Healthy high calorie snacks

BrianD3

I have put on 2 stone of mostly muscle this year but to be honest my diet has been pretty bad from a health POV. As well as normal meals I've been gorging myself on ice cream, cheese, nuts, chocolate, cakes, also lots of takeaways. So I got my cholesterol tested about a week ago and surprise surprise it is too high, up to 5.6 mmol from 4.8 mmol a couple of years ago. After this result I gave up the bad stuff and within the week had lost 1/2 stone which is NOT what I'm looking for - I want to be gaining weight.

Obviously calorie dense food with good fats such as nuts are a good way of getting calories but what else is there? Taking a tablespoon of olive oil with each meal? In general I'm looking for (preferably tasty) food that requires minimal or no preparation.

yomchi

Seems the problem is you were eating large portions of the wrong food.
Why not try eating larger portions of the right food?

You want calories, but from the right sources, so double the chicken breasts, increase the brown rice, heap on the veg and increase the pasta etc.

Just because you need more calories doesn't mean you've to get all them calories from crap foods.

rubadub

Coconut. I get coconut flour in asian shops and put it in smoothies or on oats with milk & whey for breakfast.

Also wholemeal bread with natural unsalted peanut butter.

Whole milk too, ~640kcal per litre.

celestial

Unsalted natural peanut butter ftw!

BrianD3

Peanut butter is part of the strategy alright. Also, what about nut oils - eg I got some hazelnut oil in Tesco this evening. Even taken straight from the bottle it does not taste too bad. 135 calories in a tablespoon and only about 1/15th of it is saturated fat. Obviously not the sort of thing that someone could stomach a lot of.

I may try it sprinkled on actual hazelnuts and see what that's like

tribulus

Sesame Oil in Tesco is about 2.50 for a bottle and tastes fairly good with chicken I find.

bridmwhite@gmai

Avocado is another good option - high calorie good fats and great smeared on a chicken breast.

rubadub

tribulus wrote: »

Sesame Oil in Tesco is about 2.50 for a bottle and tastes fairly good with chicken I find.

Sesame oil is lovely, but it burns easily, many say just use it like a dressing oil, rather than frying in it.

Every time I cook with it people comment on the smell, nobody seems to know or remember what it is, very "Chinesey" smell

dioltas

I know this thread is kinda old, but I was just wondering where do people buy natural peanut butter? Can you get it in normal shops or would you need to go to some kind of health store? Thanks.

EileenG

All health food shops have it, and some supermarkets. Look at the ingredients. If they are just peanuts, or peanuts and salt, you are fine. If they include extra oil or sugar or anything else, don't bother.

You can also make your own by throwing some peanuts into the blender until they are ground, then mashing them with the back of a strong spoon until they come together as peanut butter.

Sangre

AFAIR Kelkin do a natural PB in a jar. Can be found in most supermarkets (dunnes anyway). Kelkin are great for tasty, natural foods I find.

rubadub

EileenG wrote: »

You can also make your own by throwing some peanuts into the blender until they are ground, then mashing them with the back of a strong spoon until they come together as peanut butter.

I have done that. I also just get single slices of wholemeal bread and stick some cashews on, fold over and eat it. If you made a full sandwich or cut the bread they would all fall out though.

Holland & Barret do 1kg of natural peanut butter for around €5-6