A high-calorie diet provides more calories than you need daily to maintain your weight. For most people, a diet of between 3,500 and 5,000 calories is considered high in calories and, unless you are extremely active, will probably promote weight gain. High-calorie menus should still feature healthy foods to ensure balanced nutrition, optimal energy and good health.
Indications
You might follow a high-calorie diet if you are genetically underweight with a high metabolism. People suffering from a wasting disease or who have lost weight due to an illness might also follow a high-calorie diet to boost immunity and health. Those with cancer, particularly those undergoing treatment, may need a high-calorie diet. Many athletes, from bodybuilders to endurance athletes, need a high-calorie diet to support lean muscle mass growth and energy needs.
Choices
Your focus for a high-calorie diet should be on calorie-dense foods such as nuts, dried fruit, unsaturated fats, full-fat dairy, whole grains and starchy vegetables. Certain choices will support your ability to create high-calorie diet menus. For example, you should try to choose chunky soups such as chowder or chili over light, broth varieties. Other simple high-calorie menu strategies include adding nut butter to toast, raisins to yogurt or cottage cheese; choosing dense bread over fluffy white types; adding olive oil to pasta and vegetables and drinking 100 percent juice instead of diet soda or iced tea.
4,000-Calorie Menu
A 4,000-calorie menu could begin with a whole-grain bagel topped with 2 tbsp. of cream cheese, 16 oz. of a fruit smoothie and 1 1/2 cups of orange juice. In the mid-morning, have a piece of fruit with 1/2 cup of mixed nuts. For lunch, make a veggie burger on a whole-wheat bun with avocado slices, tomato and a 1 oz. slice of provolone cheese. Bake a medium-sized sweet potato as a side dish and have a piece of fruit, such as a peach, for dessert. In the mid-afternoon, snack on 12 oz. of whole milk and 4 fig cookies. At dinner, make a stir fry with 5 oz. of chicken breast, 1/4 cup of cashews, 1 cup of snow peas, 1 tbsp. of olive oil, minced garlic and soy sauce. Serve over 2 cups of brown rice and have two whole-wheat rolls on the side. After dinner, have a cup of low-fat pudding with two sheets of graham crackers.
5,000-Calorie Menu
A breakfast for a 5,000-calorie menu might include a three-egg omelet cooked in 1/2 tbsp. of olive oil filled with 1 oz. cheddar cheese and chopped bell pepper. Have two slices of whole-grain toast with 2 tbsp. of all-fruit spread, a piece of fruit and 12 oz. of low-fat milk mixed with 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder alongside. In the mid morning, make a snack with dense whole-wheat bread -- about 150 calories per slice -- and 2 tbsp. of nut butter. At lunch, have 2 cups of whole-grain macaroni with 1 cup of low-sodium marinara sauce, 4 oz. of extra lean ground beef and two whole-wheat rolls. In the mid-afternoon, make a smoothie from one banana, 1/4 cup of dry oatmeal, half an apple, 1 1/2 cups orange juice and 1 cup frozen strawberries. Have a 300-calorie oat-bran muffin topped with 2 tbsp. of almond butter alongside. For dinner, broil 5 oz. of salmon and have with 1 cup of cooked lentils, 3 cups of raw spinach, sauteed in 1 tbsp. of olive oil, and 12 oz. of 100 percent fruit juice. Before bed, have a snack of a whole-wheat pita filled with 4 oz. of turkey, 2 oz. of Swiss cheese and sliced avocado and another 12 oz. of whole milk enhanced with 1/4 cup of dry milk powder.
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