Motivation?

adobrev

Hi everyone, I recently just came back to MFP. I've always been underweight and everytime I try to eat a lot of calories to help me gain weight, it lasts for 2 weeks at most then I lose motivation.


I have a bad habit of trying to fit half of the calories I need in one sitting so that definitely doesn't help...


What are some things you guys do to help keep you motivated to eat and how do you portion off the food? Do you eat 3x a day or do you eat more?


Much appreciated!

jmule24

No one can motivate you, but yourself. If you want it bad enough you will make it happen.

For me; I eat when I'm hungry, portion/weigh foods that are new to me, eye ball foods I eat regularly, and lastly always make sure to hit my calorie goal. I've learned to ignore the "regular crowd" who choose to label foods as good vs. bad.

_Bropollo_

I snack all day constantly. Only way I don't feel sick to my stomach trying to fit 3500+ calories in.

ihab90

I think you just have to get your body to get used to if. In the beginning you just have to force yourself then it will get easier. You can use a mass gainer protein shake but it's a lot of calories and most of it goes in your belly. Maybe also try taking weekly/monthly pictures to motivate you, it's working for me lol

ndj1979

I have never had a problem eating large volumes of food, so gaining weight is not an issue for me.

I tend to eat four meals a day with dinner typically being the largest, as that is my post work out meal.

I would suggest splitting your meals up into four or six spread out over the day, and also looking for calorie desnse foods like oreos, ice cream, bagels, etc, that give you a large calorie bang for the buck; just make sure that you are getting adequate nutrition as well.

sardelsa

Like the others, I spread out my meals when bulking, also logging on here helps to know how far I am from my cal goals. Foods like ice cream, peanut butter, trail mix, granola, chocolate milk, juice, etc.. these were great especially at the end of the day.

Also keeping your eye on the prize.. just keep thinking.. if I don't eat in surplus, then I won't reach my goal.

adobrev

Thank you everyone! I appreciate all the advice

Do you also have any recommendations to avoid building up fat in the stomach only? People I talk to in my school always say you're skinny it's okay it'll all go to the right places, but I don't think it just happens naturally, right? You'd need to give your body that little push in the right directions.

_Bropollo_

adobrev wrote: »

Thank you everyone! I appreciate all the advice

Do you also have any recommendations to avoid building up fat in the stomach only? People I talk to in my school always say you're skinny it's okay it'll all go to the right places, but I don't think it just happens naturally, right? You'd need to give your body that little push in the right directions.

If you are eating to only gain fat, there really should be a medical reason to do so (as in you are extremely underweight for your height).

I'm getting a bad feeling from your response that you are hoping the fat will magically give you like a bigger butt or something, and you aren't trying to gain weight because of medical reasons or because you are a lifter trying to add lean mass.

That is not how the body works, and adding fat when you don't need it is not healthy. You can't spot reduce fat and you can't spot add fat. It goes wherever genetics dictate. Waist trainers, spot treating gadgets, etc., are for, no offense, lazy people that buy into it because the real thing is too hard.

Don't do that. If you want a better booty/legs/whatever it is you are trying to get at, start doing squats, deads, hip thrusts, and leg presses. Build some useful size up.

JoRocka

I set my calories to a certain number and I eat that at a bare minimum. that's all there is to it- there is no motivation - I just do it.

SideSteel

adobrev wrote: »

Thank you everyone! I appreciate all the advice

Do you also have any recommendations to avoid building up fat in the stomach only? People I talk to in my school always say you're skinny it's okay it'll all go to the right places, but I don't think it just happens naturally, right? You'd need to give your body that little push in the right directions.

If the goal is to avoid fat accumulation then you should keep your rate of weight gain conservative. Check bodyrecomposition.com and read up on rates of mass gain and muscle gain mistakes and you should find a couple of good articles on it.

Gabrielbk97

"If you always do what you've always done, then you will always get what you've always got."