kid friendly weight gain recipes / products / ideas?
hotpepr2018
Posts: 24 Member
My 10 y.o. is taking ADHD stimulants, causing her to lose weight. We need to get her weight up pronto, or the doctor is going to reduce her dose below the effective minimum.
We have tried Ensure and similar, but daughter does not like the taste. She also resists anything gritty like protein powder (although she will tolerate chocolate hemp powder).
Are there any pre-made shakes that are really delicious that you would recommend? Or recipes that a kid would find irresistible?
(Ironically I am here on MFP trying to LOSE weight, but that's a story for another thread!!).
We have tried Ensure and similar, but daughter does not like the taste. She also resists anything gritty like protein powder (although she will tolerate chocolate hemp powder).
Are there any pre-made shakes that are really delicious that you would recommend? Or recipes that a kid would find irresistible?
(Ironically I am here on MFP trying to LOSE weight, but that's a story for another thread!!).
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Replies
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I'd ask the pediatrician to help you sort out the target number of calories/day for your child to eat, and show your child how to count calories with you to meet them. That way, they can learn the relative caloric values of different foods, and have some latitude to make their own choices.
I'm always after mine to eat enough protein. What she's eating frequently changes, but she knows what her protein options are, and can have peanut butter and brussels sprouts for dinner if she wants to. Tweens have weird tastes (REALLY, REALLY WEIRD. - which is why I'm not offering any fool-proof recipes. My kid eats things I wouldn't even THINK about combining, and routinely rejects things I think are really good.), but they're pretty smart, so give them the tools they need and let them get down with their experimental phase.
Also, the appetite suppressing tendency of adderall et al seems to fade off after about 3 months, so make sure the doctor is giving your child adequate time to acclimate before moving on to something else.4 -
I use a lot of peanut butter for my always borderline underweight 5 year old. He eats a lot of peanut butter chocolate chip larabars and peanut butter on bagels. We try to go full fat wherever possible - full fat yogurt, homo milk, anywhere we can add extra calories. I find it easier to add more calories throughout the day than try to get him to drink shakes or smoothies since he's not really a fan of drinking much except water.4
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? Why not milkshakes, egg nog, nut butters, butter. I don't get what is wrong with real food. Any higher fat food would work.8
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Great ideas, thanks! That is so funny about the peanut butter and brussels sprouts for dinner. My daughter would totally eat that.
I am always laughing inside when I offer her a bunch of delicious, buttery, creamy options and she just wants cherry tomatoes, and her favorite snack is those little crunchy seaweed snacks that are paper thin and I find them distasteful. They probably have NEGATIVE calories for crying out loud!
Her brother is very allergic to peanut butter, but we're just going to have to get past our feelings and have it around more. He's very safe around it, but daughter will need to be careful with utensils, countertops, etc.0 -
Would she eat double cream? That’s highly calorific. You could add it to hot chocolate with some sugar.
The other thing you could try is butter and sugar mixed together and covered in coco piw1 -
Powder. Sorry fat fingers here.
Hope some of he suggestions work.0 -
hotpepr2018 wrote: »Great ideas, thanks! That is so funny about the peanut butter and brussels sprouts for dinner. My daughter would totally eat that.
I am always laughing inside when I offer her a bunch of delicious, buttery, creamy options and she just wants cherry tomatoes, and her favorite snack is those little crunchy seaweed snacks that are paper thin and I find them distasteful. They probably have NEGATIVE calories for crying out loud!
Her brother is very allergic to peanut butter, but we're just going to have to get past our feelings and have it around more. He's very safe around it, but daughter will need to be careful with utensils, countertops, etc.
How about almond butter? My youngest is allergic to peanuts, but he can have almonds and other tree nuts.
I also give my kids whole milk and other full fat dairy and they eat lots of cheese to keep their calories up.7 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »hotpepr2018 wrote: »Great ideas, thanks! That is so funny about the peanut butter and brussels sprouts for dinner. My daughter would totally eat that.
I am always laughing inside when I offer her a bunch of delicious, buttery, creamy options and she just wants cherry tomatoes, and her favorite snack is those little crunchy seaweed snacks that are paper thin and I find them distasteful. They probably have NEGATIVE calories for crying out loud!
Her brother is very allergic to peanut butter, but we're just going to have to get past our feelings and have it around more. He's very safe around it, but daughter will need to be careful with utensils, countertops, etc.
How about almond butter? My youngest is allergic to peanuts, but he can have almonds and other tree nuts.
I also give my kids whole milk and other full fat dairy and they eat lots of cheese to keep their calories up.
^^ This. Also hazel nut butter (with or without chocolate) and sunflower seed butter. My nephews are both allergic to peanuts, so we switch things up while they're around.
Avocados and coconut milk have a fair amount of fats in them for veggies, too, and you can roast almost any veggie in olive oil or butter for a bit of extra calorie kick. Just teach your kiddo strategies for boosting calories, stress the importance of boosting their calories to hit a range sufficient to power growth, and let them puzzle things out as their taste buds demand.
Oh, and full fat ranch dressing... Leave that lying around for veggies as well...3 -
my 10 year old is the same, he is the size of about an average 7 or 8 year old, he was already very thin, He was put on ADHD meds 6 months ago and of course lost more weight. His doctor told him to eat lots of peanut butter. and he does, he eats peanut butter toast most mornings, sometimes for snack. I also dish a little more dinner than normal on his plate. I also used to give him breakfast essentials mixed with whole milk3
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If she likes tomatoes, does she also like vege sticks? Could be served with a creamy or cheesy dip.
Maybe dried fruit?
My miss 9 is a slim wee thing (not related to meds, she just has other priorities than eating, apparently), so I try and add higher cal spreads to crackers, and have dips for a lot of things.
Baking little treats can work well (bliss balls, muesli bars...) though mine enjoys the first few and says they're great, but as soon as I make a second batch, she stops eating them!
We go through phases of making a lot of smoothies - banana, berries, cocoa (or choc smoothie/meal-replacement powder), milk...even ice cream if we have it. We've tried blitzing oats too, but she doesn't like the texture.
Even though we have a really good large blender, we have recently bought a drink bottle blender which has made her more keen to make smoothies for herself.0 -
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1
This can help. Also, not all protein powders are created equal. If you can, I would recommend ordering some samples of PEScience and Quest. They not only taste really good, but don't have any grit to them. And if you like chocolate, add their chocolate flavor to chocolate milk and add some heavy cream.1 -
ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »
^^ This. Also hazel nut butter (with or without chocolate) and sunflower seed butter. My nephews are both allergic to peanuts, so we switch things up while they're around.
That is a great idea!! Not sure why, but I had totally forgotten about Nutella. If she takes after me, she'll have trouble stopping.
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Super smart idea. I think she would enjoy having a blender "just for her" that she can play with. And I roast veggies every week ... I'll start making hers separately with butter.
Even though we have a really good large blender, we have recently bought a drink bottle blender which has made her more keen to make smoothies for herself.
I just googled "bliss balls" ... goodness, there is a whole world out there! Thanks!
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On top of what I posted above, you can google fat bombs. Those should make it real easy to get more calories.1
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cupcakesandproteinshakes wrote: »
The other thing you could try is butter and sugar mixed together and covered in coco
She does like butter, so that might actually work.
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My kids eat breakfast cereal like there’s no tomorrow...1
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A lot of good ideas already mentioned. Does she like cheese? Any variety? Many cheeses have a ton of calories, and if it’s already cut into squares and sitting next to the cherry tomatoes in the fridge it might be a handier snack.0
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rheddmobile wrote: »A lot of good ideas already mentioned. Does she like cheese? Any variety? Many cheeses have a ton of calories, and if it’s already cut into squares and sitting next to the cherry tomatoes in the fridge it might be a handier snack.
She blows hot and cold re: cheese. A while back she was on a Manchego kick (seriously, this kid has some interesting taste), but not anymore. If I shell out for the fresh mozzarella balls, she will eat them, but only if I pack them in her lunch. Guess I need to keep trying different kinds.1 -
My kid sucks at eating and is very very skinny. I make banana bread/muffins and will chuck some protein powder in there for extra protein, use lots of eggs, use butter. Not "diet" banana bread LOL. I have put collagen protein in her Milo in the morning too. She not only sucks at eating but is also a self-proclaimed vegetarian so I need to keep on top of her protein intake.
Chocolate muffins/cookies/oatmeal cookies - just use full fat everything in the ingredients. I opt for dark brown sugar instead of refined and I use way less than most recipes prescribe, but the other stuff like eggs and butter and milk so on I keep the same. And I also oftentimes swap out the white flour for other types such as buckwheat or wholemeal flour or oat flour or a mixture of all of the above.
And on the weekends I let her eat 'crap' - ice-cream when we go to the beach, hot chips when we go swimming, donut when we go grocery shopping - whatever crap she wants. Not during the week though, I aim to stick to nutritional foodstuffs during the week.
I also second the breakfast cereal thing - chuck Cheerios (or whatever) in a bowl and stick it next to the kid and she will just graze on it mindlessly.1 -
We are in the same boat! It is so hard to try to lose weight when you're trying to get someone to gain weight! My cute son is on the autism spectrum and takes adhd medication to help with impulse control issues which kills his appetite. He would go all day without eating if I didn't remind him. It doesn't help that his favorite snacks are steamed shrimp and watermelon. My first thought was: Instead of reducing medication dosage so it's not effective (I mean, really, what's the point?), is there something you can add? We use an antihistamine that helps to increase his appetite (also helps with his seasonal allergies). Maybe something like that can work for you. Also, there are a lot of ways to add calories to food. I make chocolate milk with whole milk, and add a little protein powder and cream. He loves egg nog, so I buy that whenever it's available. Drizzle oil over pasta before adding sauce. Butter toast while it's warm and it melts into the toast - you can add a lot of fat that way! I make caramel sauce to dip apples and pears (his favorite fruit) in, and homemade hot fudge to drizzle over bananas for snacks. He has a bit of a sweet tooth, so even little things like mixing a little bit of maple syrup into peanut butter and using it for a dip with celery works for us. For dinners, he loves creamy soups, so I add a block of cream cheese to the roux for thickening when we make potato soup or chicken noodle soup. It's a little hard to introduce new foods (adapting to change isn't his forte), so I try to bulk up calories in his favorites. And when it's cold out, he loves "butterscotch milk" - whole milk with a pat of butter and a tablespoon of brown sugar in it.
Lastly, we take medication breaks when he's not in school. He's more willing to eat and hungrier. I can handle the constant motion and talking in exchange for getting him to consume more calories. Good luck!1 -
I just had another random thought...avocado. Apparently it's good in smoothies, but my girl will just scoop it out and eat it with a spoon. (not everyone's taste, of course)1
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https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1
This can help. Also, not all protein powders are created equal. If you can, I would recommend ordering some samples of PEScience and Quest. They not only taste really good, but don't have any grit to them. And if you like chocolate, add their chocolate flavor to chocolate milk and add some heavy cream.
I picked up Quest Vanilla milkshake when I ran out of Optimum nutrition vanilla ice cream, and while it's not gritty, I find the flavor sickly sweet.
It languishes in my cupboard for now.0 -
High fat dips for her veggies, cashew/almond butter if that makes your son safer at home, oils on salads, fatty cuts of meat, add some olive oil or melted butter or full fat cheese to pasta sauces, butter on steamed veg, make dips or dressing for everything, high fat ice cream or heavy whipping cream with fruit, cream instead of milk on cereal.0
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Cahgetsfit wrote: »My kid sucks at eating and is very very skinny. I make banana bread/muffins and will chuck some protein powder in there for extra protein, use lots of eggs, use butter. Not "diet" banana bread LOL. I have put collagen protein in her Milo in the morning too. She not only sucks at eating but is also a self-proclaimed vegetarian so I need to keep on top of her protein intake.
Vegetarian collagen protein? I don't think there is such a thing ...
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http://www.walmart.com/ip/Designer-Protein-Lite-Protein-Powder-Chocolate-Cookies-Cream-10g-Protein-0-6-Lb/51222397
My 2yr old loves this one it’s vegetarian. It’s low calorie (60 per scoop mix well it’s clumpy but the clumps taste like chocolate so my picky eater doesn’t get upset if I missed one) so I add ice cream a few scoops,chocolate syrup Hershey 1 serving,milk any your choice,I add coffee creamer vanilla to Carmel flavors. Use a blender I make lots put in a glass bottle you can reuse that way just shake y pour all day long.
Peanut butter pancakes 🥞-
Peanut butter cups upon cups of it.
Greek yogurt a cup
Honey 🍯 (if you want )
Milk any type (my son only likes unsweetened almond milk 🥛 super picky but it’s 30cal so try a higher calorie milk if yours will let you.
Eggs 🥚 or egg whites (depends on Doctors diet recommendations free range is best)
*If they love less simple ingredients Can add chocolate 🍫 ,raisins,fruits,etc*
He eats his plain but is a good snack to meal.
Cheese sandwich 🥪
Wheat or any bread they like
Cheese 🧀 (real cheese not artificial)
A tab of margarine on top
Air fryer 9-10 minutes
Serve with chips to even chicken or any meat or soups
Pizza 🍕 papa Johns has high calorie chicken wings y cinnamon bites also you can make pizza higher calorie.
It’s hard when their picky the list of things they’ll eat is so darn tiny. Mines 2yrs old so that list is a damn thumbnail still. Luckily they grow out of the terrible 2’s pickiness with age ...or their Sheldon from the Big Bang theory lol 😂.
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I went through a period of being below the growth chart as a child. Mom just added cream to my cereal, butter or cream of chicken/mushroom soup mixed in my veggies, protein powder blended with ice cream. Full fat dairy and fattier meats. I also loved to dip almost anything in sour cream. My nephews prefer ranch, hummus, or peanut butter. Trail mix and granola are high calorie snacks.0
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