Increasing Appetite (I can't eat a lot)

[LoganKost]

Hey everyone, I am slowly getting back into working out and improving my diet. My only problem is my inability to consume. I have always been skinny, but it's becoming obvious that I need to change something (mindset, viewpoint, idk). I need help with increasing my appetite so I can gain more weight. I'm 6'1 and about 140 pounds at the moment.

[cubby2112]

Marijuana...

 

J/K

 

The best way to stimulate your appetite is to try to eat a variety of food, spiced in a variety of ways. The more bland and monotonous your food, the less desire you will have to eat. Black pepper and ginger are supposed to stimulate your appetite. Try using those a bit, and making food flavored like cuisines throughout the world.

 

Of course, eat plenty of nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains. Try to eat many of these in a "drier" form, i.e. pilaf instead of soup, or in a patty form. The lack of water will make you less satisfied. Make sure to get in extra water between meals, though, since you may get less water from your food.

[LoganKost]

Thanks for the response! I will definitely try that. In fact, the most I've weighed was on a two month raw-foods trial. I think it was because I was consuming so many nuts/seeds and bananas. I've increased my intake of whole foods dramatically, so I'll keep spicing them up and see how I feel. As far as your first comment, I have this problem along with the mj, as well. i really see no benefit for it's appetite stimulation, to be honest. Could just be me though.

[Octopussoir]

Yeah snacking is a great way of consuming more. Eat your basic meals, but snack, snack, snack.

 

Drinking your calories also helps(protein shakes).

 

Try eating stuff like Probars(approx 400cals per bar). I can eat like 4 at once and they also help cause they packed with the goodies.

[shawnb222]

Your digestive system COULD be lacking sufficient digestive enzymes. Maybe if would supplemented with digestive enzymes your appetite would improve. Pretty soon I will be ordering some, and its only about 6 $ for 90 tablets.

[VeganDavid]

Now that you are working out and all being well with some effort, you should start to feel more appetite. Just make sure you ease into your workouts as your muscles and bones need to adapt. No use risking injury trying too hard too quickly. Just build it up progressively as you deem fit.

 

If you eat a plant based diet comprising starchy vegetables, fruits, green & yellow vegetables, legumes, grains etc, they are the healthiest foods, positively stimulate your entire body so that in turn may also assist in stimulating your hunger. Check out Dr John McDougall's website for lots of scientifically proven info.

Best wishes

[surfthetetons]

I have almost the exact same body type and problem with appetite too. Perhaps we can correspond about what works best, etc....

 

I have struggled for a long time with not eating enough/working out enough to gain weight. I think it mostly boils down to motivation and organization rather than being constrained by body type. Although body type is the first hurdle to overcome by eating more calories.

 

I'm 6' 3" and teeter between 145 and around 160. I am not a vegetarian but I married a vegetarian/vegan/raw foodist (depending on the week) and am very interested in switching entirely to at least all veg.

[Marcina]

Your digestive system COULD be lacking sufficient digestive enzymes. Maybe if would supplemented with digestive enzymes your appetite would improve. Pretty soon I will be ordering some, and its only about 6 $ for 90 tablets.

 

You just wasted your money dude.

 

Your body creates its own digestive enzymes. There are certain digestive enzymes that may be lacking in a person's diet.. For example, lactase.. But as a vegan it's not something to worry about anyways since its the enzyme that digests milk sugar.

 

There are enzymes in the saliva and in the stomach.. There's no need to supplement them. If you have digestive problems the first place I would go to is the doctor's office to rule out any problems.

 

I've had a problem eating large portions my entire life. I have IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

To get more calories in my diet I eat small frequent meals. I eat whenever I can, sometimes 8 meals a day if I can fit it in. Lifting heavy in the gym also gets my appetite going. Eat lots of high calorie foods like nut butters with bananas, avocado, and stuff like that. Eat as often as you'd like, and make smoothies or protein shakes if you're running short on time, or you want a high cal drink between meals.

 

Minimize your cardio, and lift as heavy as you can. Also, if you want to eat some junk food, go for it. That's the beauty of bulking. You can eat whatever you want

[LoganKost]

thanks for the replies. I have read about enzymes some, and I'm iffy about the supplements real benefits. There is evidence to suggest that our body is being strained by the amount of enzymes it has to produce in order to digest food, and the idea is that we should be getting these enzymes from the foods we eat (raw foods) making it easier for our body to digest (doesn't have to make it's own). But i haven't found enough supporting evidence to subscribe to this.

 

@Marcina

 

I do eat small snacks constantly throughout the day. That's something that I feel may be inhibiting my ability to eat large amounts of food, actually. if I'm really hungry after not eating I can put down a ton of calories, but If I'm snacking throughout the day i can't eat meals at all, just small 100-300 calorie snacks. It seems like enough throughout the day but when I go back and and make a calorie guess it seems too little. I'm going to try eating real meals, three times a day, then have snacks in between those, just limit myself.

 

EDIT: Also, I've considered digestive problems, but i don't really have any reason to believe this. Or I'm not aware of what a problem would be considered.

[xBrutalEdgex]

Cool down the room temperature, dress lighter. When it is cold the body thinks that it is going to spend more calories since you burn more to keep the body heated. The body doesn't know how much more it has to eat, but it gets a signal that you should eat more