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What Are Some of Your Favorite Calorie Dense Snacks?
I know that when many people see the forum “Diet and Nutrition” they think of losing weight. Recently, I have been struggling to gain the weight back that I lost while in the hospital for 8 days. My stomach isn’t functioning as well because I went eight days without eating while there because of my illness. Losing weight isn’t especially good for my body because I am already borderline underweight.
My doctors have told me to eat frequent snacks through the day because I am unable to handle full meals right now. They want these snacks to be more calorie dense. Granola, protein bars, and smoothies I have been able to keep down.
Have you been in a situation where you needed to gain weight back after a hospital stay? What are some calorie dense foods or snacks that give you the nutrition and the calories that your body needs? All ideas would be very helpful !
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15 Replies
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I have a vegetarian niece who has trouble keeping weight on due to medical issues. Ironically, some of the foods she eats to gain weight are foods I eat to help get protein and good fats while I lose weight.
One great way to increase calorie intake, is to up the amount of calorie dense fats you ingest. Nuts, olives/olive oil, and avocados are all good ways to add a little bit more to your snacks. If you eat fish, salmon is the best choice for dense fats.
Another healthier way to add calories is to add honey to your foods. The body does not affect the body the way processed sugar does, and has additional vitamins, protein,and antioxidants.
And a third healthy sourc of calories is to add more dried fruits and berries. This is an excellent addition if you make a trail mix out of your nuts and granola.-
Thank you so much for all these suggestions! I actually went to the market today and grabbed some avocados so I’ll have to add some to my breakfast or even to my smoothies tomorrow. I like the idea of making a trail mix too because it’s still a small amount of food but more calorie dense which is what I’m needing right now to try to gain some strength back! Thank you again for the great tips!
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Excellent. It is much harder to be underweight and try to eat healthy while gaining than it is to be overweight and lose while eating healthy. However, the two paths of knowledge meet, so glad to help!
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Exactly ! People think that I can just bulk up by eating ice cream and cheeseburgers but unfortunately there is no way I would ever be able to gain weight that way. It’s finding that balance of still “healthy” but also getting enough calories in!
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Adding weight is not something I’ve needed to address for over 1/2 century but, based on caretaking experience, I’d recommend tapioca pudding — the most digestible and highest carb content starch — but not Minute tapioca or pudding mix. Kozy Shack or from the deli section if not made from scratch. When my mother’s appetite went and there weren’t many foods she could keep down (or wanted to eat), tapioca was always welcome and never a digest problem. She never got tired of it either, which was another problem. Every week I made a batch the old fashioned way — soaking tapioca pearls overnight and cooking (with milk and eggs — basically a custard) in a double boiler. Another place to use honey too — add fruit and/or a dollop of whipped cream. Sliced toasted almonds would be good too.
Muesli (no need to look for the low calorie kind!) with yogurt, milk shakes, spumoni (Italian ice cream). In addition to smoothies, make your own — blend or mash with a fork and dip away with unsalted or low sodium cracker or chip.
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Vanessa,
Thank you so much for all your suggestions too. I like the whipped cream idea. I actually added it to my shake last night and it was great. I got a new protein powder that I actually really like the taste of (sometimes they have a weird texture or taste for me). But I have been trying to have fruits with peanut butter or some type of fat added to the fruit which adds in the calories that I need to get back. As Dori said, it’s a hard balance because I want to just eat everything I can but unfortunately my stomach isn’t allowing for that right now. Thank you again for you feedback ! -
Exactly agree with you.
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Anything that should NOT go into my mouth!
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hahahahah! Thanks for the good laugh, Kaye ! 🙂 You deserve to treat yourself too ! #teamchocolatecake
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Great tips, everyone!
Often when I’m nauseated or just don’t feel like eat much , I’ll have some protein shakes .I just recently tried this vanilla one from my Daughter (she’s a Registered Dietician). It’s Fairlife Power-core Elite, Amazon has them, too . It doesn’t have a chalky taste and you can buy the smaller bottles too! I drink half then save the other from the 14oz. size. They just had a buy 2 get 2 free sale at my local grocer , so I grabbed 6 . I’ve mostly drank for breakfast as I’m not an egg lover and often rarely eat breakfast, unless my hubby is off. It’s also high protein for the days I mostly eat veggies.
Brittany,these may be helpful post surgery, well plus all the snacks,hehe
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Jen,
so glad you posted about this. Before reading this reply, I actually JUST sent a response to one of your posts asking if you have any recommendations for protein drinks (because I know that your daughter is a RD) I will have to give that a try. Do you know how much protein is in one drink? I use one that I like but it really has to be blended with things like bananas, greek yogurt, berries, etc in order for it to not taste chalky. I tried a brand before that i really liked from Arbonne products ( I think that’s how you spell it) it was really tasty and I didn’t find it chalky. It was one that I could just shake with almond milk and it would taste great. I usually drank them post workout.-
Brittany,
I know the big (14 oz) are 42 grams of protein. I only use half at a time as my Daughter said that was plenty for me at one time. They do offer a 26 gram protein per serving one, it’s not the Elite one. I tried adding the kink again here hope it works this time. I’ll also send it in a message to you as well. I mentioned you this morning to my Daughter about your upcoming surgery and she said she would recommend the 26 grams of Protein one to you as well. -
Thanks so much for thinking about me and asking her about it. I also see a dietitian here who will be working with me outpatient too on how to boost my nutritional intake and get the most out of what I’m eating post op. I like the one I go too because she doesn’t focus on weight, she is more concerned with making sure you’re getting enough nutrients and the right nutrients for the body and what your goal is. We work well together and she got me through this tube feed fiasco so I’m sure she can get me through the recovery as I build back some muscle and gain a few in the process LOL
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Awesome, Brittany!
Yes, my Daughter focuses more on the goals of her clients as well as nutritional needs more over the scale. I have found that many Dietitians tend to focus on the number on the scale as well. Especially with us, if we retain fluid or more dry, the scale isn’t always the best thing to focus on. I’m glad to know you have a great RD that you’re working with already.I’ve only have limited experience with the hospital Dietitians as the last several ones have ordered supplements, nasty tasty ones, too, without even talking to me and I did not care for their approach. It’s more complicated once we have multiple health issues.
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I agree! And i remember those nasty supplements too. The supplements like just drinking the formulas, high calorie ice creams, or ensure plus by itself makes me have the WORST diarrhea and stomach pains. Something about getting all those vitamins and minerals at once in liquid form just doesn’t settle well with me. Which is another huge reason why I have lost so much weight off the tube feeds because a lot of it is formula based at first which I just couldn’t tolerate. Once I was able to start mixing it in with the baby cereal and baby foods and putting that thicker substance through the tube it became easier for me but still painful because of the reflux I get because of my condition.
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