Upping Calories question

Is it safe to up the calories from 2,500 to 3,000 or should I do 2,600 one day then see what happens and maybe up it to 2,700 and so on till I finally get to 3,000? I ate 2,700 and something one day and felt awful but just not seeing any gain from 2,500. 

An extra hundred calories will have no affect on your weight. I've inadvertently taken in anywhere from 100-200 calories more than I planned for several times within a week and it never caused me to gain.

If you aren't gaining on 2500, you need to up it 3,000. No ifs ands or buts about it. It takes 500 extra calories a day to gain a pound a week. Though, I should mention one thing. I was maintaining on 2200 calories a day few months back. I had to increase to 3600-4000 a day to gain 1lb/week. Calorically dense foods become your best friends. Carnation Instant Breakfast packets can be added into shakes, milks, hot/cold cereals, and yogurts and it makes getting the calories in much simpler.

You can make your meals more condensed and it won't be quite as filling. And if you're recovering from an ED - you really can't trust your satiety. The ED tends to manipulate us into believing we are so full/eating so muc/etc. 2500 is not a lot of food, especially when you do it right.

Easy way to add 500 calories: 1 cup whole milk with 1TBS syrup (200) and 1/4 cup each nuts and dried fruit (300). Or you could make a shake quite easily that's 500. Ex. 1/2 cup premimum ice cream (250) 1 cup WM (150) and a medium to large sized banana (100) = 500.

I was thinking of adding more fruit. Sort of addicted to fruit at the moment and know I could use more nuts. The only problem is that think I could be over doing the fruit. :( 

If you think you are over-doing the fruit, I don't think its a good idea to add 500 calories worth of it.

I know it is hard to add things like fats and proteins in - they tend to be people's biggest fear foods. From my own experience, increasing calories with fear foods made it much easier for me to allow myself to have them. And if you're going to do this, you might as well do it right and have a good time with it and learn to enjoy food again - all kinds of it and in every aspect. More calorically dense foods WILL make it easier for you to eat overall - even if you have some anxiety about it at first.

I don't have a problem with adding nuts and know I need the good fats they have just really like fruit and would add both. Just afraid I guess that fruit probably isn't the best food for gaining though 

Dried fruit can be better - more calories for a smaller amount of volume.

But, if you're having your fruit with something calorically dense - like a good whole milk yogurt, peanut butter, hummus, granola etc - then there is nothing wrong with it. I personally have 3-4 servings of fruit every day.

About the calorically dense foods--yes!  Learned about those here and I must have a small stomach or low morning appetite or something, because I could never hold some of the big breakfasts posted here.  So, I've become every squirrel's best friend by hauling around nuts, dried fruits, & trail mix. 

Rebelchick mentioned Carnation Instant Breakfast (CIB). Chocolate flavor is great.  Some stores sell it in a 17.7 ounce tub, too, as well as the packets.  I have most of the other things mentioned above on hand at work and home. It is the way to go for me. 

I also discovered that chocolate milk  (whole, not 2% or lowfat) has 440 calories per pint!  Avocados are another friend. I love yogurt, too.  So, I hope you find at least some of these dense foods on your favorites list.  It will make getting up to 3,000 much easier. 

Oh forgot to mention that I ate 20 Brazil nuts whle sitting here reading the forum.  That was an easy 500+ calories!

SSkirt

More calorically dense foods:

• nuts
• trail mix
• nut butters
• bagels or pastries
• granola
• whole milk
• full-fat yogurt and ice cream
• dark chocolate
• whole wheat pasta
• quinoa
• protein bars
• protein shakes
• eggs
• cheese
• oatmeal (esp. vamped up with nuts, dried fruit, etc)
• dried fruit
• nutella
• milkshakes
• smoothies
• quiches or pies