Just by eating, not by any sort of water retention, how much weight could one theoretically gain? (assuming one started out at a normal weight for their build)
For your reading pleasure: The Fat Project. Two people. One apartment. Endless food. Can they gain 30 pounds in 30 days?
There is math that can be used, but the problem is that at some point you might be pushing out food that isn’t completely digested.
For example. you could take someone who needs about 2000 cals per day to maintain their 180 lb frame and calculate what would happen if they consumed 10,000 calories a day, and the math says that they gain 16 lbs. (every 3500 cals that aren’t used are stored as body fat).
The problem is that some gastro instestinal trouble is likely to arise, and you cannot gaurantee that 10k cals can be consumed for seven straight days. So, you can come up with anything from 3-10 pounds. 10 pounds would be quite a feat, and three pounds not so much (but still, gaining 3 pounds ain’t easy).
During my pregnancy, I was advised (forced) by my doctor to put on two pounds a week. What with all the gastrointestinal crowding and heartburn, it wasn’t an easy task.
FWIW, calories gotten per dollar spent in the smallest package? What I found was fudge rounds, 330 calories, a box of 12 for $2.99
I made my goal, but it was brutal.
Little Debbie? Nutty Bars, 2/310 calories, 6 pairs for $1.19.
I could gain three pounds a week easy. In fact, I often do.
I’ve heard of people drinking straight vegetable oil while in situations with insane calorie requirements. That might be hard on your digestive system.
A buddy of mine is a mountaineer. When they are up on the big peaks in Nepal, they make their soup with vegetable oil instead of water. Yummy! Camping food made in oil!
I practically live on a diet and I exercise 3-4 times a week just to maintain my weight.
Last year I went on an 11 day cruise and gained close to 15 lbs and I was really active.
I didn’t eat a huge amount, well OK I did. I ate lots of stuff that I never let myself eat like sugar, bread, pasta, etc. It only took a week to gain but about 6 months to lose and I haven’t lost every pound. I have a very slow metabolism I guess and could gain weight very easily.