Weight Gain Ideas, Please

[ryebaby0]

My 17 y.o. son and I are looking for weight gain ideas. Yes, that's right -- he is trying to gain weight. 5'10" and on a "fat" day he weighs 120, which puts him in the 1st percentile for weight. We're concerned, and trying not to be alarmed.

No, he's not getting any gluten(he's been gluten-free for 7 years, we know what we're doing). No, he's fine in every other health way (no thyroid, no metabolics; his immune dsyfunctions are stable and monitored closely by his docs). He just can't eat enough calories:

He has braces -- no nuts, sticky things,etc. Celiac, obviously. Has the world's smallest jaw, so chewing takes forever. He takes meds that stress his liver/kidney, so lots of protein is a no-no (Say goodbye to Boost, Ensure, energy bars).

If you have ideas, please send them along. Right now he reads dieting articles, and reverses the advice!!

[kerrig]

I am headed to the dietitian / nutritionist today with my 10 year old son for weight idea gains too. He was diagonsed with celiac about 6 weeks ago...I'll share them with you this weekend.

[GlutenFreeManna]

He needs to get plenty of good fats and carbs. Things like corn chips and guacamole, gluten free toast with peanut butter, steaks and potatoes, hard boiled eggs, milk and cheese can help as well if he can have them, make him rich food like gluten free mac and cheese, gluten free pizza, etc. As I'm sure you know, a lot of gluten free substitutes are higher in calories, so have him eat more of those things if you can. You can mix fruit and veggies in with the gluten free foods if you are worried about nutrition--add veggies to a meat pizza, mix broccoli or spinach into a gluten free lasagna, Add fruit to an ice cream smoothie, etc. If he can't eat a lot in one sitting, have him eat several small meals and snacks through out the day instead. Also if he has no other food intolerances he can drink protein shakes--the type body builders use to put on weight (just make sure they are gluten free and do not have wheat grass, barley grass, etc). I don't know any brands since I have to be soy free as well, but maybe someone else will suggest some. I hope this helps and good luck!

[ryebaby0]

We put butter in all his veggies, and switched to whole milk. He eats cheese as a snack, frosting and cookies, pretzels and pb. (not all of them at once!) Has a pint of uber-rich Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream every single afternoon snack. Has a fruit smoothie (yogurt, whole milk, fruit, honey, flaxseed oil) and peanut butter toast and/or cinnamon roll every breakfast.

Naturally with all this high-fat food around, I am slowly gaining weight. Yet he is not! I know teenage boys burn high (have other sons at college)but honestly, it's starting to freak me out. Keep those ideas coming!

[frieze]

We put butter in all his veggies, and switched to whole milk. He eats cheese as a snack, frosting and cookies, pretzels and pb. (not all of them at once!) Has a pint of uber-rich Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream every single afternoon snack. Has a fruit smoothie (yogurt, whole milk, fruit, honey, flaxseed oil) and peanut butter toast and/or cinnamon roll every breakfast.

Naturally with all this high-fat food around, I am slowly gaining weight. Yet he is not! I know teenage boys burn high (have other sons at college)but honestly, it's starting to freak me out. Keep those ideas coming!

what you really want is muscle gain and you are unlikely to get that with high fat food.....untill/unless the med issue can be resolved he may remain very slim.

[Skylark]

Is this a medical recommendation to gain weight from is Dr. or is he just trying not to be the skinniest guy at the beach? If he has normal energy, seems to be absorbing his food, and is getting good nutrition (no deficiencies on blood work), you might be worrying too much. I'm pretty sure Frieze is right that what he would really need to bulk up is protein rather than high fat, so with the med issue you're not going to be able to help him build much lean mass.

[weluvgators]

How about adding more of other fats? Do you cook veggies with olive oil? And eating avocados frequently - can be eaten with eggs and potatoes for breakfast, with tuna/salmon/bean salad for lunch, with chicken/pork/beef and carrots/veggies for dinner - or hamburgers too. Add olive oils for your dressings. We try to make more and more of our own dressings, picking the quality oils that we want to nourish us. I enjoy using fresh citrus in the dressings too. How about tabouli with quinoa? I haven't tried it yet - that is my goal for the day! You could eat that with avocado too. Have you tried making frozen banana ice cream? We like to add coconut milk, other frozen fruits, honey and dates .

Is he eating grains? We stick with whole grains that we sort and wash, so I have been slow to add them back fully - lots of work! We do eat a fair amount of rice, and we dress it up with coconut aminos or gluten free soy sauce - or make fried rice - or cook with eggs/veggies. How about pancakes, with lots of maple syrup? We use the leftovers from batch cooking to eat as snacks and reheat for breakfast. You can add coconut, hemp nuts and nut flours to bulk up the nutrition. We cook our in lots of coconut oil.

How about bean dips (you can use olive oil with that too) - eat with chips, crackers or veggies. I like to use the broths from cooking the chicken/pork/beef dinners for soups as well - adding rice to bulk them up. And my mom makes awesome pinto beans when we visit - we eat them like crazy! I like dressing them up with fresh salsa and chopped onion too.

How about steamed potatoes and sweet potatoes. We like our sweet potatoes with maple syrup. If you are eating dairy, pile sour cream, cheddar cheese, chili and bacon on a potato - boy does that sound good! We don't eat dairy.

I hope it helps! My DH was very thin at that age, and it lasted a few years.

[ryebaby0]

The pediatrician wants him to gain weight, the peds GI is unconcerned but nothing much bothers him. Between the braces and the meds, I feel like we're stuck. He hates avocados (first thing we tried, and he's a pretty open-minded eater). He has little muscle mass to speak of. He has said he worries that doing anything physical will just burn calories, but without the muscle he'll never gain weight. He does love rice and beans though...and yes, we cook with olive oil and butter. He eats pancakes, quinoa, and yogurt with abandon, but coconut milk might be a good idea...