Have you ever felt frustrated trying to gain weight and muscle where , no matter how much you think you're eating , the scale just won't budge ? Maybe you've been told just eat more , but you feel stuffed and sick every time you try . Or maybe you're dealing with certain dietary restrictions that seem to make everything harder . Today , I'm giving you 12 specific strategies that make eating more calories not just doable , but actually enjoyable . You'll learn exactly how to break through your plateau without force-feeding yourself or feeling miserable . These are proven methods that work , whether you're 20 or 70 , whether you have dietary restrictions or not . So if you've struggled to gain weight and build muscle , stick around . You're about to learn exactly how to make it happen . You're about to learn exactly how to make it happen .
Philip PapeWelcome to Wits and Weights , the podcast that blends evidence and engineering to help you build smart , efficient systems to achieve your dream physique . I'm your host , philip Pape , and today we're tackling a challenge that doesn't often get enough attention how to actually eat enough calories to support muscle growth . I want to give a special shout out to Jim from Wayne , michigan , who inspired today's episode . He sent in a text message and he wrote hey , philip , I've been listening to your Wits and Weights podcast for about six months . It's great . I realized that the majority of people want to lose weight . I've been skinny my entire life 5'9" , 140 pounds . I'm still active . I play in an over 70 ice hockey league once a week . I was diagnosed with celiac disease 20 years ago . Not fun , but it could be worse . I know I need to be in a calorie surplus , but I usually struggle to eat 2,000 calories a day . Could you please do a full-length podcast on how to gain weight and muscle ? So thank you , jim . This is exactly the kind of specific problem or challenge that I want to hear from you as listeners about , so I can deep dive into it . On the show , and while we recently covered some fundamentals of gaining weight to improve your body composition , that was episode 257 at the end of 2024 . I'm going to link that in the show notes .
Philip PapeToday we're going to focus specifically on 12 strategies to get the calories in , just to be able to eat them all when you struggle with appetite or dietary restrictions . By the way , this could apply to anyone at any calorie level , not just hard gainers , even if you're , say , a woman who's trying to get back to maintenance for the first time and you feel like it's too many calories , these strategies can still apply . So before we get into it , though , you might be wondering okay , that's great , but why do I even want the calories in the first place ? How do I build muscle ? What is the strategy there ? For that , I'm going to ask you to download a free guide that I have called Muscle Building Nutrition Blueprint , and that's going to give you the exact steps for doing that , for setting up your muscle building phase , from the optimal surplus and rate of gain to the macros , to what to track and even a specific example of a real bulk . So click the link in my show notes or go to witsandweightscom slash muscle to download that free guide , and that'll set up your muscle building phase for success . And then , when you're running that , you'll say okay , now let me listen to this episode to understand how to get all that food in , because it's not working for me quite yet .
Philip PapeAll right , so I'm going to break down these 12 strategies into three sections . First , we're going to cover four strategies to add calories without feeling stuffed . We're going to cover four strategies to add calories without feeling stuffed , then four strategies for the timing and habits that could make eating easier . And then , finally , four strategies to implement it sustainably . So let's start with adding calories without feeling stuffed . Strategy number one is pretty straightforward , and that is adding calorie-d dense foods to your meals . This is about making every bite count , focusing on foods that pack in as many calories as possible into as little volume as possible , which you'll find that a lot of these strategies are the opposite of what you would do during fat loss . So keep that in mind in case it sparks some curiosity there . So I'll give you some example Add avocado to things , if you like avocado .
Philip PapeThey're very calorie dense and we're talking mostly whole foods here . By the way , doing it with whole foods . Obviously , you can add in processed foods and we're going to touch on that occasionally here but there are calorie dense whole foods . So avocado , egg sandwiches . You can drizzle olive oil over just about anything , but I'm thinking vegetables or rice . You know , when you're making rice , add olive oil in there , or a tablespoon of olive oil is 120 calories . You can add butter when cooking , which makes it taste great anyway , like even better . I love putting butter on steak . When I'm cast iron , I'm frying it in a cast iron skillet and then I finish it off in the oven .
Philip PapeAlways keep in mind saturated fat intake , of course , but again , we're trying to get more calories here . And then nuts and seeds , incorporating them into everything . You can put them in salads , you can put them as a side , you can eat them straight up . And remember that fat , as a macro , has more than twice as much calorie density as protein and carbs . It has nine calories per gram instead of just four for the others . So take advantage of that macro .
Philip PapeSo that's number one is calorie dense foods . Strategy number two is to incorporate liquid calories . All right , liquids just don't fill you up like solid food . There's a reason for that they are effectively pre-digested . You think that's gross . I'm sorry , but that's . You know , when we're having liquid , anything that would normally be a food , you're taking a step out of the process and so you're able to eat more of it . So we're thinking shake , smoothies , whatever , and honestly I'm not going to be giving you a million recipes here but a base of some beverage like whole milk has a lot of calories .
Philip PapeI love whole milk , just in general . When you're trying to gain weight , it goes down easy . And then there's brands like Fairlife that have higher protein and Fairlife chocolate milk that has even more calories . So whole milk , a banana , some peanut butter . So that's our calorie density right there . A couple tablespoons of peanut butter . So let's see 150 calories for the milk , 100 calories for the banana , 200 calories for the peanut butter , and then whey protein . Even a scoop of whey protein is 120 . So that's over 500 calories that you can drink in just minutes . And if you have dietary restrictions , like Jim's celiac disease , just make sure it's gluten-free , okay .
Philip PapeStrategy number three is adding extra calories to existing meals by just enhancing what you already eat with some smart swaps . So like cooking eggs right in a slab of butter instead of using a spray just to make sure you add those calories . Adding an extra slice of cheese to your sandwich , mixing nuts into your oatmeal , using coconut milk in whether it's a curry or a soup , something like that . So that's a very simple one of just like seeing how you can add calories that are almost unnoticeable and don't really fill you up in any way to existing meals . So strategy number four is to focus on foods you enjoy . Now , this might seem obvious , but it's one of the top factors of a sustainable diet .
Philip PapeNo matter what you're doing fat loss or gaining You're going to eat more consistently when you actually like your food period . So it's one of the tenets Don't be guilty with what you eat . Make sure food satisfies you , make sure it meets your goals and make sure you enjoy it . So you don't want to force feed yourself bland chicken and rice if you hate it . I don't care if you're in fat loss or gaining right .
Philip PapeForce feeding of any kind is not going to be good and I hear oftentimes people say how do I get more calories ? Or I feel like I have to force feed myself , or calories , or I feel like I have to force feed myself , or I need to force feed myself to get the calories . What do I do ? And it's like no , you don't need to force feed yourself . Let's listen to this episode , all right . So that was it for strategy number four , just focusing on foods you enjoy , because that , mentally , is going to cause you to be able to eat more . Just a simple one there , in case you're trying to force feed anything . Now I want to move on to the second group of four , which is related to timing and habits . So strategy number five . And so , not to confuse you , but I'm keeping the numbering from one to 12 , but I separate into four groups of or three groups of four .
Philip PapeStrategy number five is to increase your meal frequency . Just as simple as that . But again , a lot of people are not doing that . People get in a rut and the way you eat is just the way you've always eaten and it's based on your work schedule or how you pack your lunch or whatever . But you've got to be creative and say okay , instead of three huge meals , I'm going to have five meals . I'm going to have three modest meals and two small snacks , right , or six or even seven . I mean , you'd be surprised how many you could fit in if you're creative about it . And a lot of people are stuck in this , like intermittent fasting mindset or feeding window mindset , or not eat too early , too late . It's super flexible . It's super flexible . So meal frequency itself can be effective for you because you won't get too full on any one meal and , again , you won't feel like you're force feeding yourself . So if you're only eating three times a day and you're trying to gain weight , you're going to have to eat at least four or five , just almost across the board , no matter who you are . I'm still in my gaining phase now . I definitely eat six times a day , maybe seven , and it just makes it so much easier because then each feeding is reasonable in size , it goes easy on your stomach , it digests well , you feel great throughout the day , and so on .
All right .
Philip PapeStrategy number six is don't drink water before your meals . Now , some people would advocate for this strategy in general for a number of reasons I'm not going to go into . But it's a good one here , because most people don't think about this . They just drink when they drink . Water fills your stomach . It reduces appetite . Drinking water before your meals could be a great technique when you're in fat loss , but to try to get in the calories it's going to be very tough . So just start with the food and then fill it in with the liquid , unless you're just having a liquid meal , like we talked about earlier . So don't drink water before meals is strategy number six .
Philip PapeStrategy number seven is to embrace calorie timing by taking advantage of your body's natural hunger windows . So what I mean by this is you're going to be hungry , even in a gaining phase , at certain times . You know when that is , and for a lot of people that is first thing in the morning . So don't skip breakfast , pre and post workout right Now you may not be that hungry before your workout , but you should be have some hunger after your workout . Take advantage of that to really gobble up the fuel . And then before bed , and you're like , well , that's shocking . Before bed , I don't mean like eat at 9pm and then go to bed at 10pm , I mean , like you know , 6 or 7pm , like as late as you can push it where it doesn't affect your digestion or your sleep , and it may be a smaller feeding , it may be an extra kind of dessert slot or a pre-bed meal , that's like two hours before bed . That's smaller , right . Think like Greek yogurt with berries , that kind of level . Or I like a casein pudding with almond milk protein , where it's kind of light but it's still got a decent amount of protein in there and some calories , maybe a couple hundred , 300 calories to finish up your day . And it goes well with the frequency thing , right , I mentioned eating more frequently , because then you might have , okay , first thing in the morning , pre-workout , post-workout , lunch , afternoon snack , dinner and then pre-bed , and that's like seven feedings right there , and that's on a training day . Maybe on a rest day you have one fewer feeding and then you have to just be aware of the fact that you need more calories per feeding . All right .
Philip PapeStrategy number eight is to make your food more appealing visually and socially . I would say we naturally eat more when food looks good , right . Why do you think we love going to restaurants and having somebody else make these nice plates of food ? It comes out heck , even going to like a greasy diner , and it comes out . You're like oh , this looks delicious because you didn't make it right . Or when you eat off of somebody else's plate , somehow it tastes better .
Philip PapeWe went to Montreal years ago and I was amazed at the delicious food there . But not just that , it's how they plated everything . I was like everybody is a chef , is a culinary gourmand over here . We would just go to a diner for breakfast and the fruit was like cut up into , was sculpted into fancy shapes . Everywhere we went was like this . It was like an expectation and we wanted to eat it . Let's just put it that way .
Philip PapeSo when food looks appetizing , when we're eating with other people , when we're relaxed , when we're not rushing and even sometimes when we're distracted , which normally is a big no-no because we want to eat mindfully . But when we're talking about a positive distraction , I'll say , like eating with our family at the dinner table . We can potentially eat more that way . So how you take advantage of that is obviously , besides going to restaurants when you're at home is the food just looking good , being food that you enjoy , being a good , interesting combination , fun recipes and eating with other people , and making sure to kind of load up on the food when you're doing that , because that's kind of tricking yourself to eat more without realizing it . If you will , it's just very interesting . And even being relaxed and not rushing and being mindful , sometimes you can actually eat more naturally because of the lower stress . It kind of depends on the person . So make food visually and socially appealing is the overall tip there . So make food visually and socially appealing is the overall tip there .
Philip PapeAll right , let's go to the final segment here , which is really about , I'll say , implementation and sustainability . So these are some more day-to-day practices that you can have . So strategy number nine here is to have high-calorie snacks always available , like to pre-prep to meal prep . High calorie snacks , simple right . Always have ready to eat calorie dense foods available trail mix , protein bars , nut butter packets , pre-made sandwiches there's so many things and , yeah , I'm okay with protein bars . You don't want to be eating five a day , but look for those opportunities . Trail mix is a great one , because then you can get like nuts , dried fruit , even throw in some M&Ms in there the kids' version of trail mix . Again , we're trying to gain weight here , so we've got this flexibility . Think about that and pre-make your snacks , just like in a fat loss phase , where I recommend that you pre-make high-protein , low-calorie , like lower-fat snacks . Same idea here Just prepare higher-calorie snacks for yourself and easy things to grab and pack and go on a hike with or throw in the car or whatever . All right , that brings us to . We got three strategies left .
Philip PapeStrategy number 10 is to sneak calories into drinks . So we talked about sneaking calories into food earlier . This is really when you have a drink that you're already having , like coffee , have it with whole milk . Now , if you like your coffee black , and that's just how you drink your coffee . But a lot of us put cream or something in there . Put the most calorie dense thing in there . Now , right , put whole milk or heavy cream . Put heavy cream in there there , actually , almost . I don't want you to go bulletproof coffee because I don't like that huge amount of MCT oil in there . But that's a high calorie beverage . You know . Protein shakes made with whole milk instead of water or almond milk , having juice juice is okay occasionally , right Between your meals , you know , combining this with the liquid thing that we mentioned earlier . So just sneaking calories into everyday drinks that you already drink . Now I wouldn't want to go to like regular soda , for example . I'm not going to go that far . It's more of , I'll say , whole food type additions to what you already drink . Actually , tea works for that as well . My wife loves having milk with tea , kind of British style . I actually joke with her . I'm like , oh , are you having some tea with your milk ? And she knows that and it tastes great . I get it All right .
Philip PapeStrategy number 11 is to plan your meals around fats .
Philip PapeBecause fats are the most calorie dense , I want you to build meals around them .
Philip PapeSo salmon with butter sauce , pasta with cream-based sauce , nut-crusted chicken or fish Meaning . What I mean by that is , unlike the earlier tip of just like adding fat , this is making sure that you pick meals and recipes that are fat-centric , that are fatty , that are rich . You're like oh , that's what I'm hearing on this podcast is very interesting , right , because it kind of flies in the face of sometimes what you think about with nutrition advice , but it's about your goals , it's about your context . We're trying to get more food in here , so enjoy the rich foods you know . Eat like the French , let's say right , whole eggs are great during this time . So think about fat centric meals as opposed to the protein and carbs , because you're probably going to get enough protein anyway if you're already there when you're not gaining . And then the fats are where the calories come , and then the carbs are everything else . Your carbs shouldn't be low , unless you're deliberately on a low-carb diet . But people forget about the value of fats for increasing calories .
ShonnettaHi , my name is Sharnetta and I want to give a big shout out to Philip of Wits and Weights . I discovered his podcast just a few short months ago , but I quickly realized how valuable his content is . With all the many fitness and nutrition influencers out in the world today , I often suffer from information overload , but Philip poses careful questions to his guests that get to the meat of the subject matter , while most everyone offers free guides to this , and that what I found most unique about Philip is his live training and weekly Q&A sessions . If I can't make it live , I can always catch the replay . I am very grateful to find someone I feel is so passionate and genuine to his purpose , while also being hands-on within the Wits and Weights online community . He is truly only a click away . Thanks , philip , for all you do .
And then the last strategy is to track and adjust by keeping it simple but systematic . I want you to think of progressive overload for your calories . Okay , first you have to understand your baseline . How many calories do you actually need ? Hopefully , you're tracking and you know what your surplus is and you know what your maintenance calories are . So you know that you're burning , say , 2,600 calories and you're in a 300 calorie surplus . You're going to eat 2,900 calories and you feel stuffed when you eat even just a little bit above your maintenance . Well , aim for not quite the full amount on week one , right ? Aim for 2,700 and then 2,800 , then 2,900 , right ? Very simple thing . I do this with clients all the time . I give them a very achievable goal for the next couple of weeks before their next check-in so that we're not feeling like we're overreaching and feeling like we failed just because we didn't miss it . Focus on one meal at a time , right , and one day at a time and a really good way to do this is if you're using a food logging app like Macrofactor is to take what you normally eat and then , for tomorrow , pre-plan and pre-log one change to a meal or one additional snack or meal per one of the strategies we talked about today . So don't change everything all at once , just tweak and add , tweak and add and it might be adding more fat , it might be adding an extra feeding , might be adding a shake in there , whatever makes sense , so that you're not obsessing or worrying too much about doing all of this . And then you're gonna adjust based on how well you feel . This is where biofeedback can come into play , like your hunger signals , and it's the opposite of during fat loss . So our goal here is not to feel like we're force feeding , like we're stuffed . So anyway , that's really putting it all together . The way I categorize these in the three groups may be a little bit arbitrary , but I wanted to keep it organized for you as you go through this and then you could use the timestamps to find each strategy . We'll just list the strategies right there in the show notes for you to make it easy so you can dive in .
Philip PapeNow . The one thing that you might be missing that has nothing to do with food and I wanted to address it and it could be the best way to increase your intake is managing your stress and recovery , just like during fat loss , when you're in a gaining phase but you are chronically stressed or you're under-recovered , right , that might be due to a lack of sleep , maybe overtraining , although that's not usually the issue . Your body actively suppresses your appetite and digestion . Now I've told you many times the opposite , that it can cause you to have a higher appetite and actually over-consume . But remember , we're in the opposite . We're in the opposite world here , the mirror world , alternate reality of gaining , where everything kind of flips on its head and when you're really stressed you may actually have trouble eating and your digestion might be off your gut health , things like that . And so sometimes , if you can barely eat 2000 calories and then you go on vacation and you relax , you're like I had no problem putting away 3000 plus calories a day without thinking about it . Why is that ? It's because you're relaxed , you're not stressed . So it kind of goes both ways and I want you to keep that in mind , which is great because it means we should always be striving to manage our stress and recovery that way . It's not like we have to change the principle during a gaining phase .
Philip PapeSo I want to just recap the 12 strategies for you just to reinforce in your mind real quick . I'm just going to list them . Number one calorie-dense foods . Simple , very high-level strategy . Number two liquid calories . Number three enhance your existing meals . Tweak them .
Philip PapeNumber four make sure you're eating things you enjoy . Number five add more meals or feedings . Increase your meal frequency . Number six don't drink water before meals . Number seven use the eating windows that you are already hungry with , like first in the morning , after your workout , before bed , you know , afternoon whatever Take advantage of those to add in the calories . Number eight make sure it's visually and socially appealing when you're eating . Number nine pre-plan or pre-prepare calorie-dense snacks , like think the trail mix , for example . Number 10 is to tweak your everyday drink that you already drink , like your coffee or tea , and add in some calorie-dense liquid to that , like heavy cream . Number 11 is to prioritize fatty foods in general . Just think of rich , creamy , fatty , nutty cheese , all those things . Prioritize those . And then the last one is to track and adjust systematically and use a form of progressive overload to kind of ease into this and work your way up .
Philip PapeNow do you remember Jim's question about struggling with celiac disease ? Notice how all these strategies they work with any dietary restriction . It's about the principles , right ? Not the specific foods . I gave you some examples , but we're not about specific foods here , so you can , no matter what you're dealing with . You can apply these principles All right . If you want to put all these strategies into action in a gaining phase , remember I have a free muscle building nutrition blueprint that builds on everything we covered today in terms of the setup , like what are the calories and macros , what is the surplus , what should I be tracking , what is the biofeedback , what are the measurements , and then an example of a real bulk . To get your copy , click the link in the show notes or go to witsandweightscom slash muscle to download that right now . Until next time , keep using your wits lifting those weights and remember , building muscle isn't just about lifting heavy , it's about fueling heavy too . This is Philip Pape and you've been listening to Wits and Weights . I'll talk to you next time .