How do you eat more with a low appetite?

[Jamgoth]

I've been going to the gym regularly for a couple years, and while I am seeing some progress, it's not anywhere close to what I want. I realize it's because I'm not eating enough, but I have low appetite and find it physically difficult to eat more. I'm consuming protein shakes/bars daily but I still don't think it's enough.

 

[Olafsmash]

Protein shakes usually dont have much calories

Drink whole milk, make your own shakes (peanut butter, oats, milk, blueberries is a nice
calorie shake)
Use butter when cooking. Add oils like olive oil to vegetables, add butter to cooked pasta
Make your own calorie bars, plenty of recipes

If you have a nicotine habbit, know that it reduces your appetite

 

[AspiringMaleStripper]

Yea if you're lacking calories you can literally drink oil. Or drink egg whites (they're pasteurized).

 

[Jamgoth]

Protein shakes usually dont have much calories

Drink whole milk, make your own shakes (peanut butter, oats, milk, blueberries is a nice
calorie shake)
Use butter when cooking. Add oils like olive oil to vegetables, add butter to cooked pasta
Make your own calorie bars, plenty of recipes

If you have a nicotine habbit, know that it reduces your appetite

I dont smoke so it's not nicotine. I've had a small appetite forever.

Should I use weight gainer instead of protein shakes? I know you need 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. How many calories do I need daily? I thought I needed to reduce calories to get rid of belly fat to get abs.

 

[Jamgoth]

Yea if you're lacking calories you can literally drink oil. Or drink egg whites (they're pasteurized).

Drinking olive oil sounds really disgusting. What foods are high in oil I can consume?

 

[colgate / bulldog]

If you're not lactose intolerant, I was able to get ~2900 calories a day with:
1.5L of chocolate milk
giant bowl of noodles and meat

I've found bulking easier when you simplify the diet.

see my bulk log here: https://killyourinnerloser.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=37385#p37385

you can start with less milk per day and ramp it up if you have the major shits. also look into taking lactase pills.

Drinking olive oil sounds really disgusting

This is the kind of mindset you need to eradicate. The universe doesn't care about what you think is "disgusting" or what you "don't want to do".

 

[colgate / bulldog]

How many calories do I need daily? I thought I needed to reduce calories to get rid of belly fat to get abs.

There are plenty of online calculators for this, but I'd say take your bodyweight and multiply it by 18 for a good ballpark.

Do not worry about your "abs" if you don't even have a baseline of muscle yet. No one can see your abs beneath your shirt. You will get noticed for having big arms, broad shoulders, big chest, and even occasionally your legs/ass (yes, by girls). I'm just speaking from personal experience.

 

[Jamgoth]

How many calories do I need daily? I thought I needed to reduce calories to get rid of belly fat to get abs.

There are plenty of online calculators for this, but I'd say take your bodyweight and multiply it by 18 for a good ballpark.

Do not worry about your "abs" if you don't even have a baseline of muscle yet. No one can see your abs beneath your shirt. You will get noticed for having big arms, broad shoulders, big chest, and even occasionally your legs/ass (yes, by girls). I'm just speaking from personal experience.

Okay, thats 2430 calories. If I do 1 thing of weight gainer, which is 1250 on it's own, then 1 liter of milk a day, which is 600, I should have enough from my normal meals plus 1 protein bar to meet this goal. I'll do this for one semester and see how much progress I make.

 

[AspiringMaleStripper]

Just be careful with that milk shit. It’s a short term gain but you can fuck yourself up. Adults are not meant to drink that much milk, it’s fuckin nasty. I love milk but it’s coming out of some hormone-bloated sick animal on a feed lot. My friend did that shit a while ago and now he’s permanently lactose intolerant.

 

[Jamgoth]

Just be careful with that milk shit. It’s a short term gain but you can fuck yourself up. Adults are not meant to drink that much milk, it’s fuckin nasty. I love milk but it’s coming out of some hormone-bloated sick animal on a feed lot. My friend did that shit a while ago and now he’s permanently lactose intolerant.

What would you recommend instead? I think weight gainer protein mixed with milk instead of water might be a good start.

 

[colgate / bulldog]

ok we could have a long meandering discussion and infinite questions about the micro-specifics regarding "what the best way to bulk" is.

but at the end of the day, it is pretty much universally accepted that effective bulking is
1. eating at a significant (~500) caloric surplus
2. 1g protein per 1lb bodyweight
3. lifting to failure with some workout program that covers all the main muscle groups

Jamgoth, rather than asking more questions in this thread, i recommend you just start a training/bulking log in the progress log section and report your workouts and nutrition. there's a plethora of bulking and workout plan advice out there, but the most important thing is just picking one and sticking to it for 6-12 months, rather than trying to find the "100% optimal program". then you can be better equipped to answer your own questions.

use https://cronometer.com/ to come up with diet plans and calorie count

also people have strong opinions on things like:
"milk is so bad for you humans are not meant to drink it!"
"make sure you drink one gallon of milk a day!"
"don't drink soy milk, you'll grow titties!"
"don't dirty bulk, that's unhealthy!"
"do dirty bulk, it doesnt matter so long as it's calories!"

the most important thing is to stick to something and listen to your body (and follow the 3 points above). workout/diet advice is inherently contradictory and all over the place because we all have different bodies

the feedback you get on your training log will be infinitely more valuable to you and everyone else rather than just having this theoretical discussion in a random question thread, reddit-style.

 

[hush]

easy ways to add calories:
eat just one more mouthful when you're full
add oats powder to your protein shakes (it's better than a gainer)
milk or rice/hazelnuts milk instead of water in your protein shakes
add tomato sauce to your meals
eat apple sauce
add olive oil

also, train hard / lift heavy, it should give you more appetite
and accept that building muscle is a long process

 

[drz]

How often are you eating? How many meals per day?

 

[colgate / bulldog]

seems like this dude hit and run the forums after i told him to make a progress log, i think we should close this thread

 

[1v1mekid]

seems like this dude hit and run the forums after i told him to make a progress log, i think we should close this thread

Hit and run. lol

Hopefully he's putting in work and his next post will be 8 months from now with jacked progress pics. Being on the forums too much can be counter productive.

Edit:

Also, you're 100% spot on on milk. I personally break out bad with milk and get really bad bloating, but I would never tell someone to not drink milk because everyone is different. It really is easy source of calories and protein. I used to drink 6-7 cups of milk a day and my face was covered in acne, but I was strong as fuck. If you can tolerate it, take it. It's damn cheaper than protein powder.

 

[Jamgoth]

seems like this dude hit and run the forums after i told him to make a progress log, i think we should close this thread

Hey, I'm back.

Sorry, I was just in my break between my summer internship and the fall semester. I was busy with a lot of things. I mostly used the break to hang out with my friend in another city who is taking the semester off. I also got new clothes since most of mine either don't fit me, have holes, stains, etc. Also worked on stuff for applying to grad school, because that's another goal of mine, but I figure I don't need this forum to help with academic stuff.

I just created a progress log. I'm monitoring my weight. I got weight gainer and am trying to eat more. Let's see how this goes.