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 :]

Whew, so many posts! I basically spent the whole day shopping! So I had to eat out even though I'm having a crap ED day and didn't feel like it.

charliebo- Welcome! This site is what I credit most of my recovery too so far. I never would have gotten the courage to eat what I do without seeing all the inspirational people on here. A  suggestions is to Switch out fat free/ light anything for full fat. Meaning yogurt, cheese, cream cheese etc. And I have three snacks a day. One after each meal. I usually eat once every hour or two hours. I can't answer the appetite q, because I'm always hungry! Good luck!

gibbit- What is morrocan food like? It sounds like you had so much fun! Great job with no counting, it seems to have made you a lot hapier!

charlieuk- Haha, thanks for explaining to the ditzy American what a flapjack is! Sorry about the scale mishap, but if it makes you feel better I have a 20 year old scale so I'm probably lighter than it shows too! Yeah, digital scales are much more accurate than needle, so trust that one.

 

headingup oh i LOVE pret!! whenever i go anywhere near one i buy stuff :) last time i was in cambradge i got the falafel sandwich...sooooo good

agruskin flapjacks are fab! and high cal too :P

take 100g of butter/spread and 100g of sugar and heat on the stove until melted.

stir in 4tbsp of golden syrup (or you can use honey if you prefer)

take off the stove and add 200g of oats plus anything else you like (choc chips, dried fruit, nuts)

put mixture into a greased tin, the size of the tin determines how soft theyll be (large tin = thin flapjacks so crunchy, small tin = chunky flapjacks so more soft!)

bake for 15-20 mins at about 180 celcius (just watch till theyre just starting to change colour)

i dont have dumbells to test the scale :/ im pretty sure the new digital one it going to be the accurate one though (unfortunately)

heres todays food so far:

breakfast: oatmeal with an apple and a banana and an activia yogurt and a hot chocolate

snack: philidelphia 'spelndip' (popadom + mango chutney one), packet of ryvita minis and strawberry milkshake

lunch: high bran and seed food doctor bagel with 4 dairylea triangles spread on :O

snack: a homemade flapjack with 20g of chocolate melted on top!

dinner: (3 courses...we had guests) starter - garlic and mozerella sticks, main - homemade veggie lasagne with green salad and basalmic dressing, dessert - 2 meringues with strawberries and ice cream

thats all so far...im still kinda stuffed after 3 courses which im not used to but i will have:

milkshake (probably blueberries, banana and yogurt)

probably another bowl of oatmeal with something added, like pb!

Thanks agruskin :) Hopefully I can keep this up, and eventually eat more..

For dinner, I ate some pizza (350) and then some chicken(80) so that puts me at 2500! Geeeee..

 

I have a question for you all: Where would one find Fage yoghurt in Canada? I've been looking around for this mystical Greek stuff, but haven't been able to find it anywhere.. (we don't have trader joe's or anything, maybe they sell it at walmart? Hmm..)

Original Post by agruskin:

hi everyone!

HEADINGUP-so cool, i dont have any healthy type restaurant near me, nor have i ever heard of such a thing!  i think id like live there-how conveniant!

MEESH- im so sorry that your mother was being a bit difficult, parents are so confusing!  my mother will threaten me w/ IP, yell at me for not eating her cooking, then ask me to go to the gym w her!  keep up the AWESOME work!  so im confused, when you left IP, why were you told 2 such diff caloric ranges for maintenance?  you stuck w/ the lower range and then lost weight?  im not an athelte so maybe my metabolism is lower than others bc of that?  so you think stick w/?lol, i know ive asked many times, but 2400-2700cals target-just seems like a lot!

ALYSHA-hey!  sounds like youre doing great!

ANGEL-is the barium thing so they can trace it going thru your body, like you drink it and lie there and they watch it travel thru you?  i did that and it was gross, it was pre ED and bc of my stomach probs but it was thick so yea, gets you full.  im asure youll get hungry soon.

FORGETMENOT-welcome!  where are you in recovery? 

SAT-

THOMAS mini bagel square, ~tbspn PB, jelly, slice of cheese, apple ~450

THOMAS mini bagel square, 2 tspns cream cheese, tomato+onion, fage, jelly, plum, pudding, ~tspn trail mix ~ 420

 yes i was given a range of 1950-2300ish mainly to stay on the higher end of that range 2200-2300 and if i did half an hourof excercise it was 2500 and and hour would be more 2700-2800 and i was still underweight about five pounds more than i weigh now. but i thought my nutritionist was whacked and her sole purpose in life was to make me fat and miserable( stupid, i know)so i went to a different nutritionist that said i can maintain on 1600-1800, 2000 for an hour of excercise and such and i thought that sounded more resonable, so i stcuk to the lower meal plan one and i lost weight/relapsed.i think 2400-2700 is a good start and you may even need more.

hi everyone-

MEESH-hey! hope your day is going well!  so, i dont do an hr of excercise a day, still ok that im aiming for 2400-2700 cals eventhough you were told less cals when i never do an hr of excercise?

CHARLIE-i cant wait to make the "flapjacks"! lol whats your fav topping and how much do you add?  how many portions does it make?  thanks so much!  i want mine soft i think.

ALYSHA-i get the fage at any supermarket.

AQUA-haha, cant wait to make the flapjacks!!!! oh, and i just bought pancake mix so if anyone has any suugestions of waht to add, i think i want to try adding fruit like in the IHOP commercials.  sorry yuor day isnt going well, what happened w/ the restaurant?

BUTTERFLY-yes-fats, a lotof anorecics cut them out completely so its extra important to ad them in.  i think you should try and increase your cals, esp since youre still young and your body is growing.

GIBBIT-kayaking-wow! lol, sounds great!  curry, mmm.  youre being so social, im so happy for you!  have fun tonight!

SAT-

THOMAS mini bagel square, ~tbspn PB, jelly, slice of cheese, apple ~450

THOMAS mini bagel square, 2 tspns cream cheese, tomato+onion, fage, jelly, plum, pudding, ~tspn trail mix ~ 420

~5oz ice cream, ~tspn PB sort of melted ontop, some golden raisins mixed in ~190

yes so i did better today!

Breakfast-two natures path toaster pastries(400)spirutein shake blended with strawberries(150)asian hot cereal satchet vanilla flavored(80)

 

Snack-2 oz. stacy’s pits chips (260)2 oz. avocado(90)peach-mango-orange juice(120)string cheese(80)

 

Lunch-subway 6” sweet onion chicken teriyaki(370)bag of sour cream and onion lays(140)applejuice(140)

 

Snack-vanilla-cashew butter milkshake: cup of vanilla frozen yogurt(200)cup of almond milk(40) a tablespoon cashew butter(90) medium banana(90), graham crackers (120)

 

And then im planning to have:

 

Dinner-rice(150)some egg/chicken/asian stir fry (300-350) veggies(20)cup of unsweetened enriched soymilk(70)

 

Snack: four pieces mauna loa mountain(230)ritz crackers(140)strawberries(50)cup of enriched chocolate soy milk(130)

i hope everyone else is doing well

agruskin- i definitly dont do an hour of excercise a day. currently im just relaxing and letting my body rejuvinate. i think your looking at my maintenance calories from last year. i was told to eat that much to MAINTAIN my weight not to gain.arent you trying to gain weight?

ha-yes-gain!  woops!  thought the 2200 mark was given to you to gain.  sheesh, i need a kick in the butt or to eat out where i have no control over the cals bc eating home makes it really hard to meet the cal goal and i hate to cook.

Agruskin-Yeah you are right. I should still keep in mind of how much while being in tune with my body. Oh and definitely yay for the boy!

Meesh-Sorry about the unhelpful mom. That must have made you frustrated!

Alysha-Great job! Congratulations on making it to 2000+!!!

Forgetmenot-Great post! Very helpful, thanks!

Butterfly-Go for it girl! You can do it! Good luck. Stuff like nuts, nut butters, ice cream, whole milk dairy, dried fruit, dark chocolate, and avocados. Yummy yummy!

Gibbit-Glad it went well. I am sure you will love it. Good to hear there are other people with similar eating habits; I bet it will make things a lot easier!

Aquaev-Sorry to hear about having a bad day. Shopping sounds like fun though. But sometimes I like to stay home and relax all day.

I have had a hectic day and am very tired! Just got home from dinner and the bookstore. Dinner was really yummy. We went to a little cafe with lots of healthy, but yummy and all natural foods as well. I enjoyed myself. Too tired to post what I ate today. Phew!

 

meesh - that vanilla cashew butter milkshake sounds incredible! I'm so going to make it! What kind of frozen yogurt do you get? I've looked and it's really hard to find or just expensive. I usually just end up getting ice cream and dealing iwth the stomach pains after :\

agru- I know! It's crazy, so many things have come up in such a short period of time and I'm forcing myself to go out, it's exhausting! I had to come home and take a nap after the training session today even though it was just sitting all day, my voice was still starting to get tired from talking, and there were some moments where the conversation and laughing came naturally and other times it was still really forced. Same at dinner and the party last night, but I guess it's just going to take practice. It's weird because even with my best friends it's still hard for me to do, they can be the sweetest, funniest, greatest friends and I still have a hard time having "real fun" or even understanding what that is without forcing myself to laugh along with them and speak up to make conversation. Kind of sad, huh? I guess it's just incentive to eat more! I don't do anywhere near an hour of exercise either, I get like 20 min at a time 3 to 4 times a week and you know my intake is certainly up there. Is it possible I need even more, or shoudl I just be more patient?

alysha- they only sell fage around here at certain specialty markets or the more upscale ones but any greek yogurt will be about the same. I got a different brand this last time actually because it was cheaper but the taste and nutrition values are about the same.

Gibbit- ah, crap. D: See, I live out in the boonies, so I'm kind of stuck when it comes to "specialty stores", lol. I've tried Sobey's, Loblaws, No Frills, and a couple bulk food stores, none sell it.. Where did you get your greek yogurt? If I buy some it doesn't necessarily have to be 'Fage' per se, I'd just like to try it. :]

On another note; I'm feeling really crappy right now. Not used to the extra 500 cals. :'(

EDIT: Gibbit, just saw that you weren't from Canada, so you probably don't have the same stores as I do... haha. ahpoo. :[

gibbit- i get the dreyers vanilla frozen yogurt or the black cherry vanilla swirl =]it was the best tasting thing ever and went down really easily.ugh i can so relate with the stomach problems. i was raised as a ovo-vegetarian so im serisously not used to eating so much dairy and meat but ive been craving so much dairy/meat lately that im just going along with what my body wants.im just also consuming alot more lactaid with it aswell = 0

alysha-your okay, just stick thru it, the crappy feeling sucks.but your making it.just stick to it.

I had no idea that Dreyers made frozen yogurt! I will have to look out for some.

I have decided to start being more aware of how many calories I am eating. As of tonight I had only had like 1800 and am now at 2300. :[ I am going to aim for 2500 at least. If my body wants more and I am hungry then by all means, I am going to EAT! I just need to get my metabolism a bit more. Hope my rambling makes sense!

Goodnight! Off to go read then bed :]

 

hi everyone-

PSYCHO-great idea trying to eat w/o counting but also keeping up a rough tally and having a limit that you ant to reach each day.

GIBBIT-jeez, i know what you mean about getting tired after doing nothing other than "being" w other ppl.  ill get tired doing almost nothing when im socializng and it is still hard sometimes being w others even close friends.  i think it will deff take lots of practice but youre deff getting it! good job!

i still dont get how all you guys spend so much time cooking.  the meals sound awesome but like i can only get myself to make quick meals=cereal, sandwich, something in the micro, or take out!

SAT-

THOMAS mini bagel square, ~tbspn PB, jelly, slice of cheese, apple ~450

THOMAS mini bagel square, 2 tspns cream cheese, tomato+onion, fage, jelly, plum, pudding, ~tspn trail mix ~ 420

~5oz ice cream, ~tspn PB sort of melted ontop, some golden raisins mixed in ~190

1 1/2 cups kashi vive, 3/4c. milk, veg salad+ tbspn trail mix, egg yolk~380

apple, yogurt, .....more frick! EDIT-added a mini frozen muffin, PB  ~370

agru- Mmm, flapjacks sound good! As far as pancakes go, I'd recommend either chocolate chips, or strawberries with whipped cream on top. And make sure you top them all with real maple syrup for tons of extra cals! Nothing much happened at the restaurant, it was just Subway. I'm just not feeling so optimistic today and I felt like staying home and eating what I'm comfortable with while sulking in my room!

alysha- Are any of the stores you listed health food stores? If you look in one of those they might have some type of Greek yogurt, maybe not Fage. If you can't find it, any other whole milk yogurt is close to the cals in Fage. Sorry you're having a bad day.

psychoj- Does this mean you're going to start counting again? Maybe add a morning snack to make it easier to get to 2500. Good luck!

agru- Could you just cook something easy like chicken? Get a couple chicken cutlets and just cook them on the stove with olive oil, and make some minute rice or something.

Today:

Breakfast- Home made blackberry breakfast bar (SOO GOOD! And high cal!), egg, nectarine, oatmeal w/ pumpkin

Snack- Almonds and berries

Lunch- 6" veggie delite on wheat from Subway with provolone, Fage Total, Kashi fire roasted crackers

Snack- Berries, carrots, yoplait kids, pudding

Dinner- Butternut squash parmesan bread pudding, slice of rye bread dipped in olive oil, Smooze fruit ice

Snack- Orange, blueberries, Luna sunrise bar, Ben and Jerry'

psycho- I'm testing out the no counting thing and I think my intake is staying the same as far as I can tell. I'm planning on weighing next week and seeing how it worked out and if it went down or just stayed the same I might have to be a little more concious about the cals again, but for now I think it's really good for me to not worry about it.

agru- why so low today?? You've been doing so well, don't cut back now!  What are those mini bagel squares? Maybe you could switch them up with different kinds of breads, or a full size bagel, have some more snack, etc I hope I'm not out of place to say this, but you seem to get stuck having the same things over and over. I know we all do this but part of recovering is branching out and trying different things. It's a common misconception that cooking takes time. I never spend too much time cooking unless of course I want to in which case i'll plan a whole elaborate meal. It's really more about practice, once you get the hang of it and learn how things can be cooked, what goes well together, how long things take, you can really throw things together quite easily. For instance my morrocan stew yesterday literally took me 5 minutes to throw everything in a pot and then I just had to let it simmer about 30 minutes. Other meals I'll fry up on the stove in 10 minutes or less. Try looking up easy and quick recipes online and start making those and eventually you won't even need the recipes anymore!

the party went really well tonight! I was with my best friend who i've known since I was 5 so I do feel a lot more at ease with her than I do with others and that helped. I had wine, chocolate covered strawberries and an alfajor that her mom had brought back from argentina. It was incredible! I haven't had one in so long, they are like 300 cals each since they're 2 buttery cookies with dulce de leche in the middle and covered with chocolate. And now I just got home and I'm having a strawberries and cream wm yogurt with granola and oats and a banana mixed in, plus a few spoonfuls of sunbutter. And I started putting together a backpack full of snacks for tomorrow's canoe trip :)

oh! and I posted links to some photo albums with my france pics in a journal entry, so everyone should check it out!

Original Post by aquaev:

alysha- Are any of the stores you listed health food stores? If you look in one of those they might have some type of Greek yogurt, maybe not Fage. If you can't find it, any other whole milk yogurt is close to the cals in Fage. Sorry you're having a bad day.

Oh, don't worry about me, but thanks. :D I'm not having a bad day; just felt a little queasy after eating the pizza, maybe it was just an overload of cheese?!? Haha, I'll never know.. tasty, though. :)

One of the stores has a health food SECTION- Loblaws. But it's kind of small, so I don't know. That's where they keep all the soy stuff as well. Maybe I'll look around there next time I shop. :) But other than that, none of the stores I mentioned are specifically for health food. I think I'd have to travel for a few hours before I find one of those. ;D

Gibbit: Lucky duck, going canoeing! I love to ski, hike, swim and canoe, but obviously all of those aren't so easy when you live in the middle of a city in the UK, lol |: And that morroccan stew sounds a lot like what I had when I was at the theme park the other week, I really want to imitate it, heheh.

 

 

I estimated, and realised I'd come out under in my calories yesterday. Should I eat more of them to make up for it today? x:

Aquaev-No I am not really going to start counting again. I am going to eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full, but I am just going to be more aware of how many I am consuming. I hope that makes sense :]

Lala-It is really up to you whether to eat them back or not. It is not going to hurt you to go under ONCE in a while. But if you can, I would try and eat them back.

Gibbit-Yeah, it really makes you feel just like FREE, doesn't it? Wouldn't trade it for obsessive cal counting for the world! Mmm, great party! Sounded like you enjoyed yourself. Great job!

Agruskin-Maybe switch from the mini bagel by Thomas to the Regular sized kind? I ate them SOOOO much during weight gain. Like everyday topped with peanut butter. That alone would be ~450 calories!!! You are doing so well, just as Gibbit said, do not stop now!

Amen to maple syrup. It is a life saver-at least the REAL kind is. I use Organic Real maple syrup. Mmmm, now you made me want some. (We have none in the house :[ )

Off to church!

xxx