Hardgainers typically find it difficult getting enough calories to gain weight and build muscle. The secret to consuming enough calories is to choose calorie dense foods. You have to be eating lots of high calorie foods and beverages or you will be fighting an uphill battle.
Gaining weight doesn’t have to be a struggle if you are eating the right kind of calories. This can be changed if you begin to analyze your daily diet plan to include more calorie dense foods. Let me explain more about calorie density.
What are High Density or Calorie Dense Foods
High density foods are foods which (measure by volume) contain a high number of calories per serving. Calorie dense foods tend to be high in fat and/or sugar due to the fact that all proteins and all carbohydrates contain four calories per gram whilst all fats contain nine calories per gram. Moreover, some foods are more “calorie concentrated” then others as they contain less water content etc. Let me explain.
Visualize two kitchen measuring cups side by side (both the same size); one filled with chopped cucumber and one filled with raisins. Each cup now contains exactly the same VOLUME of food, right? But did you know that the cup of raisins has 37 times more calories? That’s right! The cup of cucumbers contains 14 calories, while the cup of raisins contains a whopping 520 calories. If cucumbers and raisins both have four calories per gram, then how could this be? The answer has to do with calorie density. The cucumbers have a lower calorie density because they have a higher fiber and water content. The calories in the raisins are more “concentrated”.
Typical calorie dense foods include things like fatty meats, salami, candy bars, rice crackers, cookies, potato chips, anything which is fried, cola, beer (although there is low calorie beers on the market nowadays) and ice-cream. These are all examples of high calorie foods and drinks because they are high in sugar and/or fat.
When making adjustments to your weight gain diet plan to include more calories, do so in a healthy manner. Don’t just look to be consuming more calories, look at the nutrition value of foods. Let me give an example. We all know fruits and vegetables and nutritionally very good for us.
Fibrous carbohydrates and vegetables such as lettuce, asparagus, cucumber, and broccoli are very low calorie foods. This is because these vegetables are high in fiber and your body has a hard time absorbing the caloric content of fiber. These types of vegetables also have a high water content.
So now let’s look at some “calorie dense” foods which will help pack on the pounds. Leave the vegetables in the pantry if you want to gain weight, and replace them with simple carbohydrates such as fruits which have a higher calorie density. This is because simple carbs are more concentrated and they contain less fiber. Fruit juice is even more concentrated then eating the fruit itself. Instead of having the one medium size orange, which contains about 60 calories, drinking a glass of orange juice will serve you better as it contains about 160 calories. Fruit and fruit juice therefore make a great addition to a weight gain program.
Complex carbohydrates (starches) such as whole grains, pasta, cereals, beans, potatoes and rice also have higher calorie densities than fibrous carbs. A typical serving of pasta contains about 800-1000 calories. Pasta and other complex carbs are great foods for gaining weight.
Now that you know what carbs to eat, let’s talk about fat. There is a common misconception that all fats are bad for you and they should be removed from your diet. This is untrue, there are good and bad fats. Fats have a major impact on the calorie content of foods, so they are an important consideration. Just keep in mind that fat should consist of about 15-25% of your total calories. You want to be getting most of you calories from carbohydrates and protein.
In small amounts, unsaturated, “healthy” fats are not only good for you, but they can help you gain weight more quickly. Just one tablespoon of flaxseed oil and two tablespoons of peanut butter would add nearly 500 calories to your daily diet and you’d hardly notice that any extra food was added.
In addition, you can supplement your healthy diet with protein supplements. It is often difficult to eat enough protein each day from normal foods, so supplementing with a weight gain supplement such as a soy or whey protein shake can help increase overall caloric intake. You want to make sure the weight gain supplement is a good mix of both protein and carbs and doesn’t contain too much sugar.
For example, a post workout shake containing 40 grams of protein, 80 grams of carbs, and 2 grams of fat would provide almost 500 calories. If you wanted even more calories, you could mix the powder in juice instead of water and also add flaxseed oil.
So, let’s summarize your plan for quickly and easily adding more calories to your diet. Continue eating the same healthy foods, just eat more of them. Healthy high calorie snacks is a great way to increase calories. Replace low density foods with high density foods. You could eat salads all day until your face hurts, but it won’t do much good for weight gain. Eat plenty of starchy carbs including whole grains, pastas, rice, and potatoes. Don’t be afraid of adding some fat to your diet, just ensure it’s no more then 15-25% of your total calories. Some of the “good” fats will actually help you to gain weight. Most importantly – just because you need to eat more calories doesn’t give you permission to stuff yourself with unhealthy foods.
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hi, i whent to my doctors yesterday to get put on the pill and she refused because i only weigh 7 stone (im 5′5 and age 20) she really freaked me out and told me i had to put on weight or i might do major damage to myself =( thing is all my family is skinny and my brother is even more so than me! My mum said she was thin at my age too. Idk what to do! Is it ok that I’m thin or should I really try putting on weight? If so how? I’m a agancy waitress and work really funny hours and they feed us on the job. My meal times differ every day and I hardly eat brakefast because Im normally too sleepy from the night befor to even think about it! I need help =(
Hey Lucy, I’m 18 a guy and I weigh about 8 and a half stone. Which is about a stone and a half less than i should. And i can’t do anything about it. I have a standard BMI of about 16.0, which is dangerously underwieght according to sites so i saw my doctor too. It turns out after a few tests that there are certain people whose bodies physically don’t grow to the standard it should or what most other people are. It is mostly height this affects (dwarfs) but about 5% of these people will grow to normal hieght and the undevelopment is in other places. Those people are What’s known as a Homunculus (or little/undeveloped human.) My doctor said this was in no way a problem and affects a few people. Usually the abnormally short or abnormally skinny. These people function no different than other people they are just smaller. My doctor gave me a revised BMI of 20. Its very possible you find yourself in this sort of situation, and even being 7 stone, there is nothing wrong internally with how your body is working it’s just ’small’ and that there is nothing wrong with your body at all.
Lucy, I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree with Nick on this one. To maintain a healthy body mass you need to be eating at regular intervals throughout the day. By the way you describe your lifestyle this isn’t possibe and so in turn your body’s needs are being ignored. You also need to be eating a minimum of 3 meals everyday and breakfast is the most important of these meals. I guarantee that you would find yourself feeling more hungry during the day if you ate some breakfast every morning preferably within 15mins of waking. You also need to be eating a minimum of 2000 calories per day. You should look at eating more carbs and protein. It really isn’t a huge undertaking and after just a couple of weeks you will feel the benefits. I do not believe that you being underweight comes down to genetics whatsoever, I would argue that you are sharing a lifestyle with your family which includes not eating enough, not eating properly and not getting enough exercise. It is a very easy thing to happen. Just look after yourself Lucy, eat more, eat better foods and exercise regularly!
Pat, I totally disagree with it being sharing a lifestyle with your family. I am a 43 year old woman with two children and still weigh 110 pounds at 5′7″, and have since the day i graduated high school. My doctor blames it on heredity and a very fast metabolism, which my family is also thin. I have tried everything and eat like you would not believe, do not excersie and still can’t gain 1 pound. Gaining weight is very frustrating which a lot of people just don’t understand!
my boyfriend calls my tummy the tardis because of the amount i eat as for exersize im on my feet all day and when im not i go for a run. I have a really poor self body image because im too skinny =(
Missy,I’m sure that Lucy’s situation is entirely different than yours. It was the way that she described her lifestyle that caused me to come to the conclusion that I did. However, doctors don’t always get to the root of such problems, often they give the obvious explanations to problems involving weight. This is beacause they have heavy workloads and are under great strain. Also doctors can only rely on what the patient tells them and are usually not fully aware of the entire situation. I generally work with teenagers with such problems. 9 times out of 10 the problem gets sorted with just a few changes to their lifestyle paying particular attention to diet and and exercise. Most of these teenagers believed that there problem was genetic, some had gone to doctors who told them so while others were self diagnosed. I believe that genetics have a part to play in some cases, but in general I believe that it comes down to your lifestyle (stressful job, tough family situation, etc.) how often you eat (not how much you eat), and most importantly what you eat.
Lucy, as I said above your problem has nothing got to do with how much you eat but rather what you eat, and how often you eat. Also being on your feet all day and running are definitely the wrong type of excercises, these are excercises that one would do to lose weight. I would recommend tension excercises. There are different ways to exercise in order to gain various benefits. The obvious and best way to gain all exercise benefits will be to include various different ways of exercising on alternate days. A routine that challenges the body in all areas of physical fitness is the best way to gain faster progress because the human body always finds a way to adapt to the stress of repeated workouts. These exercises combined with a ‘healthy’ diet will see you making progress. As for your negative self image the fact of the matter is that we all have our own anxieties about our bodies, try not to let it get to you. I would also explain to your boyfriend that you do not like joking about your problem and ask him to stop. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavour to gain weight Lucy.
hey, i just want to thank you! its been about two moths and i went from 98 pounds to 112 thanks to your diet plan! ive very greatful for your advise, thanks alot!!
Danielle
I have just got back from long break and so much has gone on with this forum.
Iam glad you have put on weight. I hope you get to your ideal weight. If you start to slow down gaining weight, get back to me and i will alter the plan slightly, as once your body gets used to what you are eating it will take slightly longer.
Imran
Lucy
First and foremost don’t worry about what anyone says about your weight, If you are happy with yourself that is more important, However if you want to put on weight and you are determine it will happen. Don’t believe everything you hear, everyone is different and reacts differently. If you want to put on weight I can promise you, you will, it’s just about finding what best works for you. I can help you put a plan together and if you stick to it you will hopefully see a difference within 1-2 months. First what I need from you is an honest plan of what you currently eat on an average day. If you want to email me you can on the following address:
imrankhan69@hotmail.com
Imran
you want to email me you can on the following address:
Hi everyone,
I am 27 5′5 and 103 I would like to gain at least 10 lbs. I’ve been under a tremendous amount of stress for years but most recently I am unable to eat food like i used too. For the most part food is just not appealing to me anymore and I am always so busy I usually skip meals which is never good but the fact that I don’t even want to eat anything worries me more because I have become anorexic and I don’t want to be. I’ve tried ensure and protein shakes and I try to exercise regularly but I feel doing that counteracts the ensure and protein shakes so is there any advice to help me put on a few pounds and stop looking like a walking skeleton with skin I am open to any and all suggestions….I’ve also been to the doctor and these morons just tell me to eat more after I told them I have no appetite to begin with and food makes me nauseous PLEASE i am very desperate right now I have 2 kids to look after and I need to be healthy for myself and them. Thank you for any help you can offer.
Help! i’m a 23 yo female who’s trying to GAIN weight. My story, Nov 2006 i found out i was prego with my son and i weighed 115-117. i’m 5′4″ and i was content with my weight then, it had been a year since i had done any extensive training and my “muscled body” weight was 132. i actually was happy when i weighed 120-125 and had all my strength still. I only gained 20-23 lbs with the pregnancy weighing in at 137 when i had my son in Aug 2007 and then my despair started. 2 WEEKS after having him i weighed 97 lbs! I’ve seen several doctors in the past 3 yrs, tried shakes, protein/carb diets and even peanut buter and sliced banana sandwiches (some friend’s suggestion he used when gaining weight for the military) and i still waiver b/n 103-106. i feel like i’ve lost everything, i struggle picking up my son when i used to be able to bench 100 and leg press 250 just 5 yrs ago. i think i look too thin and even my bf’s made comments. i was happy fitting into my size 5-7’s, now i’m in 0,1,and some small 3’s. Please can somebody help me gain some weight so i’ll feel healthy again!
Taji
First and foremost, I have worked with people in a similar situation, in fact at least you want to change, I have been with people who weigh less and just can’t stomach food. One case where someone had isolated himself because of this. It may take a bit of time but if you are committed you will start eating normally again.
A lot of this is in the mind, and food is not the problem, once you overcome this, you will see changes yourself.
I want you to email me so I can exchange email address and then we can work together to get through this. I can help you, but the changes have to be made by you. It’s not easy after such a long time but the changes you will notice will be rewarding. Only if you are comfortable but I want you to reply even if you want guidance though this board, but though previous experience I understand you may want this to be confidential. My email address is there for the taking.
Regards
Imran
imrankhan69@hotamil.com
If you feel nauseous, my naturopath told me it can come from the liver, not functioning properly. This had happened to me i was feeling sick all the time, no appetite, lost a bit of weight from it, then someone suggested to see a naturopath.
She gave me a liver tonic, to detoxify and repair itself. After a week i did not feel SICK once! HIGHLY recommended!
Hi Brandi,
That is the pretty much how I lost all my weight also, all through high school (c/o 2001)up until my 1st child 2004 I weighed 125 solid I ran track and was fit wore a size 3 and even at that time I was very self contious because everyone I knew ragged on me for being slim , I now weigh 103 if I’m lucky and wear a size 0 which doesn’t look good on my long legs and I am so uncomfortable with my body it’s riduculous, but I am determined to put on some weight I feel like I’m fading away and to make it worse people always comment on how small I am like I enjoy looking like I’m on drugs or something. I still am pretty strong for my size surprisingly but my biggest issue is that I can see all my bones and it’s gross so maybe we can help each other out along the way with our weight gain adventure and pray that we can get back to our solid 125-130 which looks good and healthy for people our height. NOt to mention we both have children that we need to be healthy and happy for and if we don’t even like to look at ourselves in the mirror it will effect our whole lives and I am ready to take back control and make something happen.
jordan_pink04@yahoo.com
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