Tips on How to Eat More - Consuming More Calories
To continuously build muscle, your body requires calories or food in order to grow and maintain. Without an adequate amount of calories, you will begin to lose your muscle mass.
Muscles require a lot of food or calories on a daily basis. Without it, you'll become skinny, and won't be able to develop and/or maintain muscle mass.
Working out breaks and tears down the muscle. The food you consume nourishes the body with the nutrients within, enabling you to start the process of recovery and building newer tissue - aka muscle.
The recovery and tissue development begin during sleep. Your body begins the repair and development stages. Your body will utilize the nutrients from all the foods you've consumed. These nutrients are circulating within your body and bloodstream.
Protein is what helps repair and build tissue. Without an adequate amount of protein, you won't recover, maintain or develop muscle tissue.
With this being said, you now know how food plays a role in muscle building.
A Calorie Surplus is required for Muscle-Growth
If you're underfed, you won't grow. You may maintain but definitely won't grow any bigger. In order to grow bigger, you need more food. A surplus of food is needed. Consuming more than usual/typical in order to develop more muscle tissue.
Foods High in Calories and Easy to Eat
1) Oatmeal
- Versatile, convenient, portable, fast, and easy
- You can make oatmeal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's not that bad when it comes to versatility. You can mix almost anything with oatmeal, such as peanut butter, nuts/seeds, berries, fruits, etc. This meal can easily consist of over 500/700+ calories. It's dense and satiating.
2) Rice
- Versatile, convenient, portable, fast, and easy. Same concept as oatmeal. You can mix almost anything with rice. Meat, tuna, fish, beans, lentils, eggs, etc, etc. It can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well. It's satiating - making you full, tasty, and easy to go about. Can easily contain over 500+ calories.
3) Protein Shakes
Protein shakes are ideal because it's fast, convenient, loaded with protein, and does contain a good amount of calories.
- You can add meals on top of your protein shake to get more calories in. You can have a protein shake as a "drink/beverage" when eating a meal. Can be consumed for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner.
4) Yogurt
Yogurt is very healthy. Probiotics, gut health improvements, and much more. Not even to mention that, it's versatile, portable, convenient, and healthy.
- You can mix in nuts, seeds, peanut butter, berries, fruits, veggies, and much more with your yogurt. Can easily consist of over 500+ calories if done correctly.
5) Nuts, Seeds
Nuts and seeds are nutrient powerhouses. They contain good nutrients to cleanse and heal the body. Nuts and seeds also contain good amounts of fats, proteins, and even carbs. These types of foods are versatile as well. Can be mixed into almost anything! Yogurt, smoothies, oatmeal, fruit bowls, on its own, and much more.
6) Fruit / Smoothie Bowls
As I mentioned earlier, yogurt, nuts, seeds, berries, oats, pnb, protein [powder], fruit, etc can all be mixed into ONE big calorie-dense meal. Known as a smoothie bowl, a fruit bowl, or a mix of everything.
- You don't have to eat yogurt on its own, or nuts and seeds; Why not mix everything together!?
7) Cereal
Cereal is good, just depends on which kind of cereal you get. Most cereals are loaded with sugar and are bad for our overall health. If you haven't noticed, I haven't listed any junk food, so I highly advise you to not buy junky cereal and to buy something that is an organic kind of cereal. But they're great because they're high in calories.
8) Avacado
Avacado is an excellent fat source. High-quality Fat. Good in calories. Versatile, portable, and convenient.
- Can add to toast/bread and other meals. Great for getting in those healthy nutrients, fats and good calories. Clean calories.
9) Potatoes
Potatoes are a bodybuilder's staple food. It provides great energy and nourishment. Potatoes are high in calories and nutrients. A healthy option to go for.
- Can be added to almost anything! Mixed in with your eggs, sausages, burritos, tacos, and much more.
- Potatoes are starchy, which is great for us bodybuilders because it helps build muscle.
- Potatoes are fulfilling and give long-lasting energy.
Meats High in Calories
Try to choose lean cuts.
- 369 calories in 1 cup of roast ham
- 360 calories in a 6oz of beef pot roast
- 332 calories in a 6oz lean pork chop
- 268 calories in a 5oz chuck steak
- 231 calories in a 1 cup of diced chicken breast
Fish High in Calories
- 445 calories in 6oz of Atlantic Mackerel
- 313 calories in 6oz of tuna
- 310 calories in 1 cup of canned sardines
Dairy Foods High in Calories
- 216 calories in 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
- 149 calories in 1 cup of plain yogurt
- 119 calories in 1 ounce of grated parmesan
Nuts High in Calories
- 196 calories per oz of pecans
- 191 calories per oz of pine nuts
- 187 calories per oz of dried coconut
- 170 calories per oz of almonds
- 167 calories per oz of peanuts
Meal preparation tips
- Add a mixture of foods to your plate. You'll have an array of nutrients. Making it better for you - providing more and better nourishment
- Have everything well balanced. Balanced macros; proteins, fats, and carbs. Don't overload anything in order to ensure you're staying healthy.
- Make sure to have your veggies
Do not Skip any Meals
Skipping meals will set you back a bit. If you miss any meals, you're missing out on the opportunity to get more calories in, which help maintain and build muscle. So, with this being said, have your meals "prepped" already, making them easily obtainable on the go.
Consistently Eat More
If you're having issues gaining weight - eat more. Constantly eat more. By eating more, your body has no choice but to gain weight. The issue is, that you aren't allowing yourself to eat more. Whether it's being lazy or not having the time - you have to make time. Force yourself, have a routine and do this on a daily basis.
How do you think Pro Bodybuilders got huge? Not by a magical pill; they force-fed themselves a daily basis until they've accomplished their goals.
If you're constantly in a calorie deficit or underfed, you don't have the opportunity to grow. Your body doesn't grow in a calorie deficit. Especially if you're starving and/or malnourished.
Drink Calories - Drinks are an easy way to intake calories on the go. Drink juice, soy milk, milk, smoothies, and other healthy high-calorie beverages.
Do Muscle Building (Anaerobic) Exercises - Muscle building exercises can increase appetite and also increase weight as your body builds muscle. This is especially true when combined with high-protein foods like nuts, peanut butter, fish, or beans.
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinners
Everyone has their own regime and their own routine. Some people may prefer eating more before their workout period, and some others prefer eating more after the workouts. Both are good because both do the same job. However, the goal is to eat more throughout the day.
Hypothetically speaking, you can skip breakfast (like a fasting routine) and still can get all of your calories in at the end of the day - if you do it properly.
People whom fast may not get enough calories in because they're short on time, and people sometimes cannot get in all fo those calories within a short period of time.
All meals should be well-balanced with healthy food groups. Proteins, fats, carbs. Have your veggies. Have an array of food groups. A mixture of everything.
People who limit their nutrient food intake are most likely underfed or have a hard time gaining weight. If you just ate properly, you wouldn't have this issue.
"On The Go"
Just because you're on the go; school, work, workouts, or whatever, does not mean you shouldn't eat or stick to the goal of eating consistently. Bring your tupperware. Bring your forks and disposable stuff. If pro bodybuilders can do so, you can as well!