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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 :]

hi! how's everybody doing?

3 more days for my weigh in. this week's cals: 2000 but burning 550 cals exercising everyday..so i dunno

breakfast: 400 cals

-mini wheats cereal with honey and skimmed milk  +1 wholewheat toast with nutella +2prunes

snack: 200 cals

-reese's peanut butter mini cup +fatfreee yogurt+ 2 prunes

lunch: 500 cals

-wholewheat toast edam cheese sandwich + 1/2 granny smith apple +1 prune+5 dates

dinner: 150 cals

-grilled chicken breast with lettuce

night snack: 300 cals

-fruit salad ( 1 pomegranate +  2figs+ 2 prunes) +1 glass skimmed milk

 still 1550 cals only. i should be having around 2200 in order to burn 550 cals today! 

fiber intake: 25g working on making it 30g!!      &nbs p;       & nbsp;

Gosh! there is so much going on in this thread right now.

Here what i am planning to eat today despite bad stomach pain (i think i have got lots of calcium in todays plan plus a little treat at the end):

Breakfast: oatmeal made with semi skimmed milk, chopper dried apricots, rasins and tbsp peanut butter mixed in.

Snack: 200ml glass of milk, eat natural blueberry and pistachio bar

Lunch: 2 slices whole wheat bread, tbsp light mayo, Quorn chicken slices and sliced tomato and salad. Activa strawberry yogurt

Snack: Natural yogurt with 7 sliced strawberries and 10 chopped/ sliced almonds

Dinner: Homemade vegetable soup and Home made whole wheat bread

Snack: 300ml cup of hot milk and 3 squares of dark chocolate

Total: 2000 exactly

I am working my way back up to 2200 calories which is where i was before i went on holiday. I think once i am there i may try and push it up to 2500.

Really struggling with the whole exercise thing at the moment. I am not in school right now and find that all i do is sit at home, do a few chores or jobs for my mum but not being very active. However my gym sessions keep getting made fewer and fewer by my therepist and my dad. Its driving me nuts, how the hell am i supposed to build any muscle with no exercise. I feel horrid for not doing anything.

hey all im finding it so hard to keep up here everyones so chatty :)

butterfly - i know how you feel with the exercise my parents didnt understand how its not counterproductive because it makes you feel better and makes it easier to eat more! they have learnt now but it took a long time so i feel for you :) im also trying to get over 2000 atm but its sooo hard getting in the right frame of mind you know?

heres what i ate yesterday...its basically my maintenance AGAIN god im finding it so hard to increase because i havent done it in sooo long!

breakfast: oatmeal with apple and pear and a peach activia yogurt

snack: 2 hot chocolates with marskmallows! (my house was cold yesterday...damn british summers :/ ) and 4 'minature heroes'

lunch: roma vine tomato quorn fillet with stir fried veggies and toast with philidelphia and 2 onion bahjis(i know a bit random)

snack: special k mini breaks and teddy grahams dunked into warm milk

dinner: homemade spinach and ricotta torteloni with tomato and basalmic sauce

snack: banana and yogurt milkshake and oatmeal!

hi all, im pretty new to cc and i came across this disucssion group and found it really perfect for me. i hope u dont mind me joining it, i cud really do with some support at the moment. so ive had an ed for afew years now starting off with bulimia and ending in anorexia (went thru stages of b/p this year even tho maintaned my lowest weight most of the time)

height- 5ft6.5

cw-86 lbs ( maintained roughly for about a year now at least)

lw-83 lbs ( few months ago, went from 85 to 83 cause of binging/purging episdoes)

hw- 137 (pre ed)

gw1-90 lbs

i dont no wat weight i wanna reach but i want it to be low but healthy so like mayb 110 or 115 but wen i reach that i cud wanna be a healthier weight if that doesnt look good, i dont wanna tink of it too much now cause weight restoration seems like such a hard thing mentally an if i set a goal weight thats too high i think it cud freak me out to much an thow me off. my nutritionist wqants to get me toa  bmi of 18.5 at least, at the moment its 13.9 so a good bit to go. but ive realised to jus take it one day at a time, it makes it alot easier. and posiitvity helps alot too.im so ready to get my life back :) ive been inr ecovery for a year now attendin a ed centre but they dont focus on weight first, they focus on gettin ur mind to a stage of not being totally taken over by the ed b4 the weight restoration, but they ensure u dont loose any more buy outtin u on these high nutrition drinks an i was so scard goin on them cause i thought i wud balloon drinkin 600 more cals thna i was used to but i stayed the same weight up till now. im recoverd alot mentally i think but i stil have a long way to go. now im tryin to take care of myself physically.

how much excersise do u guys do? how much shud i be eating to maintain do u think? cause i dont really no how many cals i take in, i had to stop myself obbsessin over that which was hardbut worth it. i think i prob take in around 1500/1600 not sure though

here is my current intake (roughly)

breakfast- ceral and milk ( probs like 300 cals or so i eat alot of it)

snack- fortisip( 300 cals0

lunch- turkey, eggwhite an sweetcorn sandwhich with tomato relish ( prob 250 or 300)

snack-fortisip (300 cals

dinner - tonite its stiry fry chickn and veggies an im gonna try have rice too ( 300 cals hopefully at least)

b4 bed snack-fruit like a banana or apple or melon

fortisp are these nutritional drinks the ed recovery centre likes us to drink but ive been told i can start replacin one with snacks as long as it comes too 300 cals, any ideas??

also im maintanin at the mo as i have been for a year so any tips on what i shud add to my diet?

xxxxx

butterfly- I feel exactly the same way about exercise! I'm allowed to do "light yoga" three times a week max, and that's it. It just makes me feel so fat and disgusting sitting around all day doing nothing! I would be much more comfortable with gaining if I could gain some of this weight as muscle.

aussiegirl- Welcome! This thread is very supportive. A lot of us are recovering from EDs. The only exercise I do is "light yoga" like I said above. Why do you want to eat maintainence cals if you want to get to 110? Fortisip is a nutrition drink right? You definitely need fats in your diet! Nuts, nut butters, oil, avocados and butter are good ways to add them. Also, you could maybe switch out the eggwhites for real eggs. And my nutritionist told me that I need to eat full fat everything, especially dairy. So this means full fat milk, yogurt, ice cream and cheese. You could maybe replace one of the drinks with something like peanut butter on crackers, or a trail mix made of nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate!

I myself am having a rather awful day so far. I weight myself and I've gained 3.5 pounds in a week. I know it's probably water weight, but I still feel really disgusting. I'm just going to have maintainence cals today I think.

Breakfast- Oatmeal with pumpkin, WW English muffin with SNB, nectarine, egg

Snack- Berries of some kind

aquaev- thanks for the reply and advice :) actually me n mum went shopping and bought peanut butter on sunday after my nutritionist appointment as she recomened it and i tried it for the first time on a oatcake (dont have any proper nice healthy crackers in the house so oatcakes are  a healthy alternative) and i loved it :) and i alswo bought some nuts an stuff somim gonna try incoperate them into my diet. the only reason i wanted to no about teh maintanin thing is so i can then figure out how many extra cals i shud be eating to gain slowly cause im aiming for mayb half a pound a week so 2 lbs a month or so. cause i dont wanna relapse so slowly i think il be ok. yeah fortisip is a nutritionally hihg cal energy drink. ive been on them a year. aw im sorry ur havin an awful day :(  maybe jus try distract urself today fromthinkin about the water weight gain by doin somethin u enjoy like yoga?? hope u feel better about it soon. just try think of it as gaining health back ( thats how im tryin to see it )

i havea sweet tooth naturally i think (at times anyway) but havent really allowerd myself to eat anythin not healthy except for a tiny bite of choc or ice cream an i justify the ice cream as calcuim lol. i wanna be able to include treats every now an then to enjoy so im not afraid of them or so i dont immedietly binge an purge wen im confronted with havin them, i jus wanna enjoy them like normal ppl do like mayb once a week. does /did anyone have the same fears/feelings about sweet foods? any advice? like jus on how to allow myself somethin nice thats not as healthy every now an then? cause i looovee healthy food and dont wanna go eatin it all the time, i wanna gain a healthy way!!

xxxxx

yesterday was so bad for me :-(

I went to a sleepover and of course no 'healthy' foods...But I got hungry and I can't just not eat anything, so I had like a million animal crackers, chips and queso dip, and two bowls of cookie dough ice cream. I usually do not eat these things, and what I would usually do is restrict the next day....but I'm trying to get rid of this ed mindset, so I'll just eat my healthy meals today and forget about it, right? Plus, I freaked out cause I weighed myself and I gained 5 lbs all of a sudden, but maybe it's from sodium retention? Like all those chisp and salsa had to have had thousands of mg..

About to eat breakfast....

 

Hey girls! This post is hard to keep up with! Phew...

Gibbit-That food sounds fantastic! I swear I could eat a whole jar of peanut/any nut butter. :D

Relena-Yeah, you definitely should up those cals! But you are doing well anyways. How about switching the fat free for LOW fat? That might help. You could go full fat but it might be a bit scary for you. Could you add something to dinner? Maybe a roll or something for a carb. Even something like a piece of bread could help :)

Butterfly-Sorry to hear about the stomach pain. That must stink, but great job for pulling through and continuing eating! Keep up the good work!

Aussie-Welcome girl! I hope you find this place very helpful. I know I have. Feel free to ask us anything! :)

About the exercise thing that is being asked a lot, I think that exercise is perfectly FINE. As long as you do not overdo it and eat back your cals burned. All throughout my recovery/weight gain, I exercised for 45 minutes 6 days a week! I gained 20 POUNDS!!! But with exercise you really need to eat a lot.

Aquaev-Sorry you are struggling! It was TOTALLY water weight b/c you would have to be eating probably like 5000 to gain that amount. You are doing so well; do not let a number stop you!

XXX

aussie- as you see in my previous post, I'm totally scared of treats like you are. Like I used to not eat at all the next day if I had like a cupcake or something. Sucks, right. This time however, I'm not letting it happen :). Anyway, yeah little by little try adding a piece of chocolate, or 1/2 cup of ice cream...just to remind yourself that it's just food, I mean, it's not going to kill you eat a little unhealthy now and then. People have treats every day and they live to be old and healthy.

I'm also with you with the gaining healthy thing. I hate when people tell me to just eat a cheeseburger or cheesecake, cause "I need it". No, I'd rather eat wholesome foods that actually provide nutrition and fill me up :)

I'm aboout 90lbs, 5'3 and maintain at like 1700. I don't know why. All I do now is walk, because I used to exercise and burn a lot..Now I'm eating like 2500+ so I can gain and not look so gross! So If you think you maintain at 1500, try eating 2000 so you can gain 1/2 a lb. hope thisss helps! good luck

hi everyone!

so i want to go out to eat, i was really feeling greek yesterday, not srue if im still in the mood today, but a meal there would seriously be about 1500 cals.  how do i do that?  just eat more that day and not rearrange the other emals or chnage anything the next day?  im a nut!

ANGEL-i think youre getting it, ppl have daily treats and dont starve themselves the next day.  sounds like you had fun yesterday and good job about NOT RESTRICTING the enxt day.  it might be tough but it will be a huge mental accomplishment!

AUSSIE-welcome, youve been given great advice, good luck!

AQUA-yes, deff water weight!  you are doing awesome!  keep your goals in mind and keep up the good work!

CHARLIE-you KNOW what you have to do-believe me, you do not want to relapse, its awful!  have an ensure, an ice cream, whatever, extra oil or PB so you dont realize youre eating more.  i know its tempting to get back into the mindset of losing when you see the #s going down but remember-you DO NOT want that!  rt?

BUTTERFLY-ugh, i also have a stomach ache and slightly backed up for some annoying reason!  and how do you always get such exacts w your cal count even w/ other ppl cooking for you?  good job w/ your plan!

agru- Here is a Greek food calorie guide for you! http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekcookingbas ics/a/calories.htm

Normally I would say to just get what you want and enjoy it. But that would make me a hypocrite lol. But you are gaining weight, so it doesn't even matter if you eat over your cals for one day. Didn't you say you lost from only eating 2000?

So, I ate eggs yesterday! Lol. They were a fear food of mine for ages, and I have no idea why because their nutritional stats are so good. |: Except... I think they managed to constipate me. Haha. I had horrible pains the rest of the night and was still suffering a bit this morning (see: Health and Support forum, lol) but feel better now. I'm happy I ate them, though, just to conquer that.

thanks AQUA-thanks! i just saw recipes but when i look up the cal count of diff foods that id get or share w/ others, ofcourse there are huge ranges.  for instance, id have some greek sakad~350cals, some pita(has oil soaked in it) 500cals, some gyro and toppings~450, some greek pizza~500cals, lol, total~1800.  umm?

LALA- eggs are good for you, the whole yolk is bad thing is garbage.  good for you!

lalabanana: i usually have eggs a few times a week and since ive started havin them i feel good like there nutritional benefits are really good, lots of protein an minerals. i usually have one egg an one egg white wen makin an omlette im still tryin to build myself up to havin 2 full ones an in sandwhichs i still only have egg white but i think slow an steady is a good way to introduce new foods back into out diets :) keep it up!!

angeleyes137: well done for eatin today like u usually do an not fallin into the restirctin ed pattern, jus try see each day as a new one and forgert about yest, rember the ed wants us to detroy ourselves, an nourishin ourselves will destroy the ed in part. yeah like i can manage ice cream i loooveee it :) an soemtimes i have like half a square of choc after dinner ( i no not much but slolwly tryin) . im just used to associatin alot of sweet foods with bingin an purgin an i dont wanna get caught up in that again cause it was hard enough to stop. yeah exactly ppl have nice treats the enjoy from time to time an we dererve to aswell :)yeah i feel alot better about gaining weight through eatin healthy food instead of junk cause at least that was i can see it as nourishment an i sometimes try to see my body as a machine an food as fuel to keep it workin lol i know lame but it helps sometimes to think that way instea of jus thinkin oh a bite of this is gnna end up on my ass lol :) an thanks for the advice :) i think im eatin around 1600 at least a day now so il try up it.

psychoj: yeah id say im the same in the amt of excersise i do, like jus walking . an well done for gainin the 20 lbs :)

agruskin: hiya :)so u cud either arrange the cals around how much u think u will eat so u try an stay in a cal range u fel comfortable in or if u feel up to it u cud jus eat how u usually do for the day an enjoy dinner cause if ur tryin to gain anyways?? just enjoy it whatever u do an dont let the ed ruin a nice nite :)

how close to bed is everyones last snack?

xxxxx

aussiegirl- It doesn't really matter what time you eat your last snack. The thing about not eating after seven or whatever is garbage! I usually eat my last snack around 10 pm. Then I go to bed at 10:30 or 11.

agru- No prob! I really wouldn't worry too much about Greek. The Mediterranean diet is really healthy, lots of unsaturated fats and oil. Just eat normally, and then pick what sounds good from the menu! Like I said before, the extra cals won't hurt you.

Lunch- Oatmeal honey bagel with cream cheese, Fage 2%, carrots, TLC bar

Snack- Popcorn, yogurt, carrots, berries

Dinner- Quorn chik'n cutlet cooked in olive oil, broccoli and cheese munchies, blackberry cobbler, cheddar bunnies

Snack- Banana, Luna sunrise bar, Ben and Jerry's, extra ice cream

I've been busy the past few days - meaning not thinking about eating enough - but it's time to up those cals again!

Breakfast:  Fage 0% with Nature Valley Maple Brown Sugar granola bar and reduced sugar strawberry jam; scrambled egg whites; almonds

Snack:  apple and almonds

Lunch:  whole wheat spiral pasta with tomato sauce; skim milk with chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast; baby carrots

Snack:  skim milk blended with chocolate Carnation Instant, banana, and ice

Dinner:  most likely going out to eat - I'm kind of craving a burrito, which will def. be a good challenge!  So probably a vegetable burrito with rice and black beans

hia everyone

agruskin - thankyou so much for that...i need that kick up the bum lol...im going to FORCE myself to get to 2000 again today (ive been on 1800) then try for 2200 tomorrow which is what i was gaining on!! i dont want to loose i just need willpower! also, ive just been to greece for 2 weeks and lost lol, no matter what i had as my main meal i called it 800 which obv. was too high lol but really dont worry its sooo incredibly healthy! look out for falafel...the proper greek ones were fab!

aussie - welcome :) if you hae any questions feel free to ask! also, with exercise i tend to do weights at the gym because it helped with the thought that eating more was makeing me fat as i knew i was gaining muscle ;) also, if you want to replace fortisip, most of my snacks come it at 300 cal, one of my faves is yogurt topped with granola and fruit, or a pb and banana milkshake (200ml milk, 1 banana, 2tbsp of pb) also try doing your own baking? it helped me introduce more 'treats' into my day because its something yummy like a muffin, but you make it so it has no preservatives or added junk and you can make it a bit healthier by using oatmeal or wholewheat flour or fruit etc.  oh and my last snack...i literally eat it, brush my teeth and fall asleep haha ive done this for ages and its perfectly fine :D

lalabanana - yey! well done with the eggs! the yolke was a total fear of mine but now im over that i love them :) fritatas with plenty of veg is a nice summer meal and french toast is yummy....ooh and pancakes :P

ill post my food later when i finish eating!

hi everyone-i did not read the last few posts but wanted to write something, post, and ill bb-

but i had a minor epiphany--

when im 25 and going out to eat is considared a challenege, a major event, a topic for conversation on how to do it, when to do it and causes anxiety for myself and others-theres a problem.

when i cant wear shorts in the summer, theres a problem!  when im paranoid that ppl are staring at me and talking-problem, i see my veins-problem, have to eat when im not hungry-problem, cant be physically active, dont socialize, no bf, no social life, barely any friedns, cant have 1 drink, cant eat w/o thinking, cant eat out more than 1 or 2 times a wk, cant concentrate, oh gosh, so many more that i cant remember rt now bc probably of not beibng nourished! 

i have what, maybe 70+yrs of life in front of me?  no way in hell can i spend them like this.  the word "overeat" doesnt exist for no reason.  if i were morbidly obese and over ate, then a prob.  normal ppl over eat, over weight ppl may over eat oocasionally and that 1 or 2 times is not the reason that they are over weight!  if i over eat once by even 1000 cals+, 1/wk, and i DO GAIN- then awesome, hopefully 20lbs over night and ill just be able to start my life already.  id rather be 10lbs over weight than almost 20lbs underweight.  if i need to join Weight Watchers 1 day, fine!  awesome!  itll give me something to do!

so, eating out, over eating, wont kill me, 1/wk, please...i need to gain anyways, need to do it now, need to grow up and get a job and get a life!   this is just crap already.

sorry so long, hope it helped at least 1 person, if not, i truly apologize, its just a personal rant and dont even need to listen or whatever you want. 

you guys are all younger than myself and i had the best childhood, teens, college, all that, i really want you all to enjoy as well!

 

ha, ok, now ill reply and post food-

CHARLIE-you better post your meals and eat up!!!  lol.  this greek restaurant is an old fav of mine,  excellent pita bread thats served warm, already soaked, maybe lightly fried in oil, great horiatiki salad-sort of like greek but no lettuce, tons of oily dressing and a huge amount of feta cheese.  then we also like the horiatiki pizza, its a small thick crst doughy pizza w/ slices of plum tomato, chunks of feta, sliced black olives, oil galore.  and then well also get a gyro platter which is the meat, lots more pita bread, tzatziki sauce, seasoned oily thick fries, and all huge portions.  sometiems moussaka too but i never tried it.  thatd be for 3 ppl and my mom doesnt always eat, id eat like all of it.  i lved taking the warm pita, soaking it in the salad dressing, then making a sandwich w/ the salad-so good, so loaded w/ oil and feta cheese, oh, so carefree!  falafel is awesome, ive been to israel a bunch of times and you can get it here-not so good here tho, falafel is awesome!  id seriously call my meals at the restaurant 1000+cals, oh well!  oh, and when you make muffins, arent they teeny tiny, i always find them sort of a waste, i dunno.

LIKEARE-good for you for realizing that you need to focus again, lets get those cals up and get to our goals!

AQUA-thanks-im also having fage 2% for lunch-planning it t least but i got the one w/ strawberry fruit w it, hope its good!  i forget, you get the mini B+J, rt?  do you ahve the whole thing at a time?  whats broccoli and cheese munchies?

AUSSIE-i too eat in bed, that whole thing of eating whenever is garbage, eat when you want, but eat! lol

tues-

thomas mini bagel square, 1 tbspn PB, apple, hardboiled egg  ( ieat the whole thing, have been, still have low cholsterol so try and not be scared guys!) ~430

1 cAll Bran extra fiver, 3/4 c milk, tbspn trail mix ~200

planning-

roll, 2 slices avocado, cheese, 2 slices sweet potato, honey mustard, tomato+lettuce, fage 2% w/strawberry fruit, plum, pudding or PB (need to buy some stuff so well see) ~ 500

~3/4 c. ice cream, trail mix ~240

hamburger bun, chicken, ketchup etc, salad w/trail mix, plum~350

yogurt, apple~250     total~2000

agru- Broccoli and cheese munchies are um, um um. It's a crispy wheat shell and on the inside  there is broccoli and cheese! Quite yummy. Did you like the Fage? Yeah, I get the little cups of B and J's. They're a little less that half a cup, like 3.6 ounces, so yeah I eat all of it.

Therapy today... yipee.