How Many Eggs Should You Eat To Gain Weight? A Coach Answers

How many eggs are too many when it comes to your bulking diet?  

While eggs are great for gaining weight, there’s definitely a limit, especially if you want to maximize lean muscle mass (and limit fat gain). 

The answer depends on a few personal factors.

Key Takeaways

• The number of eggs needed to gain weight will depend on your metabolism, activity level, and what else you eat throughout the day. 

• Calculating your daily calorie, protein, and fat requirements according to your bulking goals is important to determine how many eggs you should eat.

• Eggs alone will not lead to weight gain. You need to eat them alongside other proteins (e.g., meat), fats (e.g., avocado), and carbs (e.g., oats) for a healthy and balanced diet.

How Many Eggs To Gain Muscle? 4 Steps To Find Out

Step 1: Determine Your Calories

The first step is to determine what your calorie and macronutrient targets need to be for you to gain weight.

You need to eat more calories than you burn to gain weight, called a calorie surplus. 

Without a calorie surplus, you will not gain weight no matter what foods you eat.

Also, a calorie surplus is necessary to build muscle optimally (even as a beginner).

So, let’s determine how many calories you need and calculate your surplus.

One straightforward option is to use our TDEE calculator. 

Let’s say you calculate your TDEE to be 3,000 calories. 

This would be the number of calories you must eat to maintain your body weight.

It’s time to add 150-250 additional calories to your TDEE to create a surplus.

Step 2: Determine Your Protein & Fat Needs

To ensure you gain muscle (as opposed to fat), you must also eat enough protein while in a surplus. 

Research recommends 1.6-2.2 grams per kilogram or 0.7-1 gram per pound.

For example, weighing 180 lbs would be 126 to 180 grams of protein daily. 

Next, we have dietary fats, which are essential to a healthy diet, as they are involved in hormonal production, the absorption of certain nutrients, and overall health.

One option is to aim for 0.3 to 0.4 grams per pound. 

Alternatively, aim to get 15-20% of your calories from fats. 

Both options should result in identical fat intake goals.

For example, if you weigh 180 lbs, that would be an intake of 54 to 72 grams of fat. 

As exercise physiologist Brad Dieter notes:

“A high-fat diet can suppress appetite since it is highly satiating, leading to decreased caloric consumption.”

So, having too many dietary fats (beyond the above recommendations) wouldn’t be ideal because it could make you feel overly full and unable to eat enough calories to gain weight.

Step 3: Understanding the Macronutrient Breakdown Of Eggs

One large egg offers 70 calories, 6 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat, and 0 grams of carbs. 

You can use this to understand how many eggs it would take to hit your protein and fat targets.

Let’s say you want to eat 150 grams of protein and 65 grams of fat daily. That would mean eating 25 eggs, which is not ideal because it would also result in 125 grams of fat––about twice the amount you need.

A better approach would be to determine how many eggs you’d like to eat and how many you can fit into your dietary fat targets and fill in the gaps with other foods.

For example, let’s say you want to eat four large eggs daily. That would be 280 calories, 24 grams of protein, and 20 grams of fat. 

In this case, you’d have 126 grams of protein and 45 grams of fat to cover with other foods.

You can eat more eggs and remain within your calorie and fat targets. 

However, limit other high-fat foods (e.g., natural oils, fatty fish, avocado, and butter) to avoid going overboard.

You must also have high-carb foods since eggs only have fats and protein.

Step 4: Plan Out What Other Protein & Fat Sources You Want To Include

Now that you better understand how to fit eggs into your weight-gain diet, it’s time to see what other foods you can have.

Quick side note: Eating a diverse range of foods is necessary for getting all the nutrients your body needs. So, don’t limit yourself to a handful of sources, obsessing over a specific protein, fat, or calorie target.

Make a list of carbs, fats, and proteins you enjoy, and decide how to combine them to form meals that will help you reach your daily calorie and macronutrient goals. 

Here are some quick ideas for healthy foods with all three macronutrients:

Be realistic about how many eggs you want daily because it can get tiresome, especially when eating more calories to gain weight.

For example, if you’re not a fan of eggs, to begin with, you shouldn’t be forcing yourself to eat four of them per day. 

Any other food that contains protein and fats (meat, fish, yogurt, etc.) can replace eggs in your diet. 

Check Out Our Other Resources On Eggs 

• Are Eggs Good For Bodybuilding?
• Why Do Bodybuilders Eat Egg Whites?
• Can You Mix Whey Protein With Eggs?

Are Eggs Good For Gaining Weight?

Eggs can help you gain weight by contributing to your calorie, protein, and dietary fat needs.

That said, eggs alone are not enough to gain weight because they are relatively low in calories (only 70 in a large egg).

It’s best to consume high-calorie foods to gain weight comfortably because they tend to be lower in volume and take up less space in the stomach. 

Examples of low-volume, high-calorie foods include granola, avocado, nuts and nut butter, seeds, natural oils (e.g., olive oil), and dried fruit.

You can include eggs by pairing them with a good carbohydrate source like toast, a bagel, or oatmeal, and perhaps some additional fat by cooking them in olive oil or adding cheese.

Example Meal Plan With Eggs to Gain Weight

The following 3,000 calorie meal plan is suited for someone around 180 lbs looking to gain weight steadily.  

Note: This is just for example purposes and may not be your best plan.  

Want a custom meal plan? Reach out to discuss options. 

Breakfast

Calories: 740
Protein: 36 grams
Fats: 17 grams

• 3 large scrambled eggs with spinach and tomatoes
• 2 slices of whole-grain toast
• 1.5 cups of oatmeal with ½ cup of berries, and a tablespoon of honey

Lunch

Calories: 810
Protein: 67 grams
Fats: 12 grams

• 6-ounce grilled chicken breast
• 1 cup of quinoa mixed with chopped veggies and an egg
• 1 large banana
• 1 ounce of dried fruit

Snack

Calories: 520
Protein: 14 grams
Fats: 5 grams

• 1 boiled egg
• 10 rice cakes
• 1 large apple

Dinner

Calories: 950
Protein: 61 grams
Fats: 39 grams

• 6 ounces of lean beef steak
• 2 boiled eggs
• 1 large baked sweet potato
• 2 cups of steamed broccoli
• 1.5 cups of berries

What To Read Next

• Eggs Make Me Tired & Lethargic: 3 Reasons & How To Fix
• Eggs Make Me Gassy & Bloated: 4 Reasons & How To Fix

References

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