Eating 3000 Calories per day...not gaining
ColetteCopeland
Posts: 16
Hey everybody!
I just need some feedback about this because I've never tried to gain weight before. I've been eating between 2800 and 3400 calories per day for 12 days and I haven't gained so much as a pound. Is this healthy? Am I just being impatient? Should I not expect to see significant weight gain for a few months?
Further: has anyone here successfully gained at least ten pounds? HOW?
I just need some feedback about this because I've never tried to gain weight before. I've been eating between 2800 and 3400 calories per day for 12 days and I haven't gained so much as a pound. Is this healthy? Am I just being impatient? Should I not expect to see significant weight gain for a few months?
Further: has anyone here successfully gained at least ten pounds? HOW?
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I'm having the same exact problem. I read somewhere online to eat something high calorie/healthy before bed to slow down your metabolism at night... I'm going to get crazy and start having spaghetti before bed, ha! I'm getting really disappointed because I weigh myself in the morning and there is no change in weight, but if I weigh myself midday, I've gained a few. Grrrr, screw you, fluctuating weight!
Really though, has anyone successfully gained at least 10 pounds? I need a success story in my life.0 -
I know, right?? I have been doing a lot of research into methods for gaining weight. I'm super old fashioned, so I love reading all of the old Victorian/Edwrdian beauty books where they talk about "How to Gain a Pleasant Roundness" haha. They actually have some good ideas, and like reading them because the size popular in 1880s-1920s was about the size I want to be--not the "holocaust survivor" look that's so popular today.
The best thing I have found for increasing my calorie intake: SMOOTHIES. Seriously! Just toss in a bunch of things high in calories, blend them together, and vwala! I'm sipping a 1800 calorie smoothie now :)L. It's made with strawberry syrup, mandarin oranges, half a Vanilla Boost vitamin drink, a fat-free yogurt, a little bit of vanilla organic yogurt, and a little vanilla extract. Super good, too!
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I'm 5' 3" and I've gained 15 lbs so far on 2300-2700 calories. Are you exercising at all? (even nervous habits like pacing back and forth for hours used to slow down my progress). I think you should wait a little longer to see some progress just in case. Some of my weight gains took 14 days to happen. Also, double check your calorie intake as some foods on MFP are overestimated.0
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I think you probably need to wait a little longer. I've been on MFP for about three months. My start weight was somewhere around 79-81 pounds and I'm only up to about 86 now! I'm eating at least 1900 calories a day and often over 2000. If you tolerate it well, eat a lot of sugar - it will help more with weight gain than fat.
Oh yeah, I love smoothies! I haven't been able to make an 1800 calorie one, though. Mine are usually around 450-600 calories. Nuts and seeds are my real secret to getting enough calories in, they are so easy and quick to eat, and no preparation needed
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You know Ii have been exercising about four or five times a week. But I haven't done any cardio! No running, jogging, jumping jacks, exedra. Mostly I've done pilates (yoga type exercises) and a little weight lifting, my goal has been to gain muscle, not burn fat/calories. Since muscle weighs more than fat, I figured working out a little bit could help.
@wayyyoutoflin: oh, I'm eating more calories than that's, I'm afraid! But glad to know its working well for you! I agree with Shellie--I need a success story in my life! I have a questions: now that you've gained the weight you want, is it hard to keep it on?
I'm actually 5'3 and a half with a bmi of 18, plus a very small bone build. So...I'm rather tiny. I currently weigh around 106, my goal is to reach 115-120 by Christmas 0 -
Pilates can still burn a lot of calories. I've also learned that weight lifting burns more calories than I thought. Do you have a HRM so you have an idea as to how many calories you're burning? It helps to log your exercise so that you can eat back your exercise calories and a surplus. When I first started weight training, I was eating 2500 calories and losing weight because I didn't keep my net calories in surplus mode.
Yes, it is hard. Very hard mostly because I actually forget to eat with so much stuff to do. My weight fluctuates A LOT, normally in the downward direction. Muscle mass is easier to hold on to than fat so I would recommend taking weight lifting to the next level. I still want to gain an additional 10 pounds to be near 130.
I have a very small frame too. But unfortunately, it is accompanied by somewhat disproportionately large hands feet lol0 -
I don't thing I know what an HRM is, I'm afraid. I'm not a terribly active person, though, and I've upped my calories to around 3800 a day. I do college at home so I don't walk around campus all day.
My weight usually fluctuates within a 4-pound-range when I'm not watching it. But then, before I started mfp I ate like MAYBE 500 calories a day. I can't believe I didn't starve, haha! I wasnt anorexic or super active or anything....I just, in all honesty, had NO appitite. Now that I've forced myself to eat, though, my appitite has grown to where I MUST have all that food, or I get really hungry!
Yeah, I have a tiny bone build, but I also have size 6 1/2 shoes and little hands. My hips and bust are kind of large for one so skinny, though, so I hope when I gain weight I won't gain it all there, haha! 0 -
After weighing about 110 lbs my whole life (29 years old now), I decided enough was enough. I went on a 4500-5000 calorie diet for almost a month, doing mostly carbs with a some fat and protein as well. I gained about 35 lbs in 1 month!! However that wasn't the proper solution since it went mostly to my stomach.
So I ate on a small deficit or maintenance diet of around 2400-3000 calories with a 25/15/60 carb/fat/protein macro diet while hitting the gym for a couple months. I lost 10 lbs during those 2 months, but I looked way better my body was firming up with muscle everywhere instead of just gaining blubber around my stomach.
So my advice to you is hitting the gym at 4 days a week and lift weights (DON'T DO CARDIO IF ALREADY HAVE AN ACTIVE LIFESTYLE). When I say lift weights, don't go through the motions, lift to where you are straining yourself to get that last rep done.
Secondly eat a good a macro (25/25/50 of c/f/p) diet of around 4000? I personally like eating lots of cheese, canned tuna, milk, chicken breast, and occasionally steak. Those calories add up quick this way plus are fairly healthy.
Hop on the scale every morning as soon as you get up and after you hit the toilet and do your business for accurate readings. I was making small but productive gains this way before I got hit with a bad case of vertigo recently.
TL:DR
Eat properly with at least 150 calories of protein.
Lift weights at the gym, no exceptions! Not going to the gym means you will just cycle on and off fat, instead of keeping hard earned muscle.0 -
Collette-I don't know much, new to this program, but have struggled with my weight for the past couple of years. Stress uses up alot of calories, too. I would say trying to have the calmest existance you can have will be helpful, as will time! Good luck to you!:happy:0
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Hi, I've gained ~10 pounds in last 2 months eating. I will give you some general tips. What to eat: protein - meats;fish meat;curd cheese;eggs. Carbs - Rice, pasta, oats, potatoes. Fat - nuts, olive oil, whole milk 4%. Honey and chocolate for sweet tooth. When you go to gym lift heavy for no longer than 45 mins (excluding warmup) 3-4x per week. Compound movements like benchpress, deadlift, pull ups, squats. Do not do cardio and do not weight yourself everyday, in my opinion it leads to frustration and less exciting feeling of achievement
good luck!0 -
Hi there,
I am also new, only just into my 3rd week. Very, very motivated still. I have been eating between 2000 & 2500 calories every day. I don't have the healthiest diet and I have managed to put on 3 pounds.
I am no nutrition expert by any means but my doctor advised me to eat more fat than carbs initially. He said that carbs use approx 25% of their calorific value making themselves into fat that can be stored in our fat cells. Fat uses only 3% of the calorific value. I did some research and found some info as follows on http://www.oaktrees.org/fitness/fat.html
"Are calories in fat worse and harder to burn than calories from carbohydrates?
From: Larry DeLuca, EdM, CSCS
The difference isn't in how the calories are "burned" so much as in how excess calories are stored.
Excess carbohydrate calories must be converted to triglycerides before they can be stored as body fat. This process requires over 25% of the energy stored in the food. Thus, if you took in 100 Calories of pure carbohydrate in excess of your body's needs, you'd only store about 75 Calories worth of fat, since you used up some of the energy in the conversion process.
Fat, on the other hand, is fat to begin with. It only takes about 3% of the energy in it to put it up on the larder shelf, as it were. Thus, 100 Calories from fat in excess of your body's needs can end up as 97 Calories worth of saddlebag.
Remember that we take in nutrients of all sorts together, though - fats, carbs, and proteins. Thus, the most important factor over time is generally the total number of calories. However, if you keep the number of calories in your diet exactly the same and switch from a high-fat to a lower-fat diet you will generally notice a reduction in weight (assuming you were in caloric balance beforehand)."
Perhaps other members would like to comment on the above!!!
Toni
:drinker:0
