If you're struggling to eat your food, have you thought about drinking your calories? You could add some coconut cream (not coconut milk) to up the calories of a protein shake. Low carb protein bars might be easier to stomach than real food right now. Or you could add blrnd a scoop of coconut oil into some thai flavoured soup broth if you want something soothing to drink that has some flavour. Hope you do feel better on your meds soon!

Coconut anything. Pumpkin seeds. Sunflower seeds. Any sort of nut. All pack a big calorie punch. I also raise hand to almighty peanut butter.

There was a recent post I did that included some sleep-hacking advice. I'll see if I can find it, rather than retyping a novel... I've done tons.

I slept 3-4 hours a night FOR YEARS, was miserable in my marriage, hated my job, and just was stressed out all the time, so I can sympathize some....

I'm getting my stuff worked out now, finally, and I'm off the CPAP machine...so ... progress?

Let me dig up all that info for ya!

HUGS

I was going to say coconut cream and see it has been mentioned. It's good in coffe or tea or make a cocoa or protein shake with it. Can get down lots of calories with little volume that way.

Bonny132 wrote: »

Ghee I have not considered using as butter, I currently use full fat Irish butter, and lots of various oils. Think maybe some of the corner stores around here might have some. I have replaced my coffee (I used to drink about 8 cups of strong coffee a day) with warm water, so at least I am getting enough liquids.

Mmmm, butter... *drooling*
My search for high calorie foods would end right there. Slice a tablespoon or two off the stick, a perfect snack and 100 cal per tablespoon. Easier to swallow than PB, too.

@Bonny132

It took me a bit, but here's most of what I posted. It was on an insomnia thread: CLICK HERE

A few sleep/wake hacks I've started using that are helping me lately. I'm hypothyroid, though, as you know, not Hashi's, @LauraCoth...

Using a sleep cycle app to wake me. It uses a 30 minute window prior to your "hard and fast" timer set to be woken. You keep the phone on the bed, and based on movements through the mattress, it determines when you're in deep sleep or light sleep or awake/tossing/turning. It will only wake you during light sleep or at the end of the timer. I generally dread the idea of getting up with up to 30 minutes less sleep, but when you get woken in light sleep, it's far easier to be alert and functional than groggy. I use the "Sleep Cycle" app for Android. I forget what the one for iPhone is called (@Sunny_Bunny_ might recall).

I also use a single meditation track to help me fall asleep. I don't use it for meditation, and I only use it for this. It's a free app that has a timer on it, so I pair it with the sleep cycle app above. It also helps me get back to sleep quick after having to get up to use the bathroom or waking from either a bad or restless dream.

After listening to the diabetes and thyroid summits lately, I've incorporated a daylight lamp for 30 minutes as soon as I can in the morning, and at 3 pm for 30 minutes. Doing this allows the body to naturally increase cortisol at those times to comply with naturally circadian rhythms. This ties in with cortisol naturally tapering and melatonin naturally rising to put you in the proper timing for good sleep. Since we've both got thyroid issues, we should NEVER stay up past that first point of getting drowsy (emergencies excepting). That is melatonin kicking in and telling us to go to bed. If we get a "second wind," that's another dose of cortisol, and it's generally 5 hours give or take before it starts to wear off, so even if you can get to sleep at that point, it won't be good sleep!!!

Taking high doses of D3 with K2 and magnesium, alternated 12 hours with A (preferably with E to balance). The D3/K2 helps energize the body (along with B-Complex in the am)...and the A interferes with D, so taking it about 12 hours offset really helps...

Carbing up slightly (as mentioned above) at dinner. I feel best at keto levels in the am, near keto levels at lunch, and basic low carb levels at dinner. I found out that going hard keto really had a bad effect on my thyroid function, and I'm still recovering from it, 12-18 months later. I LOVE LOVE LOVE keto, so keeping keto for breakfast and mostly at lunch is helpful, and getting a bit more carbs at night really helps balance this all out.

Blue light filters trigger daylight/cortisol responses, so putting filters on anything you use up to 3-4 hours before bed really helps.

That's all I can think of offhand, but I know I'm missing at least one thing...so I'll add back in later.

Oh, and this is worth a read as far as the l-tryptophan, etc.

http://carbsyndrome.com/is-your-brain-two-quarts-low/

Started with a similar protocol (the 5-htp and tyrosine together triggered carb cravings that seem to be muted with the l-glutamine)...and only a couple days in...will advise down the road.

@Bonny132 - No problem at all. Normally I copy and paste things like this to myself, but this one I hadn't done for some randomly unknown reason...so I needed to go find it anyway! It was only on page 6. LOL Good luck on getting some sleep!

@Bonny132 - is there any chance at all that you are bipolar/manic depressive? This can happen in a manic state or hypomanic state...which I encountered within untreated thyroid issues and had been told for a decade I was bipolar, but looks now to not necessarily be the case - or my level is so low that I can manage it and be functional by being careful with diet and supplements...

Bonny132 wrote: »

To cut a long story short, this week I have seriously under eaten. My Dr have put me on a medication which has made me loose my appetite, and consuming 600 kcals a day is not healthy, and I know it.

So I am looking for ideas of high calorie foods I can try out that is also gluten free and not dairy (dairy sensitive, so can only do so much).

To put it this way: Today I managed to have a small green salad with 2 boiled eggs with olive oil for lunch and I am currently struggling to eat my salad wraps with chicken (and extra crispy skin that I had in the freezer) and bacon all (fried in coconut oil). Bullet proof coffee is out of the question as caffeine is on my banned list from my doctor, due to sleep issues.

I am not too worried after a week of not eating much, but I have 3 more weeks to go till my next appointment, I am very happy to loose weight (and I have quite a bit to loose, so plenty of energy stores to take from), but I do not want to run out of energy.

So I am not looking for a medical opinion, as I am already getting that from my Dr who has advised me loss of appetite can be a side effect. I am simply looking for small, nutritious ideas to try out, to up my calorie uptake that fits into LCHF that I have not thought of yet.

Thank you all in advance.

I spent the last year getting my metabolism healed so I could eat more calories. I recently started eating lchf, and I was shocked at how few calories I was getting without my normal bread, pastas, and potatoes. So I discovered fat bombs. This is my fav so far, quick and easy to make and I use stevia instead of sugar so it is just a pinch instead of tablespoon of sweetener. If you are not a chocolate lover, there are links to other flavors as well.
http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/2015/02/25/chocolate-fat-bombs/

Oh, wow, @Bonny132 - I had forgotten that insomnia with prolonged sleep lapses can mimic mania, too. I wish you all the best luck in getting some decent sleep finally!!