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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 :]

Welcome meesh! Hopefully you find this place helpful. It really was one of the biggest pushes/help in my recovery!

Charlie-Come on! You can do this! Push past counting and eating "maintenance." You an do it! You are so not a wimp though...you are so strong...recovery/weight gain is NOT for wimps :)

Agruskin-I really like Stoneyfield Organic yogurts...also Fiber One...and Yo+! I will definitely have to buy some with the fruit compartments!

I just made myself a chicken salad sandwich w/ leftover chicken, light mayo, mustard, apple pieces, walnuts, and grapes!(also some s+p) I had it on whole wheat bread with kashi crackers on the side. IT WAS AMAZING!!!

psycho- congrats!!! Ahhh I wish I was there right now, I hate having to do all these things and going to doctors just because of my stupid decisions.

aero- I lovee greek yogurt (aka fage). But I get it at trader joe's, so it's like organic and such and wayyy cheaper for some reason. I get the plain, but there's also other fruit flavors. I like to sweeten it myself. I make smoothies with it, or use it as a sour cream sub :)

aeropink- Haha, I know. I love this forum. Waaaay more fun than logging food. NOOOOOOOOO! YOPLAIT LIGHT IS THE DEVIL! You should make your own apple turnover lol. Or buy plain whole milk yogurt and put cinnamon and honey and apples in it. The full fat Fage comes in plain, cherry, strawberry and honey.

psychoj- Well if you want you could eat Fage until you like it! But if you really don't like the taste of plain you shouldn't waste your money. And mmmm, fresh picked berries taste 3054069853069 times better than store bought.

hey everyone!

FAGE=GOOD, lol.   yoplait light---not good!

PSYCHOJ- that sandwich sounds awesome!

AERO-fl will make for such a fun recovery-get a burger or quesadilla or wahtever, we should enjoy the recovery rt?  or try to? lol

so...2 ppl told me to aim for either 3000 or about 2800 but no lower than 2400.  so fine, ok, just wondering why some ppl are told to gain on like 2200, or to go up in 50 cal increments?

agruskin- i tend to eat out every other day or so scince im usually out at school.i eat double-double's when i need to fit in calories.before i would go for a cheeseburger or a hamburger but seeing as i need to gain some weight myself i need that extra protein =] i have been eating around 2700-3000 calories for about 7 days with an extra treat or two (my mom wanted to take my out for ice cream)and one day of 2300.i had one account where i had a "slip-up" and i regressed into ED behavior due to un-planning and eating high volumes of food it was quite uncomfortable.but other than that i was hoping for a 1-2 pound gain this week. but managed a .8 pound gain. a bit frustrating,i hate looking in the mirror and looking so weak. but i shouldnt be so impatient with myself.

aeropink161-double doubles are delicous, in-n-out is  delicious haha i eat thier literally every week,its addicting.=]

 

Oh man, just to echo what pretty much ALL of you have said, but I am obsessed with Greek yogurt.  I still can't get myself to buy anything other than the nonfat kind (I know it's bad, you don't have to tell me!), but I always try to top it with healthy fats like almonds or nut butters so... maybe one of these days I'll get myself to make the switch.  Anyway, here's today so far and what I'm planning for dinner and beyond.

Breakfast:  1 cup greek yogurt topped with 1/2 cup Bear Naked Vanilla Almond Crunch granola and 1/2 cup raspberries; 1/2 cup scrambled egg whites with some avocado

Lunch:  huge salad with spinach, marinated mushrooms, artichokes, and beets;  1/2 cup citrus quinoa; apple

Snack:  1 cup soymilk blended with a big banana, dark chocolate cocoa powder, and ice

Dinner:  homemade tofu tikka masala; zucchini; brown basmati rice

Dessert:  grapefruit; milk

Lunch was really filling but unfortunately fairly low-cal for the volume so I'll probably be grazing throughout the rest of the afternoon/night to catch up on those cals.

angeleyes137: ive been tryin to get into the habit of nibblin on nuts wen i go into the kitchen....so far ive only managed 2 lol i need to get over my fear of nibbling i think. i wish i had a job i jus sit home all day bored lol :)

agruskin: i know its the ed in my head wen im thinkin what to eat cause i immedietly go for all the low cal stuff but im jus so stuffed at the mo lol. i think i need to stop drinkin somuch liquids they fill me up lots. thanks for the reply :)

ok so today instead of havin the fortisip i decided to challenge the ed an have snacks instead of them for today. and me an my mum went shoppin an guess what, we went for coffee and shard half a caramel slice :) i never wud have eaten them b4 an i didnt even dwell on it too much :)

so here is my actual intake:

b- cereal n milk (300)

snack- 2 oatcakes with small bit peanut butter, half nature valley oat bar, weight watchers toffee yogurt ( 300 cals approx)

lunch- sandwhich with egg white turkey sweetcorn and relish(300)

snack-half caramel slice(200 cals id say??)

dinner- omlette with 1egg an 1egg white, mushrooms and turkey (200 cals)

total-  1300

will try have more stuff later, mayb a banana or someting.

meeshmeesh: hey dont be so hard on urself sounds like ur doin awesome :) and .8 is still a gain well done!!!

aeropink161: i know how u feel about feelin lazy, i dont excersise 2 much either. but u shud go an enjoy your tacobell or burger king :) dont let the ed ruin anymore experiences that u deserve t enjoy.

xxxxx

Okay, okay I will try the Greek yogurt some more!

Agruskin-I think that people who can gain on 2200 still have a messed up metabolism. It is not "normal" to be able to gain all of your weight on that amount you know? At the rate you are going, yes, I imagine you are definitely going to need to continue to raise the cals, and probably to 3000 eventually.

Aussie-What do you mean by caramel sauce?

I will update food later!

hey guys..just wanted to ask you something. i'm now trying to maintain, i eat around 2000 cals and burn 500 cals daily exercising, is that good or bad? if i kept the exercise how many calories should i be eating just to maintain then?

i'm 16 yrs, 5ft2, 93 lbs

hi everyone-

MEESH- youre on the west coast im guessing, we dont have in and out here.  you think its ok to eat stuff like that tho, hmm, like how often?lol  wow, only .8?  im sorry, do you excercise?  i like this thread and would suggset posting here, great support here!

PSYCHO-youre rt, it would make sense to need more than 2000-2200 in order to gain weight.  today im not really counting bc im sure ill eat enough, but as of tomm, ill be aiming for a range btwn 2500-2800 cals. 

AUSSIE-TRY TO NOT DRINK SO MUCH AND PICK MORE CAL DENSE FOODS THAT YOU CAN GET MROE CALS W/ LESS BULK. (DIDNT mean caps)

LIKEARE-hey! how are you, are you still trying to gain weight and how is it going?

wed-

thomas mini bagel square, 1 tbspn PB, apple, tbspn trail mix, cheese~450

balance bar-100 (i was out getting a haircut!)

2 slices of bread, 3 slices avocado, edam cheese, 2 slices sweet potato, mustard, tomato+lettuce+red onion, axelrod banana creme yogurt, pudding, peach~480

i know MEESH was againt ensure type drinks, but wht do you all think about adding them in so that once you regain your weight, you can just take those out and still eat foods, but w/ the ensures you wont get sued to needing so much food to become full bht still get the cals.

aussiegirl- Congratulations on kicking your ED's butt! Changing it up is exactly the thing your ED makes you most afraid of, so well done.

relena- You are definitely exercising too much. Even without exercise, 2000 calories is barely enough for someone recovering. You are going to have to cut out A LOT of exercise. A lot of people on here like to do strength training to build muscle. I really prefer going on short walks or doing yoga. Burning 500 is too strenuous. You should be eating back all the calories you burn off so you don't lose any more weight. When do you plan to start gaining? Best of luck.

agruskin- I think nutrition drinks are really great ways to add calories. My logic for drinking them is exactly the same as your's. Once I stop needing them, I can just take them out of my diet so I won't get hungry. If I was eating the same amount of calories a drink has, I would definitely get ravenous when I stopped needing so many cals. I like Boost smoothies.

Snack- Berries, carrots, popcorn, yogurt, Boost smoothie

Dinner- 3 slices Palermo's natural pizza (again!), orange, smooze fruit ice

Snack- Banana, Luna bar, blueberry strawberry smoothie, Ben and Jerry'

I made pasta w/ tomatoes and cheese. Using whole wheat Penne pasta, 2/3 pound mozzarella cheese, and Romano cheese, and olive oil, etc. Sounds so yummy!

Okay, the dinner was HOLY COW AMAZING! It actually only took me 30 minutes[supposed to be 60!], and boy, was it worth it! I am so making that again :) You all would love it, I bet, too! Here is the link- http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/r ecipes/4549

So far today:(not including my evening snacking)

Breakfast:Kashi Heart to Heart Cereal w/ milk(in a rush)

Snack: Rice cake :/...I was not that hungry and lunch was soon and I did not want anything too heavy!

Lunch: The most DELICIOUS(if I do say so myself :D ) chicken salad sandwich on WW bread, kashi TLC cheese crackers

Snacks: Kashi TLC cherry dark chocolate bar, organic apple

Dinner: Whole wheat penne w/ mozzarella, Romano cheese, fresh tomatoes, and a sprinkling of basil(I used my own basil I grow in my pots!!!)....glass of milk too

Off to the gym soon! Going with my dad :)

Relena-Either eat back the cals(and more actually!) or stop exercising so much. You really should not be eating 1500 NET calories, especially for someone in recovery who needs to restore your metabolism. If you are going to exercise that much and try to restore a metabolism, my guess would be around 2700 at least. (Maybe 2500...) If you do not mind me asking, why are you trying to maintain though? I thought you were gaining. Are you just taking a rest?

XOXOXO

HI EVERYONE!

Woooah this thread has grown. have been keeping up but havent posted as remembered i have college work to attempt over summer :/ Anyhoo, i'm still poorly! i've had sickness for nearly a week now, damn bug! hope everyone's well

i've been intrigued about the metabolism threads that are popping up. i want to have a high cal intake but it's so scary to think about it. I used to eat like a horse when i was younger so why cant i now!!??

psycho/aqua/- you guys are so inspiring. how did you get up to 3000+? was it a leap or progress?? was it a dietician that told you to?

argu - 4re s6 brave for upping your intake - i want to join you!

meesh - you've done some really great posts! how long have you had ure ED? Do you do any exercise of sorts?

hope everyone's ok - btw, hello aussiegirl - nice to see you've joined the group!

Suzy Rooooooooooooooooo xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Suzyroo-Thanks! That means so much! Well, I was maintaining on at least 2500 calories at the beginning of recovery. So when I decided to start the weight gain "thing" I thought that I could begin gaining on 3000. I had a nutritionist yes. She did not directly tell me to eat that amount, but I decided on my OWN that I wanted to start gaining weight one day. She supported me and that calorie level though. My nutritionist is AMAZING! She has helped me so much. She is what I want to be like one day...anyways, I was eating 2500 for around 2 weeks and when I jumped to 3000 I did do it like all at once.(I think, I might have gone to 2700 for a day or two but I do not think so) I just added things into my snacks and meals. Like adding another glass of milk, more servings, more DRIED FRUIT! LOL. I ate that stuff so much. I love how you ended your post btw!

Hey, agruskin, thanks for asking!  I'm doing okay... I'm at about 107.5 now and my goal weight was 115.  My parents have actually told me that they think I already look a lot better - which has put me in the mindset of not wanting to gain anymore!  But like you and others, I've also been intrigued by all the metabolism threads on here.  I've probably been eating at most 2200 cals lately - I was hitting about 3000 for a week or two earlier this summer - and I kind of want to see what boosting my cals back up there for a little longer will do!

Alright, dinner time, keep it up everyone!

yeeeeaaayyy i did it :D

i just counted everything up for the day and its 2000 :P thankyou all for encouraging me...all day ive felt sooo positive i didnt want to let everyone down again!

so heres what i had:

breakfast: oatmeal with a banana and an apple and a hot chocolate

snack: another hot chocolate with marshmallows, a pear strawberries and a raspberry yogurt and 4 minature heroes

lunch: plain bagel toasted with cream cheese

snack: 2 pancakes topped with honey and a packet of teddy grahams

dinner: homemade veggie lasagne

snack: blueberry, banana and yogurt milkshake and wheatabix with milk and yogurt

ok so im also really interested in this metabolism thing....ive always gained on 2200 or a bit less but i shouldnt have?? so i should try and increase past that??

god this is so confusing

agruskin how did your meal at the greek resturant go?? i hope you managed to enjoy it :) you deserve to!

psychoj man ure dinner sounds fab :P i love love love italian food i really want to tackle the oliveoil thing i have soon....i kind of dont like using it because its so high cal for a small amount but i think i should start....mmm i make a wicked pesto for pasta you should try :)

relena i have to agree with the others...at 5ft2 and 93lb you shouldnt be trying to maintain! i know its hard but really cutting back on the exercise would do far more good than harm!

omgoodness this thread is crazy! I can't finish reading everything! But the good news is that I started reading this after finishing a pretty big afternoon snack and was motivated to eat even more because I realized I might not be over 3000 for the day so I took a break and got more food haha. So let's see if I can respond to everyone:

Relena- yes you do need to eat more if you're going to exercise that much. What sort of exercise do you do though? That seems like some really intense exercise to do every day. I think even if you're eating back the calories taht's probably really hard on your body. And I don't want to repeat all the same tips on calorie dense foods and eating more, but you need to be reading through these and following them! And enjoy the cake!!!

aussie- I've been recovering since December so it does take a while to gain a better perspective. Emotionally I'm still recovering too but I've come a LONG way. I would try not to drink as much coffee or soda, if you must drink soda (the chemicals gross me out) at least drink the regular kind for the calories, if not juice and milk are very nutritious choices and will help increase the calories. I try and schedule eating about every 2 hours, I get antsy if I have to wait too long, but I sometimes grab things from the kitchen in between or eat sooner if I'm hungry. I'm learning to be less rigid about this. You should also really start eating a real meal for dinner, it will help you slowly get over the fear of eating at night and help get in all your nutrition too. It's not a big deal to not eat a snack after dinner but you should make up for it by eating more earlier in the day. Try having a really big breakfast, youcan make some good calorie dense oatmeals or even cereal by adding things in. That way even if you don't have a very good rest of the day, you've still gotten in a good amount early on. My breakfasts are always at least 700 calories, sometimes over 1000.

agru- keep increasing! You're doing so great and you've come so far! It seems like not long ago you were struggling to get past 1600 and look at you now! :) I also feel like a lazy bum with the minimal exercise I do. I feel like I did a lot today compared to my usual because I actually ran on the treadmill 10 minutes and walked 10 minutes, then did some arm machines. I have to eat back calories now!!

Butterfly- that sounds like fun! Just make sure you eat back the calories, and you do need to keep increasing. I'm hoping to start some dance classes in the fall. Do you guys think I should be exercising more??

Ok and no LIGHT anything!! I don't remember who said it, but we all need to get rid of our skim milks and low fat yogurts and diet drinks. I personally love greek yogurt, Fage does have I think a honey flavor and they also come with the syrups, I usually just add honey to it. There are also other greek yogurt brands taht are just as good. If you don't like greek yogurt my recommendation is stoneyfield farms cream top wm yogurts. They have flavors like chocolate or strawberries and cream, or vanilla and it comes with a yummy layer of cream on top.

meesh- yay for being in the 3000's club with me! I love breyers all natural too! I can't stick to a 1/2 cup serving though :x

aqua- I've seen 3 different nutritionists and all of them basically told me I was doing everything right and had no idea why I wasn't gaining. I guess one of the perks of this ED is that I've learned all there is to know about nutrition.

lala- congrats on reaching that calorie intake! That's amazing! and good job eating cashews, I just bought cashew butter and am in love :) I also didn't like nuts before my ed, but I started eating them just because I knew they were so good for gaining and now I eat them every day! I'll have about a cup of almonds or more just by snacking on them throughout the day. I get that same fear of feeling like I haven't "earned" my calories if I don't exercise and I have to fight myself on it every time I want to exercise and everytime I want to eat less. And don't worry about 2 lbs a week or more, if you gain faster than you'll just reach your goal faster.

ok, well this is long but here's today so far:

b- greek yogurt, blueberries, a peach, coconut, granola, soy milk.

l- all you can eat veggie chinese buffet! I have no idea how much I ate but it was good, a lot of fresh veggies, fake meats, stir fries, dumplings, curries and strange desserts. I ate 2 full plates, bowl of soup, and small dessert plate.

s- coffee with soymilk, big bowl of oatmeal and granola with currants and walnuts made with soymilk and maple syrup. plum. Then went back for dried apricots and prunes and a spoonful of pb.

d- planning on boiled yucca with olive oil garlic sauce, beans and rice, and fried plantains :)

s- no idea, probably my jam cake with something.

Charlie-Congratulations! You should be very proud. Do not stop now! Yeah, I think that you should definitely increase. To say that you gain is saying that you maintain on~1700 calories=not normal! Mm mm...pesto! My dad does not like it, but I think the rest of my family does. Yeah, the recipe calls for like 1 cup of olive oil, but it is still pretty low calorie. And the serving suggestion(1/8 of the meal) is HUGE!!! But I am not going to worry about calories :)

Gibbit-I try and eat like every 2-3 hours as well! It keeps me from going too long. I love all natural ice cream, really any brand though. Who could stick to the half cup serving? That stuff is soooo good! I guess if there is such a thing as an ED "perk" that it would be learning about nutrition, I love nutrition, it is so interesting! Again, we are so alike!

 

AHHHH SO MANY POSTS!

psycho- The past sounds amazing! I'll have to try it sometime, thanks for the link.,

suzyroo- Thank you! Well, my getting up to 3000 was a mix of leaps and progress. I go to an outpatient center for EDs so I have a nutritionist and a pediatrician. Before I went to the clinic my mom had persuaded me to eat 1200 cals a day up from 500 ish. Then the doctors threatened to have me hospitalized to I jumped up to 2100 in a hurry. So I managed to keep myself out of the hospital, but then I lost 2 pounds eating 2100. Then I gradually upped to 2700, gained on that for like 2 weeks, then lost another 1.5 lbs.. then jumped to 3000, lost on that, then jumped to 3300, where I am now! So my doctor and nutritionist were telling me to eat more, but they weren't telling me how many cals to eat. They want me to stop counting. Feel free to ask any more qs and good luck!

charlie- Good job getting to 2000! We all knew you could. Now keep it up and keep that positive feeling! I miss Teddy Grahams lol. I haven't had them since I was a little kid. Yeah, you'll probably have to up your cals a lot more in the future. I gained on 2100 for like two weeks, but then I started losing on that. Your metabolism is just going to speed up every time you add more cals and eventually you maintain on that amount so you have to keep adding and adding.

gibbit- Yeah, my nutritionist is at a loss for me too. Are fried plantains good? What is yucca? I agree, no light anything! It's so pointless to have like a 100 calorie yogurt instead of a 250 one and then have to cram in cals later.

hi everyone!

i love all the activity here, also, this may sound weird and corny, but im ussually the youngest person in any group of friends ive had or whatever and being the oldest one here, yet one of the least expeoenced in some ways, is really cool.  like i feel like im guiding some and being guided and by others and its just a relly awesome place here!  k, enough of that!

the greek was food was so freakin out of this world!  holy cow!  oh, before we went out i told my father im aiming for btwn 2500-2800, and that even thus far my bfasta have been about 450cals, hes like, "thats all for bfast!  wow, you eat a lot, youll have to cut down later"  iwas just like, oh jeez, great, like scarey!  but im figuring that once i gain ill be able to maintain on say 1800-2000 cals, and then if i excercise even 3/wk about 40 mins, doable, then i should be ok, rt?  well the food-i got a shrimp gyro which i gave about 1/3 to my mom bc she just got soup.  then my dad got moussaka wwhich i never had before-it melts in yopur mouth!!!!  wht is that stuff amde of?  it was rediculously awesome!  and we also got a bog horiatki salad-like a greek one but no lettuce, tons of dressing and feta.  so i had a small peoce of moussaka-not tiny but like small.  i had salad which had the dressing on it, nothing was changed when ordered.  i ate everything till i was slightly past full but not stuffed-i dont think ive ever doen that well ever!  i used to just stuff myself till i couldnt move!  im not logging it, i dont feel guilty but rather great.  ill still prabably have my apple and yogurt in a little while also.

AQUA-tomm since im not eating out im going to have an ensure i think before i go out at night to meet friends!!!  and that dork from last wknd but not to be mean, but i think meeting up w him will be like socializing practice for me! lol

PSYCHO-how much are you maintaining on now?  you go to the gym and do bball?    im so excoted to try more foods and will look at the  pasta recipe altho im not a fan of peices of mozarella.

SUZY-i ate a lot of junk and just ate carelessly, but i gained, i was overweight when i was younger but i was happier too, and thats more important!

LIKEARE-hw tall are you again?  my ultiamte goal is like 130s-140s and im slightly under 5'4.  im aiming for at least 2400 tomm and then higher to a range of 2500-2800, and i dont do spin and stuff, i just want to reach my goal, then i can do spin and stuff or whatever.

CHARLIE-good for you, 2000 is maintenance?did u gain fast at 2200?  maybe your metabolism was never restored to have gained on that?  id keep incresing to see how much youre able to eat b4 you gain, maybe increase by about 300 for a wk b4 deciding where to go from there?

GIBBIT-all i have to say is woohoo for restaurants!  lol  im not going to count my meal, do you try and log rstaurant meals?  too hard im thinking. 

so, i dont have a nutritionist i just hope im doing ok, 2400 at least is what im shooting for tomm and dont neccesaraly want to preplan altho im sure ill eat mostly my routine stuff, give or take.  thanks everyone and keep up the awesome work!