Eating For Weight Gain and Maintenance (It’s Hard) – Episode 18

Beauty in Christ

Gaining weight is hard. It just is. It’s hard to hear someone tell you, ‘You need to gain weight.’ Because the diet culture tells you the 10 reasons to lose weight or 10 ways to lose weight after the holidays. Now, I’m not at all putting down losing weight, because losing weight can help some people become healthy again! Yet, I’m coming from the perspective of a girl whose parents told her, about 7-8 years ago, that I needed to gain some weight.

Eating to gain weight means that I didn’t eat salads that were as huge. It meant cutting back on the volume and looking for the ways to pack in calories in more calorie dense ways.
I thought this would be an interesting topic to cover for today’s WIAW with Laura, courtesy always of Jenn at Peas and Crayons.

When I say: calorie dense, it’s hard to get a lot of calories in a huge salad (unless: you pack in the nuts, seeds, lots of dressing, cheese, or meat, or dried fruit).

Yet, though I did say that gaining weight is hard; it’s not impossible.

Today, I wanted to start with some of my ideas for getting in your calories especially when you’re gaining weight AND. . . not being afraid to continue eating those foods when you are in ‘weight maintenance mode.’

Yogurt Bowls – You all know my love for yogurt bowls, and I love them for several reasons.

#1 – Whole milk yogurt is so satisfying and so much easier on my stomach. It also has more calories and more fat for the same amount of volume.

#2 – You can add calorie dense delicious toppings like nuts, dried fruits, granola, and of course more nut butter.

#3 – I can easily get a higher calorie bowl of yogurt, whereas, it’s more difficult for me to pack in a filling breakfast with a smoothie.

Cottage Cheese With Toppings For A Snack – Have you ever seen the brand ‘Good Culture’ Cottage Cheese? If you haven’t, I found this at Sprouts, and it is AMAZING. The creamy, melt in your mouth texture is DELISH, and it had an epic amount of protein, fat, and calories for a small cup.

Snack Plates With Fruits Like Avocados, Slices of Cheese, and Meat – Making a snack plate that isn’t just composed of vegetables really helps get in those extra calories and conquer those fears of fat, CHEESE, and other foods that might be ‘off limits’ in your mind.

This was a snack plate, but you notice that it doesn’t have a lot of bulk. However, for me, it had a decent amount of calories but it didn’t make me really uncomfortably full (where I’m focused on being ‘full.’)

Desserts That Don’t Skimp on Fats or Sugar – So I’m actually a HUGE proponent of listening to what your body needs. God made each of us with this wondrous thing called intuitive eating, and that means that sometimes your body will really crave a piece of cake. Yet, I know that that doesn’t mean that I will always crave a piece of cake.

However when I go for dessert I just don’t usually go for ‘light’ or ‘low fat’ because it’s not satisfying, and it usually leaves me wanting more of it.
That’s why I usually go for the rich, chocolate or fatty peanut butter desserts or creamy ice cream, cause it’s just so much more satisfying. (Plus it’s more calorie dense and DELICIOUS)

Perfect Bars – Find bars that you love. Don’t eat bars because they’re a safe food. I’ve found Perfect Bars to be ones that are just perfect for a large snack/half of a lunch, because they have so many good fats, some carbs, and a HIGH satiety factor for me. Carry around high calorie bars; don’t grab one because it’s 100 calories. Grab one that will satisfy your energy needs, help you gain that weight, or maintain that weight; and don’t be afraid of that fat, protein, and carbs.

Well now. . . I could go on, but instead I’m going to share a short podcast with my thoughts on some of my own struggles with gaining weight, how my weight went UPPPP and down, and how I’m learning daily that my identity is truly in the risen Christ and His victory over my sin, death, and the devil. (not what I feel like on a daily basis).

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Why It’s Tought But Not Impossible To Gain Weight and Enjoy Food Again… #recovery #personalstory
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The whole point of these podcasts is not to tell you that I have GOT it down ‘pat’ but I just want to share how God’s grace sanctifies His children, how God imparts grace through His Son Jesus Christ for us to face these challenges, and how I’m learning that He gives us the STRONG courage to trust Him even when it’s hard.

http://beautyinchristthebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Gaining-Weight-Is-Cool-.mp3

I might as well join the ‘What I ate Wednesday’ troop today since this is when it’s going up; it’s my favorite ‘foodie inspiration’ link-up.

Tuesday’s Eats (In Part) and More…

The Most Loaded Toast Ever + A Banana Which Is not In this picture – I loaded this toast with some Noosa Strawberry Hibiscus Yogurt (really creamy), Bliss Hazelnut Butter, and Earth Balance Coconut PB.

The Weirdest Lunch EVER! – Yet it was really good. This was a combo of crockpot veggies from the night before, Hope Thai Coconut Curry Hummus (spicy and delicious), leftover mashed potatoes from Resurrection Sunday!,

I might have taken more pictures of more food eaten later in the day, but I decided to just give this sneak peek for WIAW.

Also, I’ve been meditating on these powerful verses from Psalm 69. The whole Psalm is so rich with prayers for deliverance and worship of God; it’s been a reminder to me that we can both worship and cry out to the Lord at the same time. And He always hears the cries, no matter how quiet they are.

‘Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.’ (Psalm 69:16-17)

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God hears the cry of the desolate. And He answers. #Godscompassion #GodisMerciful
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Linking up with Amanda for Thinking Out Loud Thursday (too!)

Have you ever struggled to gain weight?

How did you get over the mental block of gaining weight?

How do we keep the balance between not obsessing over weight but being able to talk about the struggles of gaining or in some cases losing weight?

Any Bible verses you’ve been meditating on lately?

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