Underweight but looking to gain

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hannah_maas
hannah_maas Posts: 2 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
So I just recently download this app as a way to track what I'm eating in a day. I'm 21 and have been underweight pretty much all my life. Recently, I've started to get scared and concerned so I want to make an effort to gain. I don't have an ED or anything, I just "forget" to eat or I am very good at putting off hunger when I am busy at work. I'm 5'4" and fluctuate in the low to mid 90s on a good day. I only hit 100lbs once when I experienced the freshman 15 but that did not last long. I find it hard to find my calories for the day. I don't know what I should be eating, and how to get a lot of calories without eating a whole lot, I still struggle with having a small appetite. I'm starting with trying to eat several small meals a day to get my calories up (I try and get 2100 in a day) but majority of the time I'm at work and that is where I don't eat often. Does anyone know of any good snacks or foods that are easy, calorie packed, and don't require any elaborate cooking? I just need to find a balance between working and eating without it seeming like a hassle.

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  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
    edited August 2017
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    Go to wallymart and buy Boost Plus, Ensure, or the cheaper walmart brand. Drink it in the morning and at night. At night careful with chocolate/caffeine. They are about $1 each, but worth it. Look for coupons online.
    Do you ever eat fast food? That will put on weight pretty fast. Cheeseburgers, pizza, fried chicken, french fries, milk shakes.
    Drink whole milk at home. Get peanut butter and put it on crakers.
    A doctor can prescribe a liquid that can help, but side effects are bad, and it makes you drowsy.
  • joeybrid
    joeybrid Posts: 65 Member
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    Just drink an extra glass or two of milk before bed. Honestly the easiest and cheapest way to gain a bit of weight.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    This thread should help!

    community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1
  • hzl22
    hzl22 Posts: 157 Member
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    Butter everything
    Drink whole milk
    Try protein shakes (natures bounty has one with vitamins included)
    Make the protein shake with whole milk
    Eat peanuts and/or almonds
  • donkey9512
    donkey9512 Posts: 60 Member
    edited August 2017
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    I just posted a similar comment in anothers thread. Junk food is never the answer to gain weight unless you want to get fat. Clean surplus calarories can be boring and difficult to achieve but the last thing you want is to gain fat. It may be impossible to loose the fat later. Remember a low weight better than overweight.

    Btw:. What do you mean by 'ED' ? if it is what I think you mean and you are concerned, ( I would be concernex especially given your young age), consider seeing a urologist.
  • jseams1234
    jseams1234 Posts: 1,216 Member
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    craigaronoff1 wrote: »
    I just posted a similar comment in anothers thread. Junk food is never the answer to gain weight unless you want to get fat. Clean surplus calarories can be boring and difficult to achieve but the last thing you want is to gain fat. It may be impossible to loose the fat later. Remember a low weight better than overweight.

    Btw:. What do you mean by 'ED' ? if it is what I think you mean and you are concerned, ( I would be concernex especially given your young age), consider seeing a urologist.

    lol
  • hannah_maas
    hannah_maas Posts: 2 Member
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    Thanks everyone! I'm not looking to just eat straight junk but not entirely eat clean. I'm mixing in some light exercise but I can't really afford to lose much. I hoping to gradually increase my appetite to where I can gain and then maintain. And by ED I meant eating disorder to clarify that I did not have one, not the other ED, but I'm a lady anyways lol
  • donkey9512
    donkey9512 Posts: 60 Member
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    Phew! I am relieved you are not a lady with the other type of ED.
    Joking aside, sorry I assumed that you were a dude. I don't mean to sound sexist, but I guess I reflexively assumed that you were a guy since most people looking to gain weight are guys. That said, a lady with muscles is sexy!
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    hannah_maas wrote: »
    Thanks everyone! I'm not looking to just eat straight junk but not entirely eat clean. I'm mixing in some light exercise but I can't really afford to lose much. I hoping to gradually increase my appetite to where I can gain and then maintain. And by ED I meant eating disorder to clarify that I did not have one, not the other ED, but I'm a lady anyways lol

    Smoothies always helped me.. adding nut butters, full fat dairy, bananas, mangoes can really up the calorie count.

    Just keep in mind, if you aren't doing any progressive resistance training, most of your gain will be fat vs. muscle.
  • donkey9512
    donkey9512 Posts: 60 Member
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    sardelsa wrote: »
    hannah_maas wrote: »
    Thanks everyone! I'm not looking to just eat straight junk but not entirely eat clean. I'm mixing in some light exercise but I can't really afford to lose much. I hoping to gradually increase my appetite to where I can gain and then maintain. And by ED I meant eating disorder to clarify that I did not have one, not the other ED, but I'm a lady anyways lol

    Smoothies always helped me.. adding nut butters, full fat dairy, bananas, mangoes can really up the calorie count.

    Just keep in mind, if you aren't doing any progressive resistance training, most of your gain will be fat vs. muscle.

    Indeed! Muscle - GOOD
    Fat BAD

    Junk food + no resistance training = FAT = BAD
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    edited August 2017
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    donkey9512 wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    hannah_maas wrote: »
    Thanks everyone! I'm not looking to just eat straight junk but not entirely eat clean. I'm mixing in some light exercise but I can't really afford to lose much. I hoping to gradually increase my appetite to where I can gain and then maintain. And by ED I meant eating disorder to clarify that I did not have one, not the other ED, but I'm a lady anyways lol

    Smoothies always helped me.. adding nut butters, full fat dairy, bananas, mangoes can really up the calorie count.

    Just keep in mind, if you aren't doing any progressive resistance training, most of your gain will be fat vs. muscle.

    Indeed! Muscle - GOOD
    Fat BAD

    Junk food + no resistance training = FAT = BAD

    While getting adequate nutrition and macros is important, "junk food" itself will not lead to fat gain. I ate ice cream pretty much every night when I was bulking.

    And fat is not all bad.. especially since OP is underweight, she could probably stand to gain some. Also no one bulking (naturally) will gain 100% muscle.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    Clif bar dipped in peanut butter (and Jif sells PB in convenient short 1-2 serving tubs) = quick calories in non-perishable form.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
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    donkey9512 wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    hannah_maas wrote: »
    Thanks everyone! I'm not looking to just eat straight junk but not entirely eat clean. I'm mixing in some light exercise but I can't really afford to lose much. I hoping to gradually increase my appetite to where I can gain and then maintain. And by ED I meant eating disorder to clarify that I did not have one, not the other ED, but I'm a lady anyways lol

    Smoothies always helped me.. adding nut butters, full fat dairy, bananas, mangoes can really up the calorie count.

    Just keep in mind, if you aren't doing any progressive resistance training, most of your gain will be fat vs. muscle.

    Indeed! Muscle - GOOD
    Fat BAD

    Junk food + no resistance training = FAT = BAD

    Hate to break it to you, but no matter what you do, you will gain fat if you gain weight. At best for every lb a woman gains, its about 75% fat. That is how it works. It has nothing to do with the specific food.
  • donkey9512
    donkey9512 Posts: 60 Member
    edited August 2017
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    That sucks. I guess that's why I hate bulking. However, are you sure that the type of food has really no impact on the proportion of body composition gains? A calorie is a calorie seems like an oversimplification.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
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    donkey9512 wrote: »
    That sucks. I guess that's why I hate bulking. However, are you sure that the type of food has really no impact on the proportion of body composition gains? A calorie is a calorie seems like an oversimplification.

    I am positive. All foods are broken down to the lowest element (carb into glucose, fats into fatty acids, proteins into amino acids.

    What whole foods do is support satiety, improve athletic performance/energy levels, and support overall health. That is why its important to incorporate whole foods as your base and junk foods as an augmentation.

    But males generally can do 50/50, while women are 25/75%. And yes, fat gains suck, but if you want optimal muscle growth, bulking is the best way to do it. Trying to stay forever lean is the least optimal approach, but it is ok for those who fear fat, don't want to get big, and are ok with taking years to get to the point that want (not saying the won't see progress earlier, because they will).

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