For me and a lot of my clients looking to increase calories, I always recommend two things. One is to start drinking some more protein shakes and the other is to take in more good fats. The protein shakes are a great way to increase calories without really filling yourself up or struggling to choke down a meal. Since you are Vegan I would recommend getting some hemp or brown rice protein. Soy protein is a popular choice for vegans but I am not a big fan of it. For one, vegans typically get an overload of soy in their diet in the first place. Hemp protein has all 21 amino acids including the 9 essential amino acids that are critical to get on a daily basis.

The idea of eating more fats will bring you more than two times the calories per gram, compared to carbs or protein. Every gram of fat yields 9 calories as opposed to 4 calories from carbs and protein. It is easy to get over 100 calories with a tablespoon of olive oil or a handful of nuts. These fats are crucial and healthy for you to eat, so if you are looking to increase calories in a healthy way fat is a good option.

There is a big difference from one carb to another, just the way there is a big difference from one fat to another. Fried foods are high in fat that is terrible for you but other foods like olive oil are high in fat and healthy for you. The same goes with carbs. Typically foods that are high in sugary carbs are the ones you want to avoid. The foods that are high in fibrous carbs are the ones that you want to ingest. Fiber does wonders for you heart, colon and metabolism. It actually helps regulate the rate at which foods get digested in your system. Since sugar is typically broken down extremely fast, make sure that you always have fiber if you are eating something high in sugar. If not you are liable to spike your blood sugar levels which will cause insulin to drive the broken down sugar to the fat cells. Here it is stored as fat. Anyone who is looking to keep their weight under control or look lean should pay close attention to how much and when they eat fat.

Jim, I honestly had never heard of the E.S.E diet before you mentioned it to me. With so many diets out there it is hard for me to keep up with every single one. I did a brief Google search about it and saw that it is basically based on fasting for two days per week. The reasoning here is that you will essentially not eat the typical 1,000-2,000 calories that you would  normally eat, causing you to lose weight. Right off the top of my head I see a ton of issues with this. The first is that you will slow down you metabolism. Not eating for an entire day puts your body in the “survival” mindset. Since you in essence will be starving yourself, your body freaks out and thinks that you are actually starving and can’t find food. This causes it to naturally slow the metabolism down and attempt to store whatever calories you have in the system for energy.

Another issue is what you do right after you come off of the fast. People that are starving tend to eat a huge meal when they finally get their hands on food. I don’t know about you, but if I didn’t eat for an entire day I would be crushing food the next day. All of the calories you have saved from the fasting day will be made up in the next day or two. That combined with a slowed metabolism can put you in a bad situation. On top of that your blood sugar levels will be so low from the fast that anything you eat will send those sky high, which will place the calories you just ate in an inopportune place (fat cells).

The third problem that I have is who wants to starve for a day? Your stomach will be pissed at you and your energy levels will be near zero by the end of the day. It is just not a sustainable diet and it really makes no sense to me. I am sure people have seen results from it but the question you need to ask yourself before getting into a diet like this is can you really handle it? I know I couldn’t.

I am a big fan of eating every few hours. It keeps me energized, happy, keeps my metabolism constantly working and my blood sugar levels regulated.

Thank you guys for all of your questions, they were great. If anyone has some thing to add, please leave a comment and we can further discuss.