to gain weight

tschaff04
tschaff04 Posts: 296 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I know you have to have a surplus to gain weight(if you are trying to do that), but how do you do this when you are eating when hungry? My dh is 5'7 1/2" and weighs around 130-135 pounds. He eats when he is hungry. Three meals a day, and a snack or two. He usually pigs out when he does eat. I can't say I am not jealous of him because he can eat all that yummy food and not overdo it and not binge and not gain a pound!

Anyway, if he was trying to gain weight would he have to force himself to eat a ton more calories? Should you really eat when you are not hungry if you need to gain weight. Seems like if we are eating when we are really hungry we should be at a good weight but he has been told he is underweight slightly.

Replies

  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    He should eat foods that are more calorie dense. Count calories the same way one does to lose weight but in reverse.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    He doesn't have to eat a ton more calories. Just like 250 or so. That's basically 2 scoops of protein powder, or a cup and half of ice cream, or a tablespoon of olive oil and 1.5 tbsp of peanut butter. i can go on and on and on....
  • tschaff04
    tschaff04 Posts: 296 Member
    Thanks for the advice. When I typed in his stats on MFP it said something like 3000 cals to gain weight. It seems like a lot, but it does make sense to just make a few calorie dense additions.
  • union226
    union226 Posts: 3
    He can try adding calorie dense foods to his diet as sjohnny said. For example if he is eating chicken breat with rice and brocoli, he can add a tablespoon and a half of olive oil over the top. This will make the dish more flavorful, add essential fats and about 180 calories to the plate (about 120 calories per Tablespoon). Peanut butter (almomd butter) is also a good option. When he is snaking, he can eat a PB&J sandwich. For example two pieces of bread is about 220-240 calories. A serving size of PB&J is 2 tablespoons which is 200 calories. If he needs more calories put on 3 or 4 tablespoons. 2 slices of bread 220 cals + 2 tablespoons of PB 200 cals + 1 tablespoon of jelly of jam is about 50 cals = 470 calories for a snack (add 100 cals for each additional tablespoon of PB). So by addding olive oil (1.5 tablespoons) twice a day to a meal and eating a PB&J once a day he can add 750 cals daily.

    If he is working out (resistance training such as lifting weights) and wants to put on muscle, he should be in a caloric surplus of about 250 cals to 500 cals daily. It doesnt matter how hard he trains, if he doesnt eat in a caloric surplus at the end of the day, he will not gain any muscle. I suggest keeping the surplus closer to 250 cals a day, which would be a gain of about 1/2 a pound a week and approximately 2 pounds in a month. If he is weight training intensly then it is possible that up to half ot this weight is muscle. That obviosly means the other half is fat. This is why I would keep the cals to about a 250 surplus daily because he will not gain any more muslce than about a pound month (assuming he is natural and not on roids) no matter what. After about 10 months of 'bulking' he can begin to cut the fat by eating in a caloric deficit everyday. About 500 cals a day is good, any more of a defecit and he will probably loose some of his musle gained. He should eat high amounts of protein while 'cutting' to maintain the musle he has. So if he eats at a 250 cal surplus for 10 months he will gain about 20lbs. The most musle he gained is approximately 10lbs (but may definately be less). Assuming 10 pounds of musle was gained he needs to cut the 10 lbs of fat. So eating in a 500 calorie defecit each day would take about 10 weeks to cut the fat. If he eats 500 cals in excess for 10 months he will put on about 40lbs. He still wil only put on a max of 10lbs of musle so he will need to cut 30lbs of fat. At a deficit of 500 a day it will take him 30 weeks to cut the fat...
    Hope this helps, if you have any other questions feel free to ask...

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