[ellacraig]

Eating healthy fats like avocados, coconut (oil, butter, milk, etc.), nuts and nut butters, seeds, olive oil, etc.

Portion: if you can stomach it, eat bigger portions, or eat small portions a few times a day (more than 3 meals a day). Portion control is a big problem westerners have with why people gain so much weight (as well as poor diets containing junk food, etc.).

Snack a lot (healthy snacks like nuts, fruit, yogurt, etc.). Reach for fruit juice instead of water when you are thirsty (more calories). Try to avoid the fake, sugary kind of fruit juice though as it is not healthy.

I think a way to do it that doesn't force you to change your diet or lifestyle too much is to try and add nuts and seeds and these healthy fatty things to your food. For example, add nut butters (i love almond butter) to your smoothies, as well as a tbsp of oil like flax seed oil or coconut oil. drizzle olive oil and flax seed oil on your savoury dishes (1 tbsp often has something like 80 calories!). Sprinkle nuts and seeds in your salads, oatmeal and cereal. add nuts and seeds when you bake.

I keep meaning to eat an avocado a day as well (and eaten drizzled with some olive oil) but I keep forgetting. I looooove avocado
Also am trying to have a protein smoothie a day but I keep forgetting!

If you are gluten free, what you avoid is: wheat and any wheat product (this would include wheat pasta, durum semolina (commonly used to make wheat pasta), cream of wheat, wheat germ, wheat bran, etc.), barley, kamut and spelt (both are ancient forms of wheat, although they have less gluten), rye, oats (due to cross contamination if you are really concerned with gluten.. but you can also buy GF oats, like Bob's red Mill (check the label to make sure it says GF since they also sell regular oats, I think). Grains you can eat: corn and corn products (corn tortillas, polenta, grits, corn chips, etc.), quinoa, millet, rice and rice products (there are a lot of GF products on the market containing rice, like rice pasta), amaranth, kasha, buckwheat, etc.. there is tons! It is also easy to find gluten free products in natural food stores (and even supermarkets are stocking them now), liek GF bread, waffles, cake, etc.. but beware that they often contain a lot of empty calories as they can be heavy on the starches (corn starch, potato starch, tapicoa starch, etc.). You can read labels and try to find GF bread that at least contains some healthier ingredients like flours made from some of the other types of grains such as quinoa, chickpea, sorghum, brown rice, etc.

It is important to eat grains, and not just eat veggies and meat, especially if you want to gain some weight. You need fiber and carbs in your diet (though you can get some from veggies and fruit too).

Don't overdo the protein powder unless you are: vegetarian or vegan (then you don't have to worry a bit), or you work out regularly. Most westerners get way too much protein in their diets and this is not good for you. You can add a scoop to your smoothies and shakes, sprinkle it on other food too, or in baked goods (or in raw "baked" goods )

Also, exercise is fantastic and does help you gain weight, but this is usually through muscle mass, and not fat. Be aware that exercise can make you lose overall body fat, even though your weight may increase due to muscle gain. This is why just weighing yourself isn't something I think we should care about.. weight is a very limited way to determine your health level or how you want to look. I think this is a great thing though.. but not good for the boobs(!). However, hopefully NBE can help to counteract that issue!

That's Ruch, i had a food allergy test and am surprisingly ok with wheat gluten etc just not dairy.
I was advised to limit my "grains" intake and i am completely ignorant as to what contains what so il jot down all you have said. Irrespective id like to avoid wheat/gluten .
I have brought lots of nuts too, sunflower, almonds, flax etc and LOVE avocado and olive oil too.

Do you have any suggestions for substituting yoghurt?
I LOVE yoghurt but figure its all dairy based?

Thanks Lovely, noted your suggestions too

Squireel - prefer KFC