Forming the strength training habit didn’t take too long for me. Eating enough calories on the other hand has been where I still fall down at times.
While I’m perfectly able to eat plenty of eggs, red meat, and fish on a daily basis – giving me all the calories and protein I need – it’s still tricky to maintain that level for more than a few days at a time. At times I’d use McDonalds as a calorie-supplement of sorts to push me over the line, but putting that garbage in my body is not a long term solution. Luckily, there’s a better approach.
A few days ago Mark Sisson wrote The Definitive Guide to Dairy, and these particular sentences caught my attention:
You could conceivably survive on milk alone (I wouldn’t recommend it, but you could technically do it; try doing the same with honey or raw millet). Milk is baby fuel. It’s literally meant to spur growth and enable a growing body.
And honestly I feel a bit silly for not thinking of this before: instead of using McDonalds or other fast food to push you towards your daily calorie goals, start drinking multiple glasses of milk per day.
I’m not advocating the implementation of GOMAD (a weight gain approach where you drink a gallon of milk per day), which I haven’t personally tried yet, but 250ml of milk (and this is lite milk we’re talking about) contains over 100 calories and 9g of protein. Three servings of that throughout the day could certainly be the difference between maintaining your current weight or gaining weight.
Sometimes this weight gain stuff seems a bit too simple.
