article about this super-thin lifestyle was in the New Yorker, and the writer participated in it for a short time.)  So perhaps even being very thin isn't going to kill anybody, but make them live longer.  This doesn't sound illogical to me.  If you think of your body as a machine, and the more weight you put on it, the more you give it to process, etc., the shorter the life it is going to have.  

It's really just indicative that in America, we have a serious masculinity complex.  Men are supposed to be big and strapping.  This, in most people's minds, requires eating steak and eggs, drinking milk, and downing protein supplements in-between meals.  That is certainly not a life I would want to live just to be what American society, in general, thinks I should be.  

I would encourage you to be supportive and let him know YOU like the way he looks.  If your husband wants to be "bigger," really question why he wants to do that.  If he feels unhealthy, then that is a legitimate concern.  But if he just thinks he doesn't fit in with the guys, then he needs to confront the underlying issue, and really, just say "screw it!"   

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me I was looking too thin, I'd be a rich man.  And then I would donate it to some animal shelters!

True that Nick, true that.