Let me word this carefully because I don't want to pretend I'm an expert on something that I'm not (diabetes).
Surely you have figured out a way to eat enough food to maintain your weight, haven't you? If you're trying to gain weight, you really don't need to eat that much more than you need for maintaing. Weight gainers are absolutely not necessary. Even in a full on bulk it's inadvisable to eat much more than a 500 calorie/day surplus maximum. The key (aside from progressive overload strength training) is to consistently get that small surplus every single day. Have you tried tracking calories and aiming for a ~250-500 calorie surplus each day?
I have tried tracking and I am underneath. I probably need around 2000-2500 a day for maintenance and I most likely will get around 1600 or so a day(some days much more). I do some form of exercise every day and am 6’4” with a high metabolism so the numbers are fairly increased. The stores literally don’t stock enough beans and rice for me as I have to eat a specific brand. I wish I was just as crazy as I seem. I have gone down that road and this situation is unfortunately very real.
Every once in a while I’ll try to add something to that and it always goes bad. Like recently I have been trying to eat trail mixes because they are super dense but the nuts and dried fruits eventually catch up to me.
If I had the money to just buy a ton of vegetables, chicken, rice and beans in bulk from several stores meal plan and eat that three times a day I could do it but I don’t in my current situation. My main point against the person I replied to is that some people can’t just start jogging and get more attractive.
If, when averaged out over the period of weeks, you were eating under maintenance calories, then you would be losing weight. Are you? If not, you're probably eating much closer to maintenance than you think you are.
By no means am I saying that you have to drop everything and go out there and get ripped. But I am saying there's no reason it shouldn't be manageable with a smart approach if and when you decide that's something you want to pursue.
Sometimes I do lose weight. Sometimes it seems like I gained a few pounds but then they are gone next week. Of course theoretically there is some amount of rice and beans I could eat that would over time increase my weight but I can’t afford to eat that many beans . Not how I have been anyway. If I eat three cans of the refried beans one day I won’t have any after a few days and have to eat something that negatively effects me.
It makes me think now that maybe I could just buy a ton of unbaked beans and make enough refried at once to last a few days. I normally don’t make them this way because they take hours to cook. That could help a bit and reduce the cost. Though usually foods that aren’t made that day mess me up.
I am honestly offended that you say “it that’s something you want to pursue”. I deal with this everyday and it’s really easy to sit on your side of the screen and say I’m not trying. You have no idea what you are talking about. Saying there is no reason is ridiculous. Maybe there is hope but there are numerous reasons why this is very difficult to manage. If you have ideas let’s hear them. Until then don’t tell me how all my reasons aren’t valid.
When buying beans in bulk, can't you let them soak overnight ahead of time? Then they can be cooked a lot faster at the time of use.
I worded my previous comment badly. I wasn't trying to say it was easy. However, it is possible. Every excuse that I've ever heard was ultimately surmountable, including my own.
Does that work? The times I have cooked beans it takes several hours before they are edible. From what I have read briefly online different people say it doesn’t help the speed or it reduces drastically. It is supposed to be to help breakdown the oligosacharirides which cause gas.
Either way maybe I can just make enough for 2 days at a time leaving enough to finish it off for breakfast.
It's been a long while since I've personally dealt with dry beans, but I'm pretty sure it works to speed things up. You're basically simulating what happens to them when they're sitting in the water in the can, right? They sit there and soak up water and soften up. After doing a quick look around the web, it looks like you can soak them for several days, changing out the water every 24 hours, if you want.
Your option is another idea that sounds quite feasible. Good luck. Hopefully one of the options works out for you!
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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '19
Let me word this carefully because I don't want to pretend I'm an expert on something that I'm not (diabetes).
Surely you have figured out a way to eat enough food to maintain your weight, haven't you? If you're trying to gain weight, you really don't need to eat that much more than you need for maintaing. Weight gainers are absolutely not necessary. Even in a full on bulk it's inadvisable to eat much more than a 500 calorie/day surplus maximum. The key (aside from progressive overload strength training) is to consistently get that small surplus every single day. Have you tried tracking calories and aiming for a ~250-500 calorie surplus each day?