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Weight Gainers: What did YOU eat today?

I am copying the many times copied thread, "What did you eat today?" in hopes of helping some of those who are just starting to gain and have no clue what to eat. I know that when I began weight recovery, I was eating tons of low-cal foods just because that's what I was used to. I learned the hard way that dense foods are essential to weight gain when you have high caloric requirements (at one point I needed 4500 cal to maintain my weight on BEDREST). Perhaps newbies can get some ideas if we post our weight gain meal plans! Even if you're not gaining anymore, grab an old one and post it!:]
Please note that every body is different and some will need more or less calories than others to gain. This thread is just so that you can get an idea of what you need.
Oh, and yes, I'm breaking the "no calories, no portions" rule, since it is pretty helpful in this case. If you want to post cals/portions you can. I just ask that you don't post if you're not eating enough, though as this is a weight gain thread, I would hope none of you are undereating.;]
I'll start....
Breakfast (875 cal)*

• 1/2 cup oatmeal (150) cooked with
• 1 cup evaporated whole milk (300)
• 1 mashed banana (100)
• 2 tbsp peanut butter (200)
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed and cinnamon to taste (50) 
• 1 hard-boiled egg (75 cal)

Morning Snack (300 cal)*

• 1/4 cup mixed nuts (200)
• 1/4 cup dried apricots (100)

Lunch (660 cal)*

• 1/4 cup rice cooked in 1 cup chicken stock (300) and
• 1/2 cup canned or cooked chickpeas (145) and
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese (150) and
• 1/4 cup each onion, peppers, and tomato (30) cooked with
• 1 tbsp olive oil and curry powder to taste (120)

Afternoon snack (390 cal)*

• 1 serving baby carrots (35)
• 1/4 cup hummus (155)
• 1/4 cup mixed nuts (200)

Dinner (875 cal)*

• 1 cup of my insane Mac & Cheese recipe (515)
• 2 cups tossed salad (45)
• 2 tbsp rasins (60)
• 2 tbsp sunflower seeds (105)
• 2 tbsp dressing (150)

Evening snack (480)*

• 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt (180)
• 1/2 cup homemade granola (300)

About 3600 calories :]

jeanniebrooke: You are doing so great! Good job starting to recover! According to my nutritionist, I'm not supposed to be counting either. I'm supposed to be "listening to my body". But she hasn't specifically told me that I'm not allowed to count, so I have been anyway just to make sure I'm eating enough to gain, which currently is around 2700 cals. I am supposed to be balancing all my meals like you though. I got my scale taken away too! At first, I was freaking out about not knowing how much I'd gained, but now I'm sort of glad it's gone because it relieves some of the pressure. My biggest fear foods are chinese food, and any baked desserts, especially cake. Good luck eating pasta! It's completely healthy though, and nothing to be afraid of!

Breakfast- 2 banana muffins, egg, orange, almond milk

Lunch- 2 crunchy tacos made with soy crumbles, black beans, cheddar cheese

Snack- Peaches, carrots, Yoplait kids yogurt, rice pudding, Boost smoothie

Dinner (I'm volunteering at the library at night)- Salad with chik'n strips, tomatoes, carrots, and papaya poppyseed dressing; Kashi TLC chocolate cherry bar, whole milk Stonyfield Farms yogurt, more carrots

Snack- Orange, almonds, Boost plus, Ben & Jerry's ice cream

breakfast: rolled oats made with rice milk and melted peanut butter on top, vanilla pomegrante yogurt with cinnamon protein flake cereal, orange juice

snack: half an orange, strawberries

lunch: plain yogurt with harvest crunch, 1 banana chopped, cantalope, pineapple, grapes and blueberries mixed in

snack: oatmeal peanut butter and banana square (homemade by my mom, it was soo goood!!)

snack 2: vanilla pomegrante yogurt again :)

dinner: sweet potato baked and mashed with bbq sauce, broccoli and carrots with hummus

snack: prob popcorn with salt and vinegar dressing ;), and vanilla shreddies

hey everyone-

welcome AQUAEV and JEANNIE.  great job starting recovery, this a great and supportive board.  AQUAEV -do you make your own muffins?  JEANNIE-any time someone else cooks my food, that is a scarey food for me, lol

thanks CHARLIE, i will deffinately have to make a point of making the falafel, I guess you just buy the chumus or tzatziki sauce?  where are you going on vacation?

so i really want to eat more, lol!  my bmr is 1500, rt now im eating about 1300, Fri I am planning to get to 1450-yes scared, yes, not sure I can do it.  my question is, I only weigh once a wk- Sat, so i really wont be able to see how my weight increases eating at maintenance (BMR?) until the following Sat, what if Im gaining, do I still continue to increase past 1500 or no?  AQUAEV-  i know that you are seeing a nutritionist you said, but how do you know that you need 2700 cals?  i mean do i live on 1500 cals forever if im gaining on that?

EDIT-when i check my bmr on diff sites, it ranges btwn 1200-1500?

Tuesday-

BFAST-English muffin, PB&J, apple, dried fruit+nuts

LUNCH-edam cheese sandwich, fage yogurt  

SNACK-vitamuffin, small apple sliced and spread w/ PB+trail mix

DINNER-meatball sub(roll, meatballs, tomato sauce, cheese), veg salad+trail mix

SNACK-yogurt+apple

Breakfast: Oatmeal made with skim. milk, raspberries, strawberries + 45g fitness cereal, brown sugar + cinnamon.

Snack: 6 wholegrain breadsticks, baby corn, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes and guacamole (for dunking!)

Lunch: Elvis Presley sandwich!! (wholewheat bread, 2 tablespoons soynut butter, 1 banana (mashed)) and then i fried it all in spray butter till it melted.
an apple, an orange and a pear.

Snack: 75g Swiss style muesli with skim. milk + sliced mango

Dinner: Greek pasta salad (wholewheat pasta, spinach, cherry tomatoes, olives and feta cheese) with 2 slices of crusty wholegrain bakery bread.

Snack: 2 warm oatmeal rasin cookies and 250ml skim milk.

Before bed: 2 instant hot chocolates.

agruskin- I did make my own muffins. I used this recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/8603

And I know I need at least 2700 cals a day because I experimented around for a few weeks to see what made me gain. I started at 2100, then dropped it to 2000 because I was afraid to eat more than "normal" people eat. But then I ended up loosing weight because of hypermetabolism, so then I jumped up to 2500, and then increased by 50 a day until I was at 2700. According to my nutritionist, this makes me gain a decent amount every week- I'm guessing around a pound or a little more.

I think you are going to have to eat more than 1500 calories to gain weight. If your BMR is 1500, I seriously doubt that you'll gain anything eating that. You have to eat 500 extra calories on top of maintenance every day to gain a pound a week. But I'm not a professional, I think it would be best if you got help from a doctor. Would that be possible? In my opinion though, you should keep pushing your calories up if you want to see a decent sized gain. Before I started going to a clinic, I was only eating 1200 (up from 700) also and I didn't gain anything from that. Good luck!

Breakfast- Homemade muesli, orange, almond milk

Lunch- Whole wheat spaghetti with pesto sauce, slice of wholemeal ciabatta bread with butter

Snack- Yoplait kids yogurt, carrots, cherries, rice pudding, Boost smoothie

Dinner- Grilled cheese with 2 slices provolone on whole wheat, Kashi TLC cherry chocolate, La Creme yogurt, carrots

Snack- Nectarine, strawberries, almonds, Boost plus, Clif Mojo bar

Breakfast: 1 slice Whole Wheat toast, 1 tbsp all natural crunchy Peanut butter, 1tbsp sugar free strawberry jam, 1 Fuji apple

Snack: 30g honeycombs, 1 cup vanilla soy milk (my new obsession!)

Lunch: 1/2 cup steam vegetables, 1/4 cup chicken, 3/4 cup fat free vanilla yogurt

Snack: Nectarine

Dinner: 1/2 cup pasta(ACK!),1/2 cup steam vegetables, 50g fat free cheddar cheese

Snack: 1 orange

 

I have a question, i don't know if it should be posted here, but I may as well post it here anyway, lol.

My stats are something like 5'6 and i'm really not sure of my weight. it could be anything from 113-118. Because i'm not allowed to weigh. I'm eating about 1200 calories. Does anybody know if that's enough to gain? Or how many I should be eating to gain? I would ask my nutritionist but she forbids me to talk about calories. She says I have to think in terms of serving sizes. but it's sooo hard. next week another couple servings will be added to my meal plan, so i'm just wondering what a good calorie goal to shoot for is? (i'm obsessive, I know! but i'm 16 and apparently my body could give out at any moment. I'm not even allowed to walk for more than two blocks a day!! so i'm allowed to be obsessed about getting healthy!)

hi everyone, wow, seems like everyone is doing so great w/ such positive attitudes!  keep it up!

AQUA-thank you for responding and for the recipe link.  yum, muesli, lol.  how long does it take for a gain to show?  i went to a nutritiuonsit and a therapist last yr when i was about 10lbs less and was given a mealplan structured around the diebetic exchange where i needed a certain amount of carbs, protein etc. a day.  i think it was about 1500-1600cals but i plan on surpassing that until i get to at least 1800 bc thats what i assume most adult women can maintain on w/ minimal excercise.  also, each time i calcualte my bmr on diff websites, it ranges btwn 1200-1500, so i dont know? lol  wow, 2700, thats awesome!  thanks!

JEANIE-i am not an expert but, when i 1st started my recovery i couldnt even walk my dog to the corner and back, so i know what you mean.  everyone gains on diff amounts but i wanted to give you some sort of response, keep up the good work!

WED-

BFAST-1 cup all bran, dried currants, 1 tspn PB cooked together like oatmeal, orange

LUNCH-edam cheese sandwich, fage yogurt, 2/3 cup cooked spinach+zuchini  

SNACK-vitamuffin, small apple sliced and spread w/ PB+trail mix

DINNER-edam cheese sandwich spread w/apple butter and with chopped dates, veg salad

SNACK-yogurt+apple

Breakfast: Oatmeal made with skimmed milk, 45g Golden nuggets cereal, sliced banana + double chocolate powder.

Snack: homemade date and banana teabread with 2 tablespoons soy nut butter.
250ml milk.

Lunch: Green beans, carrots, baby corn + brocolli, topped with fromage frais and melted soy parmesan, 1 wholewheat tortilla.

Snack: an apple, an orange + a pear.
1 bag eat Natural mini bites (yoghurt + apricot)

Dinner: 2 veggie chicken burgers in wholewheat buns and a green side salad.

Snack: cappucino flapjack (640 cals!!!! LIFESAVER!)
45g branflakes, 150ml live yoghurt, honey + 10 soy nuts.
cocoa made with skim milk

Breakfast: Hot cereal with maple syrup and pecans, dannon raspberry yogurt

Snack: Protein Shake

Lunch: PB&J sandwich on whole wheat bread, banana, orange, cucumber slices, cherries, blueberries

-won't have time for an afternoon snack because I have basketball, weight training, and conditioning until 7:30

Dinner: I think we're just have paninis so probably ham, american cheese, tomato, spinach, and turkey bacon on whole wheat bread, carrots, pretzel sticks

Late Night Snack: Dark chocolate bar

agruskin- Different people take different amounts of time to show a gain. My first decent gain of about a pound took me two weeks of eating 2700 calories to show! I think you should just experiment around with different amounts of calories to see what makes you gain.

Breakfast- Kashi honey almond flax Go Lean Crunch with almond milk, Kashi hot cereal, egg, nectarine

Lunch- 4 spinach phyllo dough puffs, 1 cup broccoli and 1 cup carrots cooked in olive oil

Snack- Yoplait kids, carrots, strawberries, pudding, Boost smoothie

Dinner- Grilled cheese on whole wheat w/ 2 slices provolone, Clif Kid twisted fruit bar, carrots, Stonyfield Farms whole milk yogurt

Snack- Orange, almonds, Ben and Jerry's ice cream cup (cherry Garcia!), Boost plus

I need help! I caved in and weighed myself. I found where my mom hid the scale. My doctors said that if I had a decent gain this week, they would allow me to exercise. But I've lost at least a pound since the last time they weighed me! Does anyone have an idea of how many extra calories I should have today? And also, any food suggestions?

Edit: I had a soynut butter sandwich after breakfast, before lunch. Later today I'm going to make a soynut butter banana smoothie.

aquaev - I knwo exactly how you feel; my doctor upped my kcal from 1500 to 1850 the other week, and I lost 0.3 kg! I don't know how that works. It means I am practically allowed NO excercise, which sucks, and makes the weight gain prospect harder to deal with.

I find some high kcal things like flapjacks, '9' wholebake bars, linda mccartney veggie sausages, falafel really helpful; aside from the flapjacks they're pretty high protein too. Health food stores sell flapjacks that're between 400-500 kcals, and at biggest 110g - they're generally not too dense either! And yummy.... a bit scary though, but when you're in a particularly positive 'by-all-means-necessary' mood, they really do hit the spot (I'm an ED gainer, I do understand).

wow im loving reading everyones posts at the moment youre alldoing soo well keep it up :D

agruskin i normally make my own tzatziki...just grate some cucumber and mix it into plain natural yogurt and add a bit of mint very easy and very tasty :P

jeannie getting obsessed about getting healthy is good! as long as youre not TOO obsessed ;) theres no definite number in terms of calories everyones different...its likely youll gain a bit on 1200 but then it will stop...you just need to keep increasing slowly...100-200 a week? theres no set way to do it but whatever you do make sure oure comfortable with it because youll be less likely to relapse!

aquaev way to go...nutbutter and banana smoothies are great soo nutritious i always turn to them when i need more calories before bed :D id increase by 400-500 cals to jumpstart your gaining if youve lost. i love peanut_butter's flapjack idea im in love with all the different flavours they do and they are sometimes a life saver and i also love falafel too (as you can see by my meals :) ) really just think of a food you really like nd eat it! allow yourself to have what you fancy

well...seeing as i was busy yesterday and didnt post ill post what i had then:

breakfast: dry granola, an apple and a yogurt

(no time for a snack had back to back lectures :/)

lunch: starbucks falafel panini and packet of soycrisps

snack: oreo toffee mc flurry (i promised my bro id get one with him!)

tea: gnocchi with a spinach and ricotta sauce and 2 garlic dough balls

snack: 50g of parsnip crisps and a banana strawberry and yogurt milkshake

VARSITY-hey, quick q, you are defffffffffffffffffff wayyyyyyyyyy more active than i am, lol, im jsut curious, any protein shakes that you happen to like or would suggest?  i wouldnt use it as a meal but maybe part of a meal just to make it more portable.

thanks!

oh, now this may sond really dumb but i need some suggestions- my parents just told me that they are going away tomm for the night, we ussually eat dinner together Fri nights so this means that i can now puck whatever i want, something that never happens Fri night.  my head is going to go nuts w ideas of diff things to have, then ill end up having something normal bc i become too overwhelmed.  sometimes i try to think of what i liked before the ED, but i cant even remember.  i ussually go for shrimp bc thats something we dont eat in our house but i dont know...

thurs--

BFAST-English muffin, PB+J, fage yogurt

LUNCH- turkey+apple butter sandwich, yoplait yogurt, celery filled w/ PB+trail mix

SNACK-vitamuffin, small apple sliced and spread w/ PB+trail mix

DINNER-edam cheese and chopped date sandwich , veg salad

SNACK-yogurt+apple

Breakfast: Oatmeal with skimmed milk, 45g nesquik cereal, strawberries, raspberries + 1 tablespoon Manuka Honey.

Snack: Soy Ice-cream cone with 85% dark chocolate flake.

Lunch: Wholegrain Sandwich with Quorn Ham slices + Melted soy parmesan, sliced beef tomatoes.

Snack: Apple, an orange and a pear.
150ml live yoghurt, 45g granola cereal.

Dinner: Quorn Fajitas (Taco shells, Quorn chunks, Homemade salsa), with brown batsami rice + green beans on the side.

Snack: PB + Banana milkshake.
3 Squares of Green + Blacks
2 handfuls homemade trail mix.

Supper: Cocoa made with skim. milk + 1 tablespoon whipped cream.

OK got it, I'll look for flapjacks the next time I go to my health food store! And also a question for anyone: Is it ok to have a higher than normal amount of saturated fat? Or should all my fat be coming from healthy food that doesn't have much saturated fat?

Breakfast- Oatmeal with soynut butter and cocoa powder mixed in, banana, egg, almond milk

 Lunch- Veggie lasagna, carrots

Snack- Carrots, strawberries, Yoplait kids, pudding, Boost smoothie

Dinner- Soynut butter on wheat, chocolate mousse yogurt, Kashi TLC cherry chocolate bar, carrots

Snack- Orange, PB Luna bar, Boost plus

 

agruskin, haha my life is basically one long workout (thanks high school sports), but I wouldn't have it any other way. I take chocolate 100% Whey Protein Pro Performance. 1 serving is 3 scoops and about 310 calories, but very few of them are from fat. There are 60 g of protein. I usually take like a scoop and a half because my trainer said I didn't need that much because I eat a lot of protein in my diet anyway. You definitely don't need to be super active or a body builder to use this kind. It's great simply in a cup of skim milk or with berries/banana in a smoothie.

All right everyone, today is going to be a difficult day for me. I'm not recovering from an ED, but my doctor, coach, and family say that I need to gain some weight (which I do) because I am naturally really thin and my active lifestyle just makes things worse. Anyway, I eat healthy (not obsessive though) because I know the consequences junk food has on an athlete's body, but today is my mom's 50th birthday and we are for sure going to celebrate. Here's what I'm eating today:

Breakfast: 2 packets of organic oatmeal (and the only healthy thing I'll be consuming...)

Lunch: Max & Erma's. Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Cheddar Cheese and Steamed Vegetable or a fruit salad.

Snack: I'm splitting a Love It Cold Stone Creation with my mom since she gets a free one on her bday ANDDD they are huge.

Dinner: homemade Jumbo Shells stuffed with bacon, spinach, chicken, and cheese in an alfredo sauce

Dessert: Cherry Chocolate Chip Cake from the bakery.

aquaev having a bit more saturated fat when gaining is fine...if you look back a few weeks there was a thread about it in this forum and miss magill gave a really good reply explaining it :)

todays food:

breakfast: yogurt, granola, apple, strawberries and a pear

snack: 1 packet of soycrisps and 1 packet of vegetable crisps

lunch: orzo salad with a basalmic dressing, roasted and sundried tomatoes, basil and borlotti beans!

snack: a packet of teddy grahams, glass of milk and cottage cheese sandwich

dinner: root vegetable hash with a falafel burger, houmous and salad

snack: banana, fromage frais and pineapple shake and oatmeal with pb!

hey everyone-

VARSITY-i ended up getting an EAS protein shake, really yum! lol

so tomm i weigh myself for the 1st time since being above 1200 for a wk, over starvation mode? i dont even get that?  im a little scared to see what it says bc ive read so many posts saying ppl gained 15lbs in 1 wk.  im assuming i gained something, maybe 5 lbs? but i have no clue and im still below an intake that i would asssume is normal for adult women-1800, which is my goal to eventually meet.  i guess i need to gain anyway, an initial gain i suppose i should expect, and then gains may slow or something, ugh, it never ends...ahh, kind words are always welcome!

also, im seeing i need to revamp my food plan bc i get scared to eat during the day and have too much left over at night.  part of my restructuring would have me eating a 100 cal carb as part of my bed time snack.  im not anti- carb and eat them through out the day, im just wondering if its ok to have b4 bed like w an apple?  i know im still eating way too little, maybe only 1300ish today, i dont understand why im still scared!  it sux!  hope everyone has a great wknd!

fri-

BFAST-roll+butter, yogurt, plum

LUNCH- cheese sandwich, yogurt, celery filled w/ PB+trail mix

SNACK-EAS protein shake, vitamuffin, small apple sliced and spread w/ PB+trail mix

DINNER-edam cheese and chopped date sandwich , veg salad+ dried fruit

SNACK-yogurt+apple

Breakfast: Oatmeal with skimmed milk, hot chocolate (fudge), sliced banana and 40g cocopops.

Snack: 4 Yoghurt coated sesame snaps, 330ml innocent smoothie (superfruits)

Lunch: Rasin + Cinnamon Bagel, 2 Tablespoons soy nut butter, 2 Tablespoons Manuka honey.

Snack: 6 Ryvita crackers with soy cheese, baby carrots, baby corn + cherry tomatoes (Dipped in Hummus)

Dinner: Veggie Haggis, roasted parsnip, swede + boiled carrots and 2 new potatoes.

Snack: Soy Yoghurt (Strawberry) with Granola, rasins, apricots, dates + honey.

Before Bed: 2 instant hot chocolates.

Well, my doctor's appt. yesterday went really crappy. I've lost a pound and a half since last Tuesday! Arg. So now my calories have to be upped to 3000! It makes me nervous to think about eating that many every day. I doubt it'll be too hard though, because I'm supposed to be doing little things like using higher cal bread and making my oatmeal with almond milk that will add up. But I'm really disappointed, because I don't get to exercise yet or get taken off one of my Boosts.

Breakfast- Oatmeal made with almond milk, w.m. plain Stonyfield farms yogurt with blueberries, egg, almond milk, fresh picked strawberries (I'm going berry picking this morning)

Snack- String cheese and applesauce

Lunch- Veggie delight sub on wheat from Subway, chocolate mousse yogurt, more berries

Snack-Strawberries, carrots, Yoplait kids, pudding, Boost smoothie

Dinner- (Cookout- erg!) Boca burger on potato roll with provolone, lettuce, ketchup; ear of sweet corn with butter; lady fingers (cake-ish thing) with strawberries and whipped cream

Snack- Molli Coolz ice cream beads, nectarine, almonds, strawberries!, Boost plus