Gaining weight on a vegetarian diet

I've been a vegetarian for 9 years and I couldn't possibly imagine being anything but.  I've also been underweight for the majority of my life.  I have been trying to gain weight for years.. drinking protein shakes and such.. but nothing seems to be changing.  Being underweight has caused some body issues for me throughout my life but trying to find any information on gaining weight seems to be almost impossible.

So if anyone has any ideas for me I would love to hear them.  And if anyone seems to be having a similar issue to mine please do say so because if I ever find any information I'll be sure to make sure you get it.

Thanx!

It comes down to 'calories in' vs 'calories out'.   Vegetarian food, if you're not careful, can be very low in calories but bulky so you end up eating a lot less than you need to gain weight but feeling stuffed in the process.

You need to start with 2500 cals a bare minimum for weight-gain and then plan your food day really carefully so that you get it all in - day in, day out.  Weigh and measure what you eat rather than guessing.  Work it out in advance so that if there are any gaps you can plug them beforehand.   Eat at set times, even if you're not hungry.  The foods you need to major on are the high-calorie, energy-dense, nutrition-dense vegetarian foods such as nuts, nut butters seeds, dried fruit, full fat dairy products, avocados, oils of all descriptions, whole eggs... plus generous amounts of good quality carbohydrates e.g. pasta, rice, noodles, starchy vegetables, wholegrain foods, bread, beans.  Drink fruit juice with every meal.  And of course, a healthy diet also includes a good smattering of things like chocolate, ice-cream and other 'fun' foods.  Avoid eating lots of vegetables and salads.... too filling for too few calories.  Protein shakes are OK as a top-up but try to get your calories mostly from 'real food' as the nutritional value will be better.

Go with an eating pattern of 'little and often' so that you get it all in.  Obviously don't do vigorous exercise at the same time (it only burns calories) but try to incorporate some strengthening/resistance exercise to convert the extra calories to lean tissue.   If you don't gain weight on 2500 a day, increase by another 500 and so forth until you're gaining a solid 2 - 4lbs every month.

This post may be more appropriate in the weight-gain forum.... Good luck

Hello, Sarah :] As Jane has said you will need at least 2500 calories a day bare minimum, and more if you work out or possibly more as weeks go on. Even if you're drinking protein shakes it does really come down to cals in, cals out, and you're probably not eating as much as you think. All of the foods that Jane has bolded are fantastic for a weight gaining veggie to eat and I can also reassure you that many of the regulars in the Weight Gain forum are also vegetarians.

Try not to rely on protein shakes, though. It is better you learn your intake with food and not shakes and supplements. But for more general tips on all of this, read over here: The Aim is to Gain: Advice on Weight Gain, Whatever Your Reason.

Good luck!

"Hi, Our d has difficulty with milkshakes and desserts, so we are experts in high calorie vegetarian savories. Here are my suggestions: 

• chili made with lots of oil and then cornbread made with cream and butter.

• polenta, cheese, eggplant, tomato sauce casserole (layers of polenta made with cream, cheese, eggplant brushed with plenty of olive oil then baked semitender before put in the casserole, then a simple tomato sauce made with plenty of olive oil.  several of these layers, then top with cheese of course

• homemade pizza with a crust that my h makes with cream, then oil on the crust before the tomato sauce and the cheese

• homemade tortillas again made with plenty of oil, then topped with refried beans that you can supplement with cream and cheese of course!

• soups like lentil that can include plenty of oil (and I mean plenty), with toasted cheese sandwiches (there are higher and lower calorie breads...we look for the higher calorie ones)

• muffins (not savory, but probably could be!) have been our secret weapon.  I have a banana muffin recipe that with butter and sour cream and enough nuts (and of course a generous size) has about 1100 calories.  It was the way our d started each day for the first month!"

1,100 calorie muffin recipe!

"Ingredients:

1 stick butter (8 tablespoons)
1.5 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
half teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mashed banana (I use 2 bananas)
half teaspoon vanilla
half cup sour cream
plenty of chopped walnuts or pecans (I don't measure these, but probably put in at least 2 cups)

Mix together the butter and sugar, then the eggs. Mix together the dry ingredients first, then add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Next add the banana, sour cream, and vanilla. Last add the nuts.

I put all of this mixture into a non-stick pan that has 4 LARGE muffin tins. That is key. Just make a huge muffin look like the normal size.

350 degrees for just long enough to cook them so they stay really moist.  In my pans it is 45 minutes.  Mini bundt pans sound perfect and more beautiful!  L"

"Our vegetarian d also said she hated cream sauces, cheese, etc., but during refeeding we gave them to her anyway.  We did try to alternate with other foods, though, to make everything more palatable.  Like L, we added olive oil (120 cal/tbsp) and butter to just about everything.  Here are some things that worked for us:

1.  Chinese food:  2 cups of rice (about 450 cal) with stir-fried dish of veggies, tempeh (pressed soy beans minced and fried in olive oil first -- 1/3 package: 180 cal with 2 tbsp olive oil with garlic and soy sauce).  That plus a glass of milk will get you between 8 and 900 cal.

2.  Pasta with pesto sauce.  This is a very easy quick meal.  Again, big portion of pasta (about 2 cups cooked) with pesto (we used Buitoni with 300 cal per 1/3 cup?).  Again, with a glass of milk and a hunk of bread, 120 to 160 cal, or one slice of Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast, 150 cal, and that's 8 to 900 cal.

3.  Pasta with homemade or store-bought sauce.  Add plenty of olive oil and parmesan cheese (shredded has more cal than grated).  Eggplant will soak up lots of oil, so we often sauteed eggplant in olive oil and added it to sauces.  We served milk and a good size piece of bread with every dinner just about.  Sometimes we added a can of white beans to the sauce.

4.  Lasagna and eggplant parmesan.

4.  Peanut butter sandwiches:  bread with 100 cal/slice plus 4 tbsp of peanut butter = 580 calories.

What worked for us was to increase calories with oil, butter, etc. and serve larger portions.  Hope this is helpful.  I could probably come up with a few more suggestions and can provide more specific recipes, if needed.  I clearly remember that feeling of dread every morning when I woke up and wondered what I was going to feed my d that day or how she would receive the food.  This got much better as she got healthier, so hang in there.  Good luck!!!!"

all from the ATDT Forum (http://www.aroundthedinnertable.org/)

Good luck!  

i am mostly vegetarian...lol...if that's possible..but occasionally eat fish but most of my calories don't come from fish since i don't eat it every day anyhow. just fill your diet with lots of the following things:

potatoes

whole grains

whole fat dairy

cheese

olive oil

olives

peas

edamame

peanut butter

some veggie burgers have upwards of 160-200 calories

uuum...granola, nuts, dried fruit

smoothies

tempeh, seitan, firm tofu...stir fried in sauce

honey in your yogurt

make oatmeal with milk--if you prefer soy that's fine

no "light" foods

with these things incorporated into your diet it's pretty easy to meet the 2500 cal minimum. it's basically the same as a non-vegetarian would...you just sub the meat for something with similar caloric values. so instead of 3oz beef, you could have 1 cup soybeans with 2tsp olive oil and salt and pepper. similar calories and not even more volume. hope this helps :)