Standing around six feet tall and a lanky 250 pounds, Rob needed to fill out his frame. Rob has dreams of squatting 1000 pounds and at his height needs to be much bigger. Rob works a maintenance job where he is constantly moving. A simple walk around the plant is over a mile. But Rob faced his task head-on.
Rob quickly acquired food gravity at work. Food gravity is the phenomenon where people will bring in, drop off, and give you food for no reason. Doughnuts, breakfast sandwiches, tamales, leftovers and his boss would even order extra food at meetings just for him. This was above and beyond the normal food he took everyday. This helped but as his gym workload went up his weight hardly moved. He still needed more calories.
Rob was already eating quite a few times at work but he needed higher caloric density. So during a road trip with Rob I found a few things on one of our stops that could help him break his weight plateau. These stops for gas allowed him to grab a quick snack before we were back on the road — cheap and easy while keeping him hungry for the next stop.
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Over a year Rob pushed his weight from 250 to 270 with the help of some items from below. I didn’t recommend this as a long-term plan, but only for those times when he needs to get his weight moving again. With a goal of weighing 290 and competing at 275, Rob still has some work to do.
The Warning
When purchasing food at a gas station, you need to make sure you play it safe. My only warning is to stay away from the grill. You have no guarantee how long the hotdogs and taquitos have been rolling around on that machine. They have been sitting there in the open air for every wheezy, sneezy, germ spraying person to infect you. What does that infection lead to? Loss of potential gains. You can’t afford a few days of weight loss after a germ-infested meal.
Top Choices
Each of the items listed below is a between-meal or post-meal snack. I have looked for those items that go down easy and will leave you hungry for your next meal. If you are trying you gain weight, you need to be eating something while you read this article.
King Size Snickers
A snickers is a good choice unless you are allergic to peanuts. They go down easy and they taste great. Two king size snickers are less than a value meal and pack 1000 calories in a few bites. These might fill you up a little more than some of the other choices but the extra calories are worth it. Pair this with some liquid calories and you are on your way to earning your letters.
King Size Reese's
For the same price as the snickers you get a slightly-less caloric snack. But as you may know already, these never fill you up. Eat enough of these glorious little morsels of magic and you too can become captain of the cups. What they are lacking in calories (800 in two king size packs), they gain with double the amount of protein compared to the snickers. But who am I kidding, you’re not picking these because of the protein content.
Double Decker Oatmeal Cream Pie
This, my friends, is the holy grail that is hidden near the ho-ho’s. For three shiny quarters you can easily add 480 calories of pure heaven. With oatmeal in the name you can even pretend it is remotely healthy. I will mention that it has a sad sister, the Chocolate Chip Creame Pie. It is cheaper but has a higher caloric density. Nowhere near as tasty at the Oatmeal Cream Pie, they do deliver 390 calories for only $.50. I was very disappointed in the chocolate chip choice, so I stand by my decision.
Fountain Drinks
Speedway locations have 52-ounce fountain drinks for $1.70, and that includes tax. The best thing is that once you buy six, your seventh is free. Once that is figured into the mix, your cost per drink comes down to $1.45. This puts the cost per calorie way above the snickers. Coke will bring you an extra 624 calories of liquid gold and one step closer to your goals and the beetus. Pair this with your snack of choice and you might be up a weight class by next week.
The Dave Tate Special
If you haven’t seen Dave lately, all you need to know is that he is not small. This is because he has a top secret food combo that was named after him. I do not recommend this, but that is why I am sitting at 242 and he is somewhere over 275 and not even trying. The Dave Tate Special starts with gas station sushi and is washed down with a constant stream of Amp energy drinks. There is a minimum of four energy drinks per day. Dave is 40+ pounds heavier than he wants to be and he is not even trying. Try this combo if you dare. This might backfire in more ways than one.
You are now equipped to find the gains at every gas station. For those of you waiting for the section with healthier choices, you are going to be disappointed. I could sit here and talk about beef jerky, protein bars, protein shakes, nuts, or bottles of water, but you already know what you can and can’t have. Why choose the hard life when you can choose a delicious one?
That is always a concern. For Rob he goes through cycles where he pushes some junk then cleans it up and tries to keep the scale from dropping. Rob knows he has some enough bodyfat but never lets it get out of control. We do a ton of work in the gym and Rob works a physical job. Rob is now maintaining 275 pounds and breaking records weekly. He won't and does not eat like this all the time. This is just when his weight is stuck for a few months.