Trouble Getting Calories, Low Appetite

Diet and Nutrition
1

So I’ve added carbs before and after my morning training (first thing in the morning) and I’ve added plenty of peanut butter to my shakes. I am still not getting enough calories in as my weight gain is still stalled. I just started 5/3/1 boring but big and I need some more suggestion on how to cram as many calories down my gullet on a pescatarian diet.

I tried adding coconut oil to my shakes but it solidifies and i almost choked the first time (the second time heating it up was ok, but it may not be enough calories still). I’ve been thinking of adding kind.lara bars for snacks but I’ve also been struggling as my appetite as been very up and down but overall pretty shitty.

Current days are looking like:

2 scoops whey with oats
Lift
1 scoop whet with oats
breakfast: 3/4lbs salmon (or eggs) with sweet potatoes
lunch: heavy shake with some kind of carb and a few kind/lara bars
dinner: eggs or more fish and pasta or equivalent in carbs with a peanut butter protein shake
and then another peanut butter protein shake before bed.

I’m just looking for any ways to either stimulate a monster of an appetite or food/shake ideas that are more calorically dense to capitalize on the little appetite I currently have. I’m currently about 157 trying to get up to 200.

EDIT: I’ve also started experimenting with a little exercise before eating, yesterday I tried to do some Military presses supersetted with pullups (like a few sets of 5 with a medium weight). It seemed to stimulate my appetite a little but I time it wrong with my meal and got to the point where I wasn’t hungry anymore.

2

Throw in a shot of Extra Virgin Olive Oil post workout. One shot is about 3 tablespoons which comes out to 300-400 or so calories. Do that for a week and check your weight.

3

A gallon of WHOLE milk throughout the day,much red meat,a jar of natty peanut butter every couple days.

4

[quote]magick62d wrote:
A gallon of WHOLE milk throughout the day,much red meat,a jar of natty peanut butter every couple days.[/quote]

I go through nearly a half gallon a day. I will try to increase it. I’ve also been trying to add more cheese. I like the olive oil thing I will add that in post workout tomorrow.

5

[quote]athsports wrote:
Throw in a shot of Extra Virgin Olive Oil post workout. One shot is about 3 tablespoons which comes out to 300-400 or so calories. Do that for a week and check your weight.[/quote]

I’d personally do it another time of day as post workout is a time where I want aminos and carbs to be getting to my muscles as fast as possible. Fats slow this down.

OP: What are your current macros? Maybe try upping the carbs/protein before/during/after your workout. I have always found this to be more beneficial than adding calories to any other time of the day because this is where your body is using it the most. I have seen John Meadows suggest (on another site) that people should start with a set peri-workout protocol and then increase it until they no longer feel sore from their workouts.

6

[quote]The Rattler wrote:

[quote]athsports wrote:
Throw in a shot of Extra Virgin Olive Oil post workout. One shot is about 3 tablespoons which comes out to 300-400 or so calories. Do that for a week and check your weight.[/quote]

I’d personally do it another time of day as post workout is a time where I want aminos and carbs to be getting to my muscles as fast as possible. Fats slow this down.

OP: What are your current macros? Maybe try upping the carbs/protein before/during/after your workout. I have always found this to be more beneficial than adding calories to any other time of the day because this is where your body is using it the most. I have seen John Meadows suggest (on another site) that people should start with a set peri-workout protocol and then increase it until they no longer feel sore from their workouts. [/quote]

I’m aiming for P: 300g C: 230g F: 220g

However my actual is probably closer to P: 200g C: 180g F: 170g

How many grams of carb and protein would you recommend before and after?

7

[quote]dreadlocks1221 wrote:

[quote]The Rattler wrote:

[quote]athsports wrote:
Throw in a shot of Extra Virgin Olive Oil post workout. One shot is about 3 tablespoons which comes out to 300-400 or so calories. Do that for a week and check your weight.[/quote]

I’d personally do it another time of day as post workout is a time where I want aminos and carbs to be getting to my muscles as fast as possible. Fats slow this down.

OP: What are your current macros? Maybe try upping the carbs/protein before/during/after your workout. I have always found this to be more beneficial than adding calories to any other time of the day because this is where your body is using it the most. I have seen John Meadows suggest (on another site) that people should start with a set peri-workout protocol and then increase it until they no longer feel sore from their workouts. [/quote]

I’m aiming for P: 300g C: 230g F: 220g

However my actual is probably closer to P: 200g C: 180g F: 170g

How many grams of carb and protein would you recommend before and after?[/quote]

I don’t know what to recommend, it’s an individual thing. As I said above try sipping some fast acting carbs (dextrose, malto) and protein (BCAA’s, hydrolysed casein/whey, EAA’s) before and during your workout and then have a decent meal about 1-1.5 hours post workout. Start with 20grams of protein and 50-100 grams of carbs then increase from there.

8

Jw, how tall are you?

Your meat choices aren’t going to help really, since red meat has a lot more cals than fish, but that’s your choice.

You can’t grow without enough protein, so make sure you get in at least 1.0-1.25g/lb of body weight.

Also, the best way to stimulate your appetite is to be consistent when you eat. But if you’re like most people that are small trying to put on lbs, your will power is going to need to be stronger than your appetite. There’s no good way to stimulate the appetite you want naturally. Make sure that you do at least a little cardio so you don’t become a complete lard-ass, but it will keep your hunger up some.

Dave Tate said it best, and when I did my last big bulk it proved to be true(150 to 198 in just over 4 months), don’t miss a day or a meal. You have to be in a calorie surplus EVERYDAY if you are trying to gain weight, especially if you’re an ectomorph.

There’s no magic pill, bulking sucks for some people. Do anything that comes to mind. I would bake bread (ppl laugh, but it had 3600 cals in the loaf), GOMAD, cheesecake challenge (no explanation needed). Use canned coconut milk instead of the oil, or just blend the shake w coconut oil/ice and you won’t know its there. Get in enough fiber to digest all the fats (flax in shakes or veggies, prob both). Bring bagels, a jar of PB and a knife EVERYWHERE you go so that you can eat in between meals or you have a snack in case something comes up. Make sure are you also doing enough volume in your training to bulk too.

One big factor that helped me assess my eating… If I didn’t have 2 meals where I hated myself and sat on the couch in a caloric daze, I can’t expect the scale to move.

Good luck man

9

[quote]VTTrainer wrote:
[/quote]
Is that you in your picture? You look awesome!

10

[quote]dreadlocks1221 wrote:
I need some more suggestion on how to cram as many calories down my gullet on a pescatarian diet.
…
I’ve been thinking of adding kind.lara bars for snack[/quote]
Those are fine options. Pretty calorie-dense, but they’re light on protein for what we’re looking for. Greek yogurt (not the fat free/reduced fat versions), beans, munch on shrimp all day like they were candy (they’re pretty much all protein), an avocado or two per day (not much protein, but another calorie-dense option).

Coconut oil is great, but it’s not the only great fat source out there:

This stands out to me. I saw that you had a thread a little over a month ago also about not having an appetite. That’s a pretty long while to be feeling lousy.

Any other “symptoms” or things that have changed recently - General mood, sleep patterns, daily stress, strength levels, bodyweight (you said gains stalled, but have you lost weight)?

You could always pull a (modified) Dave Tate. Get the biggest bowl you own, fill it with rice and beans, chew your way to the bottom, repeat several times per week.

11

[quote]The Rattler wrote:

[quote]VTTrainer wrote:
[/quote]
Is that you in your picture? You look awesome![/quote]
That’s a pic of Matt Kroc.

12

[quote]VTTrainer wrote:
Jw, how tall are you?
[/quote]

5’10"

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]dreadlocks1221 wrote:
I need some more suggestion on how to cram as many calories down my gullet on a pescatarian diet.
…
I’ve been thinking of adding kind.lara bars for snack[/quote]
Those are fine options. Pretty calorie-dense, but they’re light on protein for what we’re looking for. Greek yogurt (not the fat free/reduced fat versions), beans, munch on shrimp all day like they were candy (they’re pretty much all protein), an avocado or two per day (not much protein, but another calorie-dense option).

Coconut oil is great, but it’s not the only great fat source out there:

This stands out to me. I saw that you had a thread a little over a month ago also about not having an appetite. That’s a pretty long while to be feeling lousy.

Any other “symptoms” or things that have changed recently - General mood, sleep patterns, daily stress, strength levels, bodyweight (you said gains stalled, but have you lost weight)?

You could always pull a (modified) Dave Tate. Get the biggest bowl you own, fill it with rice and beans, chew your way to the bottom, repeat several times per week.[/quote]

I’ll look into those fats (and eating shrimp all day actually sounds like a descent idea). My strength is staying roughly the same, some improvements. I just started my second month of boring but big. I haven’t lost weight, just hovering around the 157 (although I haven’t checked in about a week, but I still look the same in the mirror).

The bit about the rice and beans, is that Calorically dense enough, do you think it would interfere with other meals?

13

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]The Rattler wrote:

[quote]VTTrainer wrote:
[/quote]
Is that you in your picture? You look awesome![/quote]
That’s a pic of Matt Kroc.[/quote]

I had no idea The Kroc was a 21 year old personal trainer at Virginia Tech.

14

[quote]JLone wrote:

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]The Rattler wrote:

[quote]VTTrainer wrote:
[/quote]
Is that you in your picture? You look awesome![/quote]
That’s a pic of Matt Kroc.[/quote]

I had no idea The Kroc was a 21 year old personal trainer at Virginia Tech. [/quote]

I feel stupid now. I only asked because when I see a picture like that I always take their advice much more seriously unless I know for sure it’s not them.

15

[quote]dreadlocks1221 wrote:
The bit about the rice and beans, is that Calorically dense enough, do you think it would interfere with other meals? [/quote]
2 cups of black beans with 2 (dry measured) cups rice is about 1800 calories, 400g carb, 60-ish g protein, 10g fat. Not sure what you mean about it interfering with other meals. When I said the bit about Dave Tate, I was referencing the advice he’d received about gaining weight.

“For dinner you’re gonna order an extra-large pizza with everything on it. Literally everything. If you don’t like sardines, don’t put 'em on, but anything else that you like you have to load it on there. After you pay the delivery guy, I want you to take the pie to your coffee table, open that fucker up, and grab a bottle of oil. It can be olive oil, canola oil, whatever. Anything but motor oil. And I want you to pour that shit over the pie until half of the bottle is gone. Just soak the shit out of it.”

“Now before you lay into it, I want you to sit on your couch and just stare at that fucker. I want you to understand that that pizza right there is keeping you from your goals.”

This guy is in a zen-like state when he’s talking about this.

“Now you’re on the clock,” he continues. "After 20 minutes your brain is going to tell you you’re full. Don’t listen to that shit. You have to try and eat as much of the pizza as you can before that 20-minute mark. Double up pieces if you have to. I’m telling you now, you’re going to get three or four pieces in and you’re gonna want to quit. You fucking can’t quit. You have to sit on that couch until every piece is done.

And if you can’t finish it, don’t you ever come back to me and tell me you can’t gain weight. 'Cause I’m gonna tell you that you don’t give a fuck about getting bigger and you don’t care how much you lift!"

Did I do it? Hell yeah. Started the next day and did it for two months. Went from 260 pounds to 297 pounds. And I didn’t get much fatter. One of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, though."

I just didn’t think a pizza with everything, except sardines, was an option for you. :wink:

16

[quote]The Rattler wrote:

[quote]JLone wrote:
I had no idea The Kroc was a 21 year old personal trainer at Virginia Tech. [/quote]
I feel stupid now. I only asked because when I see a picture like that I always take their advice much more seriously unless I know for sure it’s not them. [/quote]
Behold, the magic of the Internet. Anyone can be anyone. :wink:

But no, I’m totally not trying to say that VTT was trying to give the impression that was a pic of him. If the dude wants a cool pic of Kroc as his avatar, awesome. But this is partly the reason I started the Check-in Thread:

So that we do know what folks here actually look like and that they do actually train after they shutdown the computer. (And yes, that’s a hint that everyone in this thread should go post a recent pic or video there if they haven’t yet.)

17

I always assumed that was actually the poster, in regards to VTTrainer

18

Put in a snack between breakfast/lunch and lunch/dinner.

I have 60g almonds in the morning and a tin of mackerel in the afternoon. These are both pretty easy to get down the hatch, take no preparation, and give about 600 calories in total with lots of decent protein and fat (about 50g of each).

19

Hate to be the mom here, but no fruits or vegetables?

20

[quote]The Rattler wrote:

[quote]athsports wrote:
Throw in a shot of Extra Virgin Olive Oil post workout. One shot is about 3 tablespoons which comes out to 300-400 or so calories. Do that for a week and check your weight.[/quote]

I’d personally do it another time of day as post workout is a time where I want aminos and carbs to be getting to my muscles as fast as possible. Fats slow this down.

OP: What are your current macros? Maybe try upping the carbs/protein before/during/after your workout. I have always found this to be more beneficial than adding calories to any other time of the day because this is where your body is using it the most. I have seen John Meadows suggest (on another site) that people should start with a set peri-workout protocol and then increase it until they no longer feel sore from their workouts. [/quote]

Good point. It’s probably best you do the olive oil another time of the day.