A good diet should help you stay at your normal weight. To find out what is a good weight for you, look at a height and weight table that shows ideal weights. Ten percent more or less than the ideal weight is considered to be within the normal range.

If your weight is normal, and you are not gaining or losing any, your diet is giving you enough energy from food, measured in calories, to balance the food energy, or calories, you bum up in the activities of daily living. To estimate how many calories you should be getting in your daily diet, multiply your ideal weight by 30. If your ideal weight, for instance, is 65 kg, your diet should give you a total of 1,950 calories a day. If you want to find out how many calories you are actually getting, write down all the foods you eat during a day, including the amounts, and check the calorie count in the calorie table you can find in most diet books.

Underweight

With arthritis you may sometimes find that you are not very hungry, you are eating less and losing weight, you are feeling tired and run-down, and you have less resistance to colds and other infections. At these times you may need extra nourishment and more high-calorie foods in your diet.

If you think you are underweight, ask your physician for a plan that will help you gain weight.

If your appetite is poor, snacking between meals may help you increase your overall calorie intake. Half a sandwich, milk and a cookie, or cheese and crackers would all be good choices. Time the snacks so you’ll be hungry again at mealtime. Eating with someone else for company may also help you eat better.

Having company at mealtime makes it a pleasant occasion, and this is likely to improve your appetite. If you live alone, share a meal occasionally with a neighbor or a friend. Each of you can prepare part of the meal, so no one feels burdened. Or have your meal on tray in front of the TV set with your local channel program for company.