If you are having difficulty getting enough calories in your diet after surgery, your recovery could be adversely affected. These tips can help you add calories to your diet without having to eat noticeably more; however, these changes are not necessarily heart-healthy and are not going to aid weight loss.
This way of eating is reserved for people who are unable to consume enough calories, as this is not an ideal nutritional plan for the long term. Some individuals truly struggle to consume enough food in the early part of the recovery phase, and these tips are intended for those people.
When you can return to a healthier diet, eliminating saturated fats and sugar while emphasizing fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins, it is important to do so.
12 Ways to Sneak Calories Into Your Diet
Follow these tips:
- Use heavy cream instead of non-fat dairy creamer.
- Use real sugar, not a sugar substitute.
- Use real butter or margarine, not low-calorie butter spreads or sprays.
- Cook with oil, not with cooking spray.
- Choose full-calorie options if possible when eating prepared foods, such as frozen meals. For example, don’t select Weight Watchers frozen meals, as they are calorie-controlled, choose a full-calorie version.
- Suck on mints or candy.
- Eat the highest calorie items on your plate first.
- Keep a full-calorie beverage (juice, lemonade, soda) nearby, and drink from it whenever possible.
- Add a dietary supplement, such as Ensure or protein bars, to your diet.
- Snack between meals.
- Use high-calorie snacks, such as nuts and seeds.
- Think of eating as your job and do it frequently. Consider commercial breaks on television to be a reminder to have a nibble.
- Choose vegetables with more calories, such as avocados and potatoes rather than lettuce.
- Add a bedtime snack to your schedule.