Day 1

My Current Life

I am a 180cm tall, 56kg male, and I need to gain weight. My body mass index is 17.28 which is firmly in the "underweight" category.

I lead a rather sedentry lifestyle, being a computer programmer, but two to three times a week, I go and do Jiu Jitsu for 1h 30m to 2h, and occasionally, there are regionals, nationals, grading, pre-grading, etc. which really raises how much exercise I am doing.

In a previous life, I was a pole exercise instructor, but even back then, I was rarely over 60kg in weight. When I was doing most of my strength training for this, I just failed to add any strength to my muscles. I was at a plateau, and a very low one at that.

I would like to be able to give blood safely again. Last time I did, I passed out, because I didn't realise how low my body weight was. It would also be super if next time I'm on a strength training regime, I actually became stronger. It's also generally important, since I pick up a lot of minor injuries in jitsu, and I heal very slowly as an underweight chap.

Day 1

Breakfast

So, I don't deviate much for breakfast, but I've invested in some protein shake stuff. For breakfast, I had my usual, coffee (whole milk, not soya this time) and scrambled eggs. I made myself a protein shake with 50g powder in it, and headed off to work.

Lunch

For lunch, I stuck to my normal. A nice home-made sandwich,  some yoghurt, and some nuts. Nothing spectacular. At around 4PM, I ate my banana as usual.

Jitsu

Today was a jitsu day. When I stepped onto the mat, I was feeling generally the same as usual, except a lot fuller than normal. Maybe it was some sort of placebo, but I was genuinely worried that during the break falling practise, I could throw up. As it turned out, I got through it without much more than feeling dizzy. The rest of the session passed without incident, except for still being crap at V's (as always).

Dinner

Once again, a normal dinner. Carrots, brocolli, fine beans and a veggie meat-substitute. Garlic "chicken" kiev. Very nice. I also followed this up with another protein shake, made with a 50g serving of the powder. I felt very full, sickly almost. I must've eaten my required 2,280 calories for the day!

Logging it

So, I went onto my calorie counting app and put in my calories. I was even given a couple of biscuits/cookies for helping the caterers out at work (nothing fancy, just looking after some stuff for 10 mins).

I was certain that I'd hit my calorie target. I was stuffed, and it was getting on for half ten at night!

Nope, I was 355 calories shy.

I, while feeling rather full, continued to eat, having even more nuts, and a glass of whole milk. Blech.

I came in at 59 calories over. Phew.

Thoughts at the End of Day 1

How do normal people actually manage to get over 1,500 calories in a day as-standard? I simply don't understand where all those calories are coming from! I am quite full, and not looking forwards to breakfast tomorrow morning!

Oh, and I cocked up. It's not 50g of power for a protein shake, it's 150g. The stuff was quite thick and unpleasant to drink today. I've already made the extra one for breakfast tomorrow. I am so not looking forwards to breakfast tomorrow.