Can I gain weight fast and how?

[lilacmerle]

I'm too skinny. I am extremely self conscious about it but I know I don't eat enough. I have depression and I know that has something to do with it.

I have a ball on the 18th and I'd really like to look a little less stick like but I know that's probably not enough time to noticeably gain weight and my arse not look like an American pancake. I wouldn't expect to gain LOADS but maybe look a little fuller?

Is this possible? And what can I eat to gain weight fast?!

I need to be eating 2500 calories + a day I imagine

Also, my ideal is to be a dress size 10.

High calorie foods, nuts, Christmas pudding, butter, full fat everything.

Nah nuts and stuff won't do it, they're satisfying. You want white carbs. White toast with honey or jam. Orange juice. Packets of crisps. Cheesy chips. Have a slice of bread and butter and a full sugar drink with every meal, that will add 250 calories or more to each meal easy.

Didn't say it was healthy!

I drink milkshakes when I want to put a bit of weight on. An extra few calories with either homemade milkshake or a glass of chocolate Complan.

If you can get your hands on fortisips/fortijuice, they are high calorie drinks used by dietetics departments to help people who need calorie boosting. No comment on the taste of them though… they’re full of sugar so very sweet

Calorie dense foods like nuts can do a really good job of helping you put on weight as they give you lots of calories without much volume i.e. you'd have to eat just a few nuts to get the same number of calories as a whole cucumber. You'll feel full after a load of cucumber but could eat much more after just a few nuts... so you give yourself space for more calories.

You can switch up what you normally eat to more calorific ones, full fat milk in your porridge, cream in your coffee, real butter etc etc. you won't notice those extra cals so much.

Also, foods which have both sugar and fat (eg chocolate, ice cream etc) are easy to eat lots of and will give you a tonne of calories. They won't help your mood or skin though.

Google body building diets - lots of high protein and "good fats". I'd also lift some decent weights and do bodyweight moves such as squats and lunges that will work your glutes. It's hard for women to build muscle and "bulk up" as we don't have high testosterone but it save you from becoming skinny fat.

Thank you so much. Going to look into those drinks too.

Do you think it's possible to fill out at all by the 18th or am I being too optimistic?

Just eat healthy nourishing food in the amount you fancy and find a flattering dress. Bulking up fast for a party isn't going to be good for you, mentally or physically.

I have already bought a dress, I like it I just wish I could fill out a little more as I know id feel much more confident.

DC was put on an eating plan by a dietician because he was underweight. Dietician basically advised me to add double cream to everything- any sauce I was making, any soup, and to make as many milkshakes as he wanted (I used Nesquik, double cream, ice cream and full fat milk in a blender. They were amazing. I put weight on just from the drops of dregs I got.) DC is now a very healthy weight and strong.
One thing is to make sure that you don't just swap healthy food for crappy food, so to make sure you still have lots of veg, oily fish etc. Eating a high fat hight carb diet can be so exhausting so it's important you don't do anything that makes you feel crappy.

Personally I would do it via Dairy Milk.

(Now having a happy fantasy about how that would be!)

Ps Not a dietician!

You can gain weight quickly, but from a medical perspective it is rarely advisable. In theory you could probably gain half a stone or more, but it would not do your health any good, you might find you get very bad skin, digestive problems and you would be potentially having a long term health impact on everything else.

If you are genuinely worried about being underweight then you should see a proper accredited and trained dietician, making sure you are getting enough calories as well as a balanced and nutritionally complete diet. In the long term you will look far better if you work on building a little extra muscle than if you work on building up fat. Squats are especially good for ones bum!

Thank you!

I'm not classed as underweight, but have been in the past. I have a BMI in the "healthy" range but I do look thin.

Yes, the bad skin is a concern as mine as I do have acne that likes to break out at the worst of times e.g. the night before a ball!!

I'm going to go shopping after work and stock up on some of your suggestions.

What about Complan? You get it at the chemist, it’s full of vitamins too, that will build you up quickly!!
McDonald’s, pizza, Chinese. All very fattening.
I think the double cream advice sounds an excellent idea.
Full fat Mayo on all sandwiches etc

@Workinghardeveryday

What about Complan? You get it at the chemist, it’s full of vitamins too, that will build you up quickly!! McDonald’s, pizza, Chinese. All very fattening. I think the double cream advice sounds an excellent idea. Full fat Mayo on all sandwiches etc

Complan is fantastic. I have a pack spread out over the week and I also have a Meritene chocolate shake every day.

I would agree with drinks, milkshakes or weight gain shakes etc. And I would say kindly don’t get your hopes up too much of changing weight drastically in a short time. Just try and enjoy it as you are if you can, while making the weight gain a gradual thing. If not you might be disappointed on the day.

Please listen to @MatildaIThink. You need to prioritise your health long term and not worry about filling out a dress for one night.

Come stay with me for a week 🤣

Peanut butter
Avocado
Nuts
Olive oil
Halloumi salads
Walnuts
Milkshakes

Try adding full fat powdered milk to all your drinks, my dietician had me do it when I was ridiculously underweight (along with other things) and it did make me put on weight.
Nestle Nido is the best tasting one IMO.

@Flogert

If you can get your hands on fortisips/fortijuice, they are high calorie drinks used by dietetics departments to help people who need calorie boosting. No comment on the taste of them though… they’re full of sugar so very sweet

They're only given for certain medical indications, of which this is not one,. You can't just get them unless you're prepared to pay 2.95 per 200ml

Have you considered a padded bra and some padded butt-enhancing pants? They’d probably provide more shape than a few extra pounds ever could - and in the right place too.

If you can tolerate dairy then that’s absolutely the easiest way to nail some extra calories. A large chocolate milkshake with some added cream and peanut butter could easily be 1,500 calories - add that to what you usually eat and you should gain 3-4 pounds a week.

You need the weight-gain holy grail of sugar and fat.

Try Haggen Daz ice-cream - A tub a day if you can afford it.
Add to that a bag of nuts & dried fruit to snack on throughout the day.
Pizza for dinner
Cereal (granola) with yoghurt, honey and chopped nits sprinkled on.
Sweets if you can bare them.

Dont move unless you have to.
Drink lots of high calorie (decaf) capuccinos/frappes/hot chocolate drinks.
A shot of Baileys at bed time.

My record for gaining weight was a stone in four weeks.

proud

Chopped nuts not nits. Nits would be a high protein snack!

Mug cakes are around 800 cals each. Add cream cheese frosting. One a day on top of your normal food should see you right.

(Not a dietician)