F 5'7 and 106lbs - help with gaining weight - smoothies without bananas or protein powder?

melissab287

Hi! I'm new here.

I'm 5'7 and 106lbs. My doctor measured my body fat to be around 14%. She's going to bring me in to weigh me again in December so I'm trying to gain weight. I'm very tired and cold all the time due to being underweight, and I don't eat enough calories per day. But I've also got a gym membership to start weight lifting again and I'm trying to bulk up! I think I've mainly lost weight from stress, but now I'm stressing about trying to put weight on which doesn't help. Is anyone else the same? Can anyone offer advice?

I've also bought a couple of different protein powders but they taste so nasty, can anyone recommend a good one? Or smoothie recipes without banana in? I try and eat a lot but I end up feeling really nauseous so I'm hoping smoothies might help! At the moment I eat a lot of wholewheat carbs, dairy, root vegetables and tropical fruits (I read they have more calories), nuts, nut butters, tofu, soya, eggs, healthy oils, dried fruit... I don't know what I'm doing wrong lol

sunflowerhippi

I love my protein milkshakes. I use Animal Nutrition brand whey, cake batter, brownie batter, coconut, cinnamon bun, so far no bad ones. I then use Halo protein ice cream (but you can use normal for more calories) and almond milk (again you can use whole) and drink that almost daily. I love it. So nummy and I use it as a meal replacement but I imagine you could use it however you want.

Peanut butter, salmon, butter, avacado, coconut oil, all of those are higher calories and healthier foods. Red meats as well, pork, bacon, sausage. Aim for things more dense in calories but not junk.

robininfl

I put ice cream in smoothies sometimes, whole milk greek yogurt is also great.

And try plain unflavored whey powder, that's the only one I can stomach.

Triscuits and hummus is my go-to way to add calories when I need to gain. Triscuits have lots of calories.

I don't have any insight on whether intense exercise is good for you when you need to gain both fat and muscle. For me personally, I do lose weight when stressed and gain with exercise because it builds appetite and muscles and relieves stress but i have not dropped to 14% bodyfat, either.

brentfostwood904

Well carbs and proteins are both about 400kcal per 100g. Fats are about 900kcal per 100g. So fats are the best thing to eat to gain weight if youre struggling with fitting enough food in your stomach. calorie dense foods are the foods which have a lot of calories in them but they are small so dont take up so much space in your stomach. Oil is a good example of a calorie dense food. The contrast is things like vegetables, you could eat so much broccoli your stomach is full, but you havent even eaten so many calories. You can bear these things in mind when thinking of what type of foods to eat or what to put in a smoothe. Drinking calories is good if you cant fit enough in from eating. Your diet sounds quite healthy and like you eat a lot of foods which arent so calorie dense.. the wholewheat carbs, fruits and veg.. they are filling you up then you dont feel like you can eat much more. You could eat some things like cream for example as well as your normal healthy diet, to help gain weight. Its not bad to eat unhealthy foods sometimes, just not all the time, things like pizzas, dairy and fatty foods will help you to gain weight. For good whey protein I use one called Impact Whey.

melissab287

Thanks so much guys! I don't have a lot of fat in my diet so I'll try to incorporate it more, it makes a lot of sense! Hopefully that's the key thing missing from what I'm doing

I haven't had my first session at the gym yet, I did want to deadlift my own body weight eventually but I'll work up to it. Like you said, exercise is a good stress reliever and appetite booster.

I don't think we have Animal Nutrition or Halo in England, do you guys know of any good UK brands I could get?

So far I've tried My Protein Impact Whey Isolate in vanilla and strawberry, and Pulsin unflavoured whey isolate.

missdiiana

incorporate fast absorbing carbs into each of your meals like white rice. snack on rice cakes with nut butters...
you can also blend oatmeal into your protein smoothies ... also try hummus it is yummy and has lots of good healthy fats

melissab287

I love hummus! I love guacamole too, does that count as healthy since it's mostly avocado which is the good type of fat? I didn't think of eating white rice or carbs thank you!

comptonelizabeth

I used to hate protein powders but have discovered one called Impact whey protein which you can get unflavoured. I mix it with chocolate almond milk. I've also switched back to full fat milk and butter!

jdscrubs32

When I make a shake, I dont use any protein powder. The following are included and it works out around 550 - 600 calories;
I use a banana but substitute it with an apple as you dont like bananas,
200 mls of full fat milk,
10 grams of peanut butter,
half a cup of blueberries,
scoop of oats,
1 egg.
Sometimes I would put in a scoop of grounded flaxseed, milseed and sunflower seed which comes in one bag.
Nice and filling.

TavistockToad

Peanut butter

jnlamppert

sweet potato is a great healthy carb! also, my favorite protein shakes are from PEScience (snickerdoodle is the best flavor)

brentfostwood904

if you are using whey protein make sure to choose one that is clean (a lot of them can contain contaminants such as metals). The one you said you use "myprotein impact whey" is the one I use (i get unflavoured and just have it with water), if you dont like it I've used Optimum Nutrition chocolate whey protein before too which I thought tasted fine. The reason I like Impact whey is because it is produced to high standards and its clean. Optimum Nutrition is also a brand which passed tests well. Some other brands have been found to be well over the limit in contaminants so I would just make sure you're using a decent one.

izzie218

This is a super yummy and just about the healthiest smoothie recipe ever. My mom made it up, she's genius.

Ingredients: mango, spinach, a splash of milk, dash of cinnamon, and a small amount of ginger root.

The smoothie comes out green but you can't taste the spinach at all! It's amazing!

trigden1991

It doesn't matter what you eat, it just matters that you weigh and log your food so you know how much you actually ate. It seems like you are fixated on eating "healthy" which isn't bad but there is no reason to limit yourself to these foods.

A calorie is a calorie no matter where it comes from.

psuLemon

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1

You might find the above helpful. But chocolate milk would be a great choice. Fairly low satiation but easy to get calories and protein. Full fat greek yogurt. Ice cream, lots of it.