Calorie requirements increasing but appetite isn’t? Let us help!
When resistance training regularly in the pursuit to build muscle mass and gain weight, it’s not uncommon for people to reach a point where their energy requirements start to exceed an appetite threshold they deem “comfortable”.
Once this scenario is encountered, it’s often prescribed and encouraged that an individual circumnavigates their lack of appetite by replacing whole foods in their diet for more highly-processed foods. Doing so is with the appropriate rationale of consuming sufficient calories. However it’s important to recognise that the overall quality of our diet is still a top priority! What was once a whole foods diet can VERY QUICKLY be turned into an EDNP (energy-dense, nutrient-poor) diet when someone is desperate for calories.
The good news is that we’re here to tell you there’s a “happy medium” between eating for health and eating for performance + physique goals! There’s no reason to take an all-or-nothing approach to nutrition, and some people might be pleasantly surprised that you can still consume your regular whole food meals (with the same relative food volume!) and add hundreds of additional calories by just making a few tweaks.
For instance, take this oatmeal example above. In both “lower” and “higher” calorie options an individual would be satisfying a few nutritional requirements including:
Whole grains ✔️
Calcium ✔️
Fruit ✔️
HBV Protein ✔️
Mono + polyunsaturated source of fat ✔️
Dietary fibre diversity ✔️
The difference? Just a few food swaps and a modest 165g of additional food volume which still provides the same relative protein amount, however an extra 346 calories with nearly triple and double the carb and dietary fat amount respectively.