Well I have ran a site for overweight women seeking to lose weight for six years so I know all about the one end of it and very little about the other end.

It takes 3600 calories to gain or lose a pound. If you eat say 3600 calories and expend 3600 calories in your daily activity and basal metabolism ( breathing, existing, sweating and organ functions in the body) you will stay the same in weight. In order to gain 1 pound per week you need to add 3600 more calories to that week.

Thing about protein is that proteins and fats are burned hot in the body. Carbohydrates are burned slower and if they are not all "used" up in daily activity they are converted by the body to fat. This means if you eat a lot of proteins and fats and few carbohydrates you will indeed "lose" weight as opposed gaining it. The fats and proteins then become like coal in the fire as opposed to kindling. Therefor the carbs, if not used, will add the pounds if you eat plenty of them.

The best way to add weight is to eat the proteins and fats, staying away from the saturated fats, and to add lots of carbohydrates to the body. Starchy veggies like potatoes, peas, corn, winter squash and anything made with white flour like bread, rolls, muffins and the like. Plenty of pasta and creamed anything and everything. Milk of any kind even soy. Heavy cream however, contains no carbs and is all fat. You want the whole, 2% oir skim to get the sugar which is actually the carbs.

This is the concept of the Atkins diet which does work. Eating few carbs and plenty of fats and proteins will keep the metabolism running at high speed and burning calories 24/7 whereas eating carbs will cause blood sugar to drop more quickly sending you running for another cookie and another roll to get that sugar fix up again.

Any questions? Just ask. I am here to aid and abet.

Blessings,
barb~

Jen, I too had a very hard time gaining for the first 2 years. I didn't worry about it though because I was at my "high school" weight. You can use the weight gain powders mixed with your regular meals but I would avoid high sugar content. Protien is important fat is important too. Eggs can be added to anything but raw these days is not good (unless you can find irradiated eggs). Hard boiled eggs are easy to have around and can be crumbled into lots of foods. The blender shakes are fine but some of the recipies are very heavy on the dairy and sugar. Instead make fruit smoothies with some of the weight gain powders mixed in. If you would like my blender options, just e-mail me and I'll send it to you. You will need to stay fit while you gain otherwise the "padding" might not be where you want it. :rolleyes:

I also give my husband Designer Whey Protein powder. He lost 50 pounds and has gained 30 of it back and is stable at this weight for the past month or two. He gets about 3200 calories a day. I cook a scrambled egg and put it in the blender with protein powder and milk and it is an eggnog. The egg completely liquifys. He also drinks three drinks a day with ensure, instant breakfast, protein powder, bananna, and yogurt which comes to about 850 calories at a time. He gets 400 extra calories by adding the protein powder to his drinks

At one point about two years ago I went on a weight gain diet (this was well before I knew I had cancer) and would eat 6 meals a day, three of which were protein-based drinks. Whey Protein Isolate is your best bet digestion-wise, it's the easiest and won't make you feel bloated. It's almost pure protein with very little carbs. Add 2 tablespoons of oil (olive, flaxseed, etc) and you've got another 260 calories and 28 grams of fat added to it, for a total of about 500 calories. 3 of those and 3 other 400-500 cal meals is what it takes to gain weight with a high metabolism, but it did work for me as I went from about 174 to 195 in about 10 months.

I plan to use this logic when dealing with my cancer as I'm just about to start my journey through treatment. I realize it's gonna be near impossible to do this and I'll most likely end up with the PEG tube as well, but months down the road when I can eat and handle food without vomiting that's how I hope to put weight back on that I lose.

PS. Creatine adds weight by causing water retention so I'm not sure that's your best yet. It's generally only useful if you're working out a lot.

Also, those GNC mixtures with 1850 calories are very hard to digest. I've tried. They put you in the bathroom almost immediately upon ingesting.

Hey, thanks for the information. I really didn't have much luck with the GNC 1850 mixture. The stuff wouldn't blend well and was lumpy. However I did get some soy protein powder and meal replacement powders that are 100% whey.

My dietician did tell me to add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to the PEG tube feedings if I really wanted to boost the calorie count. Looking back I wish I would have stayed more on top of adding calories to the PEG feedings and then I wouldn't have to be so concerned about packing it back on again.

Jen