How to Maximize Calories & Nutrition
Jun. 15th, 2008 05:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithI know, this is the opposite of what most people are trying to do -- but someone asked about it today on a community I read, so I figured it's useful information for folks who have a hard time keeping up a healthy weight. (This assumes that you've already discussed your weight with your regular health care provider and/or you already know there's an issue that you need to compensate for in order to maintain or raise your body mass.) Here are some ways to maximize the caloric and nutritional value of food ...
1) Never eat low-fat, low-calorie, lite, or any other diet food. Eat whole, real foods as much as possible. Fresh, natural foods are better for this than over-processed ones. They're also often cheaper.
2) Use half-and-half or whole milk instead of milk that has some of the fat removed.
3) Use real butter, not margarine. Butter your baking pans instead of spraying them with nonstick spray. Shortening, lard, and bacon grease are also excellent. Eggs fried in bacon grease = mmmmmm. Useful information on oils and fats appears in "The Cook's Thesaurus."
4) Use full-fat meat instead of lean meat. Don't remove the fat or skin from meat before cooking it. Animal fat -- not protein -- is the best for working up to a healthy weight. Saving fat, such as ham trimmings or bacon grease, also saves you money and lets you add flavor to other dishes.
5) Use real eggs instead of egg substitute powder or goo. Use extra-large or large eggs instead of medium or small ones (but only go up one size step, because more can destablize a recipe).
6) Combine foods to add variety and calories: frex, instead of eating a fresh peach plain, slice it and cover with cream and a bit of sugar. Put milk and cheese into scrambled eggs. Put butter and sour cream into potatoes. Big hunks of skin-fat can be cut off a cooked ham and used to flavor a pot of beans. Many such combos are "comfort foods" that help you feel relaxed, happy, and full.
7) Drink juice, tea, or other caloric and nutritious beverages instead of plain water. Traditional and herbal teas are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Twinings is a popular and affordable brand; Teavana offers extraordinary gourmet teas.
8) Look for older cookbooks and recipes. The lite craze is really only about 20-30 years old. The farther back you go, the more people cooked with things like cream, butter, lard, eggs, and other ingredients that they're practically afraid of now. These are available cheap in used-book stores or yardsales.
9) Try eating high-calorie foods in small steady amounts when you're not really paying attention, like eating popcorn with real butter while watching a movie. It's a good way to sneak in more calories.
10) Eat while or shortly before resting. Don't eat a large meal immediately before or after hard exercise, just snack on high-energy trail food. It's okay to eat a big supper an hour or so before going to bed, but some people get indigestion if they sleep on a full stomach, so be careful.
Also consider your activity level. If you're running yourself ragged, you'll have a hard time putting on weight. If you laze around, you'll put on flab, which is not healthy. Moderate exercise is best for putting on healthy weight. Activities such as walking, hiking, swimming, gardening, yoga, etc. can help work up a good appetite and make optimum use of what you eat.
1) Never eat low-fat, low-calorie, lite, or any other diet food. Eat whole, real foods as much as possible. Fresh, natural foods are better for this than over-processed ones. They're also often cheaper.
2) Use half-and-half or whole milk instead of milk that has some of the fat removed.
3) Use real butter, not margarine. Butter your baking pans instead of spraying them with nonstick spray. Shortening, lard, and bacon grease are also excellent. Eggs fried in bacon grease = mmmmmm. Useful information on oils and fats appears in "The Cook's Thesaurus."
4) Use full-fat meat instead of lean meat. Don't remove the fat or skin from meat before cooking it. Animal fat -- not protein -- is the best for working up to a healthy weight. Saving fat, such as ham trimmings or bacon grease, also saves you money and lets you add flavor to other dishes.
5) Use real eggs instead of egg substitute powder or goo. Use extra-large or large eggs instead of medium or small ones (but only go up one size step, because more can destablize a recipe).
6) Combine foods to add variety and calories: frex, instead of eating a fresh peach plain, slice it and cover with cream and a bit of sugar. Put milk and cheese into scrambled eggs. Put butter and sour cream into potatoes. Big hunks of skin-fat can be cut off a cooked ham and used to flavor a pot of beans. Many such combos are "comfort foods" that help you feel relaxed, happy, and full.
7) Drink juice, tea, or other caloric and nutritious beverages instead of plain water. Traditional and herbal teas are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Twinings is a popular and affordable brand; Teavana offers extraordinary gourmet teas.
8) Look for older cookbooks and recipes. The lite craze is really only about 20-30 years old. The farther back you go, the more people cooked with things like cream, butter, lard, eggs, and other ingredients that they're practically afraid of now. These are available cheap in used-book stores or yardsales.
9) Try eating high-calorie foods in small steady amounts when you're not really paying attention, like eating popcorn with real butter while watching a movie. It's a good way to sneak in more calories.
10) Eat while or shortly before resting. Don't eat a large meal immediately before or after hard exercise, just snack on high-energy trail food. It's okay to eat a big supper an hour or so before going to bed, but some people get indigestion if they sleep on a full stomach, so be careful.
Also consider your activity level. If you're running yourself ragged, you'll have a hard time putting on weight. If you laze around, you'll put on flab, which is not healthy. Moderate exercise is best for putting on healthy weight. Activities such as walking, hiking, swimming, gardening, yoga, etc. can help work up a good appetite and make optimum use of what you eat.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-03 07:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-16 10:01 pm (UTC)My husband is working at a very physical job - pumping fuel in a convenience store. He gets a hoagie sandwich for free as his official "lunch", and he snacks on doughnuts and juice and cheese-stuffed giant pretzels and hot chocolate (and he drinks as much water as he can, and he puts half-and-half in his coffee), and then I serve him dinner when he gets home at 10 PM.
I used to cook bacon almost every day, and I saved my bacon grease to cook eggs in. My mother had acquired the habit of saving bacon grease during the Depression and WW 2. So I loved to eat bacon, so I kept saving the drippings. Now I can barely tolerate two slices of bacon in one sitting, so I don't have as much grease to save.