How can I gain weight ?

[dennis08]

I am 17 and weigh 125 pounds. It’s not much and even if it is I don't care. I look skinny and I want to gain weight. I’m a hard gainer and it takes effort for me to gain. And I mean a lot of it.

I eat and eat and the fridge is empty because I am competing with my grandpa for food since the old man eats more than my whole family combined.

Any suggestions on how I can gain weight besides telling me to eat a lot. And please don’t say be happy the way you are I want to gain weight here not be happy.

By the way working out doesn’t help me. I have gained no weight from working out and actually lost weight.

[hazerfazer]

My first two questions are: what is your height? and what is your diet/workout regimen currently?

[dennis08]

Well I wouldn't worry about workout. I mean I stopped for a month now after it was killing my weight. And Im 5'1

And my diet is big breakfast, sandwich for lunch and 2 sometimes 3 dinners.

[stayfly]

eating and working out intelligently is the basis for weight gain.

this book should help too;

Amazon.com: Scrawny to Brawny: The Complete Guide to Building Muscle the Natural Way: Books: Michael Mejia,John Berardi

[The David]

I am around that weight. I am also 19 and 5'9-5'10. Underweight according to most people, but I am not reasonably capable of gaining any more body fat. I can sympathize with you, but...

It sounds like you're wanting advice that will a) make a healthy person gain weight using unconventional methods and a) prevent said person from working out, a healthy practice I would not recommend avoiding. I can't help myself, so I don't think I can help you.

[bdp]

I assume you are talking about being undermuscled, not underweight.

I'm an ecto hardgainer, as are my 2 brothers. We all grew up skinny with little muscle whether or not we lifted weights or did sports. The solution for us was to wait until our metabolism slowed down a bit and we filled out with some muscle naturally, which happened around age 20. Your super high metabolism will probably prevent you from gaining any fat or muscle for years to come.

If anybody can help a hardgainer put on muscle, it's Anthony Ellis at Gain weight, muscle building workouts and diets. Mouse over his picture to see what he allegedly accomplished in 3 months. He will tell you to eat a lot and lift heavy. We're talking 5-10k calories, 6-7 meals a day, 150g+ of protein, and supplementing with creatine. You would likely lose the muscle quickly if you ever stopped the routine.

My advice is to lift normally, eat normally, and just give it plenty of time.

[Uplift]

Rheo Blair was the gun in that field. The famous Vince Gironda pretty much mimicked his ideas. I followed Blairs personalised eating plan to the letter from my late teens for about a dozen years, until I stopped eating eggs for moral reason. Until then I was eating around 20 to 24 eggs a day. And half a pint of cream. Tests showed super low cholesterol readings. Hilarious, I used to love getting them, and telling what I ate. It worked awesomely. I still incorporate his methods in my eating style. Unfortunately Blair was the victim of a relentless marketing campaign, and other dubious factors. He was eventually weidered out. That was pretty common back then. The same thing was launched at Arthur Jones. It would be quite amusing to dig up the old Peary Rader Iron Man mags, the 'Bible' of exercise and nutrition of the late sixties and seventies. Guys would rave about different awesome results trying the likes of Blair's and Jone's and other's interesting and innovative ideas. Mysteriously, later when they were all under contracts from Weider, many would suddenly have no recollection of ever having heard of them, or say they got no results, despite photographic evidence and signed letters and affidavits testifying to the opposite. A bit of info on the website below. Google should bring stuff up. But be prepared, it might not be what you are used to seeing. Awesome for health, vitality and weight gain though.

IRON AGE- Articles - Rheo H. Blair

[opinestle]

Sumo Wrestler Soup.........

Sumo wrestlers fatten up on chankonabe. - By Franz Lidz - Slate Magazine

[hazerfazer]

I second the fact that you should get the book Scrawny to Brawny. That has workout programs for the hardgainer. And look up stuff on Massive Eating by John Berardi. At 5'1", 125 lbs. you're not THAT skinny. I was 5'5", 120 lbs. a year ago, so keep hope. And one thing....when I asked what your diet was you didn't respond with your food choices. That is a huge factor in whether you're going to gain weight. And if you do start to gain weight, you need to workout, otherwise you'll just be skinny-fat.

[Matthew Shea]

I'd caution you not to overeat JUST for the sake of gaining weight. If you're consuming a bunch of fatty, sugary junk, it's GOING to catch up with you in your mid 20's - early 30's when your metabolism slows down. At that point, your bad habits will be a lot harder to break and the weight will be a lot harder to lose if you do start to gain some excess fat. Please be smart about what you're consuming and don't skip the exercise. It's entirely possible to be skinny on the outside, but still have fat building up around internal organs. That can lead to health problems down the road.

[Iamsuperman]

I third scrawny to brawny, excellent book.

[realignedliving]

"By the way working out doesn’t help me. I have gained no weight from working out and actually lost weight."
This is supposed to happen - when you start working out with the intention to gain weight, you end up losing several pounds first, then you start to regain it.

Eat healthy (less than 25% of your calories coming from fat a day, get all of the needed vitamins/nutrients/etc. you need), exercise, and get enough calories so you have energy to exercise and live (1800~2200 is probably best.) If you have a fast metabolism, you could probably eat more calories and not gain weight.

Eating whatever just for the sake of gaining weight is a terrible thing to do, mainly because you start overloading yourself on what you shouldn't be eating (mainly fats). If you're going to eat for the sake of eating, at least eat healthy (oatmeal, fruits and vegetables, etc.)

[SmellyOrc]

Originally Posted by realignedliving

Eating whatever just for the sake of gaining weight is a terrible thing to do, mainly because you start overloading yourself on what you shouldn't be eating (mainly fats). If you're going to eat for the sake of eating, at least eat healthy (oatmeal, fruits and vegetables, etc.)

Seconded. I suggest you do start working out again, and eat some food every 2-2.5 hours. Medium/large portions. Even if you're not hungry. You've heard it before, and I just said it again. Just make sure you get at least 80-90%% of your food from healthy sources. Some M&Ms here and there won't be bad for your daily caloric intake either ;P

I used to be 150 pounds at a length of 6'4. I'm currently at +-161 pounds. I'm also a hardgainer. You'll get there.

[NotesMaeve]

125 at 5' 1" is basically like 170 at 5' 10". (5 lbs. an inch, kids.) Even if you're a guy, that's really not SLIM. Jockeys are about that height and usually weigh in a little over 100. Earnest question: Are you just wanting to become fat? Not asking that to shame you, because some people have that desire.

[SmellyOrc]

People mostly want to gain weight either because yes, if you're not muscular and don't weigh much, you just don't look... 'impressive'. Some fat will go a long way then. Not fat-bastard fat, but some fat here and there, so you won't see bones sticking out. Not a pretty sight.
Most do it for health reasons. According to many 'experts' being underweight will leave you more vulnerable to infections and whatnot. Dunno if that's true though.

Of course I can't speak for the TS, but I don't think I'm too far off with one or both of those reasons

Edit: I just ate 6 sandwiches with peanut butter, a banana, a kiwi, and 1/3th to 2/5th of a big bag of chips. And I'm still hungry. What's wrong with me?? ^_^

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

^ How old are you?

[SmellyOrc]

16 years old.


I hate messages that only contain a few words

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

I am so sorry. I will try to make this one a little longer!

That's what's 'wrong' with you. At your age with all the growth and stuff, you are bound to be a bottomless pit. Just keep it healthy and it won't come back to bite you when your metabolism slows later on.

Ok, still not a long post, but that's all I had to say.

@dennis, I agree for your height that weight doesn't seem too skinny at all. But if you feel that way, well then everyone here has give you some great advice. I agree with the poster who said that you will fill out as you get older. My brother could eat whatever he wanted for the whole of his teen years and stayed thin as a rail (well, he was about 6' tall) but now his shoulders have broadened and he's got some meat on his bones. Stick with the healthy eating and exercise.

[SmellyOrc]

Originally Posted by {aspiring_to_clarity}

I am so sorry. I will try to make this one a little longer!

That's what's 'wrong' with you. At your age with all the growth and stuff, you are bound to be a bottomless pit. Just keep it healthy and it won't come back to bite you when your metabolism slows later on.

Ok, still not a long post, but that's all I had to say.

Up until yesterday, I was pretty much full up after only 4 sandwiches with peanut butter, 1 banana and a kiwi...
Oh well, I'm not complaining ^_^

Anyway, does anyone have recommendations for high-protein, high-caloric foods that can be consumed every 2.5-3 hours on a daily basis without getting expensive?

[Minsc]

Originally Posted by SmellyOrc

Anyway, does anyone have recommendations for high-protein, high-caloric foods that can be consumed every 2.5-3 hours on a daily basis without getting expensive?

Beans and brown rice are pretty cheap and high-calorie... They're high in protein as far as plants go.

Not too sure about the cost of animal protein, but I heard that tuna or something like that is high in protein. Sprats are high in monounsaturated fats...

You can't really eat fish every 3 hours though since they have mercury, PCBs, and that kind of stuff. Might be some fish protein powder somewhere though(could try whey protein if that's too expensive).

[Peleke4]

It's probably obvious, but don't smoke. Smoking will hinder your weight gaining goal big-time

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by Minsc

You can't really eat fish every 3 hours though since they have mercury, PCBs, and that kind of stuff. .

Canned wild salmon and sardines are fairly cheap and low in mercury (check http://gotmercury.org/). For cheap, high quality protein raw eggs are great. Eating a lot of cooked eggs could eventually produce an allergic reaction and it'd be less digestible anyhow. As someone else mentioned doing above, I spent quite a while eating 12-18 raw eggs per day in protein shakes, quite cheap and yummy too Cholesterol levels were unusually good.

If you're just wanting to put on fat, eat more bread. It may even give you acne as a bonus

An example of a shake I'd drink in the past:

3-6 whole eggs
1-3 bananas
several strawberries or blueberries
lots of heavy whipping cream (coconut milk would be a fine substitute)
ice cream is optional

ps: If you think 5'1'' and 125 pounds is skinny, one of my vegan friends in college was 6'1'' and 120. He's now happy to have moved up to about 140 pounds since he started lifting weights more.

[dennis08]

Thanks for the tips. I still think Im skinny though

[SKiernan]

Are you using free weights to workout? If so I'd recommend changing to bodyweight exercises (unless you're trying to get freaky big!) Bodyweight exercises will build fa more functional strength, along with good gains in muscle size, than free weights as each exercise forces you to use a huge amount of muscle groups together rather than in isolation. They also require a good deal of balance.

Ever tried handstand pushups for example? Just kick up into a handstand against a wall and push! I guarantee if you've never tried and you persist at them you'll be hooked!

[SmellyOrc]

Uhm, ever heard of compound movements? Deadlift, Squat, Benchpress, Power Clean, no name a few. All stresses multiple, if not all of the muscle groups.

Where did you get the BS idea that free weights only isolate muscles?
Btw, kettlebells would be my preferred choice if you wanna start lifting again. Read Pavel's Enter the Kettlebell for some serious pain >:)