High calorie healthy snacks and foods?

[FitForLife1988]

Hi,

I started using myfitnesspal recently and I find it hard to eat all the calories I need for building muscles eating healthy food?

That would be no problem if I was eating McDonalds food which is so high in calories....but I am trying to eat healthy and there are not as much calories in healthy foods from what I see. 300g of chicken breast has the same amount of calories as 1 medium mcdonalds fries.

So my question for you is...what healthy foods are your calorie weapons?

Also myfitnesspal shows that I go over on protein and fat even though is mostly healthy fat but I am like at half on carbs.

Is it a problem if you eat more protein than needed?

Thanks

Marian

[NattyNation]

Peanut butter, nuts, and avocado.

[FitForLife1988]

Peanut butter, nuts, and avocado.

Tried avocado yesterday and I didn't like it at all....is there anything you eat with to make it less...uhm...disgusting? :P

[CommitmentRulz]

There is room in a 3000 calorie diet for a little "fast food". Especially if you're having trouble meeting your calorie goal.

[Heisman2]

You don't have to eat just healthy foods. Search for "clean eating" in this section; there are tons of threads on this topic.

That said, if you want easy/cheap/non unhealthy carbs, rice/oatmeal/pasta should work.

[broderwd]

Avocado, while not my favorite by itself, is pretty amazing on or with pretty much anything. I like to add it to eggs, either scrambled or in a breakfast burrito, on salad, or on sandwiches.

If wanting to eat it by itself, go with a little salt, or some type of salad dressing or vinegar.

I second nuts and peanut butter. I am personally a fan of Peanut Butter Companies Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter. Help with my chocolate or candy cravings. Goes well on toast, on non toasted bread.

I also keep a supply of cheese sticks, and a loaded fruit basket.

This may be odd, but i keep the fruit basket in my bedroom. I am an older college student and spend much of my time in my bedroom studying. Having the fruit right there insures one, that i actually eat it, and two, that if i ever start to feel hungry for a snack that i can grab an apple or banana or something, and not end up in the kitchen eating more than i should.

[broderwd]

I was just going to add, make sure your eating a large enough breakfast. I eat breakfast everyday, but some days its only 300 calories, some days its 600. It is a pain trying to make up them calories later in the day.

My go to breakfast is boiled eggs and fruit. Some days ill have a smoothy (mainly yogurt and fruit), or some kind of oats.

[NattyNation]

Tried avocado yesterday and I didn't like it at all....is there anything you eat with to make it less...uhm...disgusting? :P

i just eat it plain but like broder said you could just mix it into things like eggs or sandwiches

[broderwd]

Not sure if you eat other things that this would go with but this is a very tasty way to eat some avocado....

....cant post links....

Google search "Sunny Mango Habanero Guacamole"

Ive made it without the salt and OJ and it still tastes amazing.

[AdamWW]

Tried avocado yesterday and I didn't like it at all....is there anything you eat with to make it less...uhm...disgusting? :P

avocado on toast + almost anything

[ErikTheElectric]

Peanut butter.

[yoojungl]

Anything high in fat are usually calorie dense. PB, oil, avocados, eggs, hemp seeds, butter, and nuts.

[rustywite]

Whole grain burrito wraps. For breakfast stuff it with bacon, eggs, cheese, potatoes, hot sauce. For dinner do whatever meat you want, beans, cheese, rice, guac.....

So easy to stuff a burrito to the point of being 1k plus cals, and that's even using only "healthy" foods. Plus it is so delicious

[Mikeez0]

Bag of cereals and not even full, op. Try it out.

[Budjola]

chia seeds with pb and cottage cheese

[FitForLife1988]

You guys are amazing. Thanks so much for the help!!

[Dincho98]

Nuts, peanut butter. Delicious, high caloric, perfect whether you're not hungry, but need those calories.

[FitForLife1988]

Nuts, peanut butter. Delicious, high caloric, perfect whether you're not hungry, but need those calories.

I..quit eating bread all together...what kind of bread do you guys recommend to have peanut butter on?

[ironwill2008]

I..quit eating bread all together...what kind of bread do you guys recommend to have peanut butter on?

???

Why would you quit eating bread, especially if you're having trouble taking in enough calories?

[FitForLife1988]

Well...I've been reading and it seems bread makes you fat? Well at least some kinds of bread...so I cut it out just in case ...not like I was eating much of it anyway.

[gbullock32]

Well...I've been reading and it seems bread makes you fat? Well at least some kinds of bread...so I cut it out just in case ...not like I was eating much of it anyway.

Caloric surplus, not bread, causes weight/fat gain.

[FitForLife1988]

Caloric surplus, not bread, causes weight/fat gain.

What about carbs? Doesn't having a lot of carbs make you fat? Or is it jjust calories?

[Heisman2]

What about carbs? Doesn't having a lot of carbs make you fat? Or is it jjust calories?

Just calories (mostly). Please read the stickies and forget everything else you have read.

[Partyrocking]

Well...I've been reading and it seems bread makes you fat? Well at least some kinds of bread...so I cut it out just in case ...not like I was eating much of it anyway.

Stop reading nonsense.

[gbullock32]

What about carbs? Doesn't having a lot of carbs make you fat? Or is it jjust calories?

Calories.

[FitForLife1988]

So what you guys are saying is: Eating McDonalds and pizza is not bad as long as you don't consume too many calories that day?

[Heisman2]

So what you guys are saying is: Eating McDonalds and pizza is not bad as long as you don't consume too many calories that day?

Did you read the stickies? You should spend several days reading through dozens of threads here to develop a basic understanding of nutrition.

In brief, for body composition purposes the biggest factors are total calories, then meeting protein/fat minimums, then optimizing your eating schedule to maximize your workouts, then timing of protein intake (ideally spread in multiple meals throughout the day). For health purposes, ensure you do not have excess body fat, keep trans fat intake as low as possible, keep saturated fat & added sugar (not counting fruits and vegetables) to <10% of total daily calories, get sufficient omega 3s, ensure you meet your micronutrient requirements (preferably with lots of fruits & vegetables to increase phytonutrient intake as well), and you should be good. There are other things to consider but are more minor.

If you can fit McDonald's and pizza into the above, then they are fine to eat.

[Michealx]

So what you guys are saying is: Eating McDonalds and pizza is not bad as long as you don't consume too many calories that day?

As long as it fits into your calories, your fine.

[R4z0rEdge]

So what you guys are saying is: Eating McDonalds and pizza is not bad as long as you don't consume too many calories that day?

The long and short of it is yes - from a weight loss perspective you could eat 100% macdonalds and lose weight, if you hit your macros.

From a health perspective however, you wouldn't want to be eating that much trans fat, processed sugar, etc. That's where the confusion comes from.

What I usually say to my clients is this - eat natural, unprocessed foods (think things that rot over time) 70-90% of the time, then fill up the rest of your macros with anything you want. As long as it doesn't make up the majority of your diet, it will not be detrimental to your results. :-)

[FitForLife1988]

Wow...I have a lot to learn. Thanks for all the help. I guess I need to read the stickies