2000 calories a day - still not gaining

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Replies

  • F00LofaT00K
    F00LofaT00K Posts: 688 Member
    It depends on your activity level, age, height, weight and gender. I'm incredibly active, 5'4", 145lbs, female and I'm LOSING weight on 2000 calories a day. If you're not gaining weight, then you need to eat more to accomplish that goal. I promise it's truly that simple. I see that your doctor recommended 2000 calories, but most doctors are surprisingly ill-educated about diet and nutrition. My mother's doctor has switched her to many different, what I refer to as: "as seen on TV diets." It sounds crazy, but aside from a doctor who specializes in nutrition, many are as ignorant as the general public when it comes to weight and diet.
  • michellemybelll
    michellemybelll Posts: 2,228 Member
    this is fascinating.
  • Owlibee
    Owlibee Posts: 138 Member
    2000 calories is nothing, of course you're not gaining.

    Its what my Doctor has recommended . I use to only eat around 1000.

    I am not a body builder or a man so please do not compare my calories to yours.

    Plenty of women can eat 2000 calories a day and not gain weight or even lose weigh.

    His advice was correct and had nothing to do with being a body builder or a man, at no point did he compare his and your calories - you're very defensive and I suspect a talk with a councillor would be a good idea.

    You're doctor recommended 2000 - but that doesn't mean it is the right amount, I'm sure now if you had gone back he would up it again since you were not gaining weight.

    I'm 5'3 and can eat 2000 calories a day and not gain weight.



    Because I am defensive I need to go see Councillor?
  • bethoves
    bethoves Posts: 2 Member
    your metabolism may be fast. Age will take care of that. Mine slowed down at around 35 years old. I was thrilled to be able to finally gain weight, but now i wish I had a fast metabolism back. Eating everything I wanted was more fun than dieting.
  • Owlibee
    Owlibee Posts: 138 Member
    your metabolism may be fast. Age will take care of that. Mine slowed down at around 35 years old. I was thrilled to be able to finally gain weight, but now i wish I had a fast metabolism back. Eating everything I wanted was more fun than dieting.

    My family believes its just hereditary or possibly to do with hormones as the females in my family were all around the 8 - 9 stone mark when my age before having kids. After they had kids they all went to around 12-14 stone.

    Not positive if this is the case for me.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    2000 calories is nothing, of course you're not gaining.

    Its what my Doctor has recommended . I use to only eat around 1000.

    I am not a body builder or a man so please do not compare my calories to yours.

    Plenty of women can eat 2000 calories a day and not gain weight or even lose weigh.

    His advice was correct and had nothing to do with being a body builder or a man, at no point did he compare his and your calories - you're very defensive and I suspect a talk with a councillor would be a good idea.

    You're doctor recommended 2000 - but that doesn't mean it is the right amount, I'm sure now if you had gone back he would up it again since you were not gaining weight.

    I'm 5'3 and can eat 2000 calories a day and not gain weight.



    Because I am defensive I need to go see Councillor?

    Because you shoot down good advice and appear to have some issues surrounding your ED that a job public really aren't equipped to deal with.

    You ask for advice and get defensive when people tell you the truth. So yeah - you have issues, nothing wrong with that, lots of people do - but no-one here can help you with those. If you aren't willing to listen to good advice and find a reason to ignore every bit of good advice offered to you, well...
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    ^^^ truth.


    There is no reason to get defensive and upset when people tell you stuff- we have no reason to lie to you- or give you bad information- we don't get anything out of this- we really are here to help and give advice- but we cant' give advice to someone who is defiensive or dismissive. it's counterproductive.

    Plus seeing a professional can help sort out some of the back story issues and emotional things that accompany food problems- that as Iron Feline said- we just are not equipped to deal with.

    that being said- I maintain around 2000 calories- in order to gain I have to be between 3000-3500.

    it really is that simple... if you aren't gaining after 2-3 weeks- eat more food.
  • Owlibee
    Owlibee Posts: 138 Member
    2000 calories is nothing, of course you're not gaining.

    Its what my Doctor has recommended . I use to only eat around 1000.

    I am not a body builder or a man so please do not compare my calories to yours.

    Plenty of women can eat 2000 calories a day and not gain weight or even lose weigh.

    His advice was correct and had nothing to do with being a body builder or a man, at no point did he compare his and your calories - you're very defensive and I suspect a talk with a councillor would be a good idea.

    You're doctor recommended 2000 - but that doesn't mean it is the right amount, I'm sure now if you had gone back he would up it again since you were not gaining weight.

    I'm 5'3 and can eat 2000 calories a day and not gain weight.



    Because I am defensive I need to go see Councillor?

    Because you shoot down good advice and appear to have some issues surrounding your ED that a job public really aren't equipped to deal with.

    You ask for advice and get defensive when people tell you the truth. So yeah - you have issues, nothing wrong with that, lots of people do - but no-one here can help you with those. If you aren't willing to listen to good advice and find a reason to ignore every bit of good advice offered to you, well...

    I understand completely

    I am finding it very difficult to eat over 2000 calories, it is a struggle for me. The thought of being pushed to eat more then that terrifies me. I know it needs to be done, it wont help me getting angry about it .

    Is there any foods you can recommend that have a high calorie count but easy to eat?

    I cant have large amounts of dairy as it effects my stomach.
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
    2000 calories is nothing, of course you're not gaining.

    Its what my Doctor has recommended . I use to only eat around 1000.

    I am not a body builder or a man so please do not compare my calories to yours.

    Plenty of women can eat 2000 calories a day and not gain weight or even lose weigh.

    His advice was correct and had nothing to do with being a body builder or a man, at no point did he compare his and your calories - you're very defensive and I suspect a talk with a councillor would be a good idea.

    You're doctor recommended 2000 - but that doesn't mean it is the right amount, I'm sure now if you had gone back he would up it again since you were not gaining weight.

    I'm 5'3 and can eat 2000 calories a day and not gain weight.



    Because I am defensive I need to go see Councillor?

    Because you shoot down good advice and appear to have some issues surrounding your ED that a job public really aren't equipped to deal with.

    You ask for advice and get defensive when people tell you the truth. So yeah - you have issues, nothing wrong with that, lots of people do - but no-one here can help you with those. If you aren't willing to listen to good advice and find a reason to ignore every bit of good advice offered to you, well...

    I understand completely

    I am finding it very difficult to eat over 2000 calories, it is a struggle for me. The thought of being pushed to eat more then that terrifies me. I know it needs to be done, it wont help me getting angry about it .

    Is there any foods you can recommend that have a high calorie count but easy to eat?

    I cant have large amounts of dairy as it effects my stomach.

    Peanut butter. On everything. All the time. That would be my plan.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Peanut butter. On everything. All the time. That would be my plan.

    This is great advice. 3x a day eat a tablespoon of PB. That's an extra 300-350 cals a day right there and can be sneaked in between meals without a problem. Snacking on some dried fruit and nut mix can easily add another 200-300 a day without much in the way of actual eating.

    That's 500-650 cals a day extra without trying or bulk eating. It can be done!
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    I only read through half of the comments, but here are my thoughts (which have been repeated, except for 1):

    1. Get yourself a Fitbit, then sync with MFP and turn on negative calorie adjustments to get a more clear and accurate picture. I really think you may be "exercising" more than you think just walking around the house and climbing stairs and such.
    2. Seek counseling. This has been repeated, but it sounds to me like you will never be happy with how you look until you take care of yourself mentally. Gain, lose, whatever... none of it will make you happy until you find peace within yourself and see yourself accurately.
    3. If you really want to gain weight, eat pizza (restauraunt made with regular crust) and drink soda. I know you mentioned that dairy is tough for you, so see a dr. about that and see if there is a pill or something that can make the cheese on pizza tolerable. Seriously... pizza is very calorie dense, so I would shoot for 2-3 pieces at each meal and drink nothing but soda (lemon-lime is best - try Mountain Dew) all day. If you eat 2 slices of pizza each for 3 meals daily, and 5 cans of Mountain Dew each day, you should be over 5,000 calories.
  • Owlibee
    Owlibee Posts: 138 Member
    Peanut butter. On everything. All the time. That would be my plan.

    This is great advice. 3x a day eat a tablespoon of PB. That's an extra 300-350 cals a day right there and can be sneaked in between meals without a problem. Snacking on some dried fruit and nut mix can easily add another 200-300 a day without much in the way of actual eating.

    That's 500-650 cals a day extra without trying or bulk eating. It can be done!

    I think I might combine the two and make peanut butter fruit and nut bars. I have done it before with nutella :) Its getting the calories in easy to eat chunks. PB seems to be the way to go!
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Peanut butter. On everything. All the time. That would be my plan.

    This is great advice. 3x a day eat a tablespoon of PB. That's an extra 300-350 cals a day right there and can be sneaked in between meals without a problem. Snacking on some dried fruit and nut mix can easily add another 200-300 a day without much in the way of actual eating.

    That's 500-650 cals a day extra without trying or bulk eating. It can be done!

    I think I might combine the two and make peanut butter fruit and nut bars. I have done it before with nutella :) Its getting the calories in easy to eat chunks. PB seems to be the way to go!

    Actually, that sounds delicious. May have a crack at it myself!
  • llamajenn
    llamajenn Posts: 34 Member
    Hi there,

    I read this thread for the first time today. There are lots of good suggestions as far as nutrition goes (nut butter, liquid calories with meals or in between, healthy sources of fat i.e. avocado, guacamole, hummus, nuts). If your pictures are current, please realize that you look very healthy to others. There are probably many people on here who are heavier and would LOVE to look like you.
    That being said, I realize it's a psychological issue. Honestly, I've never met a person who former suffered from anorexia or another eating disorder who is trying to achieve the opposite now (gain weight despite being at an apparently healthy weight). Maybe you were so traumatized for being that sick that you are trying to overcompensate(??) Again, a therapist or counselor could help you get to the bottom of this.
    Consider that possibly if your weight is lowish, you may not have a whole lot of muscle mass, as this weighs more. So try not to fixate on the number. Someone had suggested doing strength training to increase your weight in a healthy way, by adding muscle. I realize this isn't what you are trying to achieve aesthetically, but for health reasons, it is good for women to build muscle (helps increase bone density, which you may need considering your history of anorexia).
    I hope you are able to take the feedback that has been offered by people here. For the most part, it seems like they are truly trying to help you. I am a personal trainer with a background of as a mental health therapist....honestly I believe what would benefit you most right now is finding a good therapist that you could work through these issues with.
    All the best.
    Jennifer

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