The Aim is to Gain: Advice on Weight Gain, Whatever Your Reason

The Aim is to Gain: Advice on Weight Gain, Whatever Your Reason

I felt that CC could do with a sticky providing general advice to anyone wishing to gain weight, whatever your reason for it. I do realise the first few posts are tailored more towards the most common audience seen in the Weight Gain forum - undereaters and anorexia recoverers - but please note that I address this to everyone and the advice with in does apply on a general basis. So please, read up, I hope this helps, and if you feel anything should be added let me know!

BEFORE WE BEGIN - Doctor, Doctor!
PART 1 - How Many Calories?...
PART 2 - Food, Glorious Food
PART 3 - Fear Factor
PART 4 - Gaining Weight, Losing Money
PART 5 - But... I'm Not Anorexic?
IN CLOSING - It's All About You

A SAMPLE MEAL PLAN OF 3000 CALORIES - with ideas to take it up to 3500!

Other Gaining Stickies:

A note on topics for the Weight Gain Forum: READ ME before posting!  
Weight Gainers: What did YOU eat today?
Gaining weigh-ins!!
Official High-Cal Foods List
Support Recipes
Healthy Weight Gain ... ideas and resources!

BEFORE WE BEGIN - Doctor, Doctor!

Before you make the steps to gain, you must first go for a check-up. This post is meant as general advice and not a professional opinion. There may be factors to your refeeding that, if done alone, will put you in danger. This includes a very low body weight (sub-15) and any deficiencies, intolerances, injuries and similar that may affect your diet. SO WHATEVER YOU DO, WHATEVER YOUR INTENT, GO TO YOUR DOCTOR FIRST.

Similarly, if you encounter complications while refeeding yourself, such as edema (swelling of extremities), chest pains, palpitations, aches, and so on, GO TO YOUR DOCTOR AS SOON AS YOU CAN.

That said, let us begin!

PART 1 - How Many Calories?...

I have noticed this is a common question by newcomers to refeeding themselves and anorexia recovery, and thought it would be beneficial for all to see and read.

When you begin anorexia refeeding, your target should ideally be 2500 calories minimum if you are female and sedentary, 3000 if you are male and sedentary.

Yes, sedentary. This is because, after such a time starved of nutrients, your body's metabolism will be off-whack. Not to say your BMR will only be something like 900, but simply working in starvation mode - or, clinging to everything it can get. You may eventually find you actually need more than this 2500 or 3000 to gain weight. I have needed 3000 to 4000 calories on a daily basis to see gains. For more information on this, see the Support on the Web section of the Health and Support forum Eating Disorders Resources sticky.

In reintroducing calories, work at a pace that will not trigger you. If you have been eating sub-1200 get to 1200 first, then 1500, then 1800, then 2100, then 2500 (and up to 3000 if you are male). You can do this at your own pace, again, though try not to stretch it out longer than two weeks. Leaving yourself too long to dwell on it can be as bad as ripping off the plaster. So, go at a rate that suits you.

When you begin to reintroduce calories your body will, at first, retain a lot of water, not fat. But any flick on the scales can be triggering to a recovering disordered eater, so if you are refeeding do not weigh yourself for at least two weeks after managing a steady 2500 or 3000. Personally, I believe it is better to bung out the scales altogether, but if you wish to monitor your progress and feel the scale will not upset you then you can use it.

If your body is underweight, it will stress it all the more to begin working out on top of replenishing it. Thus: if you've not achieved a BMI of 17.5 or higher, if your doctor tells you no, if you are suffering palpitations, pains, edema, or any other affliction while refeeding, or if you have a history of compulsive overexercise my advice is to not exercise at all.

Equally, cardiovascular exercise can be detrimental to weight gain. Eat back any calories you burn off. That said, resistance exercise, weight lifting, yoga, pilates and other strengthening techniques can be beneficial in that they help rebuild lost muscle eaten away at.

PART 2 - Food, Glorious Food

Now, 2500/3000 and higher can sound very daunting, I know! And I know the sort of advice, "Go eat a cheeseburger!" can be very, very frustrating. (Though a cheeseburger doesn't hurt once in a while.) It's also important that you DO NOT NEED supplements as a requirement in gaining, but if you feel having one will be easier for you in the long run or if your doctor has set out a plan that includes a supplement drink then do make use of them. It's a matter of personal taste.

However, you can easily make these numbers on a healthy balanced diet with the aid of high calorie, low density food. These wonderful foods provide lots of calories with little bulk. Examples of these would be whole fat dairy, nuts and nut butters, avocado, oils like olive oil and canola (rapeseed) oil as two examples, oily fish, dried fruit and dense fruit like bananas - and that's only a few ideas!

There are two threads stickied at the top of this forum: Support Recipes and The Official High-Cal Food List. The first of these is a list of example recipes that are tasty, high calorie and helpful in gaining. The second is a more general list of foods that will also help in gaining.

A PB and banana sandwich can rack you up 550 calories pronto. One large banana is about 110 calories. Two teaspoons of PB are about 60 calories. Two slices of wholemeal bread will rack you about 90-100 calories per slice. Banana, plus bread? 310. Plus the four teaspoons of PB? 550. Very nice grilled or with a drizzle of honey added in if you're up for it.

You could try making a smoothie with some milk and/or yoghurt, honey, nuts and a banana, and other fruits of your choosing. Smoothies and milkshakes can be bottled and taken places. If you have the time to sit down, an ice cream sundae can be made in the same sort of manner. Oatmeal/porridge is also a good base for denser foods - you can easily stir in nut butters, nuts, and dried fruit into oatmeal and make it with milk and it's still easy on the stomach. Chocolate is awesome too!

Stir fry is easily done. Just do it up in oil and throw in some cashews or peanuts or similar to help bring up calorie content. Peanut sauce works in the same manner, but there are all sorts of nut butters, not just peanuts! Macadamia and cashew are delicious. Pasta bakes can be made calorific. You could also make a grilled cheese sandwich or two!

For portable foods, try making trail mix with nuts, dried fruit, dry cereals and extras like chocolate chips, yoghurty bits and such. Sandwiches, wraps and other similar meals are good for carrying around, as are loaded salads (aka, a salad with a dense protein like oily fish, whole fat dairy or nuts, or certain pulses like lentils and chickpeas as well, and olive oil dressing) in containers. And don't forget to enjoy junkier choices once in a while too. :D

It's a good idea to break up your meals over the day to not only go easier on your stomach but also to help rev the metabolism. In addition to that, anorexia and undereating can rob you of your hunger pangs, and so what is called "mechanical eating" may help you get them back. For an example meal plan of 2500:

Breakfast 550
Snack 250
Lunch 600
Snack 250
Dinner 600
Snack 250
TOTAL 2500

And of 3000:

Breakfast 700
Snack 300
Lunch 700
Snack 300
Dinner 700
Snack 300
TOTAL 3000

Do not worry about specific nutrition at this point. You will probably have a higher intake of everything compared to others - and really, comparing yourself to anyone else at all isn't the way to go. The only thing I personally think is worth watching when upping calories is salt and trans fat, but as for numbers of other nutrients and food groups? Don't worry about it. Aim for carbs, proteins, fruit or veg, healthy fats and dairy or dairy alternatives in all your meals over the day, get enough fibre, and take a full multivitamin as a buffer, and you'll be fine.

A good ratio to aim for is 55-60% carbs, 10-15% protein and 25-30% fats. If you are also missing your period, I would go for the upper rung of that percentage range in fats (aka, 30%).

PART 3 - Fear Factor

It's apparently quite common to have "fear foods" in recovery. The best way I can suggest of tackling these? Face them. Embrace foods of old that you loved as a kid. Get involved in the cooking again and make sure you actually eat what you make. Get your hands dirty; one of the best things I have done so far in recovery is to spend a day babysitting my younger cousins, making fajita pizza faces and fruit "tarts" (um, more, puff pastry with a lot of syrup and fruit on top). They didn't look great but they were so much fun, and this is what restricters need to regain - a fun, happy relationship with food, rather than the negative connotations such as "weight", "fat" and "unhealthy".

You shouldn't be out to be the "healthiest" undereater. Nutrition doesn't matter beyond the basics and beyond your personal needs. Obviously, I am not going to tell someone with a nut allergy that they should eat peanut butter galore, but if there is no valid reason for you not to consume a food then do not cut it out of your diet.

Bingeing is also a common fear, as far as I have seen, but if you are worried about eating too much remember this: there should be no upper limit in recovery. That said the important thing is to regain a normal relationship with food and binges are not a part of that. This is where mechanical eating is very important as planning your day out should help prevent the onset of a binge episode.

"Binge" is also, sadly, a word I have seen thrown about as freely as some use "anorexia" as a term for eating less than they should one day in their normal lives (still not advisable or recommended) or, in the idiotic use "I could do with a bit of anorexia!"

Anorexia and bingeing, like any eating disorder, is not a lifestyle choice. It is a debilitating disease, a sickness and a hinderance in what should be a beautiful and carefree life onset by something a lot deeper than losing weight. I know that, personally, none of this is about thinness. If I was doing this to be thin, I'd put myself in inpatient right now because there would be a lot more wrong with me than even at present.

I am rambling a bit, here, so I will move on.

PART 4 - Gaining Weight, Losing Money

I've seen a lot of you all saying how hard food costs are hitting you. I, too, know your pain, but I have greatly reduced some of my costs a few ways.

First of all, and I know this might not be so viable for some of you, we already grow a few things in our back garden. Namely, squash, blueberries, strawberries, chillies and peaches. The squash and chillies are the only things in season right now but we have been using the little squash that are actually growing nicely. It is a good investment in the long term. You might not have a garden, but you can still grow some things in windowboxes. x]

Aim for fruit and veg that is in season and make regular trips. Only buy the fresh produce you know you are going to use within the next two to three days and make sure you use it. For dry staples and cupboard stores, try finding a local wholetrader and buying in bulk as it saves money long term. Do not get picky about brand labels and organic food. Some things it is not worth paying organic for anyway as there is little difference in content of pesticides and what have you. I understand wanting to be eco-friendly and things but it isn't always an option when money is tight.

My dad being someone in a warehouse, he can also confirm that many things that come in a "Value" or cheap line of a store (for Britons, an example of this would be Asda Smart Price, Sainsbury's Basics ranges) come off the same trucks as their better foods. For example we have Value frozen sweetcorn and value cocktail prawns in my fridge/freezer and Value dried fruit right now that I know of that are as good as any from a more expensive line.

If you're buying fish and seafood tinned fish is still good. One thing you can afford to do is look for sustainable, seasonal fish and meat when you shop. If there are worries about mercury look at sardines and pilchards in particular - they are oily fish, contain calcium and vitamin D, and have one of the lowest mercury contents of any fish.

One of the big reasons why I eat mostly cleanly despite having to eat so much is because it costs a lot less to make your food from scratch than to buy lots of processed goods. Look at the cost of a tin of soup and then try to think how much cheaper it would be to just make a massive pot of it that you could freeze and would last you a longer time.

Invest in a crockpot, a deep baking dish for casseroles, bakes and desserts, and/or a large pot for stews and soups. It is remarkably easy to make a large pot of something terrifically calorie dense, a calorific pasta bake, a rich and delicious rice pudding... and to then freeze the leftovers to eat them over a few days, at a comparitavely minimal cost of ingredients. In stews, for example, you can use cheaper cuts because the meat becomes tender as it cooks. Chilli con carne (or non carne, for you veggies out there) is a brilliant example of a cheap dish that can last for days.

If you can get buy one, get one free type offers on cupboard staples particularly stock up, but if it is on fresh produce stick by the rule that I posted above: are you really going to use that in the next two to three days, before it goes bad? With how much we have to eat we can't afford to waste food - literally.

http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/ - What is in season
http://www.fishonline.org/advice/eat/ - Sustainable fish and seafood list
http://www.healthcastle.com/organic_foods.sht ml - "What should you buy organic?" Article from healthcastle.com

PART 5 - But... I'm Not Anorexic?

Many people forget that weight gain isn't just for people who have an eating disorder like anorexia or ED-NOS. There are many reasons someone might be underweight: genetics, gastrointestinal illnesses or other illnesses, thyroid problems, a facial injury or some other injury that would make eating difficult, or just unintentionally eating a lot less than they thought they were throughout their lifetime... just to name a few reasons. Even vanity, if someone feels they are too skinny for their own liking (also perfectly fine and viable).

And being underweight for any reason can be just as much a struggle if you are not suffering disordered eating as much as if you are. The frustrations, the costs, the outward hisses and accusations of an eating disorder that might come with, ridicule, bias - even unwanted admiration in a society that is seemingly distorted on a grand scale towards thinking that anything above a US size 4 is large. Never feel alone in this no matter your goals in gaining. We're all here for the same reason - to gain weight - and you have support no matter the cause.

That said, the guidelines are more or less the same. Aim for 2500 or 3000 as a minimum depending on your gender, don't exercise if you don't meet the right criteria, use high calorie, low density foods, look for a balance of nutrition, spread your meals over the day and initially don't weigh yourself for the first couple of weeks. And, as ever, always see your doctor first.

IN CLOSING - It's All About You

Wonderfully selfish, right? But, at the end of the day, this IS about you. Do not worry what others may think of you, or if you're eating when no one else is. If someone comments on your food, on your appearance, on you - who cares? Because you ought not to. So with all this advice put forward to help you along, remember: this is for your health and your life, and the sooner the gaining gets going, the sooner you will be able to get back on the path to happiness whatever the cause. It really is all about you.

And whatever your weight gain is a target for, whether a holiday, for your family, for your doctor, to avoid inpatient, whatever - take pride in how far you have come, how hard you are trying, and even if you don't manage the full gain in that time but put on something you should be happy for even the smallest jumps. And never ever ever beat yourself up for not seeing a gain! It's as bad as when you may have kicked yourself for not seeing a loss. 

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."

Good luck with gaining!

Ellie
Calorie Count Volunteer Moderator

I just sat and read all of this from beginning to end. I want to be the first to thank you Ellie, I think what you're doing is amazing and all of this advice is very, very useful, and not just to me but to everyone on here. Everyone on CC should be made to listen to you! :)

I just got a much needed kick up the backside towards eating. I enjoy eating, so why let ED control it? Mmmm peanut butter + banana sandwiches here I come..... :D
xxxx

I, on the other hand, am incredibly irritated because instead of doing my essay on Stalin - Pragmatist or Ideologist during my free periods today I spent about half an hour reading this.

And it was so worthwhile. And after I'd finished reading it, I had lunch at school and had more lunch than I think I've ever eaten before at school - as well as my Trek bar for morning snack. You are SUCH an inspiration - I know it's not your job to kick us all up the bum because we should and we are doing it for ourselves, but you are so fantastic at reminding us WHY we're doing this, as well as the best way to go about it.

Thank you, lovely. I will post my food later on the Gainers thread and you shall be proud :)

i've just printed this out, everything i've ever needed or wanted to know was in here.

Inspiring and to the point, no matter what the case it's ALL there.

Thanks so much Ellie!

X

Oh my goodness, Ellie, you are beyond amazing! Thank you so much for taking the time to write all of this out, you always go out of your way to help every one of us, so please know how much we appreciate it!!! YOu've helped me out so many times and continue to inspire me every day (said as I grab another spoon of pb :p)

So thanks again, and don't forget to take care of yourself to because you deserve all that and some fish and chips too

Ellie, thank you.  You're magnificent.

Everyone else, now we have no excuses; it's up to us.

Stay strong, everyone, and happy gaining! 

This thread is amazing!  Thank you so much for all of the information...it is so greatly appreciated.  I look forward to coming back to it day after day...

Good Morning - I am desperate to gain weight. I don't have an eating disorder just.   not much of an appetite. I'm worried about health issues and lack of energy. I hope I'm doing this right.I'm new. Thanks Julia

Well, Julia, this post should ideally cover any questions in your mind. Good luck! :]

A SAMPLE MEAL PLAN OF 3000 CALORIES:

BREAKFAST - 750
Two slices of wholemeal toast, thick slice [200] with a tbsp of butter (unsalted, ideally) or margarine between both [100 - no light stuff!] and a tbsp of jam on each slice [90 on average]. Two rashers streaky bacon [80] and two large fried eggs [160] using a tbsp of olive oil [120]. Sauce of your choice to accompany.

SNACK AM - 250
An ounce of almonds [160 or so] and an ounce of raisins. [90]

LUNCH - 800
A large wholegrain pitabread [170] stuffed with 40g whole fat feta cheese [110], 60g sundried tomatoes packed in oil (but drained off) [120], and salad leaves [negligable]. Greek yoghurt parfait - 150g whole fat FAGE total (no 2% or 0%!) or other whole fat greek yoghurt [250], topped with 35g of granola [150].

SNACK PM - 200
80g hummus [180] and 60g baby carrots [20]

DINNER - 620
Tuna Pasta Bake at 492 calories a serving, having a slightly larger serving to take it up to [500]. Make sure you use whole fat cheese in the recipe. A side of mixed vegetables - broccoli, cauliflower, courgettes, carrots... pick your favourites [negligable], and dress them with a tbsp of olive oil [120].

SNACK EVENING - DESSERT - 380
60g rolled oats [230] made with a mix of 100ml whole milk and 200ml water [60], topped with a small sliced banana [90].

TOTAL: 3000

Even if you're vegetarian, lactose intolerant, coeliac... etc, this is still proof you CAN make totals like 3000 without having to cram food, with balance of nutrition and still enjoying what you're eating.

To take that to 3500, you could:

Have 50g each of almonds and raisins, not an ounce, at the morning snack. [+185]
Make the evening porridge with entirely 300ml whole milk, and not with any water. [+120]
Have a 500ml glass of 100% juice with your pm snack. [+220]

Those ideas add an extra 525 calories alone. It's easy to come up with more ideas to add calories fast, though.

Thanks a million for posting! I recently started a 3k+ diet and all in all after following some of the things you mentioned and other posts on this forum it's not ridiculously difficult. Will be hitting up the gym on a regular basis in the near future as well and trying to turn some weight gain into some muscle! Thanks again!

Welcome! :D

how often do you have to eat like every 3 hrs or what?

I don't personally have a fixed eating schedule. Things change day to day. Just space your meals and snacks out evenly over your day. There is no set "time" to eat, nor to start or stop - eat breakfast after you wake, obviously, or as close to then as you can. And eating before you sleep is equally perfectly fine.