Liquids Diet -- What to Eat, and How to Bulk Up?

Talka

I'm 24 years old, and a month ago I had lingual braces put on (they're the braces that go behind your teeth so they can't be seen).

Because my teeth are sore and chewing hurts, I've spent the past month eating...

• Soup
• Yogurt
• Ice cream / milkshakes

...and really not much else. It hasn't been the greatest diet. And when you add it all up, I'm eating waaaay less than I used to. I'm not a big guy to start with (~145lbs), and now I'm taking in about ~50% as many calories as I used to. I'm skipping a lot of meals, primarily because soup get really boring after a month. As a result I have very little energy throughout the day.

I'm going to be restricted to liquids for another month or two, and even after that I won't be able to bite directly into anything crunchy or stringy.

So, my questions are:

1) What are some suggestions for soft food that could spice up my soups-only diet without hurting my teeth?
2) I want to raise my caloric intake. Really, I'd like to get back into my weightlifting routine, which I fell out of ~4 months ago, and I don't feel like that would be worth it while I'm practically starving myself. I suppose I could start downing milk every chance I get. Any additional suggestions?

ceres

If you need protein, the best drinks I've found for that are the Atkins drinks because they're the only ones I can find that don't taste like someone wiped their ass with the inside of the carton. Those aren't high calorie though, they're just 15g of protein a shot.

I was on a liquid diet for a while, and after I started going insane I cheated a bit and cooked up a couple chicken breasts, some baby spinach, a few cherry tomatoes, and some garlic and parmesan in a frying pan. Then I dumped the whole thing in a food processor. It didn't turn into a liquid because I didn't add any water, but it also didn't take any effort on my part to process. If you wanted something more liquid, you could cook up something similar (anything with a chicken breast, really), food-process the crap out of it, and then pour a cup of hot broth over it. And I'm sure the concept is sound for things that aren't chicken as well.

Foomy

Sounds like you need some protein powder to help get the calories back into your diet. And maybe also some sort of meal replacement like boost/ensure/etc. to make sure your getting all the right vitamins/minerals.

You could try some really soft pasta, you can get that stuff down without much chewing.
Maybe take a look through some baby food recipes? those would all be edible without chewing.

edit: Thinking on it some more, mashed potatoes or any mashed veggies really you can just swallow.
And I bet if you shredded meat really well then covered it in some sauce it would go down pretty easy without chewing, so something like pulled pork

TychoCelchuuu

Peanut butter! And all sorts of nut butters.

Sir Headless VII

How extreme are your teeth that you have to go on a liquid diet to get them fixed? I have been on a liquid diet a couple times and it is generally not healthy to stay on it for an an extended period of time. You can get liquid meal replacements like ensure that are decent but talking to your dentist about a way you can eat real food is probably best

Lilnoobs

What about the GNC mass gainers? The double chocolate doesn't taste so bad.

useless4

For protein drinks I really like Core Power drinks (26g protein) the honey flavor is specifically good.

Inquisitor77

Soy-based protein drinks are also a good way to change things up if you get sick of dairy. Juk and other types of porridge (oatmeal, etc.) are rather soup-like, but different enough that you'll probably appreciate it. If you're making juk, you can actually throw some raw eggs in there at the end and stir them around for some added protein - they will end up the same consistency as the porridge, so you won't need to chew them down.

Erios

Well, for fruits you can always blend them up (with some protein powder and yogurt even) for some good results. Vegetable-based soups made utilizing a food processor are also really solid choices. Don't forget you can blend up most veggies into delicious whipped pastes. Also split-pea soup, yum! If you find yourself drinking too many things with a watery consistency, consider picking up some Xanthan gum to thicken up your dairy concoctions a bit.

If one were to go with protein powder, I can't say enough good things about the Lemon Creme Pie, Banana Creme and Cinnamon Roll flavors of *ahem* Xtreme Formulations Ultra Peptide 2.0 (the supplement industry isn't known for subtle naming). They have a lot of protein (casein to boot), mix well with milk and yogurt and are generally delicious. I've also found I like the Chocolate Milkshake and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavors of BSN's Syntha-6 and my girlfriend has absconded with our vanilla flavor of Protogen for her cube at her office since she likes it so much (apparently it tastes like cake when mixed with milk). Basically, go to Bodybuilding.com and find any of the highly rated flavors of protein powder with many reviews (look for either pure casein or a mix of casein and other proteins as straight whey tends to taste worse in my experience) and try em out. The Optimum brand is really popular but I don't like the taste much.

Blake T

I'd also recommend pâté and dips.

Additionally google green smoothies. They're usually some leafy greens processed with some extra fruit and veg and water. That should get your vegetable/health cravings down.

For shear calories look at protein shakes and go low on the milk.

November Fifth

Are you actually restricted to a liquid diet?

You might try the stuff on the soft diet list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_diet

Jokerman

Could you do slow cooked potroast?

Silas Adams

Props to you for getting braces at that age, I'm a year younger than you and didn't have the balls to go through with it, though my case is more a slightly functional issue rather than cosmetic (no one notices my crossbite unless I tell them).

Not being able to eat what I want would drive me crazy. It was bad enough when I had to have soup for a week after pulling my wisdom teeth.

CelestialBadger

Maybe you should go back to the dentist. Braces shouldn't hurt that much. Perhaps they need adjusting.

captaink

This sounds like a good excuse to eat guacamole by the spoonful. That gets expensive fast though.

Heir

Yeah I'm curious why you can't eat non-liquids at all.

Hummus is fairly high-calorie (with good fats in it too).

Tube

Bung some whole milk, peanut butter, whey protein and a teaspoon of olive oil into a blender for about a zillion calories

Bagginses

Tartar and most Ethiopian dishes would probably work well.