Poor and need to gain weight

Grantx1985

I'm 6'4 and 128 pounds, I look like a wet noodle and I'm tired of it. My problem is that I need 2500+ calories a day to gain weight or so this website says. I got about 50-70 bucks to spend on food for 2 week period.

Can anyone suggest anything that's cheap besides nuts or peanut butter (allergic to both). That I can buy that can help me gain.

I am starting to get emotionally upset I can't gain weight, almost depressed but I am still trying. Any suggestions would be very helpful.

SrMaggalicious

when people bulk they drink tons of whole milk...about a gallon a day...maybe that'll help?

gmallan

GOMAD - gallon of milk a day

concordancia

cheese (I know, not super cheap, but you can usually find good sales)
beans
check local food pantry
If you know someone with a Sam's Club or Costco membership, have them take you along (have the cash to give them, or they won't take you back) You can stock up on things like cereal for a fraction of the cost at a regular grocery store.
add oils and fats to what you are already eating (ie, add butter or olive oil)

DoNotSpamMe73

Pasta is fairly cheap to get and can be made into very big/small meals depending on what you put on it... I'd suggest check your cupboard before going and getting more food. Milk drinks work both ways... You have a great excuse to make nachos... (1-2 bags of corn chips, 1 bean can, 1 spaghetti sauce thing over it and cheese). Potato is pretty high calorie and bags of that can be either cheap or a little expensive.
CousCous, delicious and high calorie per cup but so filling that for weight gaining might want to be avoided.
If you want weight gain, eat whatever is in the house and then log. You'll notice what to repeat in logging. For weight loss and gain I've found portioning foods you like to be the most effective.

1stplace4health

ice cream and chocolate....oh did want healthy, then lift weights and eat more carbs & protein

concordancia

gmallan wrote: »

GOMAD - gallon of milk a day

At the prices around here, he would go through his food budget before the two weeks was up!

Balaru

You'll be amazed at how inexpensive shopping at the Farmer's Market can be. Make a menu, shop your cupboard first, the Farmer's Market then regular store. Go in with someone and split it.

JosieRawr

Rice
Dried beans
higher fat meats tend to be cheaper, but I get boneless skinless chicken breast for under $3 a pound, under $2/lb if it's on sale which is usually when I stock up.
Potatoes generally the larger bag with the smaller potatoes are cheaper per pound
I eat a lot of ramen for the carb content(plus I don't have to prep or measure it)
add oil/butter to everything
If there's a brookshires or super one around you they do really good meat deals sometimes. (only shop the deals though cuz everything else is expensive)
Economy sized shredded cheese lots of calories for the price.


Stay away from most boxed things as they're really not cost effective when it comes down to portions.

Pay attention to the price per unit(unit being pound, ounce, serving) as the largest pack is not always the cheapest per unit.

Good luck
Family of 3 here, 1 6'4 male, 1 5'9" female who eats more than what you're trying to eat, and one munchkin and we eat on about $250 a month so you can do it, just shop smart and when in doubt... get more ramen. Also- frozen vegetables are wonderful, taste way better than canned and they don't go bad like fresh...


If you have a dollar tree they have 3 liter of soda for $1, it's the off brand of course, but the clear stuff all tastes about the same(or koolaid)

acogg

Why are you poor? Can you not work?

CoolBeans520

Eggs and whey powder would be the cheapest/healthiest protein sources. 6'4 145 pounds you need start weight lifting and lift heavy. calorie surplus and high protein macros. Recommended protein to lean muscle mass given your that skinny you probably don't have much fat on you should be .80 - 1 gram but i would go higher than that to maybe 1.5 grams. Which means 145(your weight given all almost all your weight is lean muscle) x 1.5g = 217.5 g protein. My whey powder 24 g of protein per scoop with 74 servings per scoop 50 bucks for the tub thats 75 cents for 24 grams of protein= one 3oz chicken breast. One scoop also equivalent to eating 4 whole eggs. You can buy much cheaper tubs of protein than what i have. Also you should increase your calories at least 500-1000 above maintenance.

funfang

I remember those days I have to keep my food under 60 dollars a week. I would buy a lot of chicken when it's on sale and freeze them. You can even buy the whole one if it's cheaper, roast it in the oven, cut it up, package them and freeze them.

Rice and beans, bread, yogurt, eggs, ice cream... I would suggest buying food when it's on sale, plan your meals ahead and it could save a lot of $$

good luck!

Oishii

I'm confused. Isn't it fairly common to be overweight on a low income in the US? Isn't fast food pretty cheap?

Or do you have a long list of foods you consider 'unhealthy' that you don't want to eat? Is your real question how to continue to eat foods you consider 'healthy' whilst gaining weight?

AliceDark

Oats, beans, rice, protein powder, canned tuna. Watch the sales and stock up on chicken when it's cheap. Add in extra fats too. Olive oil, butter, whatever is on sale. Initially they're a little expensive, but you'll get a lot of calories for your money.

_Waffle_

Oishii wrote: »

I'm confused. Isn't it fairly common to be overweight on a low income in the US? Isn't fast food pretty cheap?

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-to-eat-at-mcdonalds-when-youre-monumentally-broke/

Lynn_babcock

OMG... where do you live? If you're anywhere close to me in Wyoming I'd love to cook for you... just watching you eat the things I want to would make me happy. Taco's seem to get me in trouble.. they are cheap to make, and so yummy you just want more. I make creme de pollo when cream is on sale (heavy whipping, whipping.. any kind of cream like that. It's high calories and you use just a little bit of that with tortilla, refried beans, and rice... good way to get a lot of calories cheap. Chicken quarters, skin on. I make a breading out of stale bread and put on chicken quarters.. we're trying to loose weight so that's just an amazing food we can't have But, it's cheap and you should. - Our family of 4 eats on $100/week... also buy tp, cleaning supplies, any household items (like washclothes, bath towels, shampoo, clothes) with that same budget money. It's tight, but not as bad as it used to be. Long story.. not that interesting. Back a year ago I was posting on a local classifieds group for freezerburned meat that people wanted to get out of the freezers.. I was feeding it to the dogs. Well, people kept giving me good meat. We ended up eating half the meat ourselves. We have a game processor set up in the Fall and they let me empty the meat/bone scraps the end of the day.. that's what we fed the dogs with. Thankfully they stuck around until the weather turned really cold so I was able to bring home enough that froze and the dogs did well in the Winter. Pain cleaning up the bones.. but.. what works. Breads. In those bad times I started baking banana bread, amish friendship bread, pumpkin bread, sourdough bread, zucchini bread and was selling those for some extra money. It did well. Then occasionally a loaf would break while getting it out or it would fall.. and I couldn't sell it. Those are high in calories and cheap to make. Then if you're making a few extra loaves at the same time it's all the same work and you can more than pay for your ingredients. If you have cheap bread available to you poultry stuffing/dressing is cheap to make, delicious, and high in calories. Potatoes, twice baked, mashed, baked... and the fixings make those high calories and cheap.