No seriously … how much do i need to eat to gain weight?

You can also download download an audio version from Eating Enlightenment podcast here.

Let’s talk about eating routines and why the number 7 is extremely important.

Seven means seven days.

7 days to try out a new eating routine and see if it feels good.

Notice how I say feels good, not works. You aren’t going to know in 7 days whether and eating plan works or not.

7 days isn’t enough time to gain weight, lose weight, or stop binge or emotional eating. So you can’t judge your new eating plan based on results in seven days.

However, you can evaluate your eating plan in 7 days based on how you feel. Are you willing to try something new for 7 days?

Eat more!

If you want another resource, a weight gain calculator, you can click here too.

How much do i need to eat to gain weight commentary:

We want to have seven days to try out an eating plan because whenever you try out and eating plan, your belly is going to feel a little awkward.

And I say this because I have a client right now who is trying to gain weight. We are working on his eating habits, because that’s what I do as an eating coach, I work with people’s eating habits.

And this guy is trying to gain weight. He’s trying to get more muscle specifically. Now in this case, this guy is already going to the gym and knows his way around the gym.

He reached out to me because he felt incredibly frustrated that he couldn’t gain weight or muscle mass.

He’s what you might call skinny. And he’s trying really hard to gain weight, gain muscle, but it just hasn’t worked.

So he’s realizing that the answer is in how he eats.

And I can relate because I used to be incredibly skinny as well.

My story: how much do I need to eat to gain weight?

I used to be 120 lbs and now I’m around 160. So I know skinny can oftentimes seem desirable, but for many people such as myself and that current client I’m working with, being too skinny is just not what we want.

And I just wanted to share a story of mine from when I made the transition from being too light to finally actually gaining weight.

Because for 6 to 8 weeks I forget the exact number but for some amount of time I was actively trying to gain weight, I was going to the gym and I thought I was eating more.

However, my weight didn’t change.

I was getting stronger, but my weight wasn’t going up, my size wasn’t growing.

And I remember this moment when I had a conversation with a fellow personal trainer.

He looked me in the eye and said it’s going to be uncomfortable for 7 days or so when you really get used to eating more food.

For this you may need a meal structure or plan. I made another post here about a meal structure.

And the way he looked at me in the eyes and the way he said it I really took it to heart. So I went home, and I started eating more food. I started eating sweet potatoes at night for the extra carbs.

So I realized I needed sweet potatoes or a whole grain carbohydrate and we’re healthy. Finally, I started loading up full fat Greek yogurt and nuts and whole grain oatmeal for breakfast.

For lunch I started having eggs and avocado, along with whole grain bread. And knowing that I was going to be uncomfortable for 7 days helps me a lot.

Because I remember feeling shocked and in quasi disbelief that I had to eat this much food. It was like this much food?

This is going to work?

I can’t believe it! It felt weird eating so much food simply because I wasn’t used to it.

So eat more healthy foods, that’s essentially the answer to “how much do I need to eat to gain weight”

Now I want to be clear here – I am not recommending that you feel bloated. You might think that you have to eat until you feel uncomfortably full. But we never want that.

So Don’t think that you have to eat too much to wear that you feel bad. When I say that I felt weird and in disbelief I just remember my stomach was actually full.

Previously my stomach was never full. It never got really satisfied. So I remember my stomach would be very full, but it wasn’t like I felt sick to my stomach because I ate too much.

It was just that I felt full. After 7 days or so, I started getting used to it. It wasn’t weird anymore.

I was no longer afraid of being full. That’s when I gained 30 to 40 lb.so if you are out there and you’re trying to change your eating patterns give it a week and really evaluate in terms of hunger and fullness.

And see how you feel. We want fullness.

Whether you are losing weight whether you are gaining weight whether you are stopping binge eating we want you to be comfortably full. so just know that it might take your belly And mind a week or so to get used to the new patterns.

And it might take longer than 7 days too, but just don’t rush to conclusions. Really take your time to feel under your body.

Make sure your body feels good. But expect a little weirdness in the beginning. What are your thoughts?

Speaking of gaining weight, here are the best supplements to gain weight.