Is this healthy?? How was my day?

I am trying to gain weight, but want to do it healthily of course:

5am - 1.5 cups of milk + 1/2 Larabar (200 cals for the full one) - woke up in the middle of the night and felt hungry

(Sleep)

10am - 1 cup of milk + large asian pear/apple

Noon - Snack (Couple pieces of chocolate)

1pm - 6 Pork Dumplings (200 cals) + Spinach + the remaining 1/2 Larabar

(Gym for a light workout)

5pm - Kashi Granola bar (150 cals) + Peach

7pm - Frozen Dinner - Butter Chicken (370 cals) I added flax, spinach and onions to it.

9pm - I felt ravenous and ate both a Clif Bar (240 Cals) + Luna Bar (180 Cals) -- this was definitely NOT planned, it was like a mini-binge where I wasn't really "in control"

And went to bed right afterwards!!!

So I ate a total of 4 dense energy bars yesterday!!!
Yes, I'm trying to gain weight, but it doesn't seem that healthy to eat all those bars. And two of them right before bed! (I feel guilty about that but I was totally craving something really sugary -- what do you do when youre like that!)

Did I get enough protein or veggies? How balanced is this... What food groups do the bars fall under? (is it Grains)

Thanks!! Feel free to comment on anything

Just my opinion even though I'm not an expert on weight gain, other than doing it myself unintended, I would say you ate too small of a breakfast, which probably made you ravenous later.  A cup of milk and a pair isn't a lot.  It is a good start.  Maybe you should add toast or cereal and an egg white.  Or maybe oatmeal.  I wouldn't worry about eating 4 bars in a day but don't make it a regular thing either.  You would have been better off eating another frozen dinner.  Your frozen dinner at 7pm was less calories than the two bars put together.  I'd say no more than two of those energy bars a day, but double check with a nutritionist.  They are good for either gaining or losing weight though so that seems fine. You should definately eat more vegetables.  Add a side of broccoli to your butter chicken.  For lunch, have a small salad with your meal.  Adding protein is a good way to go as well but your sample day seems fine in that respect, except maybe add an egg or two for breakfast.

 

I hope some of this helps.  Again I'm not an expert but I have learned enough about nutrion over the years to become an unofficial nutritionist.

Try posting in the what did you eat thread in the weight gain forum, there are lots of peeps like you there that converse very actively. (I'm starting to get into that thread too)

I think you should be eating more protein post-workout and don't eat too much carbs before bed, your intake seems to be too low, maybe you should post a further estimate?

as a nutrition major and dietican to be. I would have to agree with the above poster.

you ate too little throughout the day, and most of it was from sugary processed foods. You should incorporate more veggies, fruits and good quality ptoien into each meal. you definetely ate too small a breakfast, and your dinner agian should be something more hearty.

usually when you crave sugar, its because your body craves vitamins, nutrients, fats and protiens from real whole foods. PLay around with it, you might need more vitamins, monounsaturated fat, and even saturated fat. everyone is different.

im a strong believer in metabolic types.

The concept that everyones individual metabolism differs, and every one needs different ratios of protien, fat, carbs, etc.

so like ive said, play around with it.

the ideal diet dictated by the american nutrition association claims that about 50 percent carbs, 25-35 percent fat, 15-25 percent protien is ideal. so this is a rather good middle ground for most people.

Hello! I'm a weight gainer too and you're definitely not eating enough. Especially if you're working out too it doesn't even look like enough to maintain on. This is why you lose control before bed and why you wake up hungry at 5 am.

The bars are good in addition to a complete intake to help you get your calories up and protein, but you need to add in more whole foods too.

have a much larger breakfast, try granola, nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal, cereal, ANYTHING, you can't eat only a peice of fruit and expect to gain weight.

chocolate is great, and its good to treat yourself and allow those things, but maybe also add something into your snack? take that chocolate and make some smores!

pork dumplings are great but not really a complete meal either, add soem rice or something

Add larger snacks like crackers with pb, drink juice wtih meals.

If you must eat frozen meals buy higher cal ones or add in extra veggies or starches to the chicken.

It takes a lot of food to gain so if that's really your intention than you'll have to take it seriously. As someone else said, check out the "what did you eat today?" discussion under weight gain, a lot of us post in there and have really good suggestions. Plus they offer a lot of support when you are having a hard time getting in all the calories.

Sorry if this sounded really direct! I'm short on time but still wanted to give out as many tips as possible. Best of luck!

Okay so I'm far from someone with an ED so I don't understand as much as the others here.  What I think is that you're still restricting, eating too little and posting out of guilt.  I know that sounds harsh but realistically you're eating waaaayayyyyyyy too little, and you know that!  Every dieter has the same feelings of guilt over food, of feeling like they are eating too much, I think it's in the amount you control it and ED controls it A LOT.  If you saw what I ate yesterday I think you would freak out, but I also was able to mountainbike for 3 hrs so....hmmm

Sorry I'm ranting, I think gaining is the same as losing, it takes 3500 additional calories to gain one pound.  That's 3500 calories OVER what you burned for the day.  Waking up hungry and craving carbs means you're not getting enough during the day.  Adding protein is a great way to control cravings for carbs.  You could try adding a boiled egg or egg whites, nuts, cottage cheese?  I have the problem getting enough calories to match my training and that's what I do.

You are trying and that's awesome, there are some really smart gainers on this site, listen to their reason.  The more you eat, the better your metabalism will become and the better you will feel.

Thanks for your replies.

I usually do eat more.... I sort of restricted because I thought I was going out for a LARGE dinner, but didn't end up going.
Keep in mind that I am only human and do still get guilty if I eat a lot. I wish I could eat normally again, but I'm trying here.

I did better today though! :)

Breakfast: a bit of yogurt, cottage cheese and cucumbers (wasn't too hungry and feeling a bit guilty about my 2 dense energy bars from last right before i went to sleep)
And I knew that I was going out for a calorific lunch.

Lunch: (restaurant): 1/2 a pan of 10" bacon/bbq chicken pizza with side salad (cheese on it) I'm sure this was like 1000 calories.

Snack 1: Big Granny Smith Apple + Slice of Processed cheese
Snack 2: Cottage Cheese Cup w/ Jam + a bit of cucumber

Dinner: Hmmm Im thinking stuffed sole w/ crab, veggies, flax, etc.... not sure yet! And maybe some yogurt w/ berries + jam but we'll see!

I'm just sad that I wasn't too 'active' today. Mainly sat around in front of my computer.

still, your not eating enough to GAIN weight, i would probably still round your calorie intake at roughly 2500, and if your active enough most days, your most likely maintaining. which agian, is fine, but if you want to gain you basically need to stuff your face, not with cookies, but with protien, and easy to eat stuff like raisins and dried fruit. Ice cream, chocolate bars are all good for gaining. Apples and cucumbers are too filling, one cup of cucumber has like 10 calories... so.... dont eat too much of it, same goes for salad. Good veggies to eat are squash, peas, potatoes,

Trust me, i gained 25 pounds back after being underweight, it wasnt easy but i had to basically eat 500 over what i using, which is hard since i burned roughly 3000-3200 calories a day, and still do.

my tips are use butter, oil and full fat products liberally. eat nuts, but not too many , they are heavy on the stomach. eat chocolates, ice cream, dried fruits like raisins are great ( one cup has over 500 calories) eat full fat cheese, and even go as far as putting extra egg yolks when you make scrammbled eggs.

Original Post by dartrinton:

my tips are use butter, oil and full fat products liberally. eat nuts, but not too many , they are heavy on the stomach. eat chocolates, ice cream, dried fruits like raisins are great ( one cup has over 500 calories) eat full fat cheese, and even go as far as putting extra egg yolks when you make scrammbled eggs.

I agree with most of this, but butter, egg yolks, and full fat cheese have lots of saturated fat and cholesterol since they're animal products. I would definitely add more fat to your diet, but I'd be more selective and use nuts and plant based oils. Avocados are delicious and calorie dense - have you tried those yet?