Volume vs calories

Hi all, I know this is probably asking a silly question and one that has been answered many times on this forum already but I am putting 110% into trying to gain weight this week (I have a weigh in with my dietician tomorrow) and as such I have been sticking to my meal plan and challenging myself food wise this week.

As we all experience, I am feeling really full from all the food I am eating and it gets to dinner and I am not even hungry and have to make myself eat. That and the fact that my tummy is getting pretty huge looking as well! I have to keep in mind though that my tummy is my biggest criticism area though....

I know this is part of the process of re-feeding or returning to normal eating but I have posted a typical day's eating for myself below to get any tips on how I might be able to balance the volume and the calories a bit better i.e. reduce the volume and up the calories in a healthy way.... I do include some challenge foods e.g. ice cream so don't really want more of those - I want healthy calorie additions.

Also - I am not sure how many calories the plan below is - I have had comments that it might be around 2000?

Breakfast: 1/3 cup raw porridge, cooked with 1 cup skim milk and 1tbs honey and sultanas.

Snack: usually one of a) yoghurt/rice pudding snack, b) english muffin with butter + a piece of fruit 

Lunch: usually one of a) sandwich/roll with turkey, avocado & salad, b) 2 or 3 sushi hand rolls and sometimes a juice b) soup with bread roll

Snack: usually a muesli bar and a piece of fruit (or a chocolate bar if I am feeling brave!)

Dinner: usually a pasta dish, tofu/vegetables/egg noodles, meat stir fry with rice, omelette with toast and margarine etc

Snack: usually one of a) 2 scoops ice cream in a cone, b) rice pudding snack, c) small chocolate bar

According the my reading, most women should eat about 2100 calories to maintain a good weight.  For gaining weight, try steak, olive oil and nuts.  These food are pretty calorie dense but also good for you.  I agree that you shouldn't fill up with milk shakes or chocolate bars.  Good luck!

There are lot's of little changes you could add to your plan that would up your calories in a healthy manner tremendously. Try adding some peanut butter/nut butters into your plan somewhere. Maybe by adding a spoonful or two to your porridge in the morning. Even on your english muffin. I like peanut butter with banana slices on top of mine. It's very yummy! Nuts are another good high-calorie addition to foods. You can easily top your porridge with them or simply just have a serving (which is usually a very small portion) with your regular snack. I personally like pistachios and almonds best. Dried fruit is also another good option you could do just the same as you would with nuts. You can also try adding some granola to your yogurt at snack. Just by adding simple changes like this helps alot. It is pretty simple once you get creative and the hang of it. For more ideas you may want to see this post:

http://caloriecount.about.com/official-high-c al-foods-list-ft85039

Hope some of this was helpful to you. Let me know if you are in need of more ideas.

Thanks petite_nanner - very helpful. I think I will try cutting back the volume of some of my meals/snacks and follow your advice above about adding some extras that aren't volumous but are calorie-rich.

Out of interest - are you on a meal plan at the moment and if so do you mind if I ask how many calories it is? It would be great to see it if you are happy to share it - looking for innovation and inspiration with food!!!

I find that for me liquid calories are less filling and cause less bloating. For example, I could blend 2 tbsp PB, a banana and a cup of milk for 400 calories and this would be alot easier to consume than 2 larabars (also 400 cal). So maybe try more beverages, like juice or smoothies or milkshakes.

Yes, I am following a meal plan at the moment. The calories vary from day to day but usually my meal plans are anywhere from 2500-3500 cals. A few months back I was put on a strict meal plan of 3000 which was then upped to 3500. Since then I have made minor changes to that meal plan, but still often follow it as a guide line for myself.

Here are a few plans I have posted:

Breakfast - 2 slices WW toast w/peanut butter and mashed banana on top, 3/4c Nature's Path Optimum Banana Almond cereal, 1c soy milk

Snack - 1/3c almonds

Lunch - 5 chicken nuggets + BBQ sauce, 1c Amy's Medium Chili with Vegetables, 1/2c Garden Cocktail

Snack - 1c Mammoth 2500 (weight gainer drink) mixed with mango juice, 1/3c almonds

Dinner - Honey BBQ ribs (first time trying ribs..), brown rice, slice of Italian bread + butter, 1/2c Garden Cocktail

Dessert - Chocolate pudding + whipped cream & sprinkles

Snack - Peanut butter & banana smoothie (1c soy milk, 1 banana, 1 TBS peanut butter)

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Breakfast - 1c Kashi GoLEAN Crunch! cereal, 1c soy milk

Snack - 1/4c banana chips

Lunch - Amy's Non Dairy Bean & Rice Burrito topped with salsa, raw veggies (baby carrots, cucumber & tomato slices) and Sun Chips with more salsa for dipping

Snack - Lemon blueberry & banana smoothie

Dinner - 5 BBQ chicken meatballs, potato latke (pancake), slice of Italian bread + butter

Dessert - Home-made chocolate-chip cookie

Snack - Yogurt parfait - alot of vanilla yogurt, blueberries and banana slices topped with granola, raisins and crushed almonds

If you would like to see anymore of my meal plans, I would be more than happy to share them (or you can look through my posts to find them http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/community/fo rums.php?nav=user&userid=1521511). I can also post my 3500 cal meal plans I was previously on before joining CC, if you are interested. Glad I was able to help you. Keep up the good work and good luck.

Hi petite_nannre - yes it would be helpful to see your 3500 plan. I will also take a look at your other posts.

It seems you are able to incorporate some variation as you change what you eat each day but do you have some general guidelines you follow?

Hey guys - I just had a check in appointment with my dietician and she wasn't very helpful at all with discussing volume vs energy dense foods. She said she doesn't want to really focus on the energy density of foods as it will 'freak me out'.

I said I am not comfortable just eating a) chocolate and ice cream to increase calories so asked for healthier alternatives which she wasn't very helpful with and b) a big peanut butter sandwhich or something as a snack as i won't be hungry for dinner then

any advice??? I am feeling very frustrated and it is starting to impact my motivation...

when you have cereal, shakes, oatmeal, etc, even when it's with milk, add extra nonfat dry milk, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, protein powder, wheat germ, sugar, honey, etc for no extra volume.

always choose dried fruit over plain fresh fruit if you want calories without feeling full. when you eat fresh fruit use lots of nut butter or cream cheese. with veggies use ranch dressing or hummus. 

add extra cheese, avocado, and mayonnaise to your sandwiches, and use dense, whole-grain bread.

saute, never steam, your veggies.

when you have green salads pick toppings like beans, avocado, croutons, etc, instead of so much lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, and use lots of dressing.

never have plain toast in the morning. jelly is better, then honey, then cream cheese, butter, and nut butters. again, hardly any extra volume.

nuts make the best snack if you like them. you can add dried fruit and chocolate if you like. very small volume, lots of calories, very healthful.

here's a recipe i just made that was good: combine 1/2 c. cream cheese, 1 Tbsp olive oil, and basil and tomatoes to taste in the food processor or by hand if needed, then spread over both sides of a bagel. whole grains, healthy fats, protein, good taste. ~950 calorie lunch without sides or a drink. :)

Thanks blueberry_lips - very helfpul. I will also take a look at the high calorie foods list on this forum for some ideas.

You are thinking along the exact lines that I wanted advice on - small additions that will have an impact! My dietician was so not interested in discussing these today... she was just telling me to eat more peanut butter sandwiches and muffins rather than helping me look for ways to add small volumes that will have high calories.

Thank you!

I have the same problem, it used to be with my ED i was afraid of calories. Now im afraid that f i eat to much volume, i'll never be able to go back to eating portions that will keep me slim because my stomach will stretch.

so when im hungry i don't eat, or am still hungry afte eating more than other people it terrifies me. will i ever feel satisfied.

what the hell is a normal portion for someone to eat anyway?

really miserable with this please help!

Hi youngainer - sorry you are also struggling with this. I am not sure what portions you are eating now but for me a good indication of portion size is just to observe what others eat around me and follow that as a rough guide (that and the advice of my dietician!).

In terms of stomachs stretching - this is just part of the re-feeding process that we all need to deal with and although it can be uncomfortable for a while and a bit scary - just as our stomachs have learnt to shrink - they will again learn to go back to normal size - I will emphasise the 'normal' part of this as we have not been living of healthy amounts of food and we need to retrain our body to accept the amount of food it actually needs to survive.

Although its a hurdle - try to focus on how you feel while you are eating and continue eating until you are no longer hungry - don't be dictated by when others stop and feel you have to. This is something i struggle with too but am getting better and had a breakthrough tonight - I went out for a few drinks with friends and then I was starving so we went to a restaurant and I saw pizza on the menu which I would have previously avoided but I ordered it - it came and was pretty big which I had a minor freak out at but then ate the whole thing and loved every minute of it! Others on the table didn't finish their meals but I didn't care - my hunger was satisfied and I really enjoyed the food :)

What really helped me in the early stages of recovery was coconut milk. Use it on your cereal, in your oatmeal, in smoothies, etc. If you can't stomach the taste of it, mix it half with regular milk. 1/3 c has about 100 calories, so you can see how it would help get your cals in :) You can easily get a super high cal smoothie using full fat yogurt, coconut milk, bananas, and a few tablespoons of nut butter, and honey/agave nectar as a sweetener :) Or add a handful of frozen berries/other fruit. 

Original Post by youngainer:

I have the same problem, it used to be with my ED i was afraid of calories. Now im afraid that f i eat to much volume, i'll never be able to go back to eating portions that will keep me slim because my stomach will stretch.

so when im hungry i don't eat, or am still hungry afte eating more than other people it terrifies me. will i ever feel satisfied.

what the hell is a normal portion for someone to eat anyway?

really miserable with this please help!

What the hell a normal portion to eat is: ENOUGH FOOD TO MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT (a healthy weight)!!! If you feel hungry, YOUR BODY IS OUT OF CALORIES AND NEEDS MORE TO KEEP GOING! Your body does NOT have an evil, secret plan to make you fat when you're not looking! In fact, you are more likely to gain weight by NOT eating because you will mess up your metabolism really badly. And when you feel full, you should be fine on food unless you are trying to gain weight, in which case you may still need more. Please eat when you are hungry! You have to to get better, physically but especially mentally. About being satisfied: YES you will feel satisfied. I promise you don't feel satisfied because you restrict your food at other times unlike others, which is why it takes less to satisfy them.