Can't eat enough calories per day, what to do?

davidgv16
davidgv16 Posts: 1
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hi what up guys?
Started tracking and I'm looking to gain weight and muscle, I'm 18, ~193cm, at 69kg, doing weightlifting 4days/week and many calculators online including the one here on MFP suggest I should eat almost 3000kcal a day.
I'm trying my best to eat a ton and I'm pretty much never hungry but I still can't eat 3000 a day, I hit about 2100 and that's it. I also drink about 16 glasses of water, is that too much and does that affect my hunger?
Am I still gonna gain weight even though I don't eat enough and is it normal to not be hungry at all?
Too many questions but just looking for a quick answer from some experienced people.

Thanks in advance,
David :)

Replies

  • NoLimitFemme
    NoLimitFemme Posts: 118 Member
    Hi David ... check this out ... http://janderson99.hubpages.com/hub/High-Calorie-High-Protein-Food-Lists-for-Healthy-Weight-Gain ... this is a list of high calorie high protein foods, try adding to your diet. We did this for my husband. Your food diary is closed so I can't comment directly on this (my husbands is open BTW, he's on my friends list and you can check it out if you want).

    One surprise high calorie/high protein food we found was trail mix. He snacks on it throughout the day and 1 cup is over 600 calories if I'm remembering correctly.

    Good Luck
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,078 Member
    Eat some nuts, around 600 cals for 100g!! Avacado, cheese and whole milk are high calorie too.

    Strange that you aren't feeling hungry with all that weight lifting, I am ravenous on the days I lift. Your appetite should open up once you start eating a bit more and carry on with the lifting
  • GetSoda
    GetSoda Posts: 1,267 Member
    Whole Milk and Peanut butter /thread
  • Thehulk83
    Thehulk83 Posts: 1
    Best thing I like to do is blend a shake:
    Whey protein
    Oats
    Banana
    Peanut butter
    Whole milk
    Coconut milk
    And a few raw eggs

    Tastes delicious , great for you, and easy over a 1000 calories
  • tyrsnbdr
    tyrsnbdr Posts: 234 Member
    Whole Milk and Peanut butter /thread

    And a Muffin.

    /thread
  • headelite
    headelite Posts: 5
    Hi what up guys?
    Started tracking and I'm looking to gain weight and muscle, I'm 18, ~193cm, at 69kg, doing weightlifting 4days/week and many calculators online including the one here on MFP suggest I should eat almost 3000kcal a day.
    I'm trying my best to eat a ton and I'm pretty much never hungry but I still can't eat 3000 a day, I hit about 2100 and that's it. I also drink about 16 glasses of water, is that too much and does that affect my hunger?
    Am I still gonna gain weight even though I don't eat enough and is it normal to not be hungry at all?
    Too many questions but just looking for a quick answer from some experienced people.

    Thanks in advance,
    David :)

    16 glasses of water sound like way too much, and to be honest you have to try harder. I started off skinny. I force fed myself and eventually you will get use to it. Diet is the most difficult part of building muscle/gaining weight. Shakes are helpful (Very simple recipe: milk, oats (blend first), peanut butter, ice cream, frozen bananas) Adjust accoridingly to your macros

    EDIT: I was 135lb and got to 202lb from a number of bulking and cutting cycles
  • hulksmash19833
    hulksmash19833 Posts: 4
    If your struggling to eat mate do what I do and get a weight gainer for extra calories there much easier to get down.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
    Replace a bunch of those glasses of water with glasses of whole milk. Done.
  • HappyStack
    HappyStack Posts: 802 Member
    Replace a bunch of those glasses of water with glasses of whole milk. Done.

    This.

    Caloric density is the key to fixing your problems.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    bigger spoon- and higher calorie ice creams!
  • steve0820
    steve0820 Posts: 510 Member
    Ice cream helped me get over 3000 a day. Which remind me, I need more ice cream!!!!!
  • trojan_bb
    trojan_bb Posts: 699 Member
    Calorie Density. Lots and lots of carbs. It's much easier to eat an extra 300g of carbs than the equivalent calories from protein and fats.
  • dirtydirtysouf
    dirtydirtysouf Posts: 26 Member
    If your struggling to eat mate do what I do and get a weight gainer for extra calories there much easier to get down.

    this........but look into the better brands and make sure its just not sugar, sugar and more sugar, make sure it has some protein
  • redsimpson
    redsimpson Posts: 4
    I agree with drinking more milk being a good way to gain some weight and it also helps you to stay healthy.

    Regards
    Red
    http://www.theweightcontrolnews.com/public_html/
  • TEMMEAlexa
    TEMMEAlexa Posts: 79 Member
    If you are looking to gain muscle weight, then eating saturated fats would help you. It flows in your body, and clogs nowhere. Also, it does increase the risk of heart diseases, ignore that if you do cardio regularly. A high portion of saturated fats can be found in animal fats such as cream, cheese, butter and ghee. Coconut oil, palm kernel oil and chocolate is also a good source of saturated fats.
  • Docmahi
    Docmahi Posts: 1,603 Member
    quit eating clean - get more poptarts - profit
  • ElizabethFuller
    ElizabethFuller Posts: 352 Member
    You need to search for the discussion threads about "surprisingly high calorie foods" - and then eat them! My favourites are muffins, granola, bananas, mixed fruit and nuts, trail mix, cheese (on toast) and cookies. If you eat small, frequent snacks you should be able to make 3000 calories. I think that your water consumption is probably depressing your appetite, drinking lots of water is really good for you but it can increase your feeling of fullness - drinking water before you eat is one of the classic recommendations to help you eat less.
    Good luck!
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    nuts
  • edwardkim85
    edwardkim85 Posts: 438 Member
    Bro

    At your age in highschool/college I ate 6kcal and couldn't put on weight.

    Now well, I can only hope.

    Eat tons of cottage cheese/ peanut butter sandwiches/ 2% milk.

    If you smudge peanut butter on 2 sandwiches, that can easily be 1kcal. (2 as in 4 slices of bread --> 440kcal + 1 tbl spoon of peanut butter each bread)

    Cottage cheese, you can eat it any time throughout the day

    Same with milk

    You WILL gain fat & muscle. Go on a bulk/cut cycle over and over again.

    My problem? After college I just 'bulked' and never stopped :D
  • edwardkim85
    edwardkim85 Posts: 438 Member
    If you have money, buy mass gainers.

    If you can't gain mass taking that, then you have a medical issue.

    Few scoops of that = 800kcal. Add that with 2%+ milk(500ml or so) , PEANUT BUTTER, BANANNA, that's a 1500kcal shake right there for you.

    Add that as your post workout shake. You will put on mass
  • Rhibond
    Rhibond Posts: 1 Member
    Pasta has a crazy amount of calories and you can pretty much have it with any type of sauce. Plus it's realitively cheap, there's heaps of diffrent types and dosent take too long to cook. Good luck (:
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
    Feel free to look at my diary.
    On my workout days, I shoot for around 3000 calories.

    But carbs is where you go to get them.....
    I also bought some carb powder to help w/ my calories.
  • brendannewton526
    brendannewton526 Posts: 2
    These powders people are suggesting are no good for you, (yes I have 1 protein shake a day prior to sleep though) 12 glasses of water at 250ml is efficient, eat the right foods for bulking beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs and go hard on the carbs especially on training day, brown rice sweet potato etc try and eat small meals every 3 hours no longer, at your age you'd have next to no experience in the gym so in saying that four days a week is to much for a beginner stick to core work 3 times a week eg Mon Wed Friday you need to build into it, I was lucky enough to train at the institute of sport with power lifters
  • joan23_us
    joan23_us Posts: 263 Member
    DAVID, focus more on gaining strength progressively on your lifts each week and adjust calories accordingly. If you can only consume 2100 calories for now that is because your metabolic capacity is still starting to rev up as well. when internet site computes for your TDEE or calorie intake it doesnt account for your present metabolic rate if so its not really accurate. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY... build up your metabolism by training consistently with the focus on progressing each week, why jump to 3000 calories if you can gain muscle for 2100 then 2300, 2500 and so forth..... you just dont jump in that much calories straight away... YOU PROGRESS IN CONSUMING THAT much of a calorie... goodluck.
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
    When I first started out I had to rely on Mass gainer supplements to get those extra calories in...

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