In order to bulk up and build muscle you must eat a lot of food, this can be especially hard if you don't have a big appetite and even harder when you are a so called hardgainer. To increase your appetite must apply a few tactics that will make you hungrier and trick your body into eating more than it wants.
For people with low appetites and high metabolisms eating can be similar to training, in that they must apply an overload of food that their body is not used to, like you would apply a greater stress on the muscles to make them grow.
1. Drink your food
Drinking your food in the form of smoothies, shakes and milk is a great way of getting a lot of calories easily. Chugging down high calorie shakes is a great way to stretch your stomach and get your body used to consuming large amounts of calories in one sitting.Blending fruits like avocadoes, bananas and berries with high calories fats such as olive oil, cream, yoghurt and butter. Have a glass of whole milk with and after meals. Try drinking a gallon of milk a day.
2. Avoid hard to digest foods that cause gas and bloating
If there are any foods that you know you can't digest well, avoid theses at all costs. They are going to reduce and affect the digestion activity, causing you to become bloated and maybe constipated.Foods like wheat and legumes can even block the absorption of nutrients, meaning you will have to eat even more - you are what you digest. Common foods that cause bloating:
Gluten - Wheat, Dairy, Peanuts
3. Eat bigger meals less frequently
Let your appetite build. Skip breakfast and give your digestive system a rest, then when you are truly hungry have a feast. Eat when you are craving food, and then eat as much as you can in one sitting.Try intermittent fasting, not eating for an extended period of time and then eating all your calories in a set window, this can greatly increase the amount of food you can eat in one sitting.
Try drinking down even more calories after the meal. Force feed yourself in the same way you have to force your body to increase in strength when training. Eat meals that contain a variety of foods, eating lots of the same food can become unappealing.
Always eat some kind of desert after your main meal, as your taste buds will enjoy the change in flavours, you'll find your appetite will come back, especially when presented with something sweet.
4. Less protein more carbs and fats
Protein is very filling, which is why high protein diets like the Atkins work so well. Aim to eat no more than 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.Protein is harder to process than fats and carbohydrates; it will last longer in the body supressing hunger. Eat plenty of carbs like potatoes, rice and fruit.
Eat lots of fats for dense calories in a small amount of food. Eat 30g of carbs before a meal, like a banana; this causes a short insulin spike and a drop in blood sugar, creating an increase in appetite.
5. Increase your HCL levels and take digestive enzymes
Hydrochloric acid is a stomach acid that breaks down food into useable nutrients. Low levels of HCL will decrease your appetite for protein and will impair the speed at which your stomach breaks down food, leaving partly digested proteins and carbohydrates to ferment.This can cause acid reflux, which many people think is because of high acid levels, but is usually due to not enough HCL. Drink lemon or lime water in the morning and before meals to help in the production of HCL.
Take betaine HCl with meals to aid in digestion. Digestive enzymes will contain the enzymes your body needs to breakdown and absorb food more effectively, which will aid in overall digestion, minimize bloating and encourage appetite.
Get a couple of tabs with a big meal to help speed up digestion and get you ready for your next meal. Digestive enzyme supplements will usually contain some HCL too.
6. Make sure you aren't deficient in zinc
Many people are not getting enough zinc in their diet. Low levels of zinc are associated with poor appetite. Zinc is needed to produce HCL. Zinc will also affect the way your food tastes. Supplement with up to 15mg a day or eat foods high in zinc:Oysters
Beef
Cashews
Pumpkin seeds
7. Track your calories
Many people have no idea how much food they are actually eating. Most overweight people assume they are eating much less and the majority of underweight people assume they are eating much more, when in fact they are usually off by a thousand or more calories.Hardgainers especially overestimate the amount of calories they eat in a day. Many will say "I eat 3000 calories a day; I'm always consuming till I feel sick." Then when they track their calories they are in reality only eating 1500 a day.
This is why it's important to track how many calories you are eating. You need to get an idea of what eating so many calories a day looks like and you can't just guess it. Always round down the calories, this will account for any leftovers on the plate and any inaccuracies.
When know exactly how many calories you are eating per day you can start to increase upon this gradually every day. Add an extra 100 calories a day, until you reach your daily calorie needs.
8. Eat ginger before and during meals
Ginger is well known for relieving stomach problems such as nausea, indigestion and lack of appetite. Ginger is also a gastric expander which increases the size your stomach expands to, allowing for more food to be eaten. Brew a ginger tea and drink it 30 minutes before a big meal. Add chopped ginger to your meals to add some extra taste and sooth digestion.9. Eat faster
It can take up to 10-20 minutes before your body signals that it is full. Eat foods that are calorie dense, so you can get more calories in from eating a smaller volume of food. Splurge out on fast food a few times a week, it is easy to eat a fast food meal within 10 minutes, and they are always packed with calories.Remember to still completely chew all your food so as to not cause indigestion; you want your body to be able to easily digest all the food, so you can give it more.
Try not to drink any water with your meals as this will dilute the stomach acid, reducing the how efficiently it can break down the food. Water will only fill you up more too. Quickly drink down your calories in the form of milk, cream, shakes and shots of olive oil.
10. Weight train
Lifting weights will raise your metabolism for up to 48 hours, making your body burn more calories and need more food. Your body adjusts your appetite to account for the loss muscle glycogen through training and to repair broken down muscle tissue.After weight training the hormone ghrelin is released, this hormone stimulates appetite, causing you to feel hungry. Take advantage of this and eat as much food as you can after a workout. Aim to workout most days or every other day to stimulate your appetite.
