A day in the life of a Hardgainer – Find out what 3500 calories looks like

I often find it amusing when people are shocked at what lengths I go through day in and day out to reach my goals. I train hard, try my best to sleep well, and I eat big.

When it comes down to it, almost any training program will work and almost all reputable supplements will give you a little bit of an edge depending on your goals. What differentiates Hardgainers from Easy Gainers (besides genetics) is how well we can maintain a positive energy balance, or in other words eating enough food to gain weight. 

I’m going to put a little bit more emphasis on nutrition this month but I thought I’d start things off by letting you in on an average day for me as a struggle to do what it takes to gain weight
 

Upon Waking up:

5 grams of Glutamine
5 grams of Creatine

Notes: I was up around 3 in the morning. I have a hard time getting consistent sleep which is starting to become a problem. I needed a way to kill time so I watched the leaked version of the new Wolverine Movie. It was ok I wasn’t overly impressed I’d give it a 2.5 out of 5. It’s worth watching but if you compare it to The Watchmen or The Dark Knight it doesn’t even measure up.

Breakfast

7 Servings of Aunt Jemima’s Pancakes: 910 calories 189 carbs 28 protein 3.5fat

3 strips of Bacon: 220 calories 3 carbs 12 protein 18 fat

Total Calories: 1130 calories 192 carbs 40 protein 21.5 fat

Hidden Calories - I used Margarine to grease the pan for the pancakes and maple syrup as a spread for the cakes

Notes: After breakfast I did my daily hour of rehabilitory exercises and stretching and went about my day.

Lunch

675 grams of Yams: 783 calories 186 carbs 10 protein 0.7 fat

Corn beef Stew

Total – 783 calories 186 carbs 10 protein 0.7 fat

Hidden Calories - I don’t know the caloric profile for the Corn beef stew since it is an African dish but it has some protein which is a good thing. At dinner I’m going to have 2 scoops of protein to compensate for the protein I may have missed in this meal. The dish although small in portion is also very fatty so the real total for this meal is probably in the thousands. 

Dinner

2 bagels: 560 calories 116 carbs 20 protein 3 fat

2 servings of protein: 240 calories 6 carbs 48 protein 2 fat

100 grams of Oats: 346 calories 75 carbs 11 protein 2.7 fat

Total Calories: 1146 calories 197 carbs 70 protein 7.7 fats

Hidden calories: I used a heap load of peanut butter to make up for the 300 to 400 calories I missed during lunch. I don’t like recording peanut butter or similar types of foods because the recording process is difficult. Additionally I usually have a lot more veggies and fruits in my diet but I’ve eaten them all. 

Notes: I usually don’t need to supplement with protein when I’m home all day as I’m able to reach my goals with food alone. Today was a rare exception because were simply out of food.

Before bed:

5 grams of Glutamine

Daily Caloric Tally:

Goal: 3500 calories 569 carbs 127 protein 77 fat

Today: 3059 calories 575 carbs 120 protein 29.9 fat

It may appear that I haven’t reached my goal but with that addition of all of the fruit drinks I’ve had today and the calories I didn’t record (the heap load of peanut butter for instance) I’ve managed to fulfil my protein and fat needs. Its wasn’t pretty but I made it for today. 

Well there you have it. If you want to get big you need to eat big. It’s harder than it looks and doing this every day is a work in progress for me but I’m going to continue working at it. If you think 3 big meals is too much for your split you meals into 6 smaller meals just make sure that you are hitting your daily totals.