underwieght

How old are you and why do you need to put on some weight?

 

In that case, eat plenty of red meat and exercise a whole hell of a lot.

But I'd talk to your doctor, to see if you really want to know if you're underweight. That's the best thing.

 

Yeah, I would suggest talking to a doctor as well. I'm in a healthy weight range for my age and height, but I can't eat like I hear you can! JEALOUS!

 

Red meat?! Are you kidding me? Everyone should be looking to reduce their intake of meat, especially red meat. *shudder*

If you naturally have a skinny build, it's going to be hard to put on weight. From what you've said, you're really active, and that's actually going to work against you, because we put on weight (whether fat or muscle) when we intake a surplus of calories. If you are burning off more calories (or as many) as you take in each day (which as an active 17yo is probably not that unlikely) then you won't put on weight.

So you need to either reduce the amount of calories you're burning (probably not the best route, although it is possible you're pushing yourself too hard and I expect it's easy to lose calories in Dubai's climate) or increase what you're taking in. The best way to increase that is not to eat a bunch of junk food because even though yes, it is chock full of calories, it's super unhealthy calories in other respects.

Probably what's good is to eat high-protein foods like tofu, seafood, chicken breast... and lots of it. Another way of getting healthy calories is to drink a lot of fruit juice... fruits are high in sugars and sugar is pretty much pure calories. The dark green vegetables (spinach, broccoli) are also your friends because they're packed with protein and vitamins and minerals too.

The other thing to realise is that certain types of activity are not going to put on weight (where "put on weight" in your case obviously means "build muscle"). If you are doing a lot of running around/cardio type of activities (running, basketball, etc.) that will tone what muscles you have but not really do much in terms of building muscle mass because it's mainly aerobic exercise. You need to add stuff that builds muscle, like weightlifting/push-ups/crunches... basically exercise where you are stressing your muscles and forcing them to grow back bigger and stronger (which is literally what "building muscle" is--tearing up the existing muscles and cueing the body to build them back bigger). Of course, for the body to be able to do that, you need to be taking in extra calories.

So if you're taking in extra calories and you're inactive, the body stores them as fat. If you're taking in extra calories and you're active, the body uses the fuel to build muscle. But it's best if you're doing something that convinces the body it needs to build muscle, and basketball and running are not really it. That's why athletes cross-train—basically people who do primarily strength-building exercise also add cardio and those who do primarily cardio also add strength-building stuff.

So it sounds like you might want to add an extra (healthy) meal to your day and maybe reduce your running and add some strength-building exercise.

There's only so much you can do, however, because genetically if you're skinny, you're always gonna tend towards being skinny. Some people luck out (I say luck out because muscle on guys seems to be more desired than skinniness) and tend towards developing that kind of bulk easily.

And it's worth remembering your metabolism changes as you age, so while you might be pretty skinny now, you might have less of a tendency to be once you hit your mid-20s.

 

You're welcome... good luck!

 

Steve:

While brocolli is good for you- as all vegetables are- it doesn't have a lot of calories.

Joey pointed out something very important- that the exercises that you're doing are very energy intensive. If you're wanting to add more bulk, you need to do two things-

1. add weight-bearing exercise and
2. increase your caloric intake.

A 17 year old who wants to bulk up needs to eat around 3,000 kcal of food per day (there's a calculator you can use here: http://www.wvda.org/calcs/sport.html).

If you want to gain weight, you need to eat foods that are very dense in calories. Meats (chicken breasts, tuna), eggs, bananas, peanut butter, sweet potatoes- these are all foods that have high caloric value and are good nutritionally.

The other thing that will help is if you continue to eat 3 meals a day- including a protein in each meal- and add a between meal snack. So, if you have your normal meals at 7A, 12N, 7PM- add a snack at 10A, 3P, 9P. If you can also consume a protein snack after your weight workout do so.

 

Try eating carbs--like pastas and stuff...it should help.
(Sorry, that's the best advice I can give...)

 

i spent all of highschool, and many years beyond that stuck at 125 pounds, which is really skinny for a person over 6 feet tall. I would recommend focusing on building muscle, as if your anything like me, building fat is not a option because my metabolism is really fast. what I would focus is on getting a good weightlifting routine to stimulate muscle, and match that is a good diet, so good clean protein, carbohydrates for energies, and a good multi vitamin wouldnt help.

muscle is your best bet for putting on weight, mainly because if you can work the muscle, then metabolise good nutrition, it will go mainly to rebuilding your muscles after your broke them down as that is what your body needs to do after a workout. 3 days a week lifting can be quite good for putting on weight. when I was working out three days a week, mon-weds-fri, I got my weight up to about 145, but then i moved, and got out of the habit, I am now starting to get back into it, and am hovering around 135 while I get back into the groove.

generally, the human body can put on 2-2.5 pounds of lean muscle if you are doing a clean and healthy diet, coupled with a good routine that dosent overtrain, or underwork you. you also will put on some fat and water weight, but thats generally about the limits of a healthy person, and seeing as you are already physically active, you might get close once you get into the groove of working out. basically, pulling back from cardio activity a bit, and adding in a good weight training, you can put on lean healthy weight that way.

eventually, your metabolism might change to better reflect your lifestyle, but that can take time, so you just have to keep track of your gains and how your body is reacting.

www.bodybuilding.com has alot of good information, and I love it also because they have videos for all of the lifts and excersises, so you can see proper form, which is crucial.

 

As usual, I completely agree with joey. :icon_wink
Red meat is not a wise idea in the long run. Sure it helps you bulk up, but it comes with a sharp rise in heart disease and cancers.

I recommend taking those "meal replacement" nutrition shakes you see in your pharmacy. Taking those along with eating a balanced meal 3-times per day and a reasonable amount of exercise (careful not to burn more than you eat) should help you gain weight steadily and safely. I am in the same predicament as you are and so far it's helped me gain a few pounds and keep them on.

This way you will increase your diet to 6 meals per day (3 meals + 3 shakes) without having to actually prepare 6 meals. Alternately, try adding tofu and/or soy products to your diet. They are a much more health-conscious choice than red meats.

I'd recommend consulting a physician as opposed to taking my advice though. :lol:
Hope you find some success.

 

I personaly find chicken to be a better source of clean protein then red meat, though red meat contains some nutrients that are useful, not in enough quanitites to really be worth while.

red meat tends to be harder to digest, and so it takes alot of time to digest them.

protein shakes are good, but are a suplment, not a replacement. whey protein is really good pre/post workout, as it can be metabolized faster, and there is another one that is good for before bed, because it digests slowly, c something, brb, casien. both are milk proteins.

they are useful for weightlifting.