Eating 4100 calories a day

kbmnurse

Poor you!

Timshel_

Cheesecake factory?

The force is yummy and strong with this one.

HealthyMakeover

I think that eating 4100 calories seems like something that would be exciting for the first few days.
Wow, I thought that 2100 was a lot.
That's a lot of food!

SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish

You guys are kidding right? Its so easy, typical food off the top of my head:

Breakfast: 3-4 eggs fried in butter or omlette with cheese for more calories and sauteed veggies, 10 slices of bacon or 3 sausages: 1000+++ cals

Lunch: double or triple burger at any joint with cheese, fries, and a juice instead of a soda (you can drink a soda alone for 1,500 cals if you really think you need more cals) and you are at 1,500++ cals for this meal

Dinner: Half a bag of raviolis plus sauce and heavy cheese and thats 1,200-2,400 cals
One single protien shake with greek yogurt for 400 cals and you got all 4,100 cals (or more) plus pretty much all the protein you need, and you only had 3 meals! Start eating like that and just staying at 4100 is a problem if you add any snacks.

I don't get how 4,100 can be hard unless you are eating "clean", I'd love to eat like this continually (I did for a while, thats how I got fat). So many options for variety, replace any meal with half a pizza, or 24oz steak with baked potatos and butter or a whole chicken with salad and blue cheese dressing and avacado, or barbecued pork with lots of sauce or breaded pork loins with cheese topping, heck go to Applebees or similar restaurant and get over 2-3,000 cals in one meal!, Olive garden's never ending pasta bowl goes over 3k cal easy, any buffet...etc etc etc...now I'm hungry

I eat upwards 6 egg omelettes + bacon + veggies- they are no where NEAR 1000 calories.

and again- doing it once or twice a week is one thing.

doing it EVERY DAY for months on end is a completely different story. I can easily eat 3000 calories in one sitting- it's not that hard. It's much much harder to do it for months on end.

seriously.
If you haven't actually tried to function at a surplus for an extended period of time- you do not understand how truly difficult it can be.

If you do the math, that breakfast I stated is significantly more than 1000 calories, in fact the sausage and/or bacon component ALONE is 800 calories, so I was doing a huge under estimate. For example from package 3 sausages @270 cal =810 cal, my thick sliced bacon is 80cal x10 = 800 cals 3-4 eggs@70 cals = 210-280 cals, and 20z cheddar is 110x2= 220. Butter is about 100 cals for a tablespoon. Then veggies, but they are negligible in comparison, lets just estimate 50 cals so nobody is excited about possible overestimates and, we have a total of 1,480 cals for the LOW estimate of what I said. So actually, in my example diet, no protein shakes or snacks get you over 4,100 in 3 meals alone.

And yes I have eaten like I said for extended periods, its...awesome if you like food and eat good food! I was gaining muscle, and maintaining with meals like this for a long while, then due to work my activity level dropped and I ate similar amounts and well...then I had to lose the weight and we are at today, where I have a similar appetite and have to cut, usually I keep to about 3,000 cal/day averaged out. So yes, "4,100 is death" does not compute for me, its like complaining you have to go spend extra money that you made....awwww....not! For your size and muscle mass I can understand it being a pain though, but the OP complainer and others were guys taller than me! :P

SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish

You guys are kidding right? Its so easy, typical food off the top of my head:

Breakfast: 3-4 eggs fried in butter or omlette with cheese for more calories and sauteed veggies, 10 slices of bacon or 3 sausages: 1000+++ cals

Lunch: double or triple burger at any joint with cheese, fries, and a juice instead of a soda (you can drink a soda alone for 1,500 cals if you really think you need more cals) and you are at 1,500++ cals for this meal

Dinner: Half a bag of raviolis plus sauce and heavy cheese and thats 1,200-2,400 cals
One single protien shake with greek yogurt for 400 cals and you got all 4,100 cals (or more) plus pretty much all the protein you need, and you only had 3 meals! Start eating like that and just staying at 4100 is a problem if you add any snacks.

I don't get how 4,100 can be hard unless you are eating "clean", I'd love to eat like this continually (I did for a while, thats how I got fat). So many options for variety, replace any meal with half a pizza, or 24oz steak with baked potatos and butter or a whole chicken with salad and blue cheese dressing and avacado, or barbecued pork with lots of sauce or breaded pork loins with cheese topping, heck go to Applebees or similar restaurant and get over 2-3,000 cals in one meal!, Olive garden's never ending pasta bowl goes over 3k cal easy, any buffet...etc etc etc...now I'm hungry

Uhh. Sure. Not everyone has the appetite of an ex obese man.

24oz steak. Lol yeah sure no problem

It's doable of course. Its not enjoyable for those us not used to being fat

Eating at a large surplus destroys appetite in the long term. Completely different from being an obese man who literally eats that way to maintain weight (albeit fat)

Most of you are also severely overestimating calories in this thread.



Ive eaten at 5000 calories every day for 3 years now. It's certainly possible. It will never feel good, it gunks up and slows down your digestive system over time. And its a perpetual state of being bloated.

Ooooh, the ex-obese and "not used to being fat" comments, I think he's trying to take a dig at me! Well, actually my appetite came from building muscle too, like you, then later work didn't allow me to continue with the same levels of exercise, but appetite followed. You say 5,500, thats more than OP, and more than I've done for months on end. Never came across a problem like you feel though at around 4,500/day, and right now 4,100/day to "spend" feels like heaven!

Anyways, its very common to eat 3,500-4kcals/day in the US, that IS the exact way a lot of people become obese (you know, all those articles about people omitting 30-50% in reported cals they eat?). You all are waving food in front of the calorie restricted's faces when you complain about increasing intakes on this site, you really expect sympathy?!?!?

trojan_bb

Not a dig at you at all. Those really are pretty hearty meals though. For most of us, that is a chore to cook and consume daily. I think a lot of us who are not used to eating so much, or being larger at one point and needing the food, have an aversion to the feeling of being full all the time. 10 pieces of bacon, and 3 sausages, and cheese etc backs me up. Sure tastes good though! The problem becomes being able to eat the next meal. I could eat that breakfast and feel full till 9 pm. No exaggeration.

It is like you say though. Most larger people chronically underestimate (or omit) calories consumed. And the reverse is true, most smaller people or ectomorphs chronically overestimate how much they eat daily. For ectomorphs like me, dieting is MUCH more enjoyable than force feeding. I feel great and very healthy at 2500-3000 calories a day. I'd lose 4 lbs a week doing that though.

jofjltncb6

You all are waving food in front of the calorie restricted's faces when you complain about increasing intakes on this site, you really expect sympathy?!?!?

Just to be clear, this thread is in the "Goal: Gaining Weight" section...

...so it seems like a reasonable place to complain about things like this.

Fithealthyforlife

Anyways, its very common to eat 3,500-4kcals/day in the US, that IS the exact way a lot of people become obese (you know, all those articles about people omitting 30-50% in reported cals they eat?). You all are waving food in front of the calorie restricted's faces when you complain about increasing intakes on this site, you really expect sympathy?!?!?

Very true. In fact my experience tells me that the average obese American male eats about 3500-4500 calories a day, and the average obese woman about 500-1000 less than that.

It's really amazing what one can adjust to over time and come to expect, either up or down, in terms of caloric intake.

Fithealthyforlife

Not a dig at you at all. Those really are pretty hearty meals though. For most of us, that is a chore to cook and consume daily. I think a lot of us who are not used to eating so much, or being larger at one point and needing the food, have an aversion to the feeling of being full all the time. 10 pieces of bacon, and 3 sausages, and cheese etc backs me up. Sure tastes good though! The problem becomes being able to eat the next meal. I could eat that breakfast and feel full till 9 pm. No exaggeration.

It is like you say though. Most larger people chronically underestimate (or omit) calories consumed. And the reverse is true, most smaller people or ectomorphs chronically overestimate how much they eat daily. For ectomorphs like me, dieting is MUCH more enjoyable than force feeding. I feel great and very healthy at 2500-3000 calories a day. I'd lose 4 lbs a week doing that though.

Are you saying that you think people like you or I who have high insulin sensitivity, were never fat, and maybe went through an underweight period at some point, can never feel good at the 4000-4500 calorie level, even if the body needs all of it? Just 6 months ago, I would never have dreamed of being able to eat 3000-3700 calories every day, but now I'm doing it. Is it uncomfortable sometimes? Yeah. But not all the time. Do I get more of a dopamine high by eating a deficit or letting hunger linger rather than eating a surplus? Yeah. Is it going to stop me? Nope. Do I consider what I'm doing force feeding? Not usually. I feel like by the time I'm where you are my hunger level will have recalibrated, making 4000 calories feel not too much different from how 3000 feels now.

Btw, if you want to push body types, some of the obese people around today were actually what you'd call ectomorphic originally. But the body undergoes changes over time as fat accumulates, reducing insulin sensitivity, in effect making such people hormonally more endomorphic over time, compounding the issue. (I've heard a lot of formerly skinny, now fat people say that the more weight they gained, the easier it was to gain more. Habits and hormone changes have got to be responsible, and reinforce each other.)

All I know is, people in general have no conception of how many calories are in foods, how much they're eating, or how much they should be eating. That's why we log. I was hoping someday I can learn to do it without logging. But there are so many different foods, I don't know if that's possible. And hunger is totally unreliable. Most times if I wated for full blowin hunger, I'd undereat by 500 calories per day. (Though I could see it going the other direction too, someday.)

allysteven880

i like to eat always and want to stay fit. so taking Garcinia Cambogia which is the best to reduce fat and stay healthy. a unique pill which gave me a new change. I like to take good food which is so delicious and not fatty. i like to do physical work because after tiredness i want to take short break and like to eat. so its all about eating that like every time!

MityMax96

I want to start eating that much....
I am thinking of starting in Aug. of this year.....see if I can force myself to eat that many calories....
Try to put on some weight.....

Would be easier if I still had the appetite I had when I was a teenager. :laugh: :laugh:

yushhhhh

.sdfsd

JoRocka

You all are waving food in front of the calorie restricted's faces when you complain about increasing intakes on this site, you really expect sympathy?!?!?

Just to be clear, this thread is in the "Goal: Gaining Weight" section...

...so it seems like a reasonable place to complain about things like this.

pwwwwwnnnned

ohoyotohbi

I'm this one ----> average obese American woman. I've just started with MFP and I've been diligent with documenting for 14 days. However, on about a quarter of those days I am honest in my documenting 3k-4k calories. I want to do this right and I know I'm eating wrong at times. My weight fluctuates between 7-10 lbs in a week, up or down. I know I'm new at this but I find myself hungry so I will eat something in order that I don't eat more, later. Wrong logic? Also compounding this problem is the issue of limited finances and having meals of vastly different tastes for two people in the household. I know this may sound cruel but I feel that the truth is if I did not have to cater to this other elderly person's dietary and appetite needs, then I would have absolutely zero problem cooking healthy and eating well because I'd only have to take care of me. Caregivers always care for themselves last but I want to get a hold of my health now! while I am still relatively young (32) and have time (before I drop of a heart attack or stroke at 45). Until the situation changes and this other person finally goes into an assisted living facility, I see my only options are 1.) doing the best I can with diet & exercise, 2.) using my free weights to build muscle which then burns more calories anyway, 3.) let the bad days fall where they may. BTW, I only found this thread because I searched 4k cals in a day for helpful advice. I am now aware this is in the Gaining Weight section, however any helpful advice is welcomed. Thanks.

cwoyto123

6000+ calories a day crew checking in.

W31RD0

I have days where I'm eating 5000+ calories in a 4 hr window. Plus 1.25 gals of water through out the day. I'm not going to lie it gets tough, but drinking whole milk helps a lot.

That's an impressive intake, especially in small times. Are these meals you prepare? What do you generally eat that gets you there?

ValGogo

Wow, I'd like to start a thread that asks "What would you eat with 4100 calories?"

Man of man, that sounds like a good thread.

W31RD0

And doing it one day isn't that tough...it's doing it every day for a period of time. I've actually gotten tired of eating.

Exactly. It's always funny when people on here who are regularly consuming 1200-2200 Calories a day make remarks about "oh that must be nice" or "thats easy, just eat 9 shakes!". They simply have no idea. Eating 4500 Calories in one day is easy. But the next day, you are bloated and full and your digestive system is stalled. 60 days later, and it's beyond annoying to eat that much.

And when that 4500 Calories consists of 350g protein...it's not so easy as it sounds.

I hate when people say things like that. Eating has become work to me now and hearing that is not helping. Seriously people if you are trying to lose weight there is a board for that. You don't see me going there and saying "Oh your trying to cut to 3000? Must be nice to get all that." Seriously, that is some really demeaning comments.

2dare2dream

When i hear comments about how easy that must be, it makes me question logic. Don't you remember what led us down this path? years of junk food and unhealthy eating.
After all the work put in to get healthy and then to start bulking, i would imagine that taking the "easy road of junk food", would risk putting you back in that unhealthy diet mode. I don't imagine anyone wants to go back there after accomplishing so much work.
I would also imagine that for those who junk food was a problem wouldn't want to risk going back down that road.
so to all the big bulkers out there, good luck finding what foods work for you and allow you to stay mostly healthy eating with the occasional treat here and there.

chrisdavey

It's seriously not that hard.

I do IF and during maintenance I average 3500-3700 cals per day eating for around 8 hrs per day.

I do some eating competitions from time to time though so maybe I'm a special snowflake

I'd suggest eating plenty of meat and veg and then ensuring you get plenty of healthy fats from peanut butter and maybe not so healthy fats from ice cream.

BTW protein intake can be less during bulking than cutting. I saw mention of 350g somewhere. That is way beyond what most people require (unless on dat dere celltech and higher BW)