i work out alot but have trouble putting on weight. what kind of shake do you guys mix up to gain weight? i would mix ice cream with peanut butter but most ice creams run right through me and give me problems all night. what brands/flavors work for you guys?

Hey there iHC!

Even when I was fully coloned, I had trouble with weight gainers, so I had to turn to food to gain the extra calories and protein in order to gain muscle mass.

Now, with the J, like you said, an ice cream milkshake with peanut butter or eggs would do the trick, except it runs right through us.

So, I've turned to food again to get the extra calories I need. I usually buy chicken in bulk and freeze it, so that it's not too expensive, and just chow down on that for extra protein and calories. Also, some others that I eat, which seem (to me) pouch-friendly:

Bagels (260 calories per)
Pure bars (these are expensive, though)
Peanut butter Toasty crackers (180 calories per)

So, for me, extra food seems to do the trick. As long as you're not getting your extra protein and calories from Oreos and doughnuts ...

If you still want to do the ice cream shakes, try the ice creams that are lactose-free, no sugar added, or completely fat-free. They may not taste as good as the real deal, but you're not really doin' it for the taste, right? (Although it does help.) I've found that the Breyer's Lactose-free ice cream doesn't give me any problems.

In any case, I'd venture to guess that it's the sugar and lactose in the ice cream that gives us problems.

Good luck with the exercising!

Some people have the added problem with milk products running right through.

If you don't have that particular issue, you might try eating some fiber along with the ice cream. I do this before bed sometimes (I love vanilla ice cream with peanut butter), and really don't have any problem to speak of with it running right through. Get that ice cream soaked up by the fiber and it might slow you down.

i had heard people before mention these peanut butter cookies/crackers. where can you buy these?

Wal-Mart I know usually any grocery store or gas station. Look in the cracker department or snack foods they come in packs of 4 or 6 crackers usually. Usually they at walmart they have a variety pack or just like 8 packages of 4-6 crackers in each. I know that sounds confusing. I usually get the cheddar and peanut butter crackers but they also have plain crakers with peanut butter. They also have ritz peanut butter crackers in a box.

I've also had trouble gaining weight. I lost 40 lbs. with the whol thing and still three months post op I've only gained 3 pounds. But I'm not losing, so something is helping. I eat about two peanut butter sandwiches a day, that's really helped. I can't tolerate ice cream either, but have great luck with frozen yogurt, like Edy's. I also eat alot of string cheese as well as highly starchy, carb loaded foods. Good luck!
Cheryl

I workout every day and use a product by Cytosport called Cytogainer. They also make the pretty well known "Muscle Milk." I drink it twice a day. Soon I will add in a third serving once I hit my pre-UC weight. It works like a charm for me. It helps get past the plateau I'm often stuck at in my recovery. I hope this helps!

I also eat a ton of cottage cheese on crackers as a snack and peanut butter as well.

aashkab - i take muscle milk, and tried cytogainer once but it gave me absolutely AWFUL AWFUL diarrhea. which flavor do you take? i took chocolate malt - perhaps it was the chocolate that gave me problems?

also, does the cytogainer make you lose muscle definition? i am pretty cut right now and dont want to lose it for extra weight...

hey ihatecolitis,

i use the vanilla shake flavor and a full serving of four scoops in each shake. however, i rarely mix it with just pure milk. i have my mom prepare it but i know she puts a ton of like yoplait strawberry yogurts or peach flavor or whatever. she puts a lot of stuff in it to taste good as well, plus yogurt is good for us too. also, the vanilla flavor can be adapted in a whole bunch of ways so it doesnt get old.

yeah i am using the cytogainer right now because i am trying to hit my pre-UC weight and am in total bulking mode right now. however, if you are not looking to bulk or gain weight then i'd just take muscle milk. you shouldn't loose muscle definition with cytogainer but i know that the muscle milk is a lot better for maintaining lean muscle mass.

once i hit my target weight of 180 lbs (+15 lbs even before I had UC, best shape of my life i'm hoping for), i'll do an evaluation of how i look and decide if i need to bulk or trim or stay the same. and if i need to trim or stay the samek, i'll definitely just do muscle milk instead of cytogainer.