recs to maintain or gain some weight?

Hi All, One year post-surgery, and I am near my goal of 140 (147 this morning), exercising and eating great.  My question is actually for my husband, who is below goal, not exercising at all(had total knee replacement 7 weeks ago) and getting pretty thin -- he's at 185 but he's 6'3" with a large frame, and would prefer to be closer to 200, plus he wants to begin to exercise once his knee is better.   Any recommendations for foods that are a healthy way to regain/maintain his current weight?  So far, he's experimenting with jelly donuts and ice cream, but I'd love to see him use some better foods to bring his calories up.

Thanks for your ideas - a better problem to have than the 150 lbs. overweight he had a year ago, but still - we want to be healthy and happy for a long time together!

-Sarah

Hi Sarah -

Yeah... he needs to ditch the jelly donuts and ice cream.  Instead he needs to eat healthy, calorie dense foods that are good for his body.  Whole milk instead of skim.  Full-fat mayo instead of fat free.  Peanut butter.  Beef instead of turkey.  He basically needs to increase his calories above his activity level.  He needs to maintain the high-protein intake, but also increase fat intake to about 25-35% of his total caloric intake (fat has 7 calories per gram, whereas protein and carbs only have 4 calories per gram). 

I wear the GoWear Fit so I know exactly how many calories I burn (2100 on non-active days, 2600-2800 on workout days) .... so if I needed to gain, I know I'd need to be eating 2500-3000 calories a day to make that happen.    He might need to do a similar level since we know that men burn more calories than women just because of their body structure and muscle mass.

Once he starts again, his exercise needs to be strength training which will add muscle and weight.  Cardio is important for heart and lung health, but it shouldn't be the focus of his workout since it's also designed for fat burning and it doesn't sound like he's got much fat left to burn. 

Good luck,
Pam


PS -- congrats on your success too!  You'll be at goal before you know it!  :-)

Thanks, Pam -- I know he's planning on adding strength rather than cardio training for the most part (except that we like to bicycle too) -- will talk with him about your ideas - I'm sure that he wouldn't mind going back to full-fat products, and the milk would be an easy way to add fat, since he drinks 2-3 glasses of fat-free per day. --Sarah