Calorie Alternatives
After surgery, the body needs a lot of calories to heal. However, not all products are suitable due to the risk of triggering constipation. Below are a few tips to help you ensure sufficient calories without doing harm:
– Replace non-fat dairy creamer with heavy cream
– Choose margarine or butter rather than low-calorie butter sprays or spreads
– Consume sugar instead of sugar substitutes
– Suck on candy or mints
– Cook with oil rather than cooking spray
– During a meal, start with the highest-calorie food
– For prepared foods, choose full-calorie options
– Consume full-calorie drinks, such as soda, lemonade, or juice
– Enjoy snacks, especially high-calorie options like seeds or nuts, between meals
– Add dietary supplements, such as protein bars or Ensure
– Go for high-calorie veggies, such as potatoes and avocados
These tips could help add more calories to the diet without making significant changes to your diet. However, they do not really help with weight loss and might affect your heart health. Thus, avoid these tips in the long term when you have already recovered from surgery. When you are fully recovered, eliminate sugar and saturated fats as well as focus more on lean protein, veggies, and fruits. [7]
