Cheap supplements

I'm new to the forums, so I'll start with a sort of introduction about my situation.

I do not have an ED. I have a deformed/weak & failing heart (to the point, I'm surprised it even works at all! LOL), and my doctor says it uses about 3 times as much energy as it should, just to keep me alive. I'm 5'1" and 80 lbs. I'm not supposed to weigh TOO much, cuz that would strain my heart, but I would like to be at least 105 lbs. Mostly so I have a "physical savings account"... I used to weigh 90 about 15 years ago, then got severe pneumonia and went down to 85. Then recently I got sick again, and was at 79 last week. If I keep getting sick, I'll disappear!

I'm not really physically active. In fact, the last 3 days, I've spent mostly sleeping (except to get up for food and potty breaks). But as I said, my heart is working harder than normal anyway, so my metabolism is revved up and just being "lazy" obviously isn't helping (even though people keep telling me "Just wait until your 30s, then you'll start puttin' it on!" ...well, I've been 30 for 7 months, and I'm waiting for all that fat that's magically going to appear! LOL )

I try to eat a lot, but I just can't quite make more than 2,000 calories from just food alone. And I try to eat 'dense' stuff, whole milk, an extra tablespoon of PB on my sandwiches, juice instead of water at night when I get thirsty, etc... I still can't seem to get enough.

I've compared prices of Ensure, Boost, Equate (Wal-Mart generic brand), several protein powders... they're all about $100 a month, as I need 3 servings a day. By the time I finish paying all my bills/living expenses with my Social Security check, I only have about $50 left over, at the very most (that's after spending $100 for groceries).

So, does anybody know of any cheap supplements? My health insurance won't pay for them, even if my doctor writes a prescription, because I don't "need" them for survival (despite the fact I'm almost literally starving). Food stamps also won't allow me to purchase them, since they're a "pre-made" thing...or some nonsense like that. (I only get $15 food stamps anyway!)

Maybe some community program that would give me financial aid, to help pay for it?

 

Hiya! As far as I know the cheapest supplement is Complan, but I don't know if you can buy that in the USA? Otherwise I know Build-Up is one of the *less* expensive ones.. it's a shame for you that they're all relatively pricey though! THey do have MASSIVE tubs of protein powders etc in health food shops and sometimes sports shops - then you just mix em with water or milk and hey presto. They're quite expensive here but you do get literally a barrell of the stuff. Hope this helps :) xx

Yeah, the tubs are about $25 each, and I need 4 a month to meet my requirement the doctor wants. (I mix it with whole-fat milk, too! Water both isn't extra calories, and kinda tastes icky!)

I find it odd that the government won't pay $100 a month to let me keep my heart strong and extend my natural lifespan, but they'll pay $75,000 (or more) for a transplant when my heart konks out from not being able to take care of it properly in the first place. That makes a lot of sense...NOT! 

 

The doctor said I probably don't really need to worry about my weight, if I've been so small all along. But as I said, I would like some "reserves" for when I get sick and loose some. Guess I shouldn't be too desperate, just a personal goal I'd like to do.

What is your calorie target? The bottom advised number for a sedentary female is 2500. And I eat between 3000 to 4000 calories a day, without supplements, so it is doable! For advice on food, recipes and otherwise that DON'T require expensive supplements, try looking over here: The Aim is to Gain: Advice on Weight Gain, Whatever Your Reason

If you have a hard time eating your calories, try making your own shakes. When I first started recovering from AN, I had a hard time eating enough calories in the small time span I had in the morning (Mom still has me eat everything in front of her to make sure I'm not lying) I learned right quick how to make a power-packed shake, easily 500 calories right off the bat. And it is much cheaper - a gallon of icecream is only a few dollars and it lasts longer - depending on what else you use.  I made my shakes with 1/2 to 1 cup ice cream, half a cup of yogurt, 3/4 cup of juice or milk,  one TBS ground flax/almonds, one TBS strawberry syurp or honey, a Carnation Instant Breakfast packet and about half a cup of frozen fruit. You could easily replace the instant breakfast with an extra tablespoon each of syrup and ground nuts. Wheatgerm might be a cheaper alternative to the ground nuts alltogether though.It was actually pretty yummy to be honest, but I couldn't stand the way the cold spread through me. 

 

If you have a hard time eating your calories, try making your own shakes

Also a very good idea! Lol, I forgot that. Rereading I realise I may have come off a bit snobby; drinking calories is a good idea if you do really struggle to keep food down. There's also some shake ideas I posted in this thread: http://caloriecount.about.com/ways-make-ensur e-taste-x-better-ft118202#1

Oh, I love Ensure! That's the problem...I want to drink it! LOL Boost is too rich, I usually have to add a bit of milk to dilute it. Equate isn't so grand, but probably because it's generic, but I'll still drink it (except for Strawberry...tastes like blood >_< )

 

I keep getting told about shakes...guess I'll just have to finally go with that. Though I'd rather wait a bit, since it's winter (been blizzarding for a week now!), and I hate being cold.

I heat up the chocolate drinks (gonna have some Carnation instant breakfast in a few minutes) like hot cocoa, and that's both nutrition and warms me up!

 

Anyhoo, off to make French Toast now. I'm not really in the mood for maple syrup...I'm going to try and add a bit of water to fruit jelly to make fruit syrup. I hope it works out okay!

 

My calorie goal is at least 3,000... I may be sedentry, but need the extra because of my clunky heart taking more energy than normal. I figure breakfast today will be about 500, which is good...I've only been getting about 300 each meal the last few days (been keeping track!). I had 300 earlier, at 3 A.M. when I got up for a potty break LOL yogurt and juice. 800 so far today!

 

Thanks for reminding me about shakes!

Original Post by lalabanana:

If you have a hard time eating your calories, try making your own shakes

Also a very good idea! Lol, I forgot that. Rereading I realise I may have come off a bit snobby; drinking calories is a good idea if you do really struggle to keep food down. There's also some shake ideas I posted in this thread: http://caloriecount.about.com/ways-make-ensur e-taste-x-better-ft118202#1

 That's exactly the conclusion I came too! I also really liked having boost to drink when my stomach couldn't handle another bite, or just as a quick, soothing+ filling snack on the go.  Since there's no way I can afford it now, I try to stock up on ingredients to make my own. 

-Vitamin D whole milk, ice cream, bananas, canned blueberrise in syrup

make a really tasty, easy to taste supplement and you can usually get the ingredients in large amounts for cheaper than one mini boost.

Meal plans for 3000:

B 600
S 400 - viable, if you're going to possibly be drinking your snacks
L 600
S 400
D 600
S 400

B 700
S 300
L 700
S 300
D 700 - can be broken down into 400 meal, 300 dessert
S 300

I have to eat with my Ensure/Boost/whatever, because they make me nauseous if I take them on an empty stomach.

 

Anyhoo! After finishing breakfast, I have 970 calories so far. I guestimated something wrong, before, for the 800 figure... but hey, better end up being over than under!

I got this nifty diet program on my PDA/Palm Pilot to track stuff. Does exercise too, but I never use that. I have to put in "maintain weight" and "very active", though, because it's for a stereotypical diet of losing weight, and even then it only goes up to a suggestion of 1960 calories. I just have my goal of always going into the red zone! LOL

Of course it also does stuff like fat, cholesterol, sodium, protein, etc. Which is good, because I need to watch those things for my bad heart anyway.

 

I try to do at least 500 calories for every meal (and yes, I do the BSLSDS, plus usually a little (200-350 cals) snack in the middle of the night.

 

Okay, I think we can kill this topic if needed. I just needed a bit of encouragement about what else to do for cramming in extra stuff.

Thankies, ever'body!  :)

Ahh, cool, 500 at each works just as well. Any distribution of 3000, really. :] Best of luck, and I hope your heart works more for you in the future. If you have any more questions, please do ask.

I prefer real food to supplements. First of all, they taste better, and second, they're much cheaper.  Here's a list of nutritious, high-calorie foods:

• large bagels
• nuts butters (peanut, almond, cashew)
• almond flour
• large muffins (preferably buttered)
• meat, especially beef (provides iron)
• smoothies
• milkshakes
• nuts
• trail mix
• dark chocolate
• full-fat dairy (yogurt, milk)
• chocolate milk
• fish
• olive oil
• whole wheat pasta
• hot chocolate
• sauteed vegetables
• buttered bread
• greek yogurt (full-fat)
• granola
• honey
• bananas (and they provide potassium!)
• dried fruit

Here are some good recipes: High-cal Smoothie 1 cup whole milk (150 calories) 1 banana (90) 2 TB peanut butter (190) yogurt (150) 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (150) =730 calories
Milkshake 1 cup high-calorie ice cream [haagen-dazs, ben & jerry's] (540 calories) 1 cup whole milk (150) Fruit (50-125) =740-815 calories "healthy" sundae 1 cup yogurt (200 calories) 1 banana (90) 1/4 cup almonds (170) 1/2 cup granola (250) Layer all ingredients, either like a parfait or a sundae =710 calories PB & J Bagel 1 large bagel (350 calories) 4 TB peanut butter (380) 1 TB jelly (50) Spread peanut butter & jelly on bagel.  Enjoy! =780 calories