How do I get 4000+ calories?

adpschoon
adpschoon Posts: 20 Member
Hey guys, I'm 76 kg and 195 cm, looking to gain weight as fast as possible. I work out every day (almost every day). My body burns around 3800 calories per day so I need 4000+ at least to gain weight. Now this is a lot easier when I ate a 225 gram chorizo on a day for example bc that contains 1200 calories. But this contains a *kitten* load of bad fat so I'm looking to find an answer which food is the best to gain a lot of calories (looking for cheap and fast to make, ideally). Protein is already saturated bc I also eat a *kitten* load of yoghurt on a day, so Im getting around 150-200g protein per day already.
Thanks in advance for any help :)
«1

Replies

  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,142 Member
    I have the opposite problem, on a bingey day I am close to 4000 calories and should be eating a lot less :lol:

    Add more oils in cooking and dressings.

    Cheese is always a tasty addition to anything.

    Nuts/Nut butters.

    Oily Fish

    Chocolate Raisins/Dried Fruit

  • adpschoon
    adpschoon Posts: 20 Member
    easy to eat carbs like rice or bread or cereal

    and ice cream with nutella, and peanut butter

    Isnt ice cream with nutella bad in the sense that it contains a lot of fats and not a lot of macros?
  • adpschoon
    adpschoon Posts: 20 Member
    I have the opposite problem, on a bingey day I am close to 4000 calories and should be eating a lot less :lol:

    Add more oils in cooking and dressings.

    Cheese is always a tasty addition to anything.

    Nuts/Nut butters.

    Oily Fish

    Chocolate Raisins/Dried Fruit

    Why should you be eating less than 4000? Are you trying to lose weight? Thanks for the recommendations btw! I'm gonna try to implement those :)
  • adpschoon
    adpschoon Posts: 20 Member
    adpschoon wrote: »
    adpschoon wrote: »
    easy to eat carbs like rice or bread or cereal

    and ice cream with nutella, and peanut butter

    Isnt ice cream with nutella bad in the sense that it contains a lot of fats and not a lot of macros?

    fat is a macro?

    I'm just worried that I'm getting too many fats in if I want to reach my calories goal of 4000. In the end I want to add weight in form of muscle, not fat. You think that's an issue or that I should not worry about that and eat stuff like chorizo, ice cream with nutella, crisps?

    depends if you're getting adequate protein and carbs from the rest of your diet? if you are you don't get extra points by eating all of your calories from broccoli and chicken.

    there's nothing wrong with a bowl of ice cream or a doughnut after a meal if that meal had a good amount of protein and fruit and veg etc in it.

    Makes sense! I already eat enough protein out of my outmeal and yoghurt meals (4x a day which results in 150+ g protein). Time for that fast food then I guess! :D
  • aegean2
    aegean2 Posts: 6 Member
    Try Tahini (sesame paste/butter), it comes in several options (may be hard to find locally), such as with honey, orange, prebiotics, cocoa, etc. It is full of calories, like 100 per couple of tablespoons. If you love the taste, it is easy to pack on the weight, if you just tolerate it, then maybe in your coffee, salad dressing or yogurt?

    It is very high in calories, fat mostly, with a bit of protein and very few carbs 600 calories per 100grams (169 per oz), but one of the healthiest fats you can eat.

    Also try cooking your foods in olive oil or sesame seed oil. Both are full of monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. They are about the healthiest fats you can eat, if you want to pack on calories, both full of other healthy nutrients with many health benefits proven through millennia of use. Try to avoid other oils like sunflower, canola, corn, etc.

    You can do some research on the 3 things I suggested, but from what I have read through the years, they are about the healthiest of high calorie foods there are.

    https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/health-benefits-sesame-seed-oil-vs-olive-oil-6925.html
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,142 Member
    adpschoon wrote: »
    I have the opposite problem, on a bingey day I am close to 4000 calories and should be eating a lot less :lol:

    Add more oils in cooking and dressings.

    Cheese is always a tasty addition to anything.

    Nuts/Nut butters.

    Oily Fish

    Chocolate Raisins/Dried Fruit

    Why should you be eating less than 4000? Are you trying to lose weight? Thanks for the recommendations btw! I'm gonna try to implement those :)

    Yes I am going for weight loss.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    I eat a huge bowl of ice cream daily. It fits my calories and macros and doesn't effect the rate of my MPS alone.

    You might find it easier to eat caloric goals by eating more fatty cuts of meat as well.

    Make sure you are getting enough leucine(3-4g per meal) otherwise MPS cannot take place no matter how much protein you consume.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    That's odd, I punched your numbers in a TDEE calculator and I'm not getting anywhere near your reported maintenance number of 3,800 - even with the „very active / athlete” selection for activity.

    Since increasing lean mass with minimal fat gain to go along usually means going for a low to moderate surplus, you might not have this problem of needing to reach 4k in the first place. If you are getting the cal burn reading off a wearable or gym machines, be aware that they're notorious for overestimating.

    Protein looks good. But what is too many fats in your book? I would also argue on the topic of bad fats but that gets into technicalities. :smile:

    that just means he's not in a standard deviation - most calculators tell me i need to eat like 1600 to maintian weight and yet i eat 24-2800 cal a day and weight stable (with normal fluctations) - i lose 1-2lbs a week on 1600...
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    adpschoon wrote: »
    adpschoon wrote: »
    easy to eat carbs like rice or bread or cereal

    and ice cream with nutella, and peanut butter

    Isnt ice cream with nutella bad in the sense that it contains a lot of fats and not a lot of macros?

    fat is a macro?

    I'm just worried that I'm getting too many fats in if I want to reach my calories goal of 4000. In the end I want to add weight in form of muscle, not fat. You think that's an issue or that I should not worry about that and eat stuff like chorizo, ice cream with nutella, crisps?

    Dietary fat doesn't make you fat. Excess calories make you fat. If you're going to eat 4000 calories that will put you in a surplus...if you're lifting you will gain muscle along with fat. You always gain some fat in a calorie surplus which is why bodybuilders go through bulking and cutting cycles.
  • adpschoon
    adpschoon Posts: 20 Member
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    That's odd, I punched your numbers in a TDEE calculator and I'm not getting anywhere near your reported maintenance number of 3,800 - even with the „very active / athlete” selection for activity.

    Since increasing lean mass with minimal fat gain to go along usually means going for a low to moderate surplus, you might not have this problem of needing to reach 4k in the first place. If you are getting the cal burn reading off a wearable or gym machines, be aware that they're notorious for overestimating.

    Protein looks good. But what is too many fats in your book? I would also argue on the topic of bad fats but that gets into technicalities. :smile:

    Hey! I just measured today at my local gym that I'm at 13% body fat, so I'm looking to keep that level going forward and others have pointed me towards carbs, so I think I'm going to bulk on those if they help me get to my calories goal. My local gym thingy also says I'm burning 2100 kcal per day, multiple apps and sites however said that I need to aim for 3500 - 4000 kcal per day! I just dont like the idea of eating junk food to get to my calories goal yaknow? Btw, todays measurement also said I now weigh 82.9 kg which is a huge surprise! Added 3.1 kg of pure muscle. Wanna keep this momentum and go for 90 😄
  • adpschoon
    adpschoon Posts: 20 Member
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    That's odd, I punched your numbers in a TDEE calculator and I'm not getting anywhere near your reported maintenance number of 3,800 - even with the „very active / athlete” selection for activity.

    Since increasing lean mass with minimal fat gain to go along usually means going for a low to moderate surplus, you might not have this problem of needing to reach 4k in the first place. If you are getting the cal burn reading off a wearable or gym machines, be aware that they're notorious for overestimating.

    Protein looks good. But what is too many fats in your book? I would also argue on the topic of bad fats but that gets into technicalities. :smile:

    that just means he's not in a standard deviation - most calculators tell me i need to eat like 1600 to maintian weight and yet i eat 24-2800 cal a day and weight stable (with normal fluctations) - i lose 1-2lbs a week on 1600...

    I too think you should aim for much higher than what you burn per day if you really want to gain! :)
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    edited April 2019
    Do you do cardio? If so, one option is to drop the cardio, then you won't have to aim for 4,000, 3,500 or less may be enough to gain in that case
  • adpschoon
    adpschoon Posts: 20 Member
    So there's no way of gaining without adding fat? Seems kind of depressing
  • adpschoon
    adpschoon Posts: 20 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    Do you do cardio? If so, one option is to drop the cardio, then you won't have to aim for 4,000, 3,500 or less may be enough to gain in that case

    I do abs exercise, only run in the beginning when warming up
  • adpschoon
    adpschoon Posts: 20 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    adpschoon wrote: »
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    That's odd, I punched your numbers in a TDEE calculator and I'm not getting anywhere near your reported maintenance number of 3,800 - even with the „very active / athlete” selection for activity.

    Since increasing lean mass with minimal fat gain to go along usually means going for a low to moderate surplus, you might not have this problem of needing to reach 4k in the first place. If you are getting the cal burn reading off a wearable or gym machines, be aware that they're notorious for overestimating.

    Protein looks good. But what is too many fats in your book? I would also argue on the topic of bad fats but that gets into technicalities. :smile:

    that just means he's not in a standard deviation - most calculators tell me i need to eat like 1600 to maintian weight and yet i eat 24-2800 cal a day and weight stable (with normal fluctations) - i lose 1-2lbs a week on 1600...

    I too think you should aim for much higher than what you burn per day if you really want to gain! :)

    Large calorie surplus equals faster gains, but also more fat gains. You can only build so much muscle in a given time.

    You aren't going to stay at 13% BF with a large calorie surplus...you're going to put on a lot of fat. You will also put on fat with a smaller calorie surplus, but not as much and it will be slower.

    I do a lot of abs exercises though, every day after the other workout. This burns fat, right? What if I stay at large calorie surplus and burn the fat by doing abs exercises and running in general? Would that work?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    adpschoon wrote: »
    So there's no way of gaining without adding fat? Seems kind of depressing

    Recomp, but you said you want to gain quickly, so....
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    edited April 2019
    adpschoon wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    adpschoon wrote: »
    SabAteNine wrote: »
    That's odd, I punched your numbers in a TDEE calculator and I'm not getting anywhere near your reported maintenance number of 3,800 - even with the „very active / athlete” selection for activity.

    Since increasing lean mass with minimal fat gain to go along usually means going for a low to moderate surplus, you might not have this problem of needing to reach 4k in the first place. If you are getting the cal burn reading off a wearable or gym machines, be aware that they're notorious for overestimating.

    Protein looks good. But what is too many fats in your book? I would also argue on the topic of bad fats but that gets into technicalities. :smile:

    that just means he's not in a standard deviation - most calculators tell me i need to eat like 1600 to maintian weight and yet i eat 24-2800 cal a day and weight stable (with normal fluctations) - i lose 1-2lbs a week on 1600...

    I too think you should aim for much higher than what you burn per day if you really want to gain! :)

    Large calorie surplus equals faster gains, but also more fat gains. You can only build so much muscle in a given time.

    You aren't going to stay at 13% BF with a large calorie surplus...you're going to put on a lot of fat. You will also put on fat with a smaller calorie surplus, but not as much and it will be slower.

    I do a lot of abs exercises though, every day after the other workout. This burns fat, right? What if I stay at large calorie surplus and burn the fat by doing abs exercises and running in general? Would that work?

    Nope. working your abs strengthen your core, but are generally not the most efficient use of time. your core can get enough work by doing heavy squats, deadlifts, standing overhead presses, etc. You can't spot reduce fat, or spot avoid gaining fat. And ab workouts don't burn many cals, but since you are looking to gain, a smaller caloric burn is a good thing

    Where you gain fat is genetically determined, you can thank or blame your parents for that one.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited April 2019
    I would eat so many PB and J sandwiches. WITH a banana. and a bit of honey. mmmm

    oh and the BEST desserts

    (the rest would all be super healthy and hit nutritional needs).

    sorry the title just got me daydreaming of all the foods...
  • adpschoon
    adpschoon Posts: 20 Member
    adpschoon wrote: »
    So there's no way of gaining without adding fat? Seems kind of depressing

    Recomp, but you said you want to gain quickly, so....

    Very true, although I was hoping for gaining while staying relatively lean. I heard a very good argument from my housemate who does a lot of exercising. He said that I could first gain fast and then get that fat by doing a lot of calories surplus, and then when I have reached the desired weight I should train to get rid of the fat, so then obtaining less calories than that I burn on a day. Does that sound like a solid plan to you guys, or do you advice against it?
    Thanks btw for all the responses thus far, I really appreciate it. :)
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
    Eat like a normal person and GOMAD (Gallon of milk a day)
    1 gal of whole milk is ~2300 cals, 128g protein (512cals), 180g carbs (720cals), 128g fat (1152cals).

    Basically, replace whatever you are currently drinking with milk.
    If you want to drink less milk, drink chocolate milk, which will up carbs and fat intake.
    If you want less fat, drink something other than whole milk.
  • adpschoon
    adpschoon Posts: 20 Member
    Morgaath wrote: »
    Eat like a normal person and GOMAD (Gallon of milk a day)
    1 gal of whole milk is ~2300 cals, 128g protein (512cals), 180g carbs (720cals), 128g fat (1152cals).

    Basically, replace whatever you are currently drinking with milk.
    If you want to drink less milk, drink chocolate milk, which will up carbs and fat intake.
    If you want less fat, drink something other than whole milk.

    Havent even considered milk yet, will check that out tomorrow in the supermarket. Thank you!
This discussion has been closed.