I'm REALLY skinny

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wolveseatplants
wolveseatplants Posts: 2 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
What foods have the most calories? What can I do to gain more weight?

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  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    edited February 2016
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    Oils, butter, nut butters (peanut, almond, etc), honey, nutella, avocados, desserts, pizza, twinkies, etc.
  • jonfurby48
    jonfurby48 Posts: 1 Member
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    hot fudge sundie
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1
  • HamsterManV2
    HamsterManV2 Posts: 449 Member
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    HamsterManV2 wrote: »
    First off, find out what your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is. Go on google, put in your age, sex, weight, height, and activity level. This is the number of calories you need to eat to MAINTAIN weight.

    To gain weight, you need to eat +500 calories a week for 1lb /week of weight gain. That is probably too hard, so I recommend aiming for +250 calories over your TDEE for 0.5lb / week of weight gain. Track everything you put in your mouth with a food scale and a my fitness pal account. You NEED to find high caloric foods that are easy to eat. Examples are:

    -Spreadables: Peanut butter, nutella, those flavored peanut butter spreads, etc.
    -Liquid: Whole Milk, Olive oil (filled with healthy fats but lots of calories per tablespoon... I used to just take shots when I was underweight and needed more calories before bed).
    -Shakes: I used to make shakes with whole fat milk, olive oil, chocolate protein, peanut butter, bananas, etc. If you don't mind 'dirty' foods, add in ice cream too! You can easily make 1000 calorie shakes if you want!

    If you are OK with it, you can 'dirty bulk' meaning having high calorie foods that are not exactly known for being healthy. So things like fast food, ice cream, pizza, whatever. If you don't want that, stick to the things I listed above.

    Cheers!

    Edit: Just a reminder to track your calories - underweight people overestimate how much they are eating, and overweight people underestimate it. Tracking what you eat will be a full time job, but you need to do it for at least 3 weeks until you have an idea of how much you should eat daily. 3 weeks is what it takes to build a habit / make it routine. GOOD LUCK! +250lbs each day for a gain of .5lbs per week is good, consistent progress. Aim too high and you will quit the next day.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited March 2016
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    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    if you want to gain more weight you need to eat in a consistent calorie surplus.
  • disasterman
    disasterman Posts: 746 Member
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    You might want to try the Avocado Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding recipe that's on the Recipes board right now: http://minimalistbaker.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-avocado-pudding/
  • Owl8bit
    Owl8bit Posts: 1 Member
    edited March 2016
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    I'm really skinny too. Last fall I had lost 12 lbs due to illness and was even skinnier. Before I was sick, i aimed for that 250-500 calories over and it didn't do much for me at all. Since getting sick, I decided to basically double the TDEE thing and that seems to be helping... aiming for about 2600-3000 calories a day. After a few months, I've put back on the weight I had lost from being sick. I still want to add another 10-15 lbs and am looking for new ideas. As a single parent, I only workout at home and do need to get some heavier weights.

    The biggest improvement I made with adding that many calories was getting a Kitchenaid blender and some 24oz mason jars and making my own fruit/protein smoothies. Oatmeal, whey powder, greek yogurt, whole milk, and frozen fruit (some spinach when I make a mango one). I don't use it as a meal replacement but add it onto my regular meals. I make a couple at a time and wide mouth mason jars have some fancy lids you can get with straws or plastic screw on caps.

    **Please note, hyperthyroidism runs in my family and my doctors check mine every year though everything comes back normal... so what is working for me may be over kill for others. Doctors have actually told me to make sure to eat peanut butter and ice cream every day just to pack on more calories.
  • danielle4216
    danielle4216 Posts: 4 Member
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    If you find it hard to eat enough I found it helpful to watch cooking shows to get up your appetite before a meal. Also avoid things like coffee which can confuse your metabolism making you feel like skipping breakfast.
  • Zeus727
    Zeus727 Posts: 78 Member
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    I was 130 pounds and now in my half way through off season I'm 154 goal is 180-190.Add me.eat clean calories and 3000+ calories increase 100-200 calories each week.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
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    Careful you don't start piling on pounds of fat at this point.

    I'd figure out my maintenance figure and eat 250 cals over per day. If you lift heavy and progressively you can hope that 50% of that is muscle. Women can only gain about a quarter of a pound of muscle a week, and also it's impossibe to gain only muscle. Hence the half pound gain a week.

    All that matters is the constant small calorie surplus, and apart from the adequate protein intake and the minimum nutrient intake,the type of calories, clean or dirty, matters not.
  • Tyler2020Mike
    Tyler2020Mike Posts: 53 Member
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    wolveseatplants wrote: »
    What foods have the most calories? What can I do to gain more weight?

    In your case, I would just bulk up on proteins, while lifting weights. Try some protein powders as well, along with carbs.

  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    i've been trying to regain weight since june and just last week finally gained two pounds. its super hard. its been helpful to keep pb at work and eat that like all day. you really have to be eating all day and be full all the time. avocados nuts and seeds are pretty calorie dense, if you do dairy that can help to add it to whatever you're eating. also maybe ensure or something in between meals. my provider told me if i dont wake up feeling full then i am not doing it right lol. best of luck!
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
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    Tyler2020Mike wrote: »
    wolveseatplants wrote: »
    What foods have the most calories? What can I do to gain more weight?

    In your case, I would just bulk up on proteins, while lifting weights. Try some protein powders as well, along with carbs.

    People don't need more than .8g of protein per pound of body weight to build muscle. Eating more protein than that is expensive, tedious and hard on the kidneys.
    Carbs play a very important role in the transport of amino acids from the protein into the muscle cell.
    Weight lifting heavy gives the body the message to build muscle.

    No muscle will be built unless there is an excess of calories. Sweet spots for women is approx 150-300 cals a day, men 300-500. Muscle cannot be built faster than that, and there is no way you can build muscle without the additional body fat gain, but you can limit it.

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