The 5 Best High-Calorie Snacks for the Vegan Athlete

Sometimes it can seem that clean high-calorie vegan foods are hard to come by, but there are several high-calorie snacks that I consider, to be a must in the diet of any vegan athlete wanting to gain weight. Of course, we could always take the easy route and eat fries until our thighs touch, but if you want that weight you gain to be mean lean and fresh, here are my 5 Best (Healthy) High-Calorie Snacks for the Vegan Athlete!

• Peanut Butter
• Dates
• Hummus
• Coconut
• Avocados

#1: Peanut Butter

Peanut butter and any other nut butter for that matter are an amazing calorie boosting snack. A mere 1 Tablespoon of smooth PB has a whopping 96 calories, 3 grams of protein and 8 grams of healthy unsaturated fats. And if you’re anything like me, you don’t just have 1 tablespoon of the stuff, I'll admit I occasionally take the spoon directly to the jar. If your struggling to eat the copious amounts of lighter foods you need to eat in order to gain weight, then try adding 5 straight tablespoons of peanut butter every day for an additional easy 480 calories.

#2: Dates

Dates, the funky looking & supremely sweet little fruit is packed with an insane amount of calories. Dates are these amazing small fruits that kind of look like grapes that have been inflated and then dehydrated. Don’t let the appearance fool you however, these are meant to be eaten. 1 Date, the Medjool variety, typically has around 69 calories in each date! In my local “specialty” supermarket they have these Medjool dates rolled in dried coconut flakes that come with over 100 calories per piece, I try to eat two of these a day but can’t handle the sweetness of anymore.

**Dates are commonly used as a natural sweetener in baked goods!**

#3: Avocados

Avocados, creamy, filling and $1.50 extra but damn is it worth it. Did you know that one whole avocado contains a flabbergasting 322 calories? The calories from these tasty berries are made up of 29 grams of fat, 17 grams of carbs and 4 grams of protein. While you may be thinking that is a lot of fat for one berry, 25 grams of that fat is…