I need to gain weight!!

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by Mark Lapierre

Doesn't work for me, Samuel. I exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Still skinny.

The type of exercise you're doing, and how much you're eating (along with WHAT you're eating) are what would help you gain weight. If you post the above I'd be glad to try and help.

[Mark Lapierre]

Originally Posted by mlc82

The type of exercise you're doing, and how much you're eating (along with WHAT you're eating) are what would help you gain weight. If you post the above I'd be glad to try and help.

Well, I'm pretty sure some kind of weight training would help (such as the suggestions earlier in the thread), and I'm not keen enough to do that. I'm not too concerned about my weight, I was more-or-less saying that to point out it's not as simple as exercising. That said, I might change my mind and any advice that I could use then would be appreciated!

I ride to and from work, around 15 mins each way, though a few times a week I'll ride up and down the river after work, adding another 20 minutes or so to the ride. I do about 30-45 mins yoga every couple of days (ashtanga, fairly intensive), and on the days I don't do a full session I still do about 15 mins of light yoga. The full sessions of yoga usually alternate with the longer rides so that every day I get a good amount of exercise.

As for food, breakfasts are usually either a big bowl of muesli or 3 scrambled eggs and feta on toast. Lunch is usually dinner leftovers (during the week), or a big salad with some protein (lots of beans, or a tin of tuna, or a couple of hard-boiled eggs, or tofu), or a couple of sandwiches of some kind (usually the same kind of thing that goes into the salads, though I've never tried a tofu sandwich). Dinner is usually a pasta or rice dish, something with some red or white meat and some vegies. A few times a week I'll have leftovers for lunch and a big salad for dinner. Brown/wholemeal grains in the rice/bread/pasta. For snacks I have some biscuits or a banana at work, usually 2-3 times a day, and some fruit after work, or some crackers and dip, or some toast and avocado spread, or some mixed nuts. I usually only drink water or green tea. Everything except breakfast I usually only eat when I'm hungry, and only enough to satisfy me.

I found that to put on weight, and quickly, I just had to fill up on animal protein a few times a day, but while I was in Greece the meals were almost all meat. Carbs in the form of bread may have helped too, but I've found that carbs alone don't seem to do much, even if I eat a lot. And the current diet makes no difference even if the servings are consistently larger than I feel I need.

So there you go, hit me with your suggestions, and thanks

[VacMan]

Originally Posted by Ninja

Not true, Vacman! Exercize will help you gain weight, because you'll build more muscle tissue and muscle weighs more than fat.

that's the beauty of exercize: you lose weight of you're to heavy and gain weight if you're to light.

Ninja,

You're overlooking the fact that exercise is not what causes weight gain.

Eating enough calories is what causes weight gain.

Calories are like the clay... or building blocks for your body.

And exercise determines how those building blocks are put together.


Think about this...


If you exercised all day and ate nothing for a week.

And then stepped on the scale.

Do you think you'd see an increase or decrease?


What about the opposite?


What if you went to McDonalds and ate 3 Big Mac's, 3 times a day for a week.

And never exercised at all.

And then stepped on the scale.

Do you think you'd see an increase or decrease?


You see where I'm going with this?

[andrew]

I'm skinny too, except around my waist. I'm thin and fat free everywhere except for my lower abs and my love handles area, all around there is just a bunch of gross fat. So I take my shirt off and everyone expects me to be all skinny, but I just have abs with fat hiding them. Like it's really gross.

So I'm trying to gain weight too, but in muscle, not fat. I heard just gain the muscle first, and then work on the fat later as you'll have more muscles to burn it off with.

Tried protein weight gainers, not much help here either. So I actually have both problems at once, so it's like, AHHH!

[Gsus]

A lot of people tend to over think everything, when in reality gaining/losing weight is actually a pretty simple process.

To the original poster, your still very young and are still at a great age in your life to put on muscle at a pretty fast pace.

You obviously have a fast metabolism, yet you also say you don't like most foods and have trouble eating. This is something that will need fixing, if you want to gain weight you are going to have to eat a LOT of food. Obviously having a fast metabolism doesn't help, so you especially are going to have to eat that little bit more than most.

Generally you will want to break your food intake down to around 5-7 smaller meals spaced a few hours apart. This will provide consistent energy for your body & also help keep a positive nitrogen balance.

I don't have time to go into more detail at the minute since I am at work, but if you would like me to outline a sample diet and weight training routine I would be happy too.

Just send me a PM & let me know.

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by Mark Lapierre

Well, I'm pretty sure some kind of weight training would help (such as the suggestions earlier in the thread), and I'm not keen enough to do that. I'm not too concerned about my weight, I was more-or-less saying that to point out it's not as simple as exercising. That said, I might change my mind and any advice that I could use then would be appreciated!

I ride to and from work, around 15 mins each way, though a few times a week I'll ride up and down the river after work, adding another 20 minutes or so to the ride. I do about 30-45 mins yoga every couple of days (ashtanga, fairly intensive), and on the days I don't do a full session I still do about 15 mins of light yoga. The full sessions of yoga usually alternate with the longer rides so that every day I get a good amount of exercise.

As for food, breakfasts are usually either a big bowl of muesli or 3 scrambled eggs and feta on toast. Lunch is usually dinner leftovers (during the week), or a big salad with some protein (lots of beans, or a tin of tuna, or a couple of hard-boiled eggs, or tofu), or a couple of sandwiches of some kind (usually the same kind of thing that goes into the salads, though I've never tried a tofu sandwich). Dinner is usually a pasta or rice dish, something with some red or white meat and some vegies. A few times a week I'll have leftovers for lunch and a big salad for dinner. Brown/wholemeal grains in the rice/bread/pasta. For snacks I have some biscuits or a banana at work, usually 2-3 times a day, and some fruit after work, or some crackers and dip, or some toast and avocado spread, or some mixed nuts. I usually only drink water or green tea. Everything except breakfast I usually only eat when I'm hungry, and only enough to satisfy me.

I found that to put on weight, and quickly, I just had to fill up on animal protein a few times a day, but while I was in Greece the meals were almost all meat. Carbs in the form of bread may have helped too, but I've found that carbs alone don't seem to do much, even if I eat a lot. And the current diet makes no difference even if the servings are consistently larger than I feel I need.

So there you go, hit me with your suggestions, and thanks

If you want to gain some extra muscle, all you'd really need is a standalone bench and some free weights, which would cost a lot less than a gym membership in the long run if you have a place to put them. A full body weight training routine done 3x a week along with adding some extra calories, mainly protein, per day in your diet should be all you need to make some muscle gain without gaining fat, and without making any major changes to your schedule.

Send me a PM and let me know of any fitness/muscle building goal(s) you may have, and I'll put something more specific together for you.


Also, you're right that carbs alone aren't going to do much for building muscle-you're going to need that extra protein! It usually doesn't take a huge amount though.

[ericwmontgomery]

Another skinny person here. I tried for a long time to gain weight by increasing my calorie intake only, and of course that didn't work too well for a couple reasons. First, as everyone has been saying, weight training is very important. Secondly, and this was the real surprise to me, it's exhausting trying to make sure you're getting enough calories every day if you're eating healthy foods! Fixing and eating that much food takes a lot of time and energy, so I found it very hard to stick with it.

After years of trying various things to gain, I finally started getting results after regularly going to the gym 3 - 4 times per week and having a mass-gainer protein shake once or twice a day (I use CytoGainer, but I assume any high-calorie protein shake would work). Even this took several months before I started to see a difference.

Keep at it, the boost in self-confidence really does make it worth the time and effort.

[razorback11]

Hi everybody, I am 18 years old and I'd like to be a registered Dietitian and I have to choose one of these courses for a college. What's different among Community Nutrition, Food Product Development and Nutrition and Exercise? What should I take if I want to become a registered Dietitian? I'd very appreciate to your answer. Thanking you.

[harrem]

Originally Posted by KennethFoo

I'm another skinny guy in the town. Being skinny has been the worst experience for me.. >"<.

Most of the people I met the first time would comment me about this. I guess it's because of my eating habit, I just not eating enough.

Anyone have a recommend how to calculate eating calories? Anything to refer to?

Hi Kenneth, I think you're right that you should change your eating habits. Being skinny is not a problem if you are eating food that are healthy like veggies and fruits. Try to eat more carbs, protein, and fiber. I suggest that you also workout so that you will also gain your muscles.

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by razorback11

Hi everybody, I am 18 years old and I'd like to be a registered Dietitian and I have to choose one of these courses for a college. What's different among Community Nutrition, Food Product Development and Nutrition and Exercise? What should I take if I want to become a registered Dietitian? I'd very appreciate to your answer. Thanking you.

I'd lean toward Nutrition and Exercise but am not really sure (I'm not a Dietician), you'd be best off calling the college and asking someone in charge of the classes there.

[Cory]

I know what you mean... I myself have had a hard time building muscle. It is a little different for us hardgainers... here is a website that has tons of free articles and a free email class and videos... If you alot of the things on there you will know what you have to do to build muscle as a hardgainer.