Not eating enough calories?

brittrogers1

ive been working out for the past month (3-4 days a week, and hardly any cardio) and eating 5 small meals a day. Meals include chicken, fish, sweet potatoes, veggies, eggs, protein Powder and almond milk etc. I'm 110 lbs and trying to gain weight/ muscle. But after this last month, I'm losing weight! Husband says I'm not eating enough calories and I'm burning them at the gym, even with just doing lifting and little to no cardio. How do I get more calories in? Add a small meal? Eat more each meal???

CyberTone

Please see this post for suggestions on calorie-dense foods.
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods

labohn91

You aren't eating enough and you should do some cardio. Can't build muscles if you have a heart attack.

AsISmile

Eat more.
Do your track your food? Do you weigh everything?

It is totally up to you how to add in more calories. You could eat more, or eat food that has more calories. Another option is drinking more calories, you could add a glass of full fat milk.
Also, eating healthy food is great, but there is nothing wrong with eating some high calorie foods like ice cream, cookies or chips. As long as you get nutrients, it doesn't matter where your extra calories come from.

Lady_jane_

labohn91 wrote: »

You aren't eating enough and you should do some cardio. Can't build muscles if you have a heart attack.

I hope this was a joke but doing cardio isn't necessarily going to prevent a heart attack, and not doing it isn't going to give you one. Let's not confuse people here.

Yes to the calorie dense food and eating more though. Good luck!

labohn91

http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/chapter2.aspx
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/phys/benefits
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/Preventing-Heart-Disease---At-Any-Age_UCM_442925_Article.jsp
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/130/6/e48.long
http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/107/1/25.full
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/understanding-heart-attack-prevention
http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/96/4/245
http://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/guidelines/PocketGL.ENGLISH.AFR-D-E.rev1.pdf?ua=1
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/9789241564373_eng.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3834211/
http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleid=1127560 a pdf you have to download
http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleid=2211964&resultClick=3

KeepGood

labohn91 wrote: »

http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/chapter2.aspx
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/phys/benefits
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/Preventing-Heart-Disease---At-Any-Age_UCM_442925_Article.jsp
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/130/6/e48.long
http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/107/1/25.full
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/understanding-heart-attack-prevention
http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/96/4/245
http://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/guidelines/PocketGL.ENGLISH.AFR-D-E.rev1.pdf?ua=1
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/9789241564373_eng.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3834211/
http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleid=1127560 a pdf you have to download
http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleid=2211964&resultClick=3

All those links aren't going to change the fact that Lady Jane is correct. Blurting out 'Can't build muscles if you have a heart attack' isn't very helpful and could be misleading. Cardio (as you know) comes in many different forms. The original poster may do enough cardio in her every day life. Saying she is doing hardly any cardio during her workout doesn't mean she is on the verge of a heart attack.

@britrogers1 Try to get your extra calories from sources that will be beneficial to your goal. I like to bump up my calories with some snacks containing protein and fat, my choice is usually peanuts or pistachios for the healthier choice or whole milk on the bit less healthy side.

One pint of whole milk is around 370 calories and about 18g of protein but it does contain 26g of sugar and 13g of saturated fat. (thats the stats from the milk I drink).

richln

Keep lifting heavy and increase your calories until you start growing. Sounds like you eat mostly "clean" foods, so if you have trouble eating that amount of calories, add more calorie-dense foods like others have mentioned. Make sure you get adequate carbs. Bulking is not the time to go low-carb.
If you are lifting regularly, you do not need any additional cardio to keep your heart healthy. There are quite a few links to studies showing this here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/31953327#Comment_31953327