Reddit mentions: The best sports nutrition ready to drink proteins

I'm sorry you're having such a tough time! Learning about eating well can be really overwhelming. I've struggled with gaining weight at times too, so I can relate. I agree with some of the recommendations that have been posted so far (more frequent small meals, grains, bars, multivitamins).

My suggestions:

• Try to consume high-calorie foods. IMO, the most convenient sources of calories are foods like bananas (a fast way to get 100 kcal), avocados (if you can afford them, lol), dried fruit, dark chocolate - 250 kcal per serving, 225 kcal per serving, granola, rice, quinoa, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. If you can find a trail mix with nuts, dried fruit, and dark chocolate, that’s a great way to get in some calories!
  
  
• Eat healthy fats! Good sources of calories include nuts (especially almonds, macadamia nuts, and walnuts), nut butters (peanut butter, almond butter, etc.), and oils (olive oil, coconut oil). Honestly, one thing I've done before is to buy some coconut oil and eat a spoonful at a time (15ml has 123 kcal!). It doesn't taste like anything, so it's easy to eat, and it's a super-fast way to get calories.
  
  
• You mentioned trying but not being able to tolerate Ensure. I highly recommend other forms of liquid calories, such as protein shakes or pre-made smoothies. These are some I like:
  
  • Naked Juice smoothies - these contain good-for-you ingredients, and some of them are good sources of protein, too. They're high in sugar, but all of the sugar comes from the fruit (plus it sounds like you need sugar).
    
  • Innocent smoothies
    
  • Orgain protein shakes: These are pre-made (ready to drink) and have 140 kcal + 20g of protein. You can also get Orgain in powder form, which is probably more cost-effective, but less convenient.
    
  • Sunwarrior rice protein powder is dairy-free and vegan. It has less calories than the Orgain (80 kcal + 16g of protein per serving), but it's less expensive.
    
  • If you decide to try a protein powder, I recommend getting a shaker bottle like this one - they make it so much easier to mix up protein shakes.
    
    
• Definitely try some protein/snack bars, as /u/allycat-alison mentioned. I like Larabars, Luna/Clif bars, and Kind bars.
  
  
• Your energy is probably low for many reasons (not sleeping because of stress, feeling depressed, not eating enough/low blood sugar) - another reason may be having low iron. You could try an iron supplement and see if that helps. Another potential source of low energy is depleted B vitamins, so a B-complex supplement could also be beneficial. This is a multivitamin I found that’s a good source of B vitamins, vitamin D (also related to energy), AND iron. It also contains vitamin C, which helps your body absorb the iron.
  
  
• I know you said you didn’t want your family to find out (and unfortunately, keeping all of this to yourself is even more stressful!). I'm not going to advise you to talk to them, because I don’t know your situation. BUT, your family shouldn't get suspicious if they were to find out you had a physical - a physical is a standard thing that everyone should have regularly, IMO. I think it would be really helpful for you to have one, because your doctor can order bloodwork (again, totally standard/understandable/nothing that should raise eyebrows) and find out if there's anything contributing to your situation, like anemia or low thyroid function.
  
  
• Does your uni have a student health center/offer counseling? I'm in the U.S., and many here do. It's usually included in your tuition, and it's anonymous, so no one would have to know. I would go by your health center and see if they have any nutrition and/or counseling services, because it sounds like you don’t have anyone to talk to, and you should!!
  
  
• Lastly, remember that tobacco is proven to reduce appetite, so if you can, please try to take your friends' help with quitting tobacco. You could also try cessation products like nicotine gum, lozenges, or the patch. Did marijuana not help your appetite? I almost always get the munchies!

Well first awesome work getting down from ~220 to ~200. If you stick there much longer than a few weeks, it might be time to change it up and find something that will kickstart your efforts. A new training routine, a new macro ratio, a new approach in some way. You have to find out for yourself what that is.

Our gym has a nutritionist on staff, and the owner also has a ton of fitness connections in the area which is how I found out about the dexa/RMR place. It's all about finding a place that has tons of success stories, and just meeting and talking with people there.

I met with the nutritionist after I had plateaued around 173. I lost about 5 pounds after that, but am told that my weight is going to begin increasing as I begin building more muscle and trading fat for it.

I am getting my dexa and RMR tested again in June to see what changes have occurred. That also coincides nicely with the end of our summer challenge, so I have high expectations.

I prefer to get protein from whole foods like fish, chicken, pork, and
eggs. I treat my macros like a giant puzzle I am putting together each day. So if I would be getting too much fat by eating a whole egg, I will just eat the whites. Or if I need a lot of protein and can't get it all with a 4oz serving of meat, I will have a protein shake.

Now, there are a lot of people out there with very animated opinions about which protein shakes are good, which are toxic to your system, whether isolate is better than concentrate. I don't really care about all that. All I care about is the grams, and of course fitting it into my macros. I buy the best, highest quality stuff I could find on amazon and so far haven't been disappointed. https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Whey-Protein-Powder-Concentrate/dp/B00GXLFUUA/ref=sr_1_6_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1491493971&sr=8-6&keywords=grass+fed+whey

I also buy the premier protein shakes from Sam's and Costco. They are very low net carb and low fat, so better for people who need to cut calories and they have 30g per serving. They also come in three very yummy flavors, and occasionally a banana or caramel version which is kinda rare. https://www.costco.com/Premier-Protein-Hormone-Free-Shakes-11-oz.%2C-18-pack.product.100308724.html

Amazon also sells Muscle Milk for $11.75 a case once a month or so. Then they sell out within a few hours, and resellers jack up the price. If you download an google chrome extension called "keepa," you can set an alert for this item (and any others on amazon) which will email you when the price goes below, say, $12. Buy as many as you can then, and you will have a ton of protein. A lot of people say Muscle Milk is bad for you, full of chemicals, etc. It worked for me, and that's all I care about. Everyone has their own experiences.

https://www.amazon.com/Muscle-Milk-Calorie-Protein-Chocolate/dp/B01GVPUCBO?th=1

Hope those sources help you, but remember real food is always preferable and will keep you feeling full longer!

I know what you are dealing with, and I'm so sorry that you're going through it.

What I've found helpful is to try making different levels of effortlessness for various daily tasks. Basically, it's just having contingency plans that I can implement as needed. Making them pleasant is also important.

For example, here are my breakfast contingencies:

• DEFCON 5: Use whiskware to make protein pancakes. (1 cup of water+1 cup of pancake mix+1 optional egg, shake it up, squeeze onto skillet, and eat; add chocolate chips, blueberries, or whatever you want if you're in the mood.) Or make scrambled eggs and toast.
  
• DEFCON 4: Oatmeal of choice (tip: no need to measure water precisely, just pour some boiling water directly from a kettle to make it as thick or thin as you like) or some healthyish cereal with oat milk (because oat milk keeps longer than dairy milk, which means fewer surprises, and tastes the most like dairy milk out of all the options)
  
• DEFCON 3: Instant oatmeal cup, Kodiak to-go cups, etc. These cups are great to have on hand, and lots of brands make lots of kinds of them. Go wild.
  
• DEFCON 2: Tsogo in a blender bottle, or whatever meal replacement powder you prefer (BlendRunner can help you compare options)
  
• DEFCON 1: Soylent meal-in-a-bottle, Ensure Complete, Met-Rx meal replacement bars, or any equivalent zero preparation product that's specifically meant to be a complete meal replacement, because you need the nutrients and calories when things are this tough. (Beware the really small, cheap meal bars. They're too small to be satisfying, so you end up eating a bunch and it doesn't save money.)
  
  Another thing that really helped me a lot was learning to drink more water. For almost everybody, this sounds as simple as just grabbing a water bottle and making an effort to change habits. It probably doesn't even occur to them that this might need to be streamlined for people like us.
  
  For me, here's what worked:
  
  
• The right water bottle is big enough that you won't need to get up to refill it often, insulated well-enough that the small pleasure of ice can be added before you go to sleep and still be there in the morning, and – perhaps most importantly, I found – has a lid that doesn't even require you to open it when you want a sip (because people like us really do need to save every spoon possible)
  
• The right ice tray doesn't require you to ever wrestle with it. You don't need to get rid of your other ice trays, but silicone ones will never cling too hard to the ice. This makes you more likely to get the ice, and the ice (if you're like me) will make the water more pleasant, and making it more pleasant makes it require less mental effort to get yourself to reach over to take a sip.
  
• The right reminder won't require you to press a button to deactivate an alarm, won't ever make you scramble to turn it off so you don't wake up your roommate, and can be ignored relatively easily (just turn it to face away) so that you're still in control.
  
  These are all things that require spending some money upfront, but are cheap to maintain.
  
  Basically, the strategy is to accept that you're already doing what you can to help yourself, so making the tasks easier will let you do more and live better with your limited energy. Having contingencies that accept how bad some days can be will help to keep one very bad day from turning into a very bad week because you won't need to stretch yourself to get something done when you can least "afford" to do so.
  
  Don't be embarrassed or ashamed by the lengths you need to go to in order to live decently. Others won't get it, but we both know that you're already used to people not really understanding.
  
  If you want to talk more and exchange ideas about more ways to "save spoons," then just let me know. Good luck!

So for both whey and casein, I prefer Optimum Nutrition's Gold Standard or Dymatize Elite / Iso 100. My favorite flavors are:

Whey:

• Optimum's Cake Batter -- 5lb tub for under $60.
  
  
• Dymatize Iso 100's Birthday Cake -- 5lbs for under $65 more expensive than Optimum because it is Iso 100
  
  Casein:
  
  
• Dymatize Elite's Cinnamon Bun -- looks like Amazon is out of the 4lb tub, but I can usually get a 4lb tub for less than $50 and it is tasty AF.
  
  
• Optimum's Chocolate Peanut Butter -- slightly more expensive than Dymatize, but still a 4lb tub for $55.
  
  One thing to keep in mind with respect to whey and casein protein powder tubs is that although $45-65 seems like a lot of money, gram for gram it is still generally a way cheaper protein source than even chicken breast. It is just a larger cost up front.
  
  With respect to pre-made protein shakes, I love Core Power and Muscle Milk:
  
  
• Core Power with 26g protein and 26g carbs -- I like this mostly for when I am drinking only this as a pre or post-workout thing.
  
  
• Core Power with 42g protein and 13g carbs -- I prefer this as a pre- or post-workout when I am mixing with another carb source (like pouring it over sugary cereal).
  
  
• Muscle Milk Protein Smoothie -- I love the creamy texture of this, and macros are pretty good at 25g protein and 25g carbs for 230 cals.
  
  Premade protein shakes are definitely more expensive gram for gram than chicken breast, etc. But you pay for the convenience.

Food food food! Literally 70% of the work is what you replenish your body with after the gym and through out the day. The 30% is the actually "gym" work. I would recommend if you have the money...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00148RKFU/ref=mp_s_a_1_6_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1524838106&sr=8-6&keywords=eas+protein+myoplex&dpPl=1&dpID=51bB1nPh5pL&ref=plSrch

Really great post workout drink... It's premixed so you can chill it in the fridge. Helped me gain solid muscle.

Also you have to eat nutritious food... Lots of lean meat, fruits, and veggies.

I know it seems basic but food is SO IMPORTANT.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR JOURNEY!!!

I BELIEVE IN YOU!

I don't think it's necessarily bad practice to have liquid calories/carbs, but that is a lot of carbs in one drink. I have been hunting for an easy on the go drink and am currently enjoying eas advantedge drinks when I need something quick and on the go. Only 4 carbs per serving, 2 g fiber, which amounts to 2 net carbs. They are pretty good, too.

If you want something convenient, I would highly suggest something like these over muscle milk. Way less carbs.

I don't know if they are actually Keto or just low carb (I don't follow keto diet, but like low sugar options), but the Purely Inspired protein shakes are vegan, 120 Cal, 20 prot, 1 net carb.

https://www.amazon.com/Purely-Inspired-Organic-Protein-4-pack/dp/B07H9SRBXB

Edit: some of the reviews say they aren't vegan but I have them in hand and don't see any animal ingredients in the ingredient list.

Edit 2: some of the reviews mentioning dairy might be based on some of their powders or older formula. The RTD says dairy free and I read every ingredient to make sure I wasn't giving bad suggestions.

I agree with the other commenters here, however I would not blanket tell you not to take doctor prescribed medications for anxiety. I would say to get at least two more diagnosis and recommendations before you start playing with chemistry. At the same time do as the other users recommended. Make the following commitments to yourself:

1. Get a minimum of 7.75 hours of sleep every night. I did this and holy shit did my outlook and health improve.
   
2. Meditate for at least fifteen minutes at least four times a week. I tried meditation and it didn't do shit for me. I stuck with it and eventually I noticed that I could do limited biofeedback, such as lowering my heart rate by almost 15bpm. During an anxiety attack that can be really helpful.
   
3. Lift at least twice a week. Mondays and Thursdays are good because they'll give you long recovery times. (Until you get further into it and can handle the last point.)
   
4. Eat healthy. Get some Boost high calorie shakes to supplement your diet. Balance out your eating so you're bringing in enough calories to grow despite your exercise regimen.
   
   You'd be surprised what these changes can do for your overall emotional health.
   
   Good luck.

There are very high calorie drinks like this That are made specifically for weight gain. They aren’t going to make you gain 10 lbs over night but they’re 1/4 of the recommended daily calorie intake for the average person. If they don’t know they’re drinking them they could definitely lead to weight gain.

First of all, congrats on taking this awesome step towards yours health!

To address your issue, my doctor advised me to not worry TOO much about protein in the beginning since you're still healing and adjusting. Once you're out of the mushy stage you can focus on slowly (SLOWLY) adding a little more protein each week until you reach your minimums. Focus on healing for now.

PS I ate quite a bit of plain yogurt with protein powder and sweetener during this stage, my favorites were caramel and cookies n' cream. I also could not tolerate the protein shakes as they're usually made, but for some reason with the yogurt I could tolerate them just fine.

Also look into the protein water (like these ) I personally had to dilute mine because they were both too strong and too sweet for me.

I have gotten pretty creative lately with how I mix my Whey protein shakes in the morning. Some of which have been pretty damn legit (the peanut butter captan crunch and vanilla halo top particular). However, since I could give a fuck less about carbs that does not help you much.

However, I do know Met-Rx RTD-51s are low carb and actually don't taste awful. I got a pack of them for free one week when GNC was doing a demo on them. Their Amazon listing with macros listed is here: https://www.amazon.com/MET-Rx%C2%AE-Frosty-Chocolate-ounce-count/dp/B002XDRCXA?th=1

Like most Met-RX products, they are not cheap, but they are delicious and 51 grams of protein is pretty impressive for a shake. If I was lazy in the mornings and did not feel like blending something I could see picking some up.

ERCP and gallbladder removal definitely helped! I had acute, not chronic, pancreatitis. It was called by a blocked pancreas duct, which is why they did the ERCP to put in the stent -- and then later to take it out. Definitely have felt better since!

Sometimes liquids can be easier than food. There are also 'clear' versions of those liquid protein drinks that are gentler on the stomach, at least for me. I don't really like the taste of regular Ensure much, but the Ensure Clear juices were okay.

There's also options like this: Very High Calorie meal replacement drinks. They'll give you a very high protein to volume ratio. Thing is, I don't know how gentle/rough they are on the stomach, and I would definitely want to track down just one to try initially. It'd suck to buy a whole pack of them and hate them. I'm just not sure where you'd find them locally.

Milk? Milk does not provide all the things Soylent does. There's also the fact that a huge portion of the population is lactos intolerant to some degree and can't be replacing meals with milk.

Cost:

Ensure Powder: 14,000 calories is $68 - 0.485 cents per calorie.

Soylent Powder: 14,000 calories for $54 - 0.385 cents per calorie.

Jevity Powder: 0.48 cents per calorie

Soylent drink: 0.67 cents per calorie.

The cheapest Ensure drink, Vanilla: 0.54 cents per calorie.

Jevity drink doesn't state the calories contained so I can't give a cost estimate, and there's nothing about it on their website.

Jevity and Ensure are both produced by abbot nutrition along with, i'm gonna copy paste this.. : EAS® | EleCare® | Ensure® | Glucerna® | Hi-Cal | Jevity® | Metabolic | Nepro® | Osmolite® | Oxepa® | Pedialyte® | PediaSure® | Perative® | Pivot® 1.5 Cal | ProMod® | Promote® | Pulmocare® | Similac® | Suplena® | TwoCal® HN | Vital® | ZonePerfect®

I had no idea all that stuff was made by the same company.

User Ensure Plus or similar, you can cool it down or freeze it, you can also eat cold oatmeal, cold soup (vegetables+ meat+ beans), make smoothies (oats+ +protein powder+ fruit+ milk).

You can pure the fruit add to jello powder and protein powder.

Beans, lentils and chickpeas make great purees.

Some ideas here

If you google blended/pureed diet elderly you will find a lot of resources with good ideas.

I've heard good things about this one but haven't tried it! I was thinking of switching to it from ensure so if you try it let me know!

Purely Inspired Organic Protein Shake https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07KRHRS6Z/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_IX5wCbS2W9PCX

These ones are fantastic! No blender necessary, the Chai Flavor is my favorite.
They're dairy free and organic

https://www.amazon.com/CalNaturale-Svelte-Organic-Protein-Variety/dp/B0089VNS5G/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1473831403&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=slvete+protein+drinks

Try adding some extra protein and a healthy fat like avocado or walnuts

Purely Inspired Organic Protein RTD Chocolate, 11 Fl Oz (Pack of 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H9SRBXB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Lj0LDb34CEFJP

can't say for certain. but yes very similar if not the same.

different flavor than what I bought at Sam's, but this is what I got. just tried the first one and it was really good.

http://www.amazon.com/Lift-Protein-Drink-Orange-Gram/dp/B01CJUG5BQ/ref=sr_1_4_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1463081141&sr=1-4&keywords=atkins+lift

https://www.amazon.com/Vega-Protein-Ready-Chocolate-11floz/dp/B01N2UMJTT?th=1

These are a godsend, by far the best meal replacement shake I've tried. They're my go-to during stim runs now

Get some Nestle Boost drinks. These have been instrumental for me gaining weight.

Boost VHC Very High Calorie Complete Nutritional Drink, Very Vanilla, 8 fl oz Box, 27 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CJB9JHI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_3eW2Cb0T2G2E9

I did an Isagenix 30 day cleanse to kickstart, then moved to protein shake for breakfast (http://www.amazon.com/Pure-Protein-Ready-Drink-Vanilla/dp/B002XULCB6/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top), salad for lunch (chick peas, nuts, fruit, veggies to fill it up), and a nice serving of protein/veggies/brown rice for dinner. It's a big change from what I had been eating and took a lot of willpower but I love the results!

I have pretty severe gastroparesis and these nutritional juice boxes saved me from a feeding tube, and TPN when things got really bad. They don't make me bloat like the standard Boost and Ensure shakes.

https.amazon.com/Boost-Breeze-Nutritional-Drink-Variety/dp/B001W6RHK2

I keep a case of Premier Protein Clear Drink on hand for days when I don't get enough protein. It's 20g per serving, with just 2g net carbs. Only 90 calories because it's 0g fat, so it wouldn't sustain you if that's all you were drinking. They carry shakes too, which are higher calorie.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072L2G66N/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Hello,

We used to use these, they are small and helpful

https://www.amazon.com/Boost-Calorie-Complete-Nutritional-Vanilla/dp/B00CJB9JHI/ref=sr_1_3?crid=SRRFAL9YTA62&keywords=high+calorie+drinks+for+weight+gain&qid=1555364366&s=gateway&sprefix=high+calo%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-3

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001W6RHOS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Amazon ships there I'm sure http://www.amazon.com/AdvantEDGE-Control-Chocolate-Carton-11-Fluid/dp/B00024D6O6

Orgain Grass Fed Protein Shake, Creamy Chocolate Fudge, Non-GMO, Gluten Free, 11 Ounce, 12 Count https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CI57V2O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ENdbBbJ1QSWGC

http://www.amazon.com/AdvantEDGE-Control-Chocolate-Carton-11-Fluid/dp/B00024D6O6/ref=pd_sim_hpc_3