Posts by dewalljp

elphieskiss: That's an amazing story.  It's sad that we have to be afraid of the police in our country.  They're supposed to help and protect law abiding citizens, not harass them.  I've been pulled over countless times.  I'm from PA and when I was under 18, I wasn't technically allowed to drive after midnight, though that didn't stop me and nobody really cared (i even was pulled over for something else and the cop didn't say anything about the curfew, and he let me go w/o a ticket).  Some cops are decent people, but a lot are overly suspicious and ready to screw you no matter what...

I started delivering pizzas at 16.  When I was 19, I was home from college over xmas and was working a shift.  I took a call in kinda a bad neighborhood and, after I delivered the pie, I was approached on the street by some guy.  He followed me back to my car telling some story about his car being broken down.  He insisted that I give him a lift and he jumped in the passenger seat (the door was open, stupidly).  Long story short, he held me up at gun point.

When I called the police, they came out but treated me like a criminal.  They spoke to the people I delivered the pizza to who said they saw me talking to the dude before he got into my car (yeah, I was telling him to get lost!).  Anyway, the police were convinced that I was buying drugs and they brought me down to the station a few times to interrogate me over the next few weeks.  They had nothing against me but spite.  They wanted to give me a polygraph test and I said fine.  They finally left me alone, but then called me a month or two later because they thought they caught the guy who robbed me.  They wanted me to help convict him, but I told the cops to f**k off and that I wouldn't help them.

So, how's that for well spent tax dollars! 

specialtye:

Soy milk is great.  Drink as much of that as you can.  For granola, I get Quaker, 100% Natural Granola Oats And Honey.  I love it.  You can get it with raisins too, if you want.  Right now I'm using "Body Fortress" whey protein powder (chocolate flavor), though I'll probably switch when it runs out.  It uses the sweetener sucralose (splenda), and I'd prefer just regular sugar for the sweetener.

jtrbug101:

Although they're high in calories, you should stay away from greasy fatty foods like cheseburgers and fries.  First of all, they're mostly saturated fat, which is terrible for your heart.  Secondly, fatty foods will make you feel bloated and not hungry.

I recommend that you try to eat as much complex carbs as you can.  If you do this, the fat and protein levels pretty much take care of themselves.  For me, after eating a lot of carbs (like oatmeal), I'm hungry again in an hour or two.  If I eat a steak, I won't want to eat for many hours.  I think this has to do with ease of digestion.

Here are some of my favorite calorie-dense foods: oatmeal, almonds, granola, milk, cottage cheese. 

Oatmeal:  I think oatmeal is the best for putting on the pounds.  It's high in complex carbs as opposed to simple carbs (sugars).  I like the Quaker Instant Oatmeal packets (peaches and cream is the best).  Three of those with water is 432 calories w/ 9g protein.  Some people mix peanut butter in oatmeal, but I'm not a big pb fan.

Almonds:  Almonds are great for just snacking on all day.  I count out 44 almonds at a time (340 cals), and just munch on them while I work.  They're high in protein and good fats, not to mention high in vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin E.

Granola:  Granola is very high in calories.  1.5 cups of granola with a cup of milk is a whopping 814 calories!!! 

Milk:  A pint of milk is 260 calories with 18g protein.  I add a couple scoops of whey protein powder, adding 240 calories and 46g protein.  I know the protein powder isn't that great, but you can add it to a cup of milk and just chug it.  The whey protein powder generally tastes better than soy in my opinion.

Cottage Cheese:  I try to eat 2 cups of cottage cheese before bed every day.  That's 480 calories w/ 60g protein!

I could go on and on, but I think the key is to look at the calorie content of foods you like.  Identify your favorite complex carb foods (grains), and then "snack" on them all day.  The other key is just to log what you eat.  This will help you find foods that you like that are high in calories.  Don't get discouraged if you feel like you can't possibly eat enough.  Before I started, people gave me food suggestions, and it almost made me sick just thinking about eating all the stuff they told me to.  You just have to find the foods you like, and eat a lot of them!  That's a good thing, right?

I've been counting calories on this site for about a month.  I'm trying to gain weight too, and my caloric goal is 3400 per day.  The key for me was tracking what I ate on this site.  It showed me what foods were calorie-dense and those that weren't.  Accordingly, my diet has changed quite a bit, being more geared to calorie dense healthy foods.

The other key for me is just to eat continuously throughout the day.  I basically look at it as ten 340 calorie "meals" a day, which is about one every 1.5 hours.  My best suggestions are cereal (esp. oatmeal or granola), nuts (44 almonds = 340 calories), and juice (instead of water, drink oj).

Unfortunately, there's no magic powder.  If you want mass on your body, you have to put mass in your body.  Simple as that.  But meal supplements are also handy for those extra calories.  I like Ensure Plus (one 8oz bottle is 350 calories and costs a little over a buck).  Protein powder is good too, especially if you blend it up with soy milk and a banana, or whatever you like.