Low fat, but high calorie foods?

[Missmagill]

This is first post here...

I was wondering if anybody could suggest some low fat, high calorie, gluten-free, vegetarian foods. I'm complicated, I know.

life has been severely stressful as of late, and outlet has been darling stationary bike. Nobody, including doctor, has any issues with me exercising to stay sane. The only issue with this coping method is that it creates a need for approxamitely 3500 calories or so per day to maintain weight of 120 lbs at 64.5' tall. I lost 6 pounds rather quickly after bike was fixed and I began using it again. I rode it for 17 hours last week and about 15 the week before on top of walking to various places in neighborhood, weight lifting and yoga. I was eating about 2500 calories each day, which is what a dietition had suggested (just going off of me saying that I'm very active...no details. People that know exatly how much I do consider me to be severely active), but this obviously wasn't enough. According to the online calculators that I've found and according to own experience, 3500 is a more accurate requirement.

mom is worried to death about me, as I nearly died ( heart even stopped for a few minutes) as a result of malnutrition earlier in life. I had had a bad gallbladder that went unnoticed for over two years and caused body some major trauma. First, I gained over 30 pounds in a couple of months while eating pretty lightly and being moderately active, followed by an even faster plummeting of pounds after I began experiencing gallbladder attacks. I ened up at 76 lbs in early 2007, came close to dying on more ocassions than I'd like to count, and spent 3 months recooperating in the hospital. Needless to say, mom never wants to have that happen again. I don't want to make life harder than it already is for her ( grandmother--her mother--is currently suffering with a slightly hopeless case of breast cancer along with MS and Lymes disease and a kidney/blood infection) and I want to be healthy. I've been feeling fatigued and worn down, I've been waking up in the middle of the night absolutely RAVONOUS, stomach is bloating up whenever I eat, and I've been suffering from random spurts of extreme weakness. This would tell me that I'm not as healthy as I could be. I WAS doing wonderfully health-wise right before I began kicking up the activity without kicking up the foodage, so I'm guessing that eating more is the answer.

Sorry to ramble..the bottom line is, I'm required to eat a lower fat (like 30% or less of intske from fats) diet in order to keep GI system calm. I also cannot tolerate execssive amounts of gluten and I don't care to consume living things. Does anybody have any suggestion for high cal foods that also match this citera? I already eat a lot of yams and whole grains, along with adding nonfat dry milk to foods.

Thanks so much!

[Boss Man]

Then you need things like Low Fat Cheese, Legumes, Whole-grains, Rice, Mushrooms, Potatos, Broccoli, Large Bananas, but sparingly, and in the AM, same thing with Watermelon, as it's very high GI, so limit consumption.

Those are types of foods you could be incorporating.

[swanso5]

i think the stress and the cortisol inducing exercise caused your wt loss, not actual exercise...

i don't think i slept 17hrs last week, let alone exercise for it

increase cal's a little and cut exercise drastically...keep wts in x 3/week x 45mins each, yoga in for the stress releif and lay off the cardio for a couple of weeks and see how you go

76pds!!!!! goodness, look after yourself (not your fault thast one i know)

you don;t need high cal foods, you need high nutrient foods

veggies by the boat load, fruits and what protein do you eat? they contain amino acids which keeps your immune system healthy

[cassiegose]

Hi there,

Have you tried soy? Tofu and edemame are both great sources of protein. Other sources of protein are eggs (not sure if you do eggs?) and of course low fat cheese as mentioned by bossman. Also you do need some fats.... avacado, nuts and nut butter are all great sources of healthy fats. :)

[Boss Man]

Hi there,

Have you tried soy? Tofu and edemame are both great sources of protein. Other sources of protein are eggs (not sure if you do eggs?) and of course low fat cheese as mentioned by bossman. Also you do need some fats.... avacado, nuts and nut butter are all great sources of healthy fats.

I agree to a point. I think the choices mentioned are good choices, but if you're looking for low Fat, then you would need to limit these, as the Fats are good, but also in fairly solid levels.

[swanso5]

vego's need high fat diets to a degree as protein is scarce and they need something to get their cal's up...healthy one's of course

[Missmagill]

Thanks for the suggestions....

I'm not sure that yoga and weights will calm nerves enough. although I do appreciate the exercise advice. I have severe boughts of mania that are triggered by Bipolar which also are also controlled by cardio exercise, cleaning around the house, or just plain old pacing for hours--something where I'm moving. I’ve tried drawing, writing, singing, listening to music…but nothing else seems to have so much effect on mood. I've found myself in absolutely atrocious moods every single time that I've attempted to keep myself still for one day to allow body to rest. And yes, I am seeing a therapist and I'm working with a physiologist on the process of obtaining a medication for Bipolar. Hopefully taming Bipolar will lessen dependency upon this coping method, though ever since I was very young I’ve used activity as a form of -stressing.

As for the fatty foods intake, I have been advised to even limit intake of healthy fats; they still trigger the same upsets to GI system, which is the sole reason for limiting them. If I eat a large amount of fats, stomach bloats up severely, accompanied with unpleasant gas and other crude issues. I adore nuts and seeds, and I understand that they are relatively high in protein; most of fat intake comes from them. I have found that I consume a ratio of about 50-55% CHO, 20-25% protein, and 20-30% fats on a normal day.

Thanks again for your time and assistance.J

[Missmagill]

i think the stress and the cortisol inducing exercise caused your wt loss, not actual exercise...

i don't think i slept 17hrs last week, let alone exercise for it

increase cal's a little and cut exercise drastically...keep wts in x 3/week x 45mins each, yoga in for the stress releif and lay off the cardio for a couple of weeks and see how you go

76pds!!!!! goodness, look after yourself (not your fault thast one i know)

you don;t need high cal foods, you need high nutrient foods

veggies by the boat load, fruits and what protein do you eat? they contain amino acids which keeps your immune system healthy

The thing is, however, that I was stressed for a significant period of time before I got bike fixed; I didn't start losing weight until I started using the bike again.

What is wrong with cardio, in your opinion? I've never considered it harmful. Is it?

I eat a couple of pounds of veggies and maybe 6-8 oz fruit daily. I also eat two yams daily. Produce has never been a filling food to me, as weird as that may sound. Whole grains fill me more. How many of those do you think that I should be consuming each day? A large portion of carbs come from properly-prepared (and therefore, non-gassy) beans and produce. On some days I only eat 1/3 cup of oatmeal as far as grains go. Also, I take a tablespoon of blackstrap mollasess (20% DV calcium and 25% DV of Iron per tbsp) with breakfast each day...usually in oatmeal of milk. It seems to help me in avoiding anemia. I actually crave it in the afternoons...does this mean anything?

I eat eggs, beans and peas, dairy products, nuts and seeds, tofu on occassion, and the very occassional salmon (once a month maybe?) for protein. The last time I checked, vitamin intake levels were 200% DV or more for each nutrient. I also had blood tested recently and doctor described blood levels as being absolutely optimal.

Sorry to be annoying with so many questions...I love to learn and I strive to be healthy..

Oh, and cassiegose-Yes, I have tried soy. I eat tofu on occassion, though it does bloat me up a bit, so I don't like to eat a lot of it.

[Boss Man]

Whole-grains will fill you more because they're obviously very fibrous.

I'm concerned about the Bi-polar meds, because those things can be very addictive. The actor Richard Dreyfus, (I think), managed to kick a Lithium addiction, which was very hard for him, and he took it because he is Bi-polar, whereas the English Actor Stephen Fry has never taken medications for his Bi-polarity, although he tends mainly to get depression triggers, moreso than what you have, which sounds more like bouts of aggression or some such triggers.

Perhaps your therapist or you, would like to explore the possibilities of supplemental things that might work.

Things like supplemental Typtophan, or 5-HTP a Tryptophan aid, can potentially help increase Seratonin levels.

You may also find things like Yoga, Pilaties, Yogilaties etc etc, might help, or possibly meditation / relaxation CD's, might be of help. I know you said you didn't think the Yoga would help, but it can't hurt to think about it, even if you decide it really isn't your bag.

You could explore Chinese complimentary therapies, like Acupuncture perhaps.

You might want to explore possibly herbal scents, like Pot Pourri style scent bags, or perhaps some kind of Bath Oils might be useful.

You could also try Xylitol based Gum. Xylitol is a Polyol, or Sugar replacer, so it's perfectly fine regards health, but the chewing action might help to calm you down a bit when you're stressed, or having an episode or attack, as you might possibly call it.

The problem I have with Medications like the ones you'd need is, whilst they may be effective, they may have their own side effects, and long-term if you get addicted to them, which the body almost certainly will, any future attempts to possibly get off them, could really cause some bad side effects, associated with withdrawal.

[swanso5]

there's nothing wrong really with it but for most people it goes like this;

1 - not enough sleep, not enough cal's = stress for the body so cortisol is produced which eats up your muscle and then stores fat at the same time

2 - while people are in this cortisol state they think "hey i'm getting a bit fat here, better up the cardio"

3 - cardio with not enough cal's or more specifically, not enough nutrient dense cal's will increase this cortisol even more, burning even more muscle and making you even fatter

at 17hrs a week you may have burnt some fat simply as your muscle is nearly non excistent and your cal's are low so your body has draw energy from somewhere for all that exercise