I need to gain weight soon

Posted by joseph202020 @joseph202020, Mar 11 11:33pm

I lost 30 lbs after a stroke. All stroke symptoms gone, including normal blood pressure and cholesterol count now. My diet is DASH and I feel great, but am at 142 lbs and cannot gain. Also 20.5 BMI, which is too close to low for me. I should be around 22 - 24 BMI and about 150+ lbs. for my age.
The biggest problem is DASH, no red meat, no processed anything, no fried, no full fat dairy, no bought baked goods. I eat all the good fat grabbers every day: salmon,avocado, nuts, peanut butter, bananas, chocolate milk, whole wheat pasta, potatoes, oatmeal, whole grains, beans, 0 salt added, etc. (yes every day)
The biggest problem is limiting sodium(BP), and saturated fat (CHO) intake or I could have another stroke. Low saturated fat diet makes it hard to gain weight.
I tried one nutritionist, she had no clue. Until I find a competent nutritionist, anyone have any ideas?
Thank you!

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emo | @emo | Mar 17 3:10pm

I agree, a good dietician would really help. I’ve been working with a dietician through the medical center where I’m seen, and I got lucky because she’s really great. But I’ve tried others who weren’t a good fit. I think it’s worth it to Lee looking.

I have a GI condition (my father’s had a stroke, which is sometimes why I scroll this group) and at one point was also underweight. My challenge was I couldn’t tolerate much volume/amount of food, so I had to re-train my body to accept more food. My dietician recommended I increase the frequency of small snacks, practice taking “one extra bite” at meals, and increasing calorically dense foods.

Can you do dairy? She recommended for me things like:

-Yogurt (all yogurt has to have some sugar to feed the good bacteria in it, but the kinds with a modest amount of sugar) and I could add as much fruit, nuts, or granola to it.

-Cottage cheese (it’s kind of a love/hate thing). Good Culture low-fat is really good (not zero fat because it tastes kinda gross) with fruit, or you can turn it into a dip or blend it if you don’t like the texture and spread it on toast or a bagel.

-Sprouted bread—it’s higher in protein and easier to digest (again, GI issues for me). Angelic Bakery is local for me because I’m in the Midwest but there are other brands and it can be ordered online. It’s really good, and a good vessel for avocado toast, peanut butter, etc.

My other solution that really helped were protein shakes or smoothies. I know you said nothing processed, but there are a lot of good plant-based options now. I have a GI condition, so these are the GI-friendly ones that I relied on:

-Kate Farms
-Owyn
-Or I made my own with Casa De Sante protein powder, peanut butter, a banana, coconut or almond milk and any other fruit
-If blood sugar isn’t an issue, a shortcut is to buy ready-made smoothies and you can blend it with more stuff.
-If you’re not averse to bars, Perfect Bars (in the refrigerated section) are protein bars based with peanut or almond butter and low glycemic index.

Since we had/have a similar challenge, thought I’d share what my dietician shared with me.