On the other side of the coin, the low calorie density
of most vegetables is the very reason that they don't help
you gain weight. Think about it; you would have to eat a
wheelbarrow full of lettuce, cucumbers or spinach before
you consumed enough calories to make the scale budge at
all! It's wise to always include vegetables in your diet
(because they're good for you), but you won't get enough
calories to gain weight from veggies alone; you have to
eat lots of high density foods or you'll be fighting an
uphill battle.
So now let's look at some "calorie-dense" foods
that can help you pack on the pounds:
Simple carbohydrates such as fruit have higher calorie
densities than vegetables because simple carbs are more
concentrated and have less fiber. Fruit juice is even more
concentrated than the fruit itself. A medium sized orange
contains about 60 calories. A glass of orange juice has
about 160 calories. Fruit and fruit juice, therefore, make
great additions to a weight-gaining program.
Taken to the extreme, concentrating and refining carbohydrates
results in empty calorie products like white sugar and white
bread. Although these are calorie dense foods, they have
little or no nutritional value. Don't add nutritionally
void foods to your diet just for the sake of more calories
- it's the quality and nutritional value of the calories
you want, not just the quantity. You should look for foods
that are high in calories that are unrefined and as close
to their natural form as possible (the way they came out
of the ground).
Complex carbohydrates (starches) such as whole grains,
pasta, cereals, beans, yams, potatoes and rice also have
higher calorie densities than fibrous carbs. A typical restaurant
sized serving of pasta contains 800-1000 calories. Obviously,
pasta and other complex carbohydrates are great foods for
gaining weight.
Ok, now that you know what carbs to eat, let's talk about
fat. Fat can also have a major impact on the calorie content
of foods. Fats have more than twice as many calories per
gram than carbohydrates or protein (9 calories per gram
vs. 4 calories per gram), so foods that are 100% fat have
the most calories per volume. Olive oil, which is pure fat,
contains 1920 calories per cup. Any food that has a lot
of fat in it will have a high calorie density. Peanut butter,
for example, has 1600 calories per cup; Cashews have 780
calories per cup.
I'm not suggesting that you start devouring French fries,
cheeseburgers and sausage every day for the sake of gaining
weight - if you do, you'll gain weight all right - right
on your belly or backside! Your diet should always be low
in fat (15-25% of your total calories), but not all fats
are bad. It's the saturated fats like fried foods, butter
and tropical oils that you should avoid.
In small amounts, unsaturated, "healthy" fats
are not only good for you, but they can help you gain weight
more quickly than if you didn't eat any fat at all. Just
one tablespoon of flaxseed oil and two tablespoons of peanut
butter would add nearly 500 calories to your daily diet
and you'd hardly notice that any extra food was added.
Protein foods that contain some fat will also be higher
in calories. 4 oz of Chinook salmon has 262 calories and
15 grams of (good) fat; 4 oz of Haddock has 137 calories
and only 1 gram of fat. Because of the higher calories and
the essential fatty acids (good fats), cold water fish like
Salmon are another great addition to a weight gain program.
The best proteins for gaining muscle are the lean ones
like chicken, lean beef, egg whites, turkey and fish. Lean
cuts of red meat like round or flank steak are excellent
for gaining weight. Avoid fatty cuts of beef, as well as
pork, sausage, bacon and whole milk products because they
contain large amounts of artery-clogging, unhealthy saturated
fat.
I'm a huge believer in always choosing whole foods over
supplements whenever possible. However, it's not easy to
eat whole foods 5 or 6 times per day if you have a busy
schedule. If you have a hard time getting enough calories
from food, then you should consider using a weight gain
or meal replacement product because drinking your calories
is a lot easier than eating them.
Meal replacements are usually powdered products that you
mix with water, milk or juice. You can also increase the
calories further by adding peanut butter, flax oil, fruit
or your other favorite ingredient and mixing up the whole
concoction in a blender.
Don't just blindly follow the instructions on the container.
One thing that most people don't realize is that you need
to customize your supplement intake to your exact calorie
needs. Just because the package says there are "1000
calories per serving" doesn't mean that's how many
you need. Adjust the serving size to fit your own diet.
For example, if you need 3000 calories to gain weight,
that breaks down into five 600-calorie meals or six 500-calorie
meals. There's no need to shovel down 1000 calories at a
time just because the label says so - that's only going
to make you fat.
Some products were designed as meal replacements for fat
loss programs. These usually come in individual serving
packets, they have about 280-300 calories per serving and
they contain more protein than carbohydrates; this way,
they fit into the guidelines of a low carbohydrate, high
protein, fat burning diet. These products are not as cost-effective
when you're trying to gain weight. 300 calories is not enough
for mass-building meal. If you decide to use this type of
product for weight gain, you'll need to mix it with a calorie
containing liquid like juice or skim milk to bring the calories
up to 500-700 (or whatever your diet calls for).
When you want to gain muscle, you'd be better off choosing
a product that was specifically designed for that purpose.
These "weight gainers" are much more concentrated
in calories and contain more carbohydrates.
Using mostly carbs (sugars) and skimping on the protein
is a dirty trick that supplement companies use to make a
product cheap to manufacture. Read the labels carefully
and avoid any product that is mostly sugar with very little
protein. A good product will have approximately one part
protein for every two parts of carbohydrates and small amounts
of fat. For example, a drink mix with 40 grams of protein,
80 grams of carbs, and 2 grams of fat would provide almost
500 calories. If you wanted even more calories, you could
mix the powder in skim milk or juice instead of water.
So, let's summarize your strategy for quickly and easily
adding more calories to your diet:
1. Continue to eat the same healthy foods you always
eat, but simply eat more of them.
2. Choose foods with a higher calorie density. You could
eat broccoli and salad until your face hurts from chewing
so much, but you still won't get enough calories.
3. Eat plenty of starchy carbohydrates including whole
grains & cereals, pasta, potatoes, yams, beans, rice
and oatmeal.
4. Don't be afraid of adding a little bit of fat. Keep
your diet low in fat overall, but add in some of the healthy
"good" fats (such as flax oil, olive oil, or
a couple tablespoons of peanut butter) and you'll gain
weight more quickly.
5. Just because you're trying to gain weight doesn't
mean you have a license to eat anything you want. Go for
nutritional value as well as calorie density; avoid saturated
fats, sugar and processed junk foods.
6. If you can't seem to get enough calories from food,
then a meal replacement or weight gainer supplement can
make your life a lot easier. Adjust the serving size to
fit your calorie needs and make sure the product has a
good protein to carb ratio.
7. Don't be afraid to drink a lot of your calories in
the form of low fat/skim milk, juice or supplements/shakes.
Well, that's it! Follow these strategies diligently and
you'll gain pounds solid muscular weight more easily than
you ever have before without having to chain yourself to
the refrigerator!
>>
Click here for Tom's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program
- Learn about diet and nutrition
for maximum growth
- Find out what supplements truly work
and which are just a waste of money
- Learn tested training routines for
successful workouts
>>
Click here for Will Brink's Muscle Building Nutrition
About the Author
Tom Venuto is an NSCA-certified personal trainer, certified
strength and conditioning specialist, lifetime natural bodybuilder,
and author of the #1 best-selling e-book "Burn the
Fat, Feed The Muscle" (BFFM). Tom has written over
170 articles and has been featured in IRONMAN Magazine,
Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Muscle-Zine,
Olympian’s News (in Italian), Exercise for Men and
Men’s Exercise. For information on Tom's "Burn
The Fa Feed the Musclet" e-book, click
here
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