Consuming enough calories

mrkokomo

I had surgery last August and as most of you was sent home with a feeding tube. The feeding tube was removed at the end of December. Since then I have struggled to maintain weight. I try as best I can but just can't seem to consume enough. I have lost 100 pounds as of today and do not want to lose more weight as I am very thin now and a little worried.

What foods can I consume that will help to maintain my current weight at the very least? I of course want to also eat as health as I possibly can. I can obviously eat a pound of bacon to raise my calorie intake (YUK) but that is not an option.

I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions you may all have. I estimate I need to double my daily calories to maintain my current weight. I currently average approximately 1100 calories a day. With such a small stomach it is difficult to consume enough calories comfortably.

Any suggestions?

paul61

Some suggestions that worked for me
Here is what I have been eating to maintain my weight since surgery.

I was originally at 150 lbs prior to surgery and after surgery and chemo I weighed 115 lbs. It has been about 18 months since my surgery and I now weigh about 130 lbs. I am 5’ 6” tall so 130 lbs is a reasonable weight for me. I walk about 2 miles a day for exercise and play golf several times a week so I am fairly active for a 62 year old.

Here is my typical menu

Breakfast.....................2 scrambled eggs and a half a bagel with cream cheese
Mid Morning snack.............six crackers with peanut butter

1 hour later - Drink 12 ounces of water
Lunch..........................1 half a ham and cheese sandwich + Gatorade
Mid afternoon snack............1 granola bar with Gatorade + 1 Banana

1 hour later - Drink 12 ounces of water
Dinner.........................4 ounces of steak, Baked Potato , Broccoli
1 Hour after Dinner............1 Apple pealed and sliced
3 Hours after Dinner...........10 Ounces of frozen yogurt


Of course I vary the dinner and lunch menu so that I am not eating the same things. I mix in chicken, fish, turkey, etc. but the key is although I don’t eat large portions I eat around seven times each day.

I have not had much luck with high calorie supplements like Boost because they cause dumping in my case. I also avoid items high in sugar content because they cause the same problem for me.

I find if I eat frequently and carry snacks in the car like crackers with peanut butter and granola bars I always have something to snack on and I am not consuming a lot of simple carbohydrates, sugar, or fat but I am getting about 2000 calories a day.

I am never actually hungry because I eat so frequently but I find that if I think of food as fuel that I have to add on a schedule that works best for me. I also have to remind myself to drink enough water. Since I drink very little with my meals I have to make a point of getting enough water to keep me from becoming dehydrated.

Hope this provides for ideas,



Best Regards,

Paul Adams
McCormick, South Carolina

DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
6/21/2010 CT Scan NED
3/14/2011 CT Scan NED

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!

ArchTB

Struggling with that too
Hi,
My husband is a string bean too, but in addition to that he is also obsessed with eating healthy. His normal weight is 175. He was slightly under 150 at the end of his chemo-radiation treatment, gained a few pounds by the time of the surgery, and now (he had the surgery on May 17) he is stable at 154. Here are some suggestions:

1. If you are organized enough, I suggest to track you food intake through some book log or online resource. The ones I found very helpful are www.caloriecount.com or www.myfitnesspal.com (I swear I am not paid to advertise any of them!) Both have large databases of various food options and you can also enter calories intake manually. Not sure about the former one, but myfitnesspal also has an application for smart phones if you have one, which makes it easier to enter your meals right away instead of waiting until you get to your computer. The phone app also has a bar-code reader which allows to enter calorie of packaged food/snacks.

2. Healthy and high-calorie options:
avocado
bananas
sweet potato
yams
beans
hummus
nuts
whole grain bread
peanut butter (you can get organic)
olive or flax seed oil

3. Here are some menu suggestions for you:

Breakfast - PBJ toast with a glass (or half) of whole milk; granola with nuts; oatmeal; frittata (with ricotta cheese)

Lunch - burrito (better to make one than buy since you can pick up better/healthier ingredients); coconut-based or cream-based soup (to increase calories in the cream soup, do not boil it after you add cream, but only heat till hot)

Dinner - pasta or couscous with pine nuts (and whatever else you fancy to add); mashed yams or sweet potato with beans or chili; chicken or beef over rice with some salad (add olive oil as a dressing); salmon or cod fish with barley

Snack in between meals - Protein juice ("Naked" brand has 440 cal per bottle); banana; hummus with pita bread; avocado (or home made guacamole); cheese; olives

4. There are many online resources for searching recipes by calories, www.caloriecount.com has one:
http://caloriecount.about.com/main-dish-recipes-rc27


Good luck!

Donna70

ArchTB said:

Struggling with that too
Hi,
My husband is a string bean too, but in addition to that he is also obsessed with eating healthy. His normal weight is 175. He was slightly under 150 at the end of his chemo-radiation treatment, gained a few pounds by the time of the surgery, and now (he had the surgery on May 17) he is stable at 154. Here are some suggestions:

1. If you are organized enough, I suggest to track you food intake through some book log or online resource. The ones I found very helpful are www.caloriecount.com or www.myfitnesspal.com (I swear I am not paid to advertise any of them!) Both have large databases of various food options and you can also enter calories intake manually. Not sure about the former one, but myfitnesspal also has an application for smart phones if you have one, which makes it easier to enter your meals right away instead of waiting until you get to your computer. The phone app also has a bar-code reader which allows to enter calorie of packaged food/snacks.

2. Healthy and high-calorie options:
avocado
bananas
sweet potato
yams
beans
hummus
nuts
whole grain bread
peanut butter (you can get organic)
olive or flax seed oil

3. Here are some menu suggestions for you:

Breakfast - PBJ toast with a glass (or half) of whole milk; granola with nuts; oatmeal; frittata (with ricotta cheese)

Lunch - burrito (better to make one than buy since you can pick up better/healthier ingredients); coconut-based or cream-based soup (to increase calories in the cream soup, do not boil it after you add cream, but only heat till hot)

Dinner - pasta or couscous with pine nuts (and whatever else you fancy to add); mashed yams or sweet potato with beans or chili; chicken or beef over rice with some salad (add olive oil as a dressing); salmon or cod fish with barley

Snack in between meals - Protein juice ("Naked" brand has 440 cal per bottle); banana; hummus with pita bread; avocado (or home made guacamole); cheese; olives

4. There are many online resources for searching recipes by calories, www.caloriecount.com has one:
http://caloriecount.about.com/main-dish-recipes-rc27


Good luck!

hate to tell you how I gained so much weight
Hi,
I had surgery 12/09, last May I weighed 114 after getting my j tube out. I started eating peanut butter by the spoonfuls, not healthy but it worked. I also ordered the Nestle High Volume cans and drank that during the day. For me, if I put some in a cup, I would sip on that all day long and be eating the peanut butter. I also ate anything I could and I now weigh 141 lbs and have to watch my weight and take cholesterol meds which I was doing prior to surgery. This was not the healthiest approach but it worked for me and the more weight I gained the better I felt and could do more. I am a non insulin diabetic and still have been able to keep my blood sugars under 100, so I am now maintaining a more healthy diet. It wasn't the healthiest approach but my drs had told me not to worry about what I was eating till I got up to a good weight. Good luck to both of you. take care,
Donna70

mrkokomo

Donna70 said:

hate to tell you how I gained so much weight
Hi,
I had surgery 12/09, last May I weighed 114 after getting my j tube out. I started eating peanut butter by the spoonfuls, not healthy but it worked. I also ordered the Nestle High Volume cans and drank that during the day. For me, if I put some in a cup, I would sip on that all day long and be eating the peanut butter. I also ate anything I could and I now weigh 141 lbs and have to watch my weight and take cholesterol meds which I was doing prior to surgery. This was not the healthiest approach but it worked for me and the more weight I gained the better I felt and could do more. I am a non insulin diabetic and still have been able to keep my blood sugars under 100, so I am now maintaining a more healthy diet. It wasn't the healthiest approach but my drs had told me not to worry about what I was eating till I got up to a good weight. Good luck to both of you. take care,
Donna70

Thank you all
for the sage advice. I guess I will just have to try harder to add 1000 daily calories to my diet.

NikiMo

ArchTB said:

Struggling with that too
Hi,
My husband is a string bean too, but in addition to that he is also obsessed with eating healthy. His normal weight is 175. He was slightly under 150 at the end of his chemo-radiation treatment, gained a few pounds by the time of the surgery, and now (he had the surgery on May 17) he is stable at 154. Here are some suggestions:

1. If you are organized enough, I suggest to track you food intake through some book log or online resource. The ones I found very helpful are www.caloriecount.com or www.myfitnesspal.com (I swear I am not paid to advertise any of them!) Both have large databases of various food options and you can also enter calories intake manually. Not sure about the former one, but myfitnesspal also has an application for smart phones if you have one, which makes it easier to enter your meals right away instead of waiting until you get to your computer. The phone app also has a bar-code reader which allows to enter calorie of packaged food/snacks.

2. Healthy and high-calorie options:
avocado
bananas
sweet potato
yams
beans
hummus
nuts
whole grain bread
peanut butter (you can get organic)
olive or flax seed oil

3. Here are some menu suggestions for you:

Breakfast - PBJ toast with a glass (or half) of whole milk; granola with nuts; oatmeal; frittata (with ricotta cheese)

Lunch - burrito (better to make one than buy since you can pick up better/healthier ingredients); coconut-based or cream-based soup (to increase calories in the cream soup, do not boil it after you add cream, but only heat till hot)

Dinner - pasta or couscous with pine nuts (and whatever else you fancy to add); mashed yams or sweet potato with beans or chili; chicken or beef over rice with some salad (add olive oil as a dressing); salmon or cod fish with barley

Snack in between meals - Protein juice ("Naked" brand has 440 cal per bottle); banana; hummus with pita bread; avocado (or home made guacamole); cheese; olives

4. There are many online resources for searching recipes by calories, www.caloriecount.com has one:
http://caloriecount.about.com/main-dish-recipes-rc27


Good luck!

Thanks for the tips
My husband was recently diagnosed with stage IIB EC. He is going into his 4th week of chemo, so far is able to eat on his own and we have been tracking calories. As all of you know when your loved one is dealing with cancer there can be tense moments, ours normally center around getting calories and not losing weight. I signed him up for myfitnesspal, and guess what no more arguments He has an iphone so he can enter the food and I can watch his calories throughout the day online. We were using a food journal, but it just wasn't convenient.

Much thanks for making us aware of the online tool.

Signed,

A once again happy couple Niki and Jeff