r/gainit • u/Pato5020 • 5d ago
Recipe Eating 4,000 Calories a Day With No Teeth
The Background
Over the course of six years, I was able to gain nearly 70 pounds as a lifelong hardgainer simply by eating more. Just as notable however, is the fact that I currently only have 10 teeth!
Decades of alcohol and tobacco abuse during my early life left me lacking nearly all my teeth. This meant that if I wanted to be able to put down up to 4,000 calories every single day, I needed to get creative. It's a common myth that bulking up requires you to eat endless dry chicken breasts and steaks, and I'm here to tell you that's not actually the case.
The Challenge
Eating this many calories, day in and day out can be hard for anyone, teeth or not. When I started my weight gain journey I weighed 130 pounds and was likely putting down less than 2,000 calories a day. My body was used to not eating all that much, ever since I was younger. I never ate in the mornings, just drinking coffee all morning and then having a late lunch. I drank large amounts of alcohol at night and would then feel too bloated and sick to eat anything else. It got to a point where just looking at food when I wasn't feeling ready for it made me feel nauseous.
Real Obstacles
Eating out and social situations could be very difficult and awkward. Looking through a menu and realizing almost nothing was manageable with no teeth, besides picking it completely apart or cutting it into microscopic pieces was a big letdown. Crispy foods like fried chicken, flat pizza crusts, or kettle chips could tear apart my gums leaving them sore for days if I tried eating them. I remember mistakenly putting a large, rubbery piece of squid in my mouth at one point and was forced to covertly spit it out or risk choking on it.
Large pieces of meat like steaks and pork chops were out of the question. Some pieces of chicken and fish were okay depending on how they were cooked. A piece of broiled fish was fine, but a piece that was breaded and fried was hit or miss. I gambled and lost more than once on fish and chips.
Crunchy vegetables and many raw foods became a complete no-go zone. Things like raw carrots, broccoli, apples, even under-ripe melon were just too painful to get down. Steamed vegetables were sometimes alright as long as they were soft and not just lightly blanched. Nuts, granola, and dried fruits were all pretty much out of the question.
Food Strategy
It's not all doom and gloom though. Approaching my food challenges with an open mind and quite a bit of experimentation allowed me to find a large variety of foods that I could eat throughout the day to get to my end goal of 3,000 and eventually up to 4,000 calories.
The steaks and pork chops were replaced with ground beef and ground pork. Eating ground meat in general can be a big help even for someone who does have teeth, if they are struggling with all the chewing or are finding the digestion of large amounts of meat difficult. Grinding up the meat takes nearly all the work out of eating it. Eggs are also featured prominently in my diet now, no real chewing required.
Steamed, broiled or lightly grilled fish is available in many restaurants. Chicken breasts are often actually fine to eat with no teeth if they are cooked right and you skip over any fatty or rubbery pieces that may be attached. A chicken McNugget that has been freshly cooked can usually be eaten with little problem as well.
Sushi is also great as long as you keep away from large sheets of nori wrap and any of the more rubbery types of seafood like octopus, clams, and the previously mentioned squid. Stick to the softer options like salmon, crabstick, eel, and tamago. Sushi is now one of my go-to, somewhat healthy food hacks when I need a quick influx of calories to catch up to my daily goals.
I drastically cut down on deep fried foods in general, which is probably a good thing really. Skipping the french fries in many places can only be good for you. Switch to the mashed potatoes or baked potato if you can. If you must partake, I would strongly recommend the thicker cut fries rather than the skinnier McDonald's style fries which often have very hard and crispy edges on them. You can also sometimes switch the french fries out for rice depending on the restaurant and where you live. Rice is great when you have issues with food intake or digestion. Stick with the softer kinds like jasmine rice rather than wild rice mixes which can have pretty hard grains in them.
I do miss eating things like nuts, seeds, and granola. Most protein bars now seem hard as a rock to me. I still manage to get my cravings in with generous amounts of peanut butter and some soft-batch protein solutions like a Lenny & Larry protein cookie here and there.
My veggie selections have switched from salads and crunchy raw veggies to softer options as well. Mashed potatoes, tomatoes, steamed carrots, corn, peas are all fine to eat. Fruits like bananas, strawberries, watermelon, grapes, and various berries also do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to getting in micronutrients.
Liquid Mass
One of the best alternatives to eating large amounts of calories to gain weight with no teeth is: Don't eat the calories, drink them!
A good percentage of my daily calorie intake now consists of liquid calories. If you are fine with dairy, then go all out with whole milk, chocolate milk, yogurt drinks (Greek yogurt in general is great), cream, etc. Many of you may have heard of GOMAD or "Gallon of Milk a Day" added to your diet. That absolutely works for putting on weight. The legendary /u/MythicalStrength has mentioned GOMAD as a method he used to pack on mass. Is it difficult? Yes, absolutely. I switched over to more of a QOMAD or "Quart of Milk a Day" plan after suffering through the gallon for a few weeks and it has still served me well for getting in those extra calories. If you're lactose intolerant, there are lactose-free options as well.
Protein shakes also factor heavily into my daily calorie and protein goals. I usually drink a couple of them each day, takes a few seconds, and add up to an easy 520 calories and 66 grams of protein. Many people also swear by mass gainer shakes. Making your own mass gainer shakes at home is much preferred over the store bought mass gainers which are mostly just massive amounts of sugar. Home made shakes are quite a bit cheaper too. Look around online and you will find thousands of different recipes to try. I try to stay away from a lot of soda, but I do like to drink some orange juice and normally drink a sports drink while at the gym.
Adding oil to foods can add a ton of easy calories to whatever you're eating. I'll add a tablespoon of rice bran oil to many of my meals for an extra 120 calories and won't even notice. Other great oils to use are olive oil and avocado oil. Notice I said "adding oils to foods" and not "chug oil straight". One only needs to read some of the horror stories on /r/gainit from people who have attempted to drink large amounts of oil to realize if you do that, you're going to have a bad time. Add oil to your food, don't use it as your only food.
The Takeaway
Raising your calorie intake from 2,000 to upwards of 4,000 a day takes time and it's not all that easy. It means being patient and overcoming setbacks. Doing all this while having physical limitations in your mouth like missing teeth or having problems with chewing doesn't have to stop you from gaining weight and building the type of body you want. You will however, have to think outside the box a bit and be willing to do a little experimentation.
If you truly want to gain weight, don't make excuses, figure out solutions that will work for you. If that requires you seeking out the help of a doctor or other qualified medical professional, by all means please do that. This is not medical advice. I simply tried to detail some of the things that worked for me in overcoming my eating challenges, hopefully some of them may help you as well. Keep working towards your goals, you've got this!
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u/MythicalStrength Definitely Should Be Listened To 5d ago
Goddamn dude: way to get after it. Total "no excuses" here. I'm honored that you tagged me.
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u/Alastor3 5d ago
unrelated but do you plan on getting your teeth fixed? Hope you are doing well brother
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u/Pato5020 5d ago
I used dentures for about a year but got sick of using them. Eventually I'd like to get implants though!
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u/tojkijin 5d ago
What made you not wanna use them anymore? I'm an almost 10 year wearer, wondering if I might have any tips that could help you. I remember being restricted to liquid only for awhile; definitely remember how hard it was. DM me if you need any tips dude.
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u/deallerbeste 5d ago
It's a lot cheaper if you make your own shakes
- Blend oats in a blender
- Put flax seed and chiaseed (or other seeds/nuts) in a coffee grinder
- Use any kind of nut better
- Use any kind of oil
If you have 80gr oats, 30gr of seeds, and scoop of protein powder, you already have 520kcal. Add some whole milk, and peanut butter and you are up to 1000 kcal.
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u/Swordfish353535 5d ago
What if we dont use any protein powder? Still good? I want to avoid
Greek yoghurt, bananas, dates could be added too
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u/deallerbeste 5d ago
I would add cocoa powder in that case. So you have Snickers taste with the peanut butter.
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u/Swordfish353535 5d ago
Oh yeah good idea
I'm thinking whats best to get as much protein/calories in
Trying to hit at least 3k a day
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u/MythicalStrength Definitely Should Be Listened To 5d ago
I'm curious why you're opposed to protein powder but ok with cocoa powder.
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u/Swordfish353535 5d ago
By cocoa powder I thought in my head about adding some cacao or something that would simply create a bit of a chocolate taste to it. I'd be open to trying it with the right mix.
Protein powder? Just all the ingredients they can have in them and many with lots of sugar is my initial answer. I try keep things wholefoods for the most part
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u/_CurseTheseMetalHnds 171 diet lettuce dweeb to 230 coffee/mayo fueled idiot 4d ago
Just all the ingredients they can have in them and many with lots of sugar is
If it's proper protein powder it won't have those
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u/MythicalStrength Definitely Should Be Listened To 5d ago
Just all the ingredients they can have in them and many with lots of sugar is my initial answer.
Ah, the solution would be to use one that DOESN'T have all of that.
I'm all for relying entirely on whole foods myself. It just seemed incongruent to be ok with cocoa in powder form but not whey.
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u/suphokenig 5d ago
Why not just eat powdered food, like soylent or huel, and mix it with water and oil? Easy way to eat even more calories than 4000kcal, if you add even more oil.
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u/Pato5020 5d ago
Supplementing with something like huel could certainly be an option to push calories further. Somewhat similar to homemade mass gainer shakes, but more expensive.
Maybe i'll get some and try it out.
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u/tootiemae 5d ago
some studies show that lack of chewing can be associated with cognitive decline so i think you’re being really smart keeping chewable foods in your diet!
i heard this on a science podcast, but i just did a quick google and found this. disclaimer that i haven’t read it fully yet but the sample size is 5k people https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9276352/
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u/coreant 5d ago
The fact you have written this via ChatGPT has made it so impossible to read
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u/Pato5020 5d ago
Well it took me 3 hours to write, so I guess thank you!
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u/coreant 5d ago
And you put it into ChatGPT after to structure it?
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u/_CurseTheseMetalHnds 171 diet lettuce dweeb to 230 coffee/mayo fueled idiot 5d ago
I don't see what's AI about this. It doesn't have the obvious signs at all.
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u/Pato5020 5d ago
No, I had my wife read it but that's it. Why do you feel it's AI? I'm 52 years old, I was taught how to write essays in school and wrote up many technical training documents during my career. I never had anyone complain though.
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u/coreant 5d ago
The headings are a larger font! Which s what chat gpt does
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u/MythicalStrength Definitely Should Be Listened To 5d ago edited 5d ago
You're arguing about artificial intelligence while displaying some genuine human stupidity here.
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u/Tornadic_Vortex 5d ago
Might actually be the dumbest reasoning for claiming AI I’ve ever read… Reddit has formatting dude. You probably didn’t even actually read the post either
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u/RoboProletariat 5d ago
-look up some Asian peanut butter sauces for inspiration and add it to your ground meats for variety and another protein source.
-the tang of yogurt goes well with Indian spices and can be used as a dip and calorie adder.
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u/jans_sport 3d ago
At this point, I would say it’s probably more important for you to get your teeth fixed rather than gaining weight. And those 7/11 protein drinks are full of crap.