Hey EC, So, what ways can I gain weight in a rather quick manner? I'm pretty skinny and trying to build muscle, I've noticed a bit of difference while going to the gym, but I'm pretty sure I'm just not eating enough to make any serious difference, even with the 1g of protein per lb of body weight. So, at 5'8", how many calories should I be eating normally, and how much more should I be eating to gain weight? (I have a feeling I'm eating below the normal amount). Any particular types of food that are rich in calories but not so filling? I tend to get full up easily. Appreciate any info given All the best.
I'm gaining weight at the moment for other reasons, but basically the only healthy way to do it is just to up your meal sizes. If you get full quickly, like I do, it's probably because your stomach has shrunk due to smaller meal sizes, so you literally just have to stuff yourself every meal time. It sucks, but it works. Eventually. If you want to put on muscle weight, you need a lot of protein in your diet. Try having at least one portion of fish/ eggs/ meat in a day, and try looking for some vitamins/ health pills or whatever that contain things that are good for muscle growth.
Hi Zaio, What is your current weight? Also, how much time per day would you estimate you spend: -Sleeping? -Sitting? -Being active (and when I say active, this includes not just the gym, but any kind of activity: standing, walking to school/work, doing tasks around the house, etc.)? Your daily energy needs and the amount you need to gain depend on these factors. As for less filling calorie-dense foods, some suggestions: -Nuts: Calorie dense in small amounts and high in protein. I would particularly recommend sliced almonds. -Greek yogurt: Lots of protein. Calorie density will depend somewhat on how much fat you like your dairy to include. -Peanut/almond butter: Calorie dense, less filling than completely solid foods. -Milk and/or protein shakes. Including caloric drinks in your meals (as opposed to simply water, coffee, or tea) can add lots more energy to your diet.
The stomach can't shrink, if you aren't hungry it's because your body is receiving all the useful energy it's using, which I believe is part of my problem. Yeah I was afraid this may have to be an option, what sort of foods do you eat? Biologically speaking the best way to gain weight should be from avoiding carbohydrates, but I'm not sure of many calorie rich low carbohydrate foods. Yeah I got that part covered, I'm already consuming 1g of protein per lb of body weight (the useful protein intake the body can actually use). My current weight is about 8 stone, which is why I'm trying to gain weight, as my BMI is just on the border of healthy weight. Hmm, well it varies quite a lot. I would say it should be about 6-7 hours a night, however sometimes during the holidays I can sleep 12+ hours, so I may have some form of insomnia, not too sure though. Well I do spend a lot of my time doing nothing but gaming. Other than the gym there's not really much I do for exercise, when I'm with my friends we tend to do activities that don't involve much movement. This is pretty random though, some weeks I can probably only be active 5-6 hours a week (just from gym), whereas some weeks I can be active about 30 hours a week doing bike rides and the such. If I had to estimate an average, I would probably say about 7 hours a week, as lately I tend to just be hitting the gym, doing my weekend job then just doing nothing active the rest of the week. Cheers for the suggestions, I suppose I could try and start using nuts as snacks. I used to use peanut butter a lot but I find it repulsive lately, I may have to try and get back into that then. I don't really like milk on it's own, and I'm already using some protein shakes, although I don't think the calories in them is that much considering I find them repulsive. All the best.
Thanks for the info. For your typical day, I assumed that you slept 6 hours and did strength training for 1 hour. Your daily energy needs at your current height and weight on a day like this runs to around 2,300 calories. To gain weight, you would want to eat somewhere between the range of 2,550 and 2,800 calories. Lest you think I got those numbers by witchcraft, I use this calculator. As with any tool, it can't perfectly measure your individual circumstances, but it offers a much more holistic view of metabolism and energy expenditure than typical calorie count websites, which by and large tend to underestimate most people's energy needs by several hundred calories. It comes with one more caveat. As you said, your current weight is just barely underweight. Roughly how many calories have you been eating per day up til now? Have you always been this thin and maintained your weight roughly in this BMI area? Or have you recently lost weight from a heavier BMI range such that you're now in this area? If it's the latter case, I would encourage you to gain some pounds of body fat as well before you attempt to build muscle. Building muscle will still be an uphill battle if you have an insufficient amount of fat on your body.
Well, it's just barely healthy weight, according to the NHS I'm not underweight at the moment, just on the border. Well I've been trying to consume as much calories as I can lately, I think a safe estimate is about 2000 calories a day or so. Yeah I've pretty much always been this thin, I never really gain or lose weight. Yeah that's the point of this thread, aiming for that extra fat I need I just can't seem to gain any more calories though because I can just never eat anymore.
Whats wrong with carbohydrates, biologically? I'd say start by increasing your portions on everything. You're stomach may not literally stretch, but it probably adapts.
Usually I tell people who are working out not to focus on weight for short-term measurement of progress. Unless you're doing very sophisticated body fat calculations or hydrostatic underwater-weighing, it's mostly a measure of how much water your body is retaining. Your best bet is to invest in a tape measure to get circumference measurements of your body. This along with torso photos will give you a much better measure of your muscle gains and fat loss than the scales.
Carbohydrates are the bodies main source of energy, I.E starch broken down by amylase into maltose, and maltose broken down by maltase into glucose, used in aerobic and anaerobic respiration. By eating carbohydrates, you're giving your body all the energy it needs, so you won't feel very hungry later. Adaption is a possibility I guess, it's a rather unpleasant one though. Even so, I'd still like to know some calorie rich foods, I could probably stuff my self at meal intervals so long as the food is calorie rich for it's size, which I don't know of many foods which are. I thought that fat stores are pretty much a requirement to build muscle? As if the body has limited glucose and fat stores available, it breaks down muscle for energy, doesn't it? Meaning all the effort put into working out is wasted as the body retrieves the energy from it. I could certainly do this, but doesn't fat stores help with muscle gain quicker? All the best.
^ I beg to pardon on the hate on carbs lol. I mean, true that you need proteins for you to gain muscles, but you also need carb for other bodily activities. maybe lesser carbs, but never those "zero carb" diet EDIT: also, not all fats are bad. those that are liquid in room temperature -tends- to be okay, (ok, google every thing you need if you're skeptical about certain fats) (PS: I won't hijack this thread since I am skinny too and want to gain weight)
Oh I never meant 0 carbohydrate diet, that would make the body constantly hungry and make it start breaking down fat and muscle stores, but less carbohydrates help to get more calories in by eating more overall. All the best.
Zaio, I could write a book on this topic. If you think of the strongest and most muscular animals on the planet what comes to mind? For me it is Apes, Elephants, horses, cows etc. What do they all have in common? They are all vegans/vegetarians, your body knows how to covert the food you eat into what it needs based on demand, eating a bunch of protein does not equal bigger muscles, it does equal a very acidic blood system that actually has been proven to dissolve your bones over time, all well documented if you go looking. I am a triathlete, swimmer weightlifter and am vegan. If you Google vegan body builders or vegan MMA fighters you will get a lot of good information. I eat a lot of vegetables, whole grains and beans, and most people say i have impressive biceps, and finish in the top 5% in triathlons. On a humorous note I have claimed to be a vegan for years, but some of my gay friends say that is a lie due to the one liquid human product i do consume. Enough said.......
Those animals rely on their arms/front legs much more than humans do, if humans started walking like gorillas did then we would all be much stronger naturally. However, animals like apes spend a LOT of their bodies energy on muscle growth, whereas humans spend quite a large amount of it on mental attributes. Those types of animals also consume a lot of insects, even if not intentionally. Ape's muscles are built genetically for strength, and with the amount of carbohydrates they eat, all protein can be used for muscle growth. No it doesn't, but giving your body the useful protein intake allows it to have ready access to protein to be able to repair micro-tears in the muscle tissue. So long as the (generally) safe amount of 1g of protein per lb of body weight is met, then acidity is kept to a minimum. The more concerning issue is kidney stones if more than the useful protein intake is consumed. Cheers for the tips, and good for you, but it would be easier and quicker to acquire muscle growth via meat consumption, my problem is not enough calories though :/ getting better lately though :eusa_danc :roflmao: That made me laugh, but it doesn't actually count. Sperm is a gamete and thus not actually alive :lol:
ok, comparing human physiology and anatomy to animals is not even right lol. cows have to regurgitate their food, we don't. but i'll look into the proteins turning body acidic and dissolve bones one
sperm has proteins, you know. like all cells LOL. also, the sperm alive-or-not argument can get tricky in those abortion argument haha. because does a sperm or an egg separate makes 1/2 of a baby? but this is off topic... LOL but yeah, sperm has proteins
