Lot of of good info in these posts, only one discrepancy I see is with the fats. If you cannot absorb fats as a result of crohn's, then obviously a very high fat bulk diet will not work for you and you may lose weight (to one of the individual's posting). Otherwise, a high fat diet is good and your body will adapt to burning these calories for energy instead of carbs. Going high fat and high carbs is bad, but moderation with both is fine.
Here is some background on me, perhaps you can align with my new diet, as it kicks ass and works.
I am lactose intolerant and also have food allergies. I lost a total of 15 lbs recently and the flare ups in the past were very rough. As a result, I developed a new diet that will reduce flare ups and increase my weight safely. So far I've gained back 11 lbs.
Perhaps you can use a variation of this diet to help. You don't have to eat anywhere near all the meals/calories I eat. The important parts of the diet are the shake in the morning/night, lunch and dinner. The shakes alone are calorie packed and at first I could not have them all at once, but then grew used to it after 2 weeks.
I do not eat after 9:30 PM and I sleep by midnight. I also weight lift again 3x/week since I have lots of energy as a result of this diet.
Here's the regimen with some background info around the food:
(
You must break up your meals into smaller portions to alleviate stress with digestion. This is also great for your metabolism and health, crohns or not.)
1. Morning Shake with a fish oil pill before work
- 1 cup frozen berries (buy a mix at the grocery store w blueberries, strawberry, blackberries, rasberries, ideally)
- 1 banana
- 2 tablespoons psyllium seed husk
- 10-12 oz water
- 3-4 tablespoons virgin coconut oil (this has high saturated fat, but not all saturated fats are bad, this one is stabilized and good for you.
- 1 scoop whey isolate protein powder
(this is VERY important, you must get pure whey isolate as it is pure and easy on the stomach since it contains no lactose, gluten or any filler. Every weight gainer and most supplements have lactose and may not bode well with your stomach because of all the terrible crap in them. crohn's or not, isolate is the purest and best. You can get this for about 10/lb if you find a cheap site. Let me know if you want suggestion here.)
2. Pre-Lunch Snack -Avocado, Carbohydrate w/ vegetables and protein source
- Half an avocado
- Carbs- I would say potato/yams here but since you can't have, try 1.5 cups of white rice or some pasta
- Veggies
-red bell pepper, cucumber, avocado, tomato, endives, salad greens (if you can have, I can't), kale, spinach (yum). Do not eat anything here that causes flare ups obviously, and perhaps boil if it enables you to eat it.
Protein-1 or 2 breast grilled chicken/turkey, or some cold cuts if you really don't want to cook (the nitrates contained in cold cuts is another issue entirely, lol)
3. Lunch - Sandwich with protein
- Bread- This is what adds all the calories mostly. I usually use white baguette bread (its delicious and isn't as high in fiber like wheat etc)
- Protein - chicken, fish, turkey, or cold cuts (whatever kind you can handle cold cut-wise)
- Add in's
-any vegetable, perhaps some avocado! I usually add in 2 slices of muenster cheese and it doesn't seem to bug me
4. Post-Lunch
(usually same thing as what I had before my lunch--I just make double and eat it 2-3 hours after lunch)
5. Dinner - Lots of greens, protein
I lay off on the carbs and fat a bit here and just make sure I have some of the following:
- Protein-grilled chicken, grilled ground turkey, fish (I love salmon, but hate tuna, it bothers me)
- Carb-very small amount of pasta fried with a little olive oil
- Greens
-spinach, spinach, spinach, endives, salted cucumber, salad, red bell pepper, kale
6. Night Shake w/ fish oil pill
Same thing as morning shake up top, but I replace the 3-4 tablespoons of coconut oil with almond butter.
NOTES:
- You may notice, this diet is really simple and has very few food types in it. I am a simple guy and want a really easy grocery list. I also have less flare ups since this stuff certainly does not bother me and its usually all I eat.
- I hate cooking/preparation so I usually grill up enough chicken/turkey 2/3 times s a week for the entire week. I also slice up all my veggies in one day and put them in big, individual containers and take what I need to for meals as necessary. I boil lots of spinach and kale, but you can just as easy throw kale into the protein shakes. The only other thing I cook are potatoes (which you can't have) and the pasta. I put olive oil on all my veggies or really whatever I am eating.
- You do NOT have to have this many meals, just make sure your calorie intake is higher than what you are burning and that you get the morning/night shakes in since they have high calories and can be drank relatively easily. At first, just eat what you can, maybe half the amount listed for each meal.
- I take a multi-vitamin with meals as well, and a probiotic around 11 PM when my stomach is empty, but this will depend on what you think is best and are deficient in. You can really use a lot of supplements to assist you but it has been essential (at least for me) to get in fish oils and psyllium for digestion.
- Again, about the protein powder or any weight gainer--most of this stuff has a lot of filler and potentially bad things that you might react bad to. See what you can handle, maybe you CAN have the cheap protein products (whey isolate at 10/lb is pricey I suppose) and weight gainers. That will save you some money certainly. But if not, whey isolate is pure and easy to digest. Some sites even have cold filtration whey isolate protein, which is SUPER easy on your stomach. Then there is also the crappy tasting, hemp protein, which is yet even easier to digest. I guess what I am saying, is, there is always a solution in terms of protein powders, it just depends on what you can/cant eat. There are many more protein powders that are pure and that you may react well with. Check it out on truenutrition.com (they are kinda pricey, but just to give you ideas).
Hope this helps, its kicking ass for me so far and my flare ups are better.