2,100 calories seems excessive

vapianogirl19

I am approximately 105lbs and attempting to gain 15lbs goal weight 120lbs. I hike once a week and walk about a minimum1/2 mile per day and stand on my feet about 50 he's a week. The app is suggesting 2,100 calories a day. I am struggling to get even 2,000 calories a day it seems like a crazy amount of food. I've been doing protein shakes, bolthouse farms smoothie drinks bagles, cheese youghrt like anything I can to max out on those calories. I feel stuffed any suggestions?

kimny72

First, how many lbs per week did you set up for? Maybe you need to at least start up a little slower.

I maintain on 1800ish cals, so 2100 to gain could be right, depending on your other stats.

Some calorie dense stuff that some people don't find filling are nuts, nut butter, milk, rice, pasta, add some cooking oil, dressing, maybe some fruit.

vapianogirl19

All of that fills me up a lot 😂 I can't win but thanks tho

JessAndreia

Can you make smoothies at home? If so, add a couple bananas and some medjool dates to them. One medjool date is about 65 calories.

Cahgetsfit

I wish I had your problem.

But, something you can add to your food which is a shitload of calories is olive oil!! 120 calories per tablespoon - start pouring that stuff onto your salads, vegetables, on bread, on rice... tastes good too.

Nuts are also little *kitten* full of calories and easy to just keep eating and eating and eating.

Peanut butter - and lots of it?

rheddmobile

How about avocados? Also, full fat dairy and meat.

PAV8888

2100 sounds... low, to me, in order to gain weight... so there you go

it is to be expected that you will feel a little bit more full than normal if you're trying to gain weight. There are two ways you can go or their combination: increase food or decrease activity or a combination of both.

Obviously decreasing activity is something that would normally only be suggested if the weight increase is judged an emergency, or current activity levels are already through the roof, or if some other reason exists.

I agree with another poster that olive oil is easy to indulge in. So are a whole whack of high calorie/lower satiation/easy to eat lots fast products ranging from dunking cookies in milk, to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, to trail mix, to cupcakes or muffins covered in ice cream, to drinking higher fat (for example 10%) milk to... avocado as someone already mentioned ;-)

Mass gainer products (added calories from sugar) are probably more appropriate than protein powder products (often sweetened with low/no calorie sweeteners).

Take care.

comptonelizabeth

You describe a high level of activity which is probably why mfp has suggested that number
I don't know how old or tall you are but I need at least 2300 just to maintain and I'm 63 and 5'3.
Have you set it to gain at 1 lb a week? You could set it for a slower rate of gain
I know what you mean about things like rice and pasta being filling ; I am the same. There's a sticky post at the top of this forum called Are You a Hard Gainer (I can't copy the link on my phone) which gives a list of calorie dense foods.
I agree with above comments about adding oil, it's an easy way of adding calories. I also use unflavoured protein powder and add it to milk with nut butters, banana, even chocolate powder! (In contrast with the reply above, I find mass gainers just fill me up)
Try eating.smaller more frequent meals and, if you can, log your food at the beginning of the day so you can see where you might need to add more calories

jenilla1

comptonelizabeth wrote: »

You describe a high level of activity which is probably why mfp has suggested that number...

Hiking once a week, walking 1/2 mile a day and standing around a lot doesn't sound like a high level of activity to me...

comptonelizabeth

jenilla1 wrote: »

comptonelizabeth wrote: »

You describe a high level of activity which is probably why mfp has suggested that number...

Hiking once a week, walking 1/2 mile a day and standing around a lot doesn't sound like a high level of activity to me...

It says at least half a mile a day. Plus I didn't interpret it as "standing around a lot". but more, "on my feet a lot". It's certainly not sedentary anyway.
But fair comment, you're probably right. Are you saying you think the op should eat less?

CowboySar

vapianogirl19 wrote: »

I am approximately 105lbs and attempting to gain 15lbs goal weight 120lbs. I hike once a week and walk about a minimum1/2 mile per day and stand on my feet about 50 he's a week. The app is suggesting 2,100 calories a day. I am struggling to get even 2,000 calories a day it seems like a crazy amount of food. I've been doing protein shakes, bolthouse farms smoothie drinks bagles, cheese youghrt like anything I can to max out on those calories. I feel stuffed any suggestions?

I don't know all your stats but it doesn't sound excessive at all. A quick fix could be PB or Coconut oil to up to cals without taking up a lot of space

cwolfman13

2100 sound low to me. Eat more calorie dense foods...the foods you are describing aren't particularly calorie dense. Eat more nuts, avocado, cook with good cooking oils, nut butters, full fat dairy, full fat salad dressings, cheese, etc. The food you're describing is pretty low calorie and seems more like "diet food" to me.

hesn92

2100 doesn't seem like a lot to me. I maintain on more than that (2200-2400ish) but I am pretty tall. If I were having trouble gaining I would start with drinking a glass of whole milk with every meal, and just get on a schedule where I make sure to eat a high calorie snack every 3 hours or so, that way you can spread it out a little and not completely stuff yourself at each meal.

sardelsa

How tall are you? As others said, 2100 cals isn't that much (if I had to cut on that I would really struggle) but I understand if you are quite petite and not used to it, it can be overwhelming

Have you seen this thread?

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

ritzvin

• ditch the protein shakes unless they are super-high-calorie versions (think peanut butter, cream, ice cream, etc)(people using just the plain protein powder + water are doing so in order to get the extra protein in with fewer calories - which isn't your goal).
• I don't know about their smoothies, but Bolthouse farms salad dressing is popular because it's low calorie - if the smoothies are the same, ditch them for high calorie versions.
• peanut butter, cream, ice cream, full-fat versions of everything, chocolate
• Fattier meat cuts (skinless boneless chicken breast is not your friend if trying to get in more calories)
• Butter/oil/cheese on all the things. all of them.
(in other words, fat is your friend at 9 calories per gram and typically not very satiating).

ritzvin

cwolfman13 wrote: »

2100 sound low to me. Eat more calorie dense foods...the foods you are describing aren't particularly calorie dense. Eat more nuts, avocado, cook with good cooking oils, nut butters, full fat dairy, full fat salad dressings, cheese, etc. The food you're describing is pretty low calorie and seems more like "diet food" to me.

yep. this.

MikePTY

A certain mount of calories aren't "a lot" or "a little" food. It all depends what type of food you are eating. More calorie dense food will help you get to your goal. You're going to have a hard time getting to 2100 drinking a lot of shakes, which are traditionally meant to make people feel full without taking in much calories.

I can take in over 2100 in a meal easily, but granted I weigh more than two of you, so that probably shows a lot of difference.

Are you a vegetarian? I'd recommend Peanut butter and avocados. Those can both add a good amount of calories without making you feel too full.

bobshuckleberry

sounds right to me. I eat 1900 on maintenance at my activity level.