Gaining weight - very fussy eater

Penny Tration

Hiya, I'm asking this on behalf of my mam.

She's 50 years old, 5'1 and weighs in at 6 stone even. She's told she needs to get to 8 stone

Firstly, she has an over-active thyroid, which cannot be medicated due to the huge amounts of medication she is on for disabilities. She also cannot exercise due to her disabilities. She's lucky if she manages a fairly slow 20 minute walk once per month.

So, her daily food intake is atrocious tbh. An average day would be:

Two boiled eggs with a knob of butter.

3 medium sized potatoes, boiled, with a chicken breast or three sausages, and sometimes another egg.

Two small jam tarts (you know the ones that come in a pack of six for a couple of euro?).

About 8 cups of tea with around 20ml of full fat milk in each.

2 litres of water.

One Ensure weight gain drink (circa 250 cals).

Obviously, she is not eating nearly enough calories to gain weight. Due to her overactive thyroid, she needs more, and she also needs more because her entire body is constantly shaking due to her disabilities, which her specialists say is causing her to burn even more calories.

Now, the issue. Fussy is an understatemen! She will eat sweet fcuk all. She doesn't eat cheese, peanut butter, nuts, doesn't drink milk on its own, doesn't eat rice or pasta, the list goes on. The only calorie dense foods she eats are potatoes and apple tart made with puff pastry. Obviously apple tart isn't something she'd eat every day :pac: oh, and bread. She loves ham sandwiches.

Now, she's not looking to get toned. She literally wants to gain weight, even if it's fat (how bad is that? :pac: ).

She has a tiny appetite, so I'm trying to get her to gradually up her food intake.

So, what sorts of food can you guys recommend? All of the obvious high fat, good foods, she won't eat. she doesn't want to live off of junk food like take aways and jam tarts, because she is conscious of keeping her cholesterol down (it used to be very high).

Any ideas? I know this is a big ask, but she's asked me to ask for her because she really doesn't want to just eat bad food and raise her cholesterol.

oscar_mike

If its you who is serving the food you could try adding in more butter on her spud and ham sandwiches, assuming its real butter that is, its pretty calorie dense. Also putting more jam on her jam tarts might work. Cream on her desserts?

If shes making her own food she could marinade the chicken in a calorie rich sauce?? Would she eat a grilled avocado? They have a ton of cals.

thegreatiam

have you consulted with a dietician?

Jezek

ask if her doctors can help you link-in with a nutricionist

Trebor Gluck

green_screen wrote: »

Hiya, I'm asking this on behalf of my mam.

She's 50 years old, 5'1 and weighs in at 6 stone even. She's told she needs to get to 8 stone

Firstly, she has an over-active thyroid, which cannot be medicated due to the huge amounts of medication she is on for disabilities. She also cannot exercise due to her disabilities. She's lucky if she manages a fairly slow 20 minute walk once per month.

So, her daily food intake is atrocious tbh. An average day would be:

Two boiled eggs with a knob of butter.

3 medium sized potatoes, boiled, with a chicken breast or three sausages, and sometimes another egg.

Two small jam tarts (you know the ones that come in a pack of six for a couple of euro?).

About 8 cups of tea with around 20ml of full fat milk in each.

2 litres of water.

One Ensure weight gain drink (circa 250 cals).

Obviously, she is not eating nearly enough calories to gain weight. Due to her overactive thyroid, she needs more, and she also needs more because her entire body is constantly shaking due to her disabilities, which her specialists say is causing her to burn even more calories.

Now, the issue. Fussy is an understatemen! She will eat sweet fcuk all. She doesn't eat cheese, peanut butter, nuts, doesn't drink milk on its own, doesn't eat rice or pasta, the list goes on. The only calorie dense foods she eats are potatoes and apple tart made with puff pastry. Obviously apple tart isn't something she'd eat every day :pac: oh, and bread. She loves ham sandwiches.

Now, she's not looking to get toned. She literally wants to gain weight, even if it's fat (how bad is that? :pac: ).

She has a tiny appetite, so I'm trying to get her to gradually up her food intake.

So, what sorts of food can you guys recommend? All of the obvious high fat, good foods, she won't eat. she doesn't want to live off of junk food like take aways and jam tarts, because she is conscious of keeping her cholesterol down (it used to be very high).

Any ideas? I know this is a big ask, but she's asked me to ask for her because she really doesn't want to just eat bad food and raise her cholesterol.

Fois grais on toast maybe?

househero

She needs the help of a PROFESSIONAL

If it was me, I would REDUCE STRESS & AEROBIC EXERCISE & Increase protein intake MASSIVELY (meats, dairy, nuts) Increase resistant training (weights) her apitate should increase with her bodies needs. Eat a minimum of once every 2hrs. Milk can provide nutrition when somebody can not stomach a meal. Drink it by the pint. Portions have to be increased gradually to very large portions. Minimum 8hrs sleep a day. & EAT BEFORE BED. Grains, meats, dairy are corner stones of building up weight with a healthy base. Eat real food, not processed crap, its nutritionally useless.

Get her to go see a professional, boards.ie is no place for medical questions,

Good luck

Harry Angstrom

She should drink plenty of milk. Try to mix it with soup if she won't drink it by itself. Three or four slices of bread with the milk/soup and you'll soon see the weight gain.

Penny Tration

thegreatiam wrote: »

have you consulted with a dietician?

I haven't, she has, of course. They basically told her to eat lots of things that she won't eat, and the Ensure shakes, which she does drink.

Suggestions like milk in soup and stuff like that are great.

MaceFace

Is your Mam's issue due to her being a picky eater because she does not like the food because it is a problem with the food or could it be that she doesn't want to eat these foods because she thinks they are bad for her (either will make her put on weight, raise cholesterol, affect her thyroid).

This sounds very like a mental issue that needs the help of a professional.

Penny Tration

MaceFace wrote: »

Is your Mam's issue due to her being a picky eater because she does not like the food because it is a problem with the food or could it be that she doesn't want to eat these foods because she thinks they are bad for her (either will make her put on weight, raise cholesterol, affect her thyroid).

This sounds very like a mental issue that needs the help of a professional.

She just doesn't like a lot of types of food. It's not a mental illness, she's 100% mentally sound, thankfully. She's as fussy as a child when it comes to food, although she is willing to try anything.

seosamh1980

green_screen wrote: »

She just doesn't like a lot of types of food. It's not a mental illness, she's 100% mentally sound, thankfully. She's as fussy as a child when it comes to food, although she is willing to try anything.

But clearly she isn't willing to try anything if she limits her diet so much?

Penny Tration

seosamh1980 wrote: »

But clearly she isn't willing to try anything if she limits her diet so much?

She tries tonnes of different foods. She hasn't liked anything she's tried :pac:

homemadecider

She's not a toddler. She knows she needs to eat more but she is refusing out of fussiness. I doubt there's anything you can do, to be honest. She needs a reality check.

tattykitty

My mother is struggling to get enough food into her at the moment too (different reason - she's on a soft-food only diet for severe diverticulitis), and one of the things she's found works well is adding cooked pasta to tomato soup. She cooks the pasta until it's really soft, throws it into the soup and then blends it all together until it's smooth - if your mum doesn't like the texture of pasta, it might be another way to get the calories into her. My mum tells me it's quite substantial.

If your mum can drink the Ensure shakes, will she drink regular milkshakes? You could make one yourself with bananas and milk...you could probably hide peanut butter in there as well.

Also, she eats boiled eggs, so would she eat an omelette? You could smuggle cheese and ham into a three-egg omelette, or mix into scrambled eggs perhaps.

DonnaDarko09

One has to wonder if there is another underlying issue when people behave like this. Does she really want to gain weight??

Anyway as others suggested, peanut butter can be added to many foods (smoothies, sandwiches). Will she eat no nuts? cashews are quite different in texture, more buttery than others. Nut butters are another option. Failing that, loading up on more bread is definitely not healthiest imo but the wholegrain variety is best of the bunch and can be eaten with most meals.

Orla K

The thyroid problem would be causing a lack of appetite, it's going to be difficult for her to eat.
The only thing is to try go for as much high calorie foods little and often. Little and often because I very much doubt she can eat anything substantial in one go.

Penny Tration

DonnaDarko09 wrote: »

One has to wonder if there is another underlying issue when people behave like this. Does she really want to gain weight??

Anyway as others suggested, peanut butter can be added to many foods (smoothies, sandwiches). Will she eat no nuts? cashews are quite different in texture, more buttery than others. Nut butters are another option. Failing that, loading up on more bread is definitely not healthiest imo but the wholegrain variety is best of the bunch and can be eaten with most meals.

There's no underlying conditions, not mentally anyway. She is fine in that regard. Her parents were just as fussy as her, as are her sisters and brothers, and most of her offspring.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, everyone

She'll probably baulk at the idea of pasta in her soup and peanut butter in shakes, but I'll just prepare it all without letting her in the kitchen and not tell her what's in it :pac:

She has made more effort to eat bigger portions over the last week (before I made this thread), and has gained a pound, so hopefully it'll continue

Penny Tration

homemadecider wrote: »

She's not a toddler. She knows she needs to eat more but she is refusing out of fussiness. I doubt there's anything you can do, to be honest. She needs a reality check.

Yup, I agree with you tbh. But since she IS refusing, there's very little I can do bar try to figure out ways she'll eat more calories.

CeannRua

How about homemade desserts like rice pudding and custard? Smoothies made with milk and add coconut oil and seeds with fruit?

Penny Tration

Just wanted to pop back in here and say thank you to the people who made suggestions. I've been adding more milk to her soups, blending things into them, and so on.

She, to give her credit, is eating more frequently and is starting to try more foods (due to a very stern conversation I had with her :pac: ).

Her appetite is still very small, but she's gained another pound. So here's hoping it keeps up.

Thanks again.