Diet Formula

An integral part of managing PKU is to take an amino acid formula daily. Essentially, this formula replaces what your body misses out on by not being able to break down phenylalanine. There are many, many different formulas available and they come in various powders, mixtures, bottles, and pre-packaged "Capri Sun" pouches.

I have been on several throughout my life, but have been taking Maxamum XP since for about fifteen years now. Maxamum is an orange flavored powder that I mix with water and shake up in a sports bottle. I love the taste of it. The other people in my life are not so keen on it. It does have a very pungent smell- both in powder form and on my breath. I won't lie, this can be quite fun for me since I have become completely immune to the smell!

In order to get the appropriate nutrition I need to take in 180 grams of the powder each day. How I mix it with water is up to me. The downside is that Maxamum is pretty high in calories, especially since it is considered to be a dietary supplement and not recommended as a sole source of nutrition. According to the label on the can, in order to take in the correct amount of formula daily, I also take in over 500 additional calories.

Since moving to California about a year-and-a-half ago I have gotten in much better shape than I was. When I first met with my PKU doctor and dietician in LA, I was significantly heavier than I am now.

It is so easy to stay fit in Los Angeles. For one thing, Californians are much more conscious about what they put in their bodies than people in many other places I have lived. Also, people are more active here than other places. One of my favorite activities in my down time is to go hiking. I live about a mile and a half from one of LA's most popular hiking trails- Runyon Canyon. It is about a five mile journey roundtrip, and the views from the top of the canyon are spectacular on a clear day!

The second time I went to see the specialists at my PKU clinic, they commented that I seemed to have lost some weight. It felt good to hear them say that because I wasn't making any huge changes in my life, but was adapting to the lifestyle out here. During this meeting, they brought up the subject of Maxamum being rather high in calories and asked if I wanted to try some different formulas with a lower calorie count to help with my weight loss.

Over the next few months my dietician sent me samples of various formulas that were new to me. Some were similar to my Maxamum and required me to mix them with water, others came premade- but none of them were quite the same as my Maxamum. The flavors were off, or the texture was gritty- I had a hard time finding something I would want to replace my Maxamum with.

I had another appointment at the clinic recently. We discussed the formulas I had tried and that the flavors were too different for me to want to replace my current formula. My dietician then recommended I try a flavorless formula that I could mix with my current formula.

It arrived in the mail a few days ago, and I just tried it for the first time mixed with my current formula. I have found that even when something is called "flavorless" there is still a strange undertone to the taste. In this case, mixing it with my current formula, I do not taste anything strange. It only tastes a little watered down from what it normally is like.

Hopefully this time we have found something that can help me cut the calories I take in on a daily basis, but allow me to stick with the formula I have grown to love. I will continue to post as I try this new mixture and update on my weight loss goals!