small woman looking for fattening smoothies, good on tx...

[orphanedhawk]

   Petite female looking for fattening smoothies or others that will stay down during tx. No salty types. Healthy organic preferred.
  (I lost another couple of pounds over the last month.  I'm down to 99 and don't want to lose anymore!)
   Any suggestions for gaining weight?

[Forseegood]

I think smoothies are excellent for vitamins, minerals and weight! you might try soy milk and goat protein powder, Goatein, cause that way you can leave dairy out of it, something that's a little harder to digest...soy yougurt, strawberries, blueberries, a little honey (good minerals) half a banana or a whole one (depending on your glucose levels) and youre in business....just my take....

[GrandmaA]

Goatein is expensive but the least expensive is at Vitamin Village. It is very good for you. Are you eating dairy products and cheese. That has helped me not lose anymore weight (28/51). I have lost 12 lbs. since start of tx.

[Forseegood]

youre right Grandma, I was thinking of me not being on treatment yet, dairy is an excellent way to put on calories if you need to...

[nitramog]

Hollow  
When I was younger to gain weight  we housed oat our wheat germ flower for fillers  by the time I climbed the tree 30 feet I was so tired I decided it looks better the way it is

Hay hawk do you think to much vitamin a can lower platelets?

[jmjm530]

Try "Prosure". It's a calorie and nutritional dense meal replacement/supplement drink often given to cancer chemotherapy patients. I found it at my local supermarket. If you can tolerate, blend in fruit, ice cream and ice for more calories, but I'd start with it straight.

-- Jim

[LadyY]

I have not lost my appetite nor any weight...tomorrow will be my 5th shot with 43 to go if i am responsive. To be honest, the weight loss sx was the one good thing reg. tx. In actuality, I have sweet cravings...! Anybody else experience this?
All the best!
yvonne

ps. Tomorrow Friday the 13th...I have to do PCR. I sure hope I am responsive!

[nygirl7]

I drank a lot of Chocolate chocolate chip hagan daaz 'health shakes' when i lost too much weight on treatment and washed them down with a piece of chocolate cake.  It went down just FINE.  

I'm not kidding really - chocolate was a good friend of mine.  If i was nauseaus that was one thing I could count on to put pounds back on again.

Chocolate, coffee, vanilla, all 3 mixed, with sprinkles, hot fudge, etc etc.
Oh so many lovely varieties! :)

Of course this wasn't what anybody else would consider healthy but for me....since it put the weight back on (and I have perfect cholesterolI figured...what the heck!   ;)

[madbrad]

Does anyone have any Mike And Ike's...Original or tropical??

[orphanedhawk]

  The two neupogen's a week are taking thier toll dominshing my weight. My senses are so mixed up. Am I hungry or nauseus?   Having cirrhosis complicates things. I don't eat cheese because its salty, except for pizza. I have to eat pizza.  I've kept the ascites under control by limiting my salt intake.
FSG and Grandma:I have an aversion to goat, its a long story.  I do eat a banana daily and tons of carbs. And I love rice dream.I  stopped buying fat free yogurt. I've been spreading butter on my toast, in my oatmeal, etc.
nitramog: I don't know what to say about platelets. Mine are back down to 34 but my doc isn't worried. I did pass up an offer to take a freind's horse for the summer. I'd probably get thrown and the last thing I need is another horse induced concussion.
Lady Y, I do have a sweet tooth but the best on tx for me, is plain, bland food. Its the only thing that gets me down. I love food; hot spicy food. I cry in the deli. Good luck with your PCR
jmjm: thanks for the tip, I'll look for Posure
Nygirl: Isn't chocolate wonderful! And pasta. So far they always stay down.
BTW: you mentioned your appetite and taste buds returning. I cling to those words!!!!

[Kit07]

Hi skinny chick.  I feel for you.  My weight went from 140 to 110 on tx.  After a while it's hard to eat or even chew.  Add a few spoonfuls of canned coconut milk to your favorite smoothie recipe.  Very fattening.  Also a scoop of powdered vanilla or strawberry Slimfast will add calories and some nutrients.  For cooking, use olive oil liberallly.  Tuna with olive oil and fresh lemon or lime juice.  Eat cookies with fiber: oatmeal and fig newtons.  Toasted almonds and dried fruit are good too. Good luck.

Kit07

[snowbyrd]

We sound like we are having the same problems. I too can only eat the bland food. I'm working with a dietician because i have tx indused anorexia...food aversions and just no desire to eat. Here are a couple of recipies she gave to me, she also said its all about calories at this point. I normally eat very healthy low fat, but not right now....it's a fat fest.
Banana Flip:  2peeled bananas
                     1package vanilla instant breakfast drink
                     8 oz of whole milk
                     4 oz of orange juice
Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth
makes one serving  545 calories  17gms of protien

I have more if this one works for you. I also use carnation instant breakfast with whole milk. I tend to eat a lot of the same foods right now, pasta rice but i always put butter or cheese on top. I was also told to use table cream in my coffee or a white cream sauce on my pasta. I'm vegatarian so i don't eat meat or chicken. I have not even been able to handle too much fish. I forget how long you have left of tx, but you have to try to get your weight up a bit. I have 2 weeks left and i look horrible, I need to get at least to 110 lbs so my legs can hold me up. How much have you lost?  Anita

[GrandmaA]

All: One of the healthiest things you can take is 2 tablespoons of flaxseed oil with yogurt or cottage cheese every day. It works better with a calcified protein. It helps 30 different ailments. It's practically a cure all. After treatment I will not eat so much cheese. Just yogurt.

NYGirl: I LOVE chocolate.

[nitramog]

yea pizza I dream of pizza!  hawk you coud be my herow

[orphanedhawk]

SB, K, G: Thanks for the recipes/ideas. Really thats what I was after.
    I may be the only one on the forum who doesn't know what week they're on. I just did my shot, maybe week 19?  Taking  neupogen has made it harder to keep my weight up. I've only lost 6 lbs but for me going from 105 to 99 is a lot! I am petite and 102 or 3 is perfect. 99 is okay but I don't want to lose anymore and my pants are getting too loose. My doc wants me to extend my tx beyond the 24 weeks for geno. 2.9 because of the cirrhosis) I can only do that if I don't keep losing weight.
Kit, the last time my husband made  stir fried rice I couldn't handle the coconut milk. And I've stayed in Thailand for months at a time. I am going to have such a feast once my taste buds are back!
Nitramog: Pizza and chocolate are two neccessities of life, preceded only by a sense of humor.

[GrandmaA]

Remember the peanut butter too and nuts. i love them both. It's wonder I'm not fat.  

[pigeonca]

Pizza is one of the major food groups, IMHO, and should be eaten at least once a week.  (Well, I am originally from Chicago.  My friends from New Orleans feel the same way about gumbo.)  But during tx  most foods tasted like metal and/or soap suds, including my favorites.  Veggies and meat were particularly abhorent.  But I enjoyed losing weight, since I needed to lose about 20 lbs., and 13 weeks of tx lost me 13 of those 20.  Not being petite like you, I was delighted, but my NP said people need to maintain most of their weight and not lose too quickly because otherwise their strength just disappears.  And this turned out to be true for me.  

Weightwatchers recommends a healthy loss of not more than a pound a week (after the first few weeks, when you can lose more), but it doesn't work that way on tx.  Losing a pound a week on tx can make you very sick.  So you've got to find stuff that goes down easily.  For me this meant avoiding cooked foods, meats and salads - all the things I usually like.  The NP said not to worry so much about a balanced diet and just go for calories. I drank smoothies, devoured ice cream, applesauce - terrible in the carb department - and sometimes could tolerate very plain food like turkey sandwiches on whole wheat.  But my faves, spicy ethnic delicacies, all tasted weird during tx.  And yes, chocolate is great.  Remember, dark chocolate is good for your heart - what a fabulous justification.

Now that I'm finished with tx, I figure I need to eat extra healthy to make up for all those milkshakes.  That seems rather daunting right now - got in the habit of indulging and now it's hard to stop.  Bon appetit.

[Kalio1]

I use a "heart smart" shake that is easy.

organic yogurt ( I use the no flavor kind because it doesn't have the "bad stuff" like sugar in it)
soy milk (Im sure goat would work too or regular cow if you are ok with that)
frozen berries I get from Costco, they have a great 3 berry mix I keep in the freezer
hand full of almonds, scoop of whey protein powder, scoop of green defense, scoop of wheat germ, scoop of brewer's yeast
you can throw any fruit in it and mix it up. Naked has some good pre made smoothies but they are so incredibly expensive! You can make a veggie style one too if you prefer that to fruits, I make one using low sodium V8 and add whatever veggies I have handy then add the protein, green defense, wheat germ nuts and some ice. It is hearty but not for everyone's taste. You can add any veg that suits your fancy. Not a lot of fat in it but maybe you could have it with some nice thick whole grain toast or something. You can add wheat grass, spirulina, whatever you like. Beets are super good for us, I know not many people like them though.

In your case I'd add some full fat ice cream tothe fruit shake to see it it will help add some weight.

I couldn't stand the supplements they sell in cans plus they have a lot of sugar in them but if that goes down easy for you then lots of brands are available if you dont have the energy to make your own.

[madbrad]

Flaxseed oil great stuff..I do believe its the best fat,omega3.......And whatsup with all this cheese hating..Man I lub me some cheeeeese...Matter of fact bought 2 lbs of swiss and been eating it like a rat...well me and the family of course..lol
  Since I went anemic in december and 6 weeks of EPO...Man I have no complaints considering I'm on tx......I've put on 10 lbs....Which to me is motivation to get back to working out again.....Food doesn't taste like metal..anymore or yet not like before...Color has comeback to my face..THANK THE LORD......I looked like I walked away from Auschwitz.....
  I can still smell the chemicals though....

   But one thing...My waste disposal system seems to be a bit jacked up....Regular movement whats that???????? And sometimes I get so bloated feeling.....Makes me super irritable... I feel like the Michelin Man.And of late I have GAS like CRAZY.....

Maybe that was a little more info then needed to be shared...JK...LOL..it's true

[susan400]

This isn't healthy, of course, but my favorite was Edde's Double Fudge Brownie.     Sometimes when I didn't feel like eating and I was loosing alot of weight, I drank Choc. Boost (High Protein), I checked and it didn't have iron in it.   For lunch every day, I ate homemade chicken vegatable soup.    In the mornings, I eat (still do eat), 4 tablespoons of plain acidophilus yogurt-for the medicinal properties in it (not because I like the taste).

Susan

[jmjm530]

Malbrad,

Just be careful with the flax within 2-3 hours of taking ribavirin. Same with any fiber supplement and/or antacids. Also, if you're having problems with "bloating" I'd stop the flax for awhile since insoluable fiber is known to cause bloating in those susceptible. Maybe try substituting more soluable fiber in your diet instead, or if necessary try a soluable fiber supplement like Metamucil although psyllium is also sometimes linked with bloating.

Going back to canned meals/supplements like "Prosure", the concept here is to get the most calories and nutriments into the smallest volume. This may not be important for those with normal treatment weight loss but for those with both significant loss and an accompanying tx-induced eating disorder, where the act of getting food down is difficult, it is important. And for the record, "Prosure" relatively speaking has very little sugar in it, especially when compared to some suggested shakes containing ice cream. Specifically 10grams of sugar per serving as compared to 15 grams per serving in say Breyer's Natural French Vanilla. Not to mention that Prosure contains Omega 3's and other healthy stuff.

http://www.prosure.com/productDetails.asp

http://www.breyers.com/products/product.cfm?u=77567-25438&b=1

[orphanedhawk]

Pigeonca: I grew up in New Jersey, pizza parlors everywhere. Thankfully the world loves it too. I make a pretty good pizza seeing that I don't have a pizza oven.
Kalio: I think you and I are like minded on the organic food front. I always buy unflavored yogurt with live cultures. I don't have problems eating raw fruits or vegies.  I was making  beet, ginger juice but its too strong flavored for me to handle anymore. Actually, I have more problems eating after my shots. Monday and Tuesday, I eat all day long.
  Madbrad: I got out of the habit of eating cheese in Asia. Then when I got ascites with the cirrhosis, I had to cut salt out of my diet. Cheese tends to be salty. And it can cause constitpation.  However, I love Italian food of all kinds. A little asiago on my pasta and I'm happy.
  Susan: Chicken soup, the mother's miracle!
jmjm: thanks. To make things more difficult, I'm a damn Californian food snob. I read labels. But even my doctor said my nutirtion is good and that was just from looking at me.
   Okay, enough talk, I gotta eat.

[jmjm530]

I hear you on the "food snob" thing. Same here but during treatment I had to make a trade off between let's say "good" food and food that I could both tolerate and help stave off my escalating weight loss. They were not always the same thing but priority went to keeping my weight up. Hopefully you will be able to eat "good" and keep your weight up, but if you have to choose, don't be a food snob, be a food slob and eat whatever works :)

Be well,

-- Jim

[orphanedhawk]

Jim, Yes, I know that tx is about getting through it not about what we like or want. I walk past the wine in my market without a glance. I've even gotten past crying at the imported deli delights. I still read restaurant reviews and drool. The best though is at my last appt. my liverhead recommended an Italian place for lunch. No wonder I love S.F.
   BTW: I thought your parody on the other side, was hilarious.

[lostpass]

I am green with envy "small" woman... love the adjective.  I am a size 12 and growing post treatment.  I got my appetite back big time.  Holy Cow!!!!!!
This is what I did every a.m.  a shake: milk, protein powder, wheat Germ, banana, some strawberries, Miracle Green, Walnuts and Stawberry ice cream in blender. A cup  I drank every a.m.. I felt sick and had a hard time eating but I did not lose weight.  Post treatment, I am Not doing the shake for obvious reasons.  I am SO hungry and I love chocolate and you name it.  Green with envy.  Chunky woman...... lostpass