Maybe not the best place to post but I’m desperate for help

[TillyEaf]

I’ve had an horrendous year and I’m now severely underweight. I feel exhausted. Can’t sleep.

I need to find my energy and don’t know where to start. I feel fragile. I want to drag myself to the shop today and buy sensible food to help me feel healthier. Can someone tell me what is best to eat to bulk quickly? Is it a case of just forcing meals? Most days I eat a sausage sandwich, piece of fish and toast. I hate feeling my bones stick out and want to just get a stone back on as soon as I can. The thought of eating makes me feel stressed and sick because I’m always feeling anxious.

Sorry probably not the best place to post just desperate to change

I went to a dietitian a few years ago and they recommend adding butter and other high energy products like nut butters to things that i eat. Also to buy condensed milk and add that to things like tea and soups.
They also recommend eating little and often so I made sure that I had something every 2 hours. I bought the complan milkshakes from boots too but I would just be careful about the sugar content if you have any risks. Good luck.

Thank you so much. I want to make sure I do it with healthy stuff but I am struggling to even eat at all some days. I will try little and often. I think I need some sort of food rota to make sure I actually eat. I’m so down about it all today and dreading walking the aisles searching

I think if you are that underweight OP then you shouldn’t be worrying about healthy stuff right now. Your focus should solely be on getting carbs and protein into your body. Start the day with a bowl of porridge with honey and banana. Start eating comfort food. You’re exhausted because you are lacking calories. Eat every two hours. Small amounts. Handful of pecan nuts. Cheese and crackers. Butter on everything. Spread peanut butter on apple slices. Snack snack snack. Look at recipes for oatmeal, protein pancakes. You can do this

Don’t search the aisles. Book an online delivery so you know what you’re looking for. Start easy. Go and buy yourself some porridge and full fat milk today and bananas. Hummus, crackers and cheese and some fresh orange juice. Peanut butter and bag of apples. Keep it at that today. When you get back book an online supermarket delivery shop

Thanks, silly question but what porridge would you get?! Not even sure how you make it.

I also struggle with thrush (sorry TMI) so want to avoid foods that might cause that...would porridge be one?

I really recommend seeing your GP. They should be able to support you. At one point they gave me high calorie drinks to supplement my diet whilst I made changes. They could also run some tests to make sure your body is managing ok, blood test etc. They may refer you to a dietician who should be able to help you create a plan that meets your needs.

Do you like smoothies? Banana, full fat milk and a flavoured protein powder. Easy quick and if you don’t feel like eating this can be calorie dense and quick.
Can mix up the protein powder flavours and also the fruit (add blueberries, strawberries etc).

Salmon and avocado are healthy and more calorie dense.

Nuts are also healthy and calorific.

But also have fruit and veg because you need those nutrients. If you struggle to eat it, get a nutri ninja and bung fresh or frozen fruit in it and blitz it.

I second subscribing to hello fresh or gousto. You'll get it all delivered so it is quite easy to follow.

Exercise if you can as that will make you feel better too. Just a daily walk or a swim. Swimming always makes me hungry.

You're welcome. I was the same and the dietician recommended even eating things like croissants with a bit of dark chocolate or having extra juice and milk to increase the calories.
The food rota is really good as I found once I had a routine and was more organised it was a lot easier. Have a look online for recipes that you like for inspiration or even instagram. If you like smoothies then you could add things like avacado as its both healthy and adds calories etc. Adding nuts to salads etc or changing your normal bread to seeded bread adds calories and is healthy. I added a few simple snacks so i had a banana or hummus/yoghurt with seeded bread or even an egg. Things that were easy to make but i liked the taste of. Initially I used to count the calories to make sure Ibwas eating enough as I realised some days I hadn't eaten much all day or that the food I was eating didn't have many calories.

Good luck!

My friend up the road is a dietician and after a particularly stressful year a few years ago my weight plummeted.
She told me to start by eating little and often and work my way up to bigger meals again. Also she suggested I set up alarms on my phone to remind me to eat at certain times to encourage my ‘hunger’ to start kicking in again.
Once eating more regularly she said to have a glass of whole milk and a banana after my main three meals a day. It worked!

Your GP can refer you to a dietician to help you with this. They will probably recommend things like real butter, peanut butter, bananas, honey, avocados, whole milk, and collagen powder to add to your coffee, but without knowing your situation it's probably not great for us to do you any kind of formal diet plan here.

Good luck. Your GP will help you.

Sounds like you really should see your GP but that aside - presumably you drink - make those drinks count: juice; chai lattes instead of cups of tea; lattes instead of regular coffees; full fat milkshakes.
Lots of butter or cream cheese on that toast.
But please do see your GP too.

Thanks so much everyone. Definitely going to try the alarm thing! I never do one ounce of exercise either because I feel like it’s going to make me even skinnier but then that lack of exercise makes me feel exhausted too. I’m just in a bad state I think. Gp doesn’t help.

If your GP won't help you, contact your Dietetic Department at your local hospital, as several of those services accept self referral.
www.bda.uk.com/about-dietetics/find-a-dietitian-near-me.html

And report your GP to their CCG www.nhs.uk/service-search/other-services/Clinical-Commissioning-Group/LocationSearch/1

You could try yoga (youtube yoga with adriene) to help build up some strength - her original 30 days of yoga and then yoga camp made such a difference doing them back to back - highly recommend!! They help to build up muscle which helps your weight a bit :) (plus they just make you feel awesome!)

Foodwise - I echo all the posters above: try little and often so you’re not overwhelmed by a massive meal that you can only manage a third of.
Peanut butter, other nut butters (cashew, almond) are great snacks (on toast, on apples, on celery if you like it - make sure you’re getting a GOOD couple of tablespoons if eating with fruit or veg), nuts, avocados, etc. Sweet potatoes are super versatile - bake whole or cut raw into cubes and bake, can go into wraps with veggies (and hummus for calories!) For porridge just buy porridge oats and you shove them in a saucepan with milk (I like coconut best) and just heat and stir occasionally - google will give you the ‘right’ quantities and then you can adapt to what suits you once you’ve made it a couple of times.

Good luck to you OP.

If your GP isn't helping then see another one or change practice.
You should get a full set of bloods done to a) see what if any vitamin/mineral deficiencies you have and b) see if there is a serious cause for your weight loss.
Weight loss can be a serious symptom. And a loss of appetite is also a serious symptom (of severe anaemia as well as COVID).

Eat red meat with salad for lunch and dinner for a few days. Lots of dressing and sauces. Drink orange juice alongside this. Go for a short walk every day while doing this. I've had the exact same thing and this has helped. Peanut butter on toast, Eggs for breakfast. Fruit when you can.

I buy a big bag of porridge oats from Tesco, measure 50g in a big bowl, add 150ml of water and 150ml of milk (you could have 300ml of milk tho). Put it in the microwave for 4 mins then stir.

Less faff and less washing up.

I would advise against measuring food. That's a slippery slop to obsessive compulsive disorder.

You need to exercise a bit to work up a bit of an appetite. Even if that means tidying or rearranging your bedroom or other room.

Take a shower, get dressed and fold aoke laundry or something. Then make yourself something tasty to eat - burger with the works? Cottage pie? Have a sweetened yogurt for pudding, if you can.

Keep posting, OP. X

Also, you could get some ready meals. Order takeaway burgers, etc. In the mean time. Take care x

I have always been underweight naturally. I saw a dietician who couldn’t see anything wrong with my diet and my weight remained the same but to increase calories they recommended milky coffee with full fat milk and adding a drop of cream to mash potatoes having creamy based sauces rather than tomato

I have also lost my appetite at the moment so am eating little and often i like to snack on fruit like berries and cubed pineapples not the most calorific but at least it’s something
to pick at. I also make smoothies and put ice cream in them I don’t like cream but maybe try strawberries and cream

Full fat Greek yogurt with a few drops of vanilla extract and full fat cream is delicious, good for you and fills you up. It's my go to if I don't feel much like making a meal.

I'm a picker myself and cannot bear a plate full of food.

I usually steam a potful of baby spuds and snack on them too. Smoothies give me veg and fruit.

But I'm not underweight either! Some people like their three meals a day, I don't.

Go to the chemist and buy some ensure drinks, they are high in calories and everything else you need. They feed them to old people to keep them going in old folks home. I went through a time like you and it was because I had an over active thyroid which took a while to diagnose but those drink kept me going when I was recovering and helped get me back on my feet. Vanilla flavour and cold from the fridge, tasted just like a milkshake. If you are that frail your doctor may prescribe them.💐

Have you considered ensure plus? You can get it prescribed too