Weight Gain

I am copying the many times copied thread, "What did you eat today?" in hopes of helping some of those who are just starting to gain and have no clue what to eat. I know that when I began weight recovery, I was eating tons of low-cal foods just because that's what I was used to. I learned the hard way that dense foods are essential to weight gain when you have high caloric requirements (at one point I needed 4500 cal to maintain my weight on BEDREST). Perhaps newbies can get some ideas if we post our weight gain meal plans! Even if you're not gaining anymore, grab an old one and post it!:]

Please note that every body is different and some will need more or less calories than others to gain. This thread is just so that you can get an idea of what you need.

Oh, and yes, I'm breaking the "no calories, no portions" rule, since it is pretty helpful in this case. If you want to post cals/portions you can. I just ask that you don't post if you're not eating enough, though as this is a weight gain thread, I would hope none of you are undereating.;]

I'll start....

Breakfast (875 cal)*

• 1/2 cup oatmeal (150) cooked with
• 1 cup evaporated whole milk (300)
• 1 mashed banana (100)
• 2 tbsp peanut butter (200)
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed and cinnamon to taste (50) 
• 1 hard-boiled egg (75 cal)

Morning Snack (300 cal)*

• 1/4 cup mixed nuts (200)
• 1/4 cup dried apricots (100)

Lunch (660 cal)*

• 1/4 cup rice cooked in 1 cup chicken stock (300) and
• 1/2 cup canned or cooked chickpeas (145) and
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese (150) and
• 1/4 cup each onion, peppers, and tomato (30) cooked with
• 1 tbsp olive oil and curry powder to taste (120)

Afternoon snack (390 cal)*

• 1 serving baby carrots (35)
• 1/4 cup hummus (155)
• 1/4 cup mixed nuts (200)

Dinner (875 cal)*

• 1 cup of my insane Mac & Cheese recipe (515)
• 2 cups tossed salad (45)
• 2 tbsp rasins (60)
• 2 tbsp sunflower seeds (105)
• 2 tbsp dressing (150)

Evening snack (480)*

• 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt (180)
• 1/2 cup homemade granola (300)

About 3600 calories :]

Original Post by yyonah:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, skimmed milk, Banana, toffee hot chocolate powder, 45g special K (mixed in)

Snack: Cinnamon, rasin bread, 2 Tablespoons of soynut butter, 1 pot of raspberry bio yoghurt.

Lunch: Salad (Mixed greens, carrots, cucumber, red pepper, butterbeans, Quorn chunks and balsamic vinaigrette) 1 mini wholewheat pitta.
an apple, an orange and a pear.

Snack: Bear NAKD granola with strawberries, live yoghurt and cinnamon.

Dinner: Roasted peppers stuffed with brown rice, tofu and ratatouille, Green beans and brocolli on the side.

Snack: Cocoa made with skimmed milk, 1 dark chocolate flake and a banana bread raw food bar.

 

yyonah - how do you make that pepper/tofu thing? It sounds sooooooo good. I'm kind of stuck having veggie sausages or falafel day after day.

And does soynut butter taste like peanut butter?

THANKS LALA, just curious, how many calories did you reach today and could you please post what you ate.  im just curious what some people trying to gain but not at 3000 are eating.

thanks!

Agru: I get anxiety over talking about my meal plan at the moment. I don't think it's balanced enough and feel like I'm going to get negatively scrutinized about it. Lol at stress over people judging me when I'm not even doing anything. >__>; If my dad lets me into the kitchen to have another pot of custard I'll be at just under 2000.

I feel the same way about maintenance! I am scared too. I lost weight during my try at maintenance so now I am weight gaining again! Maintaining  is way harder than gaining is!!!!!!!!

agruskin: you asked earlier how tall I am... I'm 5'6".  115 was the minimum weight that my doctor recommended for me.  The most I've ever weighed was 117 (after my first round of this in high school). But I am naturally slender and don't see myself trying to get above 115 for now.

And I definitely agree with you, psychoj, about maintaining...  It takes a surprising amount of thought for me to get in enough food each day to gain on.  Like I actually have to plan what I eat so that I don't end up having to eat a ton at night to catch up. When I DON'T think about it and just try to eat healthfully, that's when I lose.

Breakfast:  1/2 cup scrambled egg whites with half and avocado; 1/2 Fage 0% with toasted wheat germ and 2 tbsp strawberry jam; 1 slice wheatberry bread

Snack:  smoothie with 1 1/2 cups skim milk, 2 scoops protein powder, 1 medium banana, and 1 cup Honey Bunches of Oats

Lunch:  roasted vegetable pizza with lots of pesto, no cheese (bad habit... I just can't handle full fat dairy, though I know it would make getting in the cals a lot easier)

Snack:  same as before

And I'm about to go out to dinner with some friends for Indian food... so delicious but also a little scary when I think about all the heavy sauces, etc...  We'll see how it goes!

LALA-dont worry about it,  im sure you're doing great!  ive been around 1600 cals if that helps when looking at my plan, i was just curious what a little more would look like.

LIKEAR-thanks, did you make that pizza?  good luck at the restaurant, unknown calorie amounts scare me still.  yea, ive been as high as 150s, down to i think 86.  i was 115ish for a couple of months, but then went insane w/excercising and basically lived on green salads.  i dont think i know what is to be a healthy weight and how to go about that.  id love to be healthy, energetic, go to the gym for 30 mins 3/wk, not be nuts about it, be like a mythical creature i suppose like in magazines.  but my family isnt thin, except my brother, were known as the fat lazy family in my larger family, altho were not that fat, just more over weight than others, lol, i dunno.  fear of mainetenance deff hold me back from full recovery.

i have an interview tomm morning that ill be leaving at 9 30ish and it will take about an hour to drive to.  im thinking ill eat cereal+milk at home and take a sliced apple to eat in the car, not sure?  i dont think ill be able to drive and eat at the same time.

i thoguht eating throughout the day would give me more energy, it didnt.  also, i dont measure or weigh stuff and am really unsure as to the calorie counts of things and just guess.

wed-

BFAST-cereal+milk, tablspn trail mix, orange

SNACK-yogurt

LUNCH-roll+cheese, 1/2 clifff mojo bar, apple

SNACK-protein shake, fage, plum, melon, tablson trail mix

DINNER-melted cheese sandwich w/apple butter, dried figs, salad w/ trail mix mixed in

SNACK-apple, yogurt

breakfast: 1.5 cups vanilla rice krispies, 1 source yogurt, tsp peanut butter, 1/2 cup honey almond flax cereal

snacK: nectarine, 1 frozen juice box

lunch: source blueberry yogurt with blueberries, goji berries, dried apples and honey almond flax cereal, 1 cup vanilla shreddies

snack: rice cake with strawberry jam, pear, 2 cups potato puffs, 3/4 cup honey nut cherrios

dinner: 2 cups cauliflower with hummus, 1 cup sauteed mushrooms with 1/2 tbsp canola oil and 1 tbsp soy sauce, 3 strips black bean tofu, 2 swiss chalet dinner rolls with strawberry jam, few bites of chicken

snack: strawberries

Likearock: Do you mind if I ask how much exercise you were allowed at the start of your recovery? o_o I've been asking around and trying to get an idea of what would be "normal" because I have exercise anxieties I need to overcome. I'm past my worry for weight gain (I WANT BOOBS DAMNIT) but I still wig out about getting unhealthy or out of shape. x:

agruskin: No, I didn't make the pizza.  My supervisor at work to me and some others out to lunch at a little Italian restaurant, but I bet it would be pretty easy to replicate!  It was just some grilled zucchini and eggplant on a thin crust with basil pesto and lots of arugula on top, and I ordered it without cheese.

lalabanana: When I very first started (4 years ago in high school - and still living with my parents, mind you) it was during the middle of a cross country season, and my parents and doctor pulled me and made me stop running completely for about a month, until they could see that I was trying to, and being successful at, gaining some weight.  Then I was able to gradually start running again without the team (like 3 times a week for about 20 min, with my parents strictly monitoring the time), and I was able to rejoin the team for our last race.  I know that's a pretty short without exercise compared to most people in recovery, but it felt like FOREVER to me, because athletics were a HUGE part of my life in high school (and still are).  My doctor's have told me, and I know myself that it's true, that I don't have a very healthy relationship with exercise.  I love exercising because of the way it makes me feel, but it's also something I feel like I HAVE to do every day, no matter how tired I am or if I feel like taking a day off.  As much as disordered eating is a problem for me, over-exercising is just as big as a problem.  Now that I'm not living with my parents, I haven't stopped exercising at all, or even backing off how much I exercise (even though my most recent lowest weight was lower than it was in high school).  My parents know this, and obviously are unhappy about it, but now I have no one to physically stop me from exercising.  It's such a part of my daily routine.  It makes me feel healthy, and I would rather eat more if I have to so that I can exercise more.  I am getting better about taking rest days, but it makes me really anxious when I have to skip a day unexpectedly.

Breakfast- Oatmeal made with almond milk with cinnamon sugar stirred in, bagel with SNB, nectarine, almond milk

Snack- Applesauce and organic sugar cookie

Lunch- Soynut butter on w.w., Stonyfield w.m. yogurt, TLC PB bar, carrots

Snack- Berries, carrots, Yoplait kids, pudding, chocolate Carnation instant breakfast

Dinner- 4 Spakonopita (spinach and feta puffs), garlic toast, corn

Snack- String cheese, orange, Clif Mojo bar, almonds, blueberry banana smoothie, Ben & Jerry's

hey everyone-

i think my interview went well but well see...FINGERS CROSSED! LOL  ended up having a big bowl of cereal w milk and raisins before i left and it actually held me pretty well till i got home and had a snack.  hmm, so stomach probs today.  i sort of missed my chance to go this morning and my stomach seems to take that out on me by just stopping, sorry for that.

LIKEAR-thats great that youre able to eat out like that, pizza and indian, good for you!  i think the cheese is the best part tho!

AQUA-which cliff mojo do you have?  i had the PB+pretzel yesterday and didnt think that it was that great.

LALA and anyone i suppose, the thing to keep in mind w/excercise is that even if you estimate that you burned a certain amount and eat that back, you still need to remember that excercise speeds up metabolism and that calories are burned afterwards as well which may hinder your effort to gain weight.

keep trucking everyone!

I went out for tea!!!! There's this really nice chain here in the UK called 'Giraffe' and today, admittedly, I only had salad because I hadn't checked out the menu prior to coming. But now I know there is some really nice food in there!

And my new favourite thing are sprouting mung beans! Because they're still in their 'beany' stage they have all the nutrients that they would give to the sprouting plant if it was to grow - instead they all go into me when I murder these baby beans muahahahahahahaha. They taste really good too!

Breakfast: 40g rice crispies, 30g prunes, 100mls healthy living soya milk

Lunch: Marmite and rye bread sarnie, forest fruits alpro yoghurt, 1 small plum, 40g dried cranberries

Dinner: (at Giraffe) Raw veggie salad (cherry tomatoes, spinach, grated carrots, mung beans!!!), green beans and broccoli

Evening: Pb rye sarnie, pear hazelnut and ginger eat natural bar

AGRUSKIN- I usually have the trail mix Mojo bars. Those ones are pretty good, they have chocolate chips on them. I actually like the PB pretzel one a lot, but I guess we just have different tastes! Have you tried Clif Nectar bars? Those are pretty good, and they have 2 servings of fruit in each bar!

Hey guys : ) Sorry I haven't been updating very much! But I just got a new meal plan toady : )

It's been really hard though. Because I know i've gained weight, but i'm not allowed to know how much or even what I weigh.

But I'm positive i'm up to 125, I just have to be. I feel huge.

I'm 5'6 so I know this number is healthy (even a little low) for me. But i'm just astounded that the weight came on so quickly (more than 10 pounds in a month) just by eating around 1200 calories. But today they've increased my intake to around 1800 by adding two more things to my meal plan and not allowing me to have ANY fat free or 'diet' products. Why would they increase when i'm already at a healthy weight? I was too scared to ask.

So today was my first day of having two 'treats' or 'fats' added to my plan (my meal plan is in terms of serving sizes, not calories. I just count the calories anyway, lol)

So...

Breakfast: 1 orange, 1 and 1/3 cup honey combs, 1 cup 2% milk

Snack: 1 peach

Lunch: 2 slices whole wheat bread, 1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese (whoops), 1/2 cup lettuce and sliced red peppers. 3/4 cup regular yogurt (almost 200 calories, holy crap!)

Snack: 1 cup cappuchino and chocolate frozen yogurt (my first treat! Can't believe I have to have two in one day!)

Dinner: 1 cup lettuce and sliced red pepper, 1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese (I have to finish it up!) 1/4 cup lean chicken breast.

Snack:

1 bagel w/ 2 tablespoons full fat cream cheese (my second treat. omg...)

1 orange.

 

I'm just freaking out a little here. This is about 1800 calories, but a lot of people on here are eating less than that and weigh WAY less than I do. I'm really freaked out now!

 

..help?

Jeanniebrooke, people who weight less than you wouldn't need to take in as many calories as you to gain. But if it makes you feel better, I've been taking in 2000 calories for the past two weeks. =)

1800 calories is still less than what most teenagers take in. Remember that you're on a dieting site; the teens here are on RESTRICTED diets, and I'm positive more than half of them suffer from some level of disordered eating. Don't judge how much you eat against how much they eat.  You were put on 1800 for a good reason! Whomever is helping you through this has your very best interests in mind.

Hey all! I have not posted in a little bit. Sounds like you all are doing so well though.

Jeanniebrooke-I am sure that whoever is in charge of your meal plan is doing the best possible for you. Do you know if you are going to keep increasing calories?

Sounds like you all are doing AWESOME!!!

xxx

breakfast: 2 cups vanilla rice krispies, 1/2 cup rice milk, 1 source yogurt, strawberries, 1 tsp peanut butter

lunch: 2 cups salad with cut up veggies (carrots, cucumbers, celery and red cabbage) 1 source yogurt, 1 wholewheat english muffin with almond butter and strawberry jam

snack: orange juice, soy jerky

dinner: 1/2 cup cottage cheese with 1 medium mashed banana, blueberries, blackberries and maple flakes on top, 1 nectarine,

dessert: few bites of mocha frozen yogurt

snack: mocha yogurt with honey almond flax cereal, 1 cup honey but cheerios with 1/2 cup rice milk

snack 2: strawberries dipped in activia vanilla yogurt

breakfast: channa palak (left over Indian from last night... haha); slice wheatberry bread

snack: smoothie with 1 1/2 cups skim milk, 1 banana, 1 cup Honey Bunches of Oats cereal, scoop chocolate protein powder

lunch: scrambled egg whites with half an avocado; 1 cup Fage 0% with toasted wheat germ; green beans; 1 cup cranberry juice

snack: another smoothie except I replaced the banana with applesauce

dinner: pita stuffed with hummus and lettuce/tomato/cucumber salad; 1 cup cranberry juice

dessert: 1/2 pint soy yogurt with Nesquik chocolate powder

Lol, yes, I am quoting this everywhere. >>~

"Wheeeee. I've started retaining water again. BUT! It is not soley in my ankles, this time, and more in just my legs in general (not so bad because they actually still look even that way! LOL) and a bit in my abdomen. I've been expecting it so I'm not that bothered - it flushes out in a week or so anyway, correct? P: For now I'm drinking plenty of fluids and keeping going with this! I actually want to increase again, especially after Linny mentioning her nutritionist's mentioning I'd probably need like 2500 at my height @__@ And if I go by the teen BMI calculator that'd be about right, too. I'm actually willing to do it - I just need to plan my meals a bit more to figure out how to get the calories in! Do you guys think this is a good idea, though, going up to about 2500 after just a couple of days? x: I'm already retaining water so I don't have to worry about that, haha!"

LaLa- I think it's great that you are willing to bump up the calories! It really is the only way to gain weight. Good luck!