WWP is now below the BMI scale for her age/ height etc.Seen 2 dietician over the last year or 2 both agree her diet is OK but the only advice they can give is to eat more.
Breakfast.
Fruit and cereal ( with full milk)
Lunch
Sandwich ( wholemeal bread) various filings.
Dinner.
Includes from...Chill corn Carne, Linda McCartney burgers, ratatouille, frozen vegetables, Chicken curry ( various). Pulled beef, Chicken joints. Chicken Kiev.
Gammon joint, waggaburgers,Steak, Fish, small amount of chips ( French fries) or potato wedges.
Side salad of avocado, tomatoes,onion, rocket leaves.
Supper.
Coffee and usually 1 biscuit ( not a scone)
No snacks in between
Any advice from anyone to put on more weight(except to eat more), would help.
Written by
Allypally49
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My wife dropped a lot of weight early on in her PD. I'm convinced it was because she just wasn't eating enough. A slow eater to begin with, hand tremors mild swallowing issues made it more difficult for her to eat so she was eating less.
I finally took over all of the cooking and meal prep and started logging and tracking the nutrition info of what we eat - specifically calories, protein, and fiber. I initially ramped up her caloric intake to about 2000 calories and made sure she got at least 75 grams of protein per day. Over the span of a few months she put weight back on. We also started her on Rock Steady Boxing and strength training so the weight added has been muscle. She's still very lean, but has put on about 10 - 12 pounds of lean muscle since I started doing this.
Now she's at a maintenance intake of about 1650 calories per day.
So, my advice is similar to what you've already been told but even taking it up a notch. Figure out her basic maintenance calories needed each day and start adding more calories. Make sure she's getting a lot of protein - we need more protein as we age. Focus on calorically dense foods. I use a lot of olive oil and coconut oil in the meals I make. I make almost everything from scratch.
For breakfast - a couple of eggs and some additional protein. Also homemade granola and yogurt with berries.
For lunch, a very calorie heavy soup with added protein.
For dinners I rely a lot on home made chili, kheema, thai curryies. All are over 400 calories in a cup.
It's a lot of work tracking calories, protein, fiber, etc. but it gets easier over time. I use a spreadsheet to track our meals and do meal planning.
Maintaining weight is really tough for some of us. I’m going into my eighth year of living with PD. Over the past seven years I’ve lost 60 pounds. Along with that I have of course lost muscle mass. Those of us struggling with balancing our food intake with C/L type medication, need to benefit nutritionally from every bite we eat .
Meat and dairy protein work against me no matter how much I distance eating food from my C/L intake. Fortunately for me, I’m able to eat fruit, e.g. fresh mandarin oranges, grapes, cantaloupe, banana, strawberries, blackberries, cherries, blueberries, etc. without losing the benefit of my medication.
I eat a couple salads every day. I very the ingredients as much as possible. I use some form of lettuce and fresh spinach as a base; and most times I’ll steam fresh vegetables, i.e. broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, beets, etc., and add that to the mix. I use balsamic vinaigrette with olive oil as a dressing. Frequently I will toss in a palmful full of fresh blueberries, and maybe a few garlic flavored croutons. I vary the ingredients as much as possible. I use a lot of bell pepper, fresh tomato, and sautéed mushrooms. I also include legumes, e.g. chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, etc. wherever I can.
Eating this way seems to be working for me; because although I haven’t gained any weight, I haven’t lost any between visits to the doctor. I count that as a success. Wishing you the best, bon appétit.
Hi there!! I’m in my 18th year with PD. Over the last year I have lost a lot of weight and muscle. Due to dyskinesia. I’ve tried various combinations of foods with not a lot of success. At my request Im going to have my thyroid tested next week. It’s too easy to pin every malady on PD. Just some food for thought!
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