My 82 year old MIL has recently started saying she isn't hungry, or doesn't feel good, at mealtimes. She just saw her doctor a few days ago and all was good. She was even joking with him. We make foods we know she likes, (she can down a Big Mac like nobody's business so she doesn't have a bird's appetite. Lol ) but she'll eat maybe half a sandwich at lunch, and pick at dinner or not eat at all. She recently had a stroke, so getting out is difficult. How can I get her to eat more? It's frustrating. Thanks, all, for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
Try providing smaller meals and snacks more often.
Ask her to sit with you at meal time even if she isn't hungry and give her tiny portions, she may clean her plate once she is there.
Include nutrient and calorie dense foods - if getting the minimum calories is problematic then nuts and nut butters, full fat cheese, and cheese sauces, butter on her veggies and high calorie sweets all are a good thing, this isn't the time to worry about a "healthy" diet
I wonder of this could be a food texture thing, her stroke may have altered her ability to swallow and she may need her diet slightly modified. Keep your eye on what she does eat and whether some foods and liquids are easier for her than others, and you might want to read about dysphagia.
Don't forget that drinks count as calories too, this is where those commercial products like Boost and Ensure come in, or smoothies can be another terrific way to boost calories and nutrients.
She is 93 and has diabetes II controlled with meds. She refuses to accept that the reason she’s always nauseous and throws up is because of skipping meals. When she was making her own lunch I constantly had to say: yogurt is not a meal, you can’t just eat corn bread, Ensure is for emergency meals, etc.
All I can think to do is I give her a variety of food with every meal so she can pick and choose what she’s going to eat.
She doesn’t like pasta, says she can’t eat it, it falls off her fork; she doesn’t like Mexican food or Italian. She says things are too spicy but she doesn’t mean hot, spicy, she means something else. She says she can’t chew meat so I only make it in a casserole. Says hamburger chokes her.
I do a lot of soup and sandwiches and I’m all the time trying some new main dish that will stimulate her appetite. If she had her way, she would take a jar of peanut butter and a spoon with a gallon of milk to the living room, feast on it, then not get up to put it away the rest of the day. And she has.
In the meantime, I have all this leftover food to deal with and still have food spoiling in the fridge. I shop as small as I can but still can’t eat it fast enough. Lord help me and anybody else around if we run out of milk for, like, even a minute!
I sure wish I had the same attitude about food.
charlotte
Your MIL had a stroke, what were the effects, and did anyone say what might have caused it?
Was she put on new or different medication?
Her doctor is pleased with her progress, good. Did anyone mention the loss of appetite to him?
If it's realistic that your MIL will gradually recover from her stroke and become more active, then you could expect her appetite to pick up along with that. It may be that she doesn't feel like eating because she isn't doing very much, or she's too fatigued, or because one or more of her medications suppresses her appetite or makes her feel sick.
As long as she's eating a little and often and isn't already underweight I shouldn't pick any battles over this. Just keep supplying good things for her to pick at - and slip in the occasional Big Mac? :)