Calorie intake for someone underweight?

manningania
manningania Posts: 52 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I am 5'6" and I weighed myself just now nd am 95 lbs. I want to gain but I don't know how many calories I should intake to gain without gaining 10 lbs in a week. Any suggestions on what to do? Or is it okay to eat milkshakes and cheeseburgers?

Replies

  • rf1583
    rf1583 Posts: 65
    You posted the same basic question in food and nutrition. I responded with the post below. Have you figured out what your TDEE is? There are calorie calculators online that can help start you off but I found my number was higher than what the calculator told me. No one can give you a set number as everyone is different. You have to try and track your calories to see how much you need to eat. If you eat in a moderate surplus you will gain slowly. I've only gained half a pound a week over the last month. Technically you can eat burgers and shakes as long as it fits within your daily calorie number. Eat too much of that and go too much over and you will gain more fat quicker.

    You need to start logging and figure out exactly what your TDEE is. Depending on how active you are your number could be closer to the 1500 or higher. I'm 5'2" and weighed about 98lbs a little over a month ago. It took me a couple weeks to figure out my TDEE is somewhere around 1650. So I've been eating between 1850-1950 calories and I've gained 2lbs so far. But like I said you could need to eat more or less depending on your TDEE and activity level. I should add I'm also lifting heavy 3 days a week and I can see definite muscle that wasn't there before.
    Edited by rf1583 On April 30, 2014 10:08 PM
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
    You posted the same basic question in food and nutrition. I responded with the post below. Have you figured out what your TDEE is? There are calorie calculators online that can help start you off but I found my number was higher than what the calculator told me. No one can give you a set number as everyone is different. You have to try and track your calories to see how much you need to eat. If you eat in a moderate surplus you will gain slowly. I've only gained half a pound a week over the last month. Technically you can eat burgers and shakes as long as it fits within your daily calorie number. Eat too much of that and go too much over and you will gain more fat quicker.

    You need to start logging and figure out exactly what your TDEE is. Depending on how active you are your number could be closer to the 1500 or higher. I'm 5'2" and weighed about 98lbs a little over a month ago. It took me a couple weeks to figure out my TDEE is somewhere around 1650. So I've been eating between 1850-1950 calories and I've gained 2lbs so far. But like I said you could need to eat more or less depending on your TDEE and activity level. I should add I'm also lifting heavy 3 days a week and I can see definite muscle that wasn't there before.
    Edited by rf1583 On April 30, 2014 10:08 PM
    +1!
  • ccf_trainer
    ccf_trainer Posts: 86 Member
    My suggestion is to focus on eating 5-6 meals per day. Meal replacement shakes (along with your meals) would not be a bad idea. Cheeseburgers? I wouldn't recommend that everyday, but once in a while, depending on where it's from. If homemade, great. Avoid fast food at all costs. Do not eat there. Invest in lean meats like salmon, chicken, turkey, etc. Get on a sports nutrition program, and invest in a meal replacement and protein shake. Get vitamins and supplements for micronutrients and absorption. The bottom line is you need protein, vitamins, and absorption. Also, it would not hurt to include whole grains into your system for carbs and fiber. No white breads, and no flour based foods. I know this seems like a lot, but it is a lot more to gain, which is why it is so much harder than it would be to lose weight. Whatever you do, do not be discouraged. You follow these simple steps, and you will gain it back. I have had the same issue with gaining, and I can tell you from personal experience that this works.
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    My suggestion is to focus on eating 5-6 meals per day. Meal replacement shakes (along with your meals) would not be a bad idea. Cheeseburgers? I wouldn't recommend that everyday, but once in a while, depending on where it's from. If homemade, great. Avoid fast food at all costs. Do not eat there. Invest in lean meats like salmon, chicken, turkey, etc. Get on a sports nutrition program, and invest in a meal replacement and protein shake. Get vitamins and supplements for micronutrients and absorption. The bottom line is you need protein, vitamins, and absorption. Also, it would not hurt to include whole grains into your system for carbs and fiber. No white breads, and no flour based foods. I know this seems like a lot, but it is a lot more to gain, which is why it is so much harder than it would be to lose weight. Whatever you do, do not be discouraged. You follow these simple steps, and you will gain it back. I have had the same issue with gaining, and I can tell you from personal experience that this works.

    No, Just eat more, you will gain weight. No need for this long dissertation that is basically wrong.
  • Fitfully_me
    Fitfully_me Posts: 647 Member

    No, Just eat more, you will gain weight. No need for this long dissertation that is basically wrong.

    This. And don't worry. You won't gain ten pounds in a week.
  • Aderonke158
    Aderonke158 Posts: 1
    Eat more but don't eat too much, work out your weight in pounds and multiply that by 10 then that should be how many calories you should consume in a day., add about 100 more calories to that.
    That should help :)
  • liftreadphilosophize
    liftreadphilosophize Posts: 180 Member
    Eat more but don't eat too much, work out your weight in pounds and multiply that by 10 then that should be how many calories you should consume in a day., add about 100 more calories to that.
    That should help :)

    WHOA you will need far more than 1050 calories a day! Please disregard the above math and work out your TDEE. If I only ate 1300 calories a day I would be the hangriest, weakest, most tired version of myself. That's barely enough to keep my organs functioning much less sustain consistent daily activities like getting out of bed and walking.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,386 MFP Moderator
    You can raise your calories until you start gaining weight. For the most part, it's all estimates. It really depends how much damage you have to your metabolic. The best thing I would suggest is lift heavy and eat protein so you can get some mass gains out of this and minimize fat gains. But you can start where you feel comfortable and up your calories by 200 each week until you get in a good range.
  • manningania
    manningania Posts: 52 Member
    You can raise your calories until you start gaining weight. For the most part, it's all estimates. It really depends how much damage you have to your metabolic. The best thing I would suggest is lift heavy and eat protein so you can get some mass gains out of this and minimize fat gains. But you can start where you feel comfortable and up your calories by 200 each week until you get in a good range.
    l

    Eat 200 more a week or 200 more per day each week? Sorry I'm confused lol

    Thank you all for your answers :) I really appreciate it :D
  • micheleld73
    micheleld73 Posts: 914 Member
    You can raise your calories until you start gaining weight. For the most part, it's all estimates. It really depends how much damage you have to your metabolic. The best thing I would suggest is lift heavy and eat protein so you can get some mass gains out of this and minimize fat gains. But you can start where you feel comfortable and up your calories by 200 each week until you get in a good range.
    l

    Eat 200 more a week or 200 more per day each week? Sorry I'm confused lol

    Thank you all for your answers :) I really appreciate it :D

    200 a day each week. So if you're eating 1800 a day this week, eat 2000 a day next week until you find your balance.
  • rf1583
    rf1583 Posts: 65
    This calculator helped me start. It ended being a little lower than my actual
    TDEE. So you can get an idea based on your specifics and activity level.

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,386 MFP Moderator
    You can raise your calories until you start gaining weight. For the most part, it's all estimates. It really depends how much damage you have to your metabolic. The best thing I would suggest is lift heavy and eat protein so you can get some mass gains out of this and minimize fat gains. But you can start where you feel comfortable and up your calories by 200 each week until you get in a good range.
    l

    Eat 200 more a week or 200 more per day each week? Sorry I'm confused lol

    Thank you all for your answers :) I really appreciate it :D

    200 a day each week. So if you're eating 1800 a day this week, eat 2000 a day next week until you find your balance.

    Thanks for clarifying that for me. I guess I need to learn how to write more clear, :laugh:

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