Underweight in College: What to Do if You Struggle with the Opposite of the "Freshman 15" - Part 3 - Women Campus
- Enrich your foods. This is where you can get really creative to make some fun, and tasty, creations. Add honey, dried fruits, chocolate chips, and nuts to your cereal. Add sliced banana and trail mix to your PB&J. Make a dressing of olive oil and spices for your steamed veggies. Top a salad with sunflower seeds, raisins, olive oil, and chickpeas. All bets are off and creativity is on—by enriching your foods, you'll not only boost your weight gain efforts, but you might even discover some cool new recipes. Who knows? You may become the next Julia Child or John Ash! For some easy, but effective, additions, Reinagel advises adding a handful of nuts to cereal, peanut butter to a smoothie, and avocado slices and/or cheese to a sandwich.
- Make your drinks work for you. Instead of just reaching for tea, coffee, water, and diet beverages, try to go for more nutritious, calorie-containing beverages. Smoothies, chocolate milk, fruit juices, vegetable juices, and shakes are some great options. Reinagel suggests this healthy (and yummy!) smoothie: "Get those extra calories from foods that are also doing something for you nutritionally!" says Reinagel. If you want to sneak in some extra veggies, throwing a handful of spinach into a fruit smoothie works great—you can't taste the difference (we're serious!) and it colors your drink into a cool green. Liquid supplements, like Ensure, Instant Breakfast, and Boost, can also help. Since they can fill you up before meals, Larsen recommends these for bedtime.
