My 100-year-old aunt lives on her own and we believe she is eating well but she is losing weight. She drinks nutritional supplements but looking at what's best with different brands higher protein seems to be less calories.
WOW! How amazing that your 100 year old aunt still lives on her own. I want to be just like her(living on my own that is)if I am blessed to live that long. You must keep in mind though that she is 100 years old and more than likely doesn't have that much time left here on this earth, so unless one of you want to move in to make sure she is getting 3 square meals a day or move her to a facility where she will be given 3 meals a day, I'm not sure it really matters what kind of supplements she's drinking or not drinking at this point in her life as she's earned the right to eat or not eat whatever she darn well pleases. One of the ladies in my caregiver support groups mom lived to be well over 100 and lived on ice-cream and cashews for the last 5 years of her life. Now that sounds like a really good diet to go out with doesn't it?
At 100, if activity is decreased markedly, there may be some wasting of bones, tendons, muscles and body weight. It takes, quite honestly, very little to keep our elders going. Anyone who has sat with an elder withdrawn from food and fluid can attest to that; even small amounts sustain. You might add one multivit daily, but these absorb poorly compared to real food. Balance the diet as you would for anyone, so much as you are able. And at 100 we should surely be able to eat what we like and as much or as little of it as we like, if we can tolerate it.
They lose muscle mass and with that weight. Ensure and boost are to suppliment a diet. But my daughter will tell you those little old ladies in her NH can live off of 3 ensures a day.
This was my mom. She was never overweight, but got skinnier and skinnier as she aged. Some older people are like this. She barely weighed anything when she died. A skeleton with flesh on it.
At 100, geeeeeez, let her eat whatever she likes. She deserves it!
My cousin just turned 100 and she is a size 2. She’s tiny like my mom was.
Your aunt probably doesn’t have a big appetite. My mom only ate a bite here and there. She would say that she only ate because she knew that she had to. She wasn’t hungry.
My 103-yr old Aunt has toast/butter and coffee (with milk) for every breakfast. Lunch is a "dinner" (old-school Italian) so maybe pasta or non-red meat and vegetable. Supper is lighter, maybe a soup or hard cheese/nuts/fruit or salami. Sometimes she'll have a 70% cacao piece of chocolate or a cookie for dessert. She doesn't eat a lot, no snacks during the day. When I was down to visit recently someone brought her a hot pastrami sandwich (1/2) from TooJay's in Vero Beach and she wolfed it down like it was the last meal she'd ever eat!
At advanced ages we lose muscle mass no matter what we do (sarcopenia) -- unless we do weigh-bearing exercise regularly -- and then we don't build muscle, we mostly can only maintain what we had. I say let your LO eat whatever she wants.
One thing that I find unappetizing is a large amount of food in front of me.
Try portioning out a small amount of food. If I look at a big plate of food, I automatically think that I won’t be able to finish it. I eat off of lunch sized plates.
Some dinner plates look like platters! It’s too much food to eat at one time.
I think you/she would be better off focusing on nutrient dense real foods. Boost and ensure etc can be a double edged sword, if she is using them in place of regular meals she could be getting fewer calories and a less balanced diet - they really should be used as extra calories or for those who can't eat enough real food. There are tons of threads talking about how to add calories.
I agree that her doctor should be consulted. There can be many reasons a person is losing weight. Since she is living alone are you 100 % sure she is eating well? Or is someone there at each of her meals? At 100 and you do not give any indication that there are any medical issues (at 100 I am sure there are some though) If she is well and functioning God bless her and more power to her! You do know she is not going to live forever. There is a very good chance her body is slowly shutting down. If she is not real active she is not burning a lot of calories. He body is using all it takes in to keep the head, heart and other organs functioning. As far as her body is concerned that is all that matters. Keeping weight on is not a priority. If she is not taking in more calories than she needs her body will use stored fat then muscle to keep going. This is all normal. At some point to provide more than what she needs can be a problem, the body does not have the energy to digest and store what remains. Discuss with her doctor what the best course of action is.
Thank you! She takes no medication - zero lol She walks her 18 foot balcony daily regardless of weather! Canadian winters lol. We support her with grocery shopping, but not often with her for meals but it seems she is eating. She enjoys her nutritional supplements but with her losing weight wondered if another brand with protein would be better but they are lower in calories. She doesn't have a regular doctor but we are trying to convince her to get some advice from Dr or nutritionist but she knows good nutrition even through her memory/cognitive aptitude does seem to have diminished over the past few years - COVID has been hard for most of us!
You know it just occurred to me that it doesn't have to be a choice between buying supplements with more calories vs more protein, you can get some of each!
Order her something delicious to be delivered to her home once a week (or twice a week). It doesn't have to be huge, a sandwich or soup. A nice change of pace may get her to eat a bit more. But elderly people, especially very, very elderly people tend to lose mass over time. She's 100, let her eat/drink what she wants. How about having one high-calorie drink and one lower-calorie, high-protein drink a day?
You must keep in mind though that she is 100 years old and more than likely doesn't have that much time left here on this earth, so unless one of you want to move in to make sure she is getting 3 square meals a day or move her to a facility where she will be given 3 meals a day, I'm not sure it really matters what kind of supplements she's drinking or not drinking at this point in her life as she's earned the right to eat or not eat whatever she darn well pleases.
One of the ladies in my caregiver support groups mom lived to be well over 100 and lived on ice-cream and cashews for the last 5 years of her life. Now that sounds like a really good diet to go out with doesn't it?
At 100, geeeeeez, let her eat whatever she likes. She deserves it!
My cousin just turned 100 and she is a size 2. She’s tiny like my mom was.
Your aunt probably doesn’t have a big appetite. My mom only ate a bite here and there. She would say that she only ate because she knew that she had to. She wasn’t hungry.
At advanced ages we lose muscle mass no matter what we do (sarcopenia) -- unless we do weigh-bearing exercise regularly -- and then we don't build muscle, we mostly can only maintain what we had. I say let your LO eat whatever she wants.
I haven’t had a pastrami sandwich in years. I like pastrami and Swiss cheese on rye. Yummy 😋!
My husband’s great grandmother who lived to be just shy of 102 enjoyed a beer with lunch everyday.
She was a tiny woman who barely weighed 100 lbs. So cute and full of life. She had a great personality.
Try portioning out a small amount of food. If I look at a big plate of food, I automatically think that I won’t be able to finish it. I eat off of lunch sized plates.
Some dinner plates look like platters! It’s too much food to eat at one time.
https://www.agingcare.com/search?term=adding+calories
There can be many reasons a person is losing weight.
Since she is living alone are you 100 % sure she is eating well? Or is someone there at each of her meals?
At 100 and you do not give any indication that there are any medical issues (at 100 I am sure there are some though) If she is well and functioning God bless her and more power to her!
You do know she is not going to live forever.
There is a very good chance her body is slowly shutting down.
If she is not real active she is not burning a lot of calories. He body is using all it takes in to keep the head, heart and other organs functioning. As far as her body is concerned that is all that matters. Keeping weight on is not a priority. If she is not taking in more calories than she needs her body will use stored fat then muscle to keep going. This is all normal. At some point to provide more than what she needs can be a problem, the body does not have the energy to digest and store what remains.
Discuss with her doctor what the best course of action is.
She takes no medication - zero lol
She walks her 18 foot balcony daily regardless of weather! Canadian winters lol. We support her with grocery shopping, but not often with her for meals but it seems she is eating. She enjoys her nutritional supplements but with her losing weight wondered if another brand with protein would be better but they are lower in calories. She doesn't have a regular doctor but we are trying to convince her to get some advice from Dr or nutritionist but she knows good nutrition even through her memory/cognitive aptitude does seem to have diminished over the past few years - COVID has been hard for most of us!
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