Cannot attain a caloric surplus

I have been trying to get around 2500 calories a day but it is impossible to even go above 1800. I train a lot, go to college, do martial arts and some spiritual activities and I still cannot get myself to indulge in so much food.

Is there an alternative? I thought about getting a mass gainer but I need something with good vitamins and no chemicals or anything processed since I am allergic to a lot of things.

Please help, thank you.

That's ridiculous. Put butter or oil on the things you eat and you'll hit that number in no time.

Hey

I have the same problem and try to get rid of it at the moment, but I have already found a relative good approach.

I try to eat every morning 100g-150g of oatmeal with some sort of choclate/nuts in it or something with a lot calories, 500ml of milk, 20g whey protein, this way I have nearly 800 calories just after i woke up.

And after that I just eat normaly. ( This needs some kinds of improvment...)

Daniel Burnham said:

That's ridiculous. Put butter or oil on the things you eat and you'll hit that number in no time.

What about the fat content? I do not want to add fat. I was to gradually increase my strength & mass (over a period of 7-8 years). 

Eating fat doesn't necessarily lead to adding fat... calories are calories when you are talking about surplus/deficits. Fats contain more calories per gram, than carbs and protein, so are handy when trying to eat more calories. Trying to reach 2500 calories could be 475g of carbs + 150 protein, or you could have 300g carbs + 150g protein + 90g fat. The one with fat is likely to be less food (thus easier to fit in), in my opinion tastier, and likely to fit your body's needs better. It doesn't seem like much difference but the second one is equivalent to swapping a large bowl of pasta for a few tablespoons of oil or butter and some peanut butter. Easy!

Let us throw the 'fatty' substances out of the discussion for now. What are other alternatives?

Systemic said:

(...) What are other alternatives?

LOL - remain underweight!

Guinness.

Pie.

Bananas.

Barley.

Meatballs.

Y'know, food. More of it.

Okay.

Anyone else that will be able to help? Please?

Jon, I just cannot indulge in more food. My body does not seem to be hungry at all even though I am extremely active.

Systemic said:

Okay.

 

Anyone else that will be able to help? Please?

Systemic. Seriously.

What kind of answer are you looking for? You want to take in more calories. The answer you have gotten here is to take in more calories. What else are you hoping for?

Is there some reason you cannot eat more? Are you looking for cost-effective recipe/calorie solutions, for example?

That was not aimed at you. It was aimed at Fred.

I am looking for an answer that involved supplements, a drink perhaps, anything other than food.

Whaddayawannahearprecisely Systemic?

[edit] I see... here goes:

Maybe some sort of a supplement, or a drink perhaps?

Jon, perhaps. Anything other than food. Since I have started reading and practicing Qi Gong and other chinese martial arts I have seemed to eat less but be very energetic at the same time. I tried eating more but I never passed 1800 calories.

Why don't you post a typical day's content of meals and maybe we can start there.

Breakfast: (I jog 30-60 minutes before so I can sweat out the urine)

Banana

Nutri-Grain Blueberry

Cup of cornflakes (no milk)

2 cups of water (Usually 30 minutes after)

Meal 2:

Bread with salt (don't ask me why, I just like it and I follow certain people that do this)

Juice or water

sometimes an apple

Lunch:

Prawn and vegetable sandwich

Vegetable juice/soup

Meal 4:

Ginseng and honey

Dates (a few)

Dinner:

Smoked salmon with vegetables in a bagel.

Water

If I eat anymore I would feel terrible the next day or a few hours after. This is just a "good" day of eating. Most of the time I cannot eat a few of those things.

I don't think a single one of those would qualify as a meal for me, but I'm 6'4" and aim for 3000+ calories a day.

The only fat in that day is from the salmon. Eat more fat. You can't throw it out of the conversation. Dietary fat doesn't make you fat.

I would add eggs and bacon for breakfast. Or at least add full fat milk to your cornflakes, if you can tolerate dairy.

Have a few nuts with your apple for a snack.

Add some starchy vegetables, like tubers or rice.

Cook you veggies in lots of real butter or coconut oil.

Eat lots of avocado ...it's nature's butter.

Add fattier cuts of meat (80/20 grass-fed ground beef is my go-to meat).

Coconut milk (full fat of course) makes for awesome smoothies.

Oh, and you should be eating *A LOT* more protein. The general guidance is to aim for 1g per pound of your target lean body mass. 200 lbs at 10% body fat = 180 lbs LBM = 180 grams of protein per day, for example.

If you want to gain muscle mass, you must eat for it, even if you don't feel like you can eat more.

A question nobody seems to have asked...

Is your recovery/growth being impaired?

That's a good point. I am 90 kilos 185 cm ( somewhere around 15 % bf) and I am fine with around 2200-2500 calories even when I climb 4 times a week (loghtly at the moment) do f1(7) and h1 on a three day split with running 2-3 times a week. So do you really need at many calories or why do you think you need 2500?

As others have mentioned you need more protein and maybe a bit more veggies? . What is it that makes it hard for you to eat more does that food really fill you up a lot?

Also If you want a drink to fill I calories then good quality milk can be your friend if you can handle it. I drink a lot of milk sometimes just to get the calories when I'm strapped for time and can't cook enough. Don't be scared of the fat either your body needs some at least.

Maybe you should mention your height, weight, training volume, goals and how your recovery and growth is Atm.

P.s. you mentioned you wanted good vitamins and not chemicals then why aren't you eating more vegetables?

If your recovery isn't being impaired and you're consistently making gains then you're fine.
If you're not getting stronger/putting on mass then you have a problem.

Liquid calories might help, milk is a easy way to bump up your intake a little.

Eat more meat, indulge yourself here! Bacon, lamb, belly pork nom nom

Include more fat, cook everything in butter! Just make sure you get plenty of vegies and there is no problem seriously 

Chocolate! Not ideal but a mars bar or two with a meal would certainly up the calories a little

It does sound to me like you have a little block going on here, be it either psychological (as in I wont pollute my body with any fat mentality) or that your stomach has indeed shrunk a little. If it's the former it needs addressing before it potentially turns into something worse, not trying to be nasty or cause offense here at all it's just a question that I thought was worth asking. If it's the latter then you are going to have to actively increase your meal sizes over a period of time which will take work. 

Dietary fat is essential for health. You can't just 'take it out of the equation' and hope to be able to stay healthy, let alone gain mass. Try incorporating some calorie-dense foods into your diet:

- avocados

- peanut butter; other nuts

- cheese

- olive oil

- whole milk

- coconut oil

Systemic said:

Let us throw the 'fatty' substances out of the discussion for now. What are other alternatives?

This explains the problem here.

Hi Systemic.

I think I can follow some of your dietary patterns: No meat, no fat, and to be honest, not much food or desire to go and eat any. I'm much the same at the moment myself, but that's only because I'm losing weight before the bouldering competition season begins.

Right now I'm on

7-8am oatmeal for breakfast (40g oatmeal, 14g sultanas, splenda, 160ml 1% milk)=300 cals

9-10am: Coffee ~40 cals

11-12am poached eggs on (brown) toast (no butter/margarine) ~400 cals

Protein powder if I'm exercising about 4pm ~100 cals

4-8pm: Meal: one of the following: 300-400 cals

- Jam & Peanut butter sandwich (if I'm training away from home, and because it's easy)

- sweet potatoes, veges & soya mince/white fish/salmon/quorn burger/chicken if at home

8-10pm: Evening snacks: oat cakes(the small flat dry ones)/high protein yoghurt/banana/sultanas/soup: 100-200 cals

It doesn't always work out that way. If I go for a 10 mile run and end up ravenous, then I may be up to 2500 cals with a chocolate bar, cereal (Weetabix, rice krispies or cornflakes), or pretty much anything that passes before my eyes and looks edible. I'm 62kg at the moment, trying to get down to 60.

Like you, no fat, next to no meat. If anyone puts any fat or red meat near me, I shriek inside. Unlike you, I get hungry and I know I'm in trouble when I'm craving cereal, chocolate, or nibbling heavily on sultanas.

So what might help? Chocolate, certainly - its calorie packed and full of feel-good chemicals. Other calorie packers are cheese, peanut butter, nuts, flapjacks(oatmeal/syrup/fat, not pancakes), biscuits/cookies, carrot cake or pretty much any cake. High calorie drinks are chocolate milk, lucozade sport, normal milk - full fat milk has growth hormones in, and obviously more fat, so may help. Other than that, slightly larger portions or more starchy vegetables - sweet potatoes microwaved or fried (in a shallow pan with a hint of fat) are good.

Or maybe you get enough, so don't need it anyway. Or every now and then, your hand and mouth are deceiving your eyes and sneaking in food right under your nose in tiny snacks without you knowing anything about it

Chocolat milk as post workout recovery is imo the easiest way to get in some extra cals (900+ per L).

More info: http://oakbrooksc.com/docs/stager_chocmilk_study.pdf

i also suggest that you try it with more liquids, like milk or a selfmade shake. the good with that is, after you ate your real meal and you feel filled up to the max, theres always place for liquid stuff

like mentioned before, you can try it with drinking shots of oil, i tried this once, but the taste but there are tastier ways to do that1