Sorry Fruits and Veggies, there's no more room for you

Before i was trying to gain weight i would eat fruit and veggies a lot.

But ever sense i have been upping my calories and trying to gain weight, i haven't eaten any fruits or veggie because they are so low in calories and take up a lot of room in my tummy, making it hard to get enough calories. [like an apple fills me up, but dosent give me a lot of calories, same with broccoli.]

I mean i have been eating things that have fruits and veggies made into them, and the bars i have been eating have a lot of vitamins in them.

Is it okay and healthy not to eat fruits and veggies while gaining weight?

The nutritionist at my inpatient center thought it was fine to keep vegetables to a bare minimum while on a high calorie plan.  However, I'm not sure if anyone completely excluded them - people used the tricks below, and completely avoided raw/plainly cooked fruits and vegetables for sure, though.

That said, it is possible to get some fruit/vegetables in.  You could try things like 100% fruit juice, V8 juice, applesauce, dried fruit, cream of [almost any vegetable] soup, pasta with creamy tomato sauce, starchy vegetables with plenty of fat (like sweet potatoes or peas with butter or olive oil), etc.  You may find that some of these options are still too filling for you, but maybe some of them will work.

Overall though, I wouldn't worry about. Since you're on a high calorie weight gain plan, you're eating a lot of food, which means a lot of nutrients.  Once you're on a maintenence plan, you'll go back to eating more fruits and vegetables. Right now the most important thing is to get all the calories in.

i agree with appletwo..

some veggies and fruits to keep around...

peas

corn

potatoes

vegetable juice

dried fruit

fruit juice

bananas

fruit blended with ice cream and milk for smoothies/milkshakes

fruit with peanut butter/dark chocolate (not a lot of fruit but just as a "tool" for the dipping...lol)

avoid raw veggies and extra bulk though because it will compromise your ability to get all of your cals in. if you must eat raw veggies then pair them with a dip/dressing or nut butter and eat them in moderation. 

In addition to the great list chrissy has, I'm also a fan of a couple of tbsp of flax seed oil or hemp seed oil on a twice-weekly salad for lunch (along with a hard boiled egg or grated cheese, nuts and seeds sprinkled on the salad) as a way to keep the gastro-intestinal tract happy.

It adds a good 350 extra calories without feeling as filling as a creamy dressing and hence sabotaging the rest of the day's effort to get enough calories in.

I am not too familiar with weight gain, but I would think that making veggies paired with higher fats would help you add in more calories while still getting healthful fiber.  I am thinking things like broccoli with cheese sauce, baked sweet potatoes with butter and/or sour cream? I am not trying to gain or lose, but I like to mix mushy peas with mashed potatoes & corn, which I am sure that if you added butter & olive oil to generously, would bump up the calories!

Best of luck to you :) 

An actual serving size of fruits and veggies are pretty small. So to get in the amount suggested is not that hard or extra filling. Then you can pair it with a fat like others suggested. So an apple with pb,stir fry veggies in olive oil. You can make a salad into a 1000 plus calories with already suggested  nuts,cheese,reg dressing,meat etc.

mewkiw

I just posted a similar thread, "stop the salad?" for the same reasons as you!  I am trying to eat more cals, and used to eat a TON of salad for the "benefit" that it filled me up, but am bow finding that I have to not, b/c I get too full!  Chrissy, good suggestions, and hedgren too :)

I ate a lot of craisins last week, but am now kind of over them, they seem too sweet, and make my teeth feel all sugar coated....

peanut butter (I found a brand, "Peanut Butter and Co" and all natural kind that is Cinnamon Raisin Swirl flavor, yummy!!!  and only 35mg sodium a serving, and no trans fats!  it's super good!   www.ilovepeanutbutter.com

thanks everyone!

i guess ill try to add fruits and veggies into what i am already eating,
like today i put fruit on top of my soy ice-cream.

should i worry about the amount sugar in dried fruit? or is it okay because it is natural?
it seems my grams of sugar at the end of the day is pretty high. should i be worried about it?

Nope, no need to worry about the amount of sugar in dried fruit. For one thing, all of the recommendations about limiting sugar are about limiting added sugars, not limited natural sugars, like those found in fruits. 

As a second thing, you're eating more calories than someone maintaining her weight. If you ate the recommended amount of fat, protein, carbohydrate, sugar, etc - well, you'd be eating the recommended amt of calories to maintain. You have to scale up everything for your increased # of calories.

I'd say it's fine, as long as you're getting enough fiber. :)

and no, don't worry about the sugar in dried fruit. it's 100% natural and fine for ya.

Original Post by appletwo:

As a second thing, you're eating more calories than someone maintaining her weight. If you ate the recommended amount of fat, protein, carbohydrate, sugar, etc - well, you'd be eating the recommended amt of calories to maintain. You have to scale up everything for your increased # of calories.

Good point you made there! :]
I havent thought of it like that before

Unfortunately fruits and vegetables are low in calories, but I find them so impossibly good and full of essential vitamins that I couldn't eliminate them to a bare minimum! There are some fruits which are calorie-dense, and therefore good choices to include in your diet; avocados, bananas, large grapefruits and oranges. Dried fruit is wonderful too; I love dried pineapples, mangoes, apples, and bananas. But remember, lower calorie fruit can be part of your meal plan as well! You just need to make wise choices; have apples with peanut butter, chocolate spread or caramel dip, mix berries into milkshakes, top desserts with any fruit. Smoothies are amazing, as their high concentration in fruit makes them much higher in calories than a single portion of fruit. As for vegetables, trying potatoes, yams, squash and corn is a good idea. Vegetables lower in calories (such as broccoli and tomatoes) you can pan-fry in a little olive oil, or pair with a creamy dressing. If you enjoy fruits and vegetables, don't worry about completely eliminating them from your diet; just make adjustments!