To preface, I kind of know the answer to this. I’ve put on weight before but I was hoping to get advice on how to go about better/more efficiently. I guess my question is really: what are healthy high calorie foods I can use to put on weight?
I’ve been underweight pretty much my entire life. I don’t think I have a chronic eating disorder, but there are times where I just don’t want to eat. I believe, however, that’s actually not my largest issue.
I’m potentially too health conscious. I’m vegetarian by accident (So I dated this girl right…) mostly, and as a result I eat a lot of nutrient-dense but calorically-low foods. I’m currently sitting just under 56kg (125 lbs) at 180cm (5’11ish). My plan currently is to just eat more often, and slowly ramp up how much I eat at each meal. About 6 years back I managed to hit 77kg by eating 4/5 large meals per day but then lost it all over the years by being sedentary and losing my appetite.
Hey, different person here and also with a totally unrelated point to what you two were talking about haha
But I train people in the gym and it’s incredibly common for people to be massively under eating protein while also firmly believing that they must be getting enough.
I’m not saying you are! But the pattern is always the same, where my clients will list a few foods with a “protein reputation” and sort of hand wave away the actual number. Then when we actually tally it up they’re shocked to learn they aren’t even at 30% of their daily goal.
Again not trying to insinuate that you’ve been doing anything wrong, just wanted to let you know that that’s a thing I see happen a lot. It’s worth going through a few typical days and calculating your actual number. I’m a vegetarian too fwiw, typically I suggest going like 10% higher than the general recommendation for meat eaters
No actually you’re absolutely right. I know with certainty that I should consume more protein as I put weight on. I haven’t been tracking it because I had a pretty high fat percentage when I picked up this new job so I’ve been allowing a bit of that to melt away.
Been here for 2 months now, and now starting to build the weight back which is why I’m asking for some specific advice on high calorie foods. In the meantime, I intend to start tracking my macros and hitting some strength training on the weekend (my job is a lot of cardio).
I’ve been taking down at least one or two protein shakes daily, and making sure to do a lot of my vitamins and protein on the weekends with mostly carbs and sugar during the work week for fuel. Once I round up my numbers I’ll adjust and create a specific diet plan
Nice! Yeah the only thing I would recommend, especially if you do pick up some strength training, would be to try and balance things through the week and not try to load the majority of your protein into the weekend.
Resistance training puts your body into a “muscle building state”, which will last for like, a couple days after you workout. You also want there to already be protein in your system before you hit the gym.
So even if you’re only strength training on the weekend, it works out that you’re gonna want the high protein on Monday and Tuesday as well, and also pick it up again by at least Thursday’s dinner. Which is basically just every day of the week at that point haha
No pressure of course, just my 2c based on experience getting people going in the gym. It’s more than a night and day difference between the ones who take the protein seriously and the ones who brush it off. I actually emphasize this far more with my clients than the actual training itself haha
Ah - I don’t have a 5/2 schedule so it’s more balanced than it appears at first. I protein load for 3 or 4 days of each week, then expend those nutrient for the other 3 or 4 days. I still try to hit maintenance protein on my workdays, but struggle with my appetite due to the momentum of working. I do a lot of liquid calories to prevent massive weight swings
Can you give a source as to what is enough protein?
FDA blanket recommends 50g/day for adults. This is the value used on nutrition labels throughout the US
Other countries I believe recommend 0.8g/kg of bodyweight. For people building muscle, the current recommendation is 1.2-1.6g/kg bodyweight (or 0.5-0.7g per pound of bodyweight)