Help! How to gain weight eating healthy

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Mara5
Mara5 Member Posts: 33
edited June 2014 in Working on Your Fitness
Help! How to gain weight eating healthy
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  • Mara5
    Mara5 Member Posts: 33
    edited May 2008

    I have been so sick with brain mets and then an infection, that I've lost 30 pounds in 3 months.  My meds give me dry mouth, and I have no appetite, but I really need to gain weight.  I'm at 111 pounds and I am almost 5'7".   Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. 

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  • Cathy-CA
    Cathy-CA Member Posts: 686
    edited May 2008

    I don't have this problem, so am not speaking from experience, but I would think adding healthy high-calorie options would be the best.  For example, if you do okay with nuts, use walnuts in rice, salads, cereals, etc.  Salmon is a high-calorie fish because of the healthy fat.  Avocados are a healthy fat.  I'll try to think of some other suggestions and post later.

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  • blackjack
    blackjack Member Posts: 1,010
    edited May 2008

    Mara 5.. have you tried protein shakes like Ensure. They come like a milk shake in a can and they also have different flavors like chocolate / vanilla.. You can also make your own shakes by adding fruit and protein powder to it.

     Have you talked with a nutritionist from your local hospital. They can give you suggestions based on your caloric needs on what to eat to help promote wt. gain.  Happy wt gaining to you.

    Blackjack

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  • wishiwere
    wishiwere Member Posts: 3,793
    edited May 2008

    Make some smoothies and add bananas, strawberries and orange juice?  Or try to put some peanut butter on everything.  English muffin, crackers, ice cream or even in shakes.  I think it's the only thing that kept my weight on while I did chemo.  I'm still losing.  Only a couple more lbs, but it's not weight I can spare :( 

    They say during chemo to add calories by using sauces and gravies and such to enhance the taste and keep the weight on.  Maybe not use the low-calorie stuff if you are now till you gain the weight back?

    {{hugs}}

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  • Mara5
    Mara5 Member Posts: 33
    edited May 2008

    Thanks for your comments.  I have been trying to drink Boost, and my husband makes me smoothies with half and half (probably not the most healthy, but right now I'm just trying to gain weight) Funny thing is, I was always trying to not gain weight, so this is so different for me.  It sounds like it would be fun to gain weight, but it's really hard when you are dealing with the side-effects of the drugs the doctors put you on.

    Thanks again for your comments.

    Mara

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  • trigeek
    trigeek Member Posts: 916
    edited May 2008

    Mara can you stomach solid food or are you nauseaus.. I am trying to see whether you just do not want to eat or can not eat .

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  • Mara5
    Mara5 Member Posts: 33
    edited May 2008

    I was too nauseaus to eat, but the nausea is gone now, so I am really trying to eat.  One problem is my stomach has shrunk, so it fills so quickly, but the biggest problem now is dry mouth from meds.  If the food doesn't have enough moisture I can't even swallow it without a big gulp of water to get it down. Then the water fills me up.  I also have a very sensitive mouth, so many foods actually hurt to eat. 

    Thanks for any advice you can give me.

    Mara

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  • Cathy-CA
    Cathy-CA Member Posts: 686
    edited May 2008

    Are you using the Biotene products for the dry mouth?  In addition to the toothpaste and mouthwash you frequently see mentioned here, they make a gel that helps some people.  A friend's husband had mouth cancer and he uses it because the radiation killed his saliva glands.  You might ask the pharmacist if they can order it for you to try out.  Here's a link to the product information http://www.biotene.com/products/obgel.asp

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  • Mara5
    Mara5 Member Posts: 33
    edited May 2008

    Cathy,

    Thanks so much for the information--I'll try it.

    Mara

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  • Lauralynne
    Lauralynne Member Posts: 123
    edited May 2008

    Hi Mara-

    I have lost 35 pounds since I began treatments too.  My current regime leaves me with dry mouth and no appetite either.  I have to force myself to eat.  I like BOOST chocolate and it has a resealable top if you cannot finsh all of it at one time.  I try to eat a few bites of banana, toast, crackers with peanut butter, scrambled egg, walnuts, almonds, piece of apple, or whatever every few hours but sometimes that's a challenge.  I find it ironic that all my life I tried to keep my weight in the normal range (finding it tough) and now the weight just falls off because my appetite is not what it used to be.  We need to keep up our strength by eating though.  Good luck and keep on fighting the breast cancer fight!

    Lauralynne 

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