E..D ( can be upsetting so be careful! )

Hi, I'm currently trying to gain weight because I've had a rocky history with eating. Tldr: high calorie protein bars for weight gain recommendations please

I'm working past the mental aspect, but I also am on ADHD medication that ruins my appetite. I really struggle to eat, and I need to stay at 48+ kilos to be in a good BMI ( I'm 160cm ) since that's what my psychiatrist uses for seeing if I can continue my meds.

I was about 39 kilos at my lowest when I was this height, and my highest was 48. But 48 is the lowest I can be for this medication, and it's stressing me out. I'm also constantly snacking, so I'm thinking if I hijack my snacks ( marmite rice cakes and some fruits) with high calorie protein bars or something dry and portable, it would work better.

Does anyone know portable, high calorie, low carbs low sugar ( important for my heart condition), high protein snacks? Cheaper the better but I'm willing to invest in this. It has to have low carbs and sugar please, but as many protein grams and calories as possible the better. Salt is also very good. Don't worry if it raises blood pressure, mine is too low anyways.

Dry portable snacks are best because I'm always munching on something while I study. I'm 45 kilos at the minute and I need to get it up and not make it a constant pushing a boulder up a hill effort to just be at a healthy weight.

I have no allergies, don't like dark chocolate, and not a fan of dried fruits except for berries and coconut. Other than that, I'm willing to eat pretty much anything. I do have a preference for milk chocolate over white, and I'm not too keen on super crunchy bars since I do have permanent retainers.

I realise this is heinously long so I'll stop here, but advice is very appreciated!

Your GP may be overreacting. I’ve been hovering around bmi 17 for the last 10 years and have only been to the doctors for a mole check in that time.

GPs don't overreact, all pts are different and as OP said, its to do with their medication

Peanut butter. You can get a kilogram of the stuff for like £3.99 from Lidl and Aldi. Add a generous layer to your your rice cakes, it tastes really good with marmite too, also excellent with banana, apple, jam, honey etc. as well as sriracha. Dollop some on a yoghurt bowl with some fruit and some seeds. Mix in with a stir fry. Eat it straight from the tub by the spoonful.

Add butter to things where you can. Buttered rice cakes are quite tasty, especially if you also put extra toppings on. Butter on potatoes, pasta (you can get
"protein pasta"), mash (including vegetable mash), veg, or use olive oil for salad dressings etc.. Use a generous amount of butter/oil when cooking – almost everything tastes better when it's been nicely cooked in butter

Cream cheese, cottage cheese, normal cheese, houmous, avocado… use as dips, spreads, sauces (e.g. in pasta), or eaten straight as they are. Get the full fat stuff.
Nuts and seeds: nice to snack on, easy to pack and transport, and can come in lots of different flavours.
A few (peeled) hard boiled eggs. Tin of tuna. Depends what you class as a "snack"!
Smoothies might also be an option? Just chuck a load of stuff in a blender and then drink away, easy calories in bish bash bosh. Banana, peanut butter, milk, yoghurt, protein powder, seeds, other fruit/veg, whatever you fancy and have on hand.

You can buy protein bars, lots of different types are available nowadays, can be quite pricey though. Eat Natural, Kind, Nature Valley do some fairly nice nut-based bars; I haven't tried many other brands so can't really give many more recommendations. Most packaged foods have some sort of nutrition label on; don't get too caught up in the numbers but they can give you a good idea of protein and carbohydrate content as well as calories.

Basically just eat as much as you can get your hands on, put on a few kilos, and hopefully by then you'll work out some decent eating/snacking routine (set alarms if you need to) that is sustainable for you.

Have you had an appt with a dietician?

I've gotten protein bars and they're super, I think my main issue is, I wake up around 11, eat, then I snack on protein bars until 7 or 8pm, then eat dinner. I like to eat healthy, so I'm eating then like 300 cals for breakfast, 300 for bars, and 400 for dinner. I'm still half of the minimum I need to be to keep my weight as it is, let alone gain weight.

I just genuinely wonder how I'm meant to eat 2000 calories a day, how do people do it? What on earth are they eating? https://www.myplate.gov/myplate-plan/results/2000-calories-ages-14-plus this is genuinely ridiculous, how am I meant to eat six toasts, 5 and a half ounces of beef, 3 whole cups of yoghurt, is it just me or is this literally ridiculous.

It's not ridiculous; you mix and match to make meals from the plan, eg cereal with milk followed by toast for breakfast, not just one item from each group on the list!

If you are trying to gain weight, have 3 meals a day plus snacks, not replacing a meal with snacks. Is there a reason you get up at 11, eg work? Why not get up earlier and have breakfast at a reasonable time, then you may feel hungrier later.