Advice please

Hello all

Just joined and hoping to find some help.

I am 6 feet tall and weigh 10st 11lbs. My BMI is 20.5 which is ok. However I think and my family think I look to skinny so I am going to start some gym work, there is no fat on me anywhere and I have quite good definition.

As part of my exercise routine and gaining weight, I have been looking at weight gain supplements. There are so many.

I think it best to eat more often throughout the day, and spread my food over throughout the day and try to eat a little more.

Am I also right in thinking that the weight gain supplements are best taken just after exercise.

Any pointers from anyone would be gladly received.

Thank You.

Hi,

May I ask if you are male or female?

Gaining weight can be tricky, but it also can be done! As a general target for gaining, get your calories up to 2500 if you are female, 3000 if you are male - and then go up from there. It looks like a lot but this IS a doable number; I have had to eat 3000 to 4000 calories regularly in weight gain and haven't done it with gainer suppliments or anything like that. I strongly suggest against them because they aren't neccessary if you get nutrition from your foods. As you want to put on muscle mass you will need to eat in a surplus to see any good gains, but be aware that you will put on fat mass as well doing this. Truthfully, you are at a healthy weight already and from your description sound as though you have a healthy body fat percentage. If you are set on muscle gain, though, some general advice:

1. High calorie, low density foods. These are foods that are as the name says - high in calories but low in bulk. These are not only vital in the sense that they can still easily be broken down by a stomach trying to mend itself but also because they add calories without adding bulk. Examples of these would be whole fat dairy, nuts and nut butters, avocado, oils like olive oil and canola (rapeseed) oil as two examples, oily fish, dried fruit and dense fruit like bananas as just a handful of examples. There are two threads stickied at the top of this forum: Support Recipes - while aimed more at recovering disordered eaters these may still help you - and The Official High-Cal Food List.
   
2. Eat your meals spaced out over the day - aim for about five to six total. Breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, and dinner, or switching one of those snacks for an evening snack would be an example. This may make it easier on your stomach and mean you're not cramming calories in at three meals. If it is easier for you, devise a meal plan routine by yourself or with a nutritionist and stick with it.
   
3. This is an important one: do not weigh or measure yourself for two weeks when upping your calories. Why? Because our body will hold to a large amount of water initially. This water shows up on the scale, but is not a true indication of weight gain and will flush out after two weeks.
   
4. If you eat a steady 2500/3000, and then find you are maintaining or even losing weight, you will need to increase. Do not think about this just yet - just get to 2500/3000 first.

Do not worry about nutrition at this point. You will probably have a higher intake of everything compared to others - and really, comparing yourself to anyone else at all isn't the way to go. The only thing I personally think is worth watching when upping calories is salt and trans fat, but as for numbers of other nutrients and food groups? Don't worry about it. Aim for carbs, proteins, fruit or veg, healthy fats and dairy in all your meals over the day, get enough fibre, and take a full multivitamin as a buffer, and you'll be fine.

Weight lifting is a very good idea and if you want help with routines, try asking over at the Fitness forum. Strength and resistance work help build healthy muscle in a surplus, but be aware: cardiovascular exercising is completely counter-productive during gaining unless you are willing to eat back everything you burn. And as with any exercise, if your doctor, nutritionist or another professional tells you not to exercise at all, not even weights or yoga/pilates, then listen to them.

If you have any further questions please ask! Good luck!

 - Ellie.

opps sorry I am male.

Thanks so much for the advice Ellie it has all been taken on board. I have no idea about my calorie intake but am guessing its quite low, prob the reason I am not putting weight on. I am never hungary in the mornings and its an effort to eat.

My normal day would prob be, an apple about 10 or 11. Lunch of two peices of bread some ham and cheese about 1ish, some biscuits and cup to tea about 3ish and dinner which could be spag bol, fish potatoes veg or tuna salad (my wife has me eating lots of veg!!) about 6ish and lastly maybe some chocolate, crisps or peanuts as a snack about 9ish.

Thanks again

Karl

Eep! Yes, that's definately not enough for a six foot male! And it's good your wife gets you to eat veggies, many people don't eat enough to reach a five a day serving of fruit and veg. :] Aim for a plan like this:

Breakfast - Snack 1 - Lunch - Snack 2 - Dinner - Snack 3

If you ate about 300 calories at each snack and 700 at each main meal you would make it to 3000. 3000 IS a target number, and do not jump to that in one day (this can be quite bad for you!) but it is also an endgoal. As I said before don't weigh yourself for two weeks while doing this either, as your body may initially hold on to water.

700 at a meal is doable. For example, your fish-potato-veg meal: a decent-sized fillet of salmon will land you about 300 alone, with a large baked potato is another 200 or so, and then if you add a tablespoon of olive oil dressing to your veggies you get another 120~ calories on your veg to bring up their count. That makes 620 + what vegetables you choose for a dinner meal without being overwhelming! And remember, you don't always have to reach 700 dead for each of those bigger meals as that can be a lot of food at once. I know some people who have more ease eating a big breakfast and a smaller dinner, or sneaking some calories in with their snacks (nuts are brilliant for that).

Thank you. one last thing

What would you suggest for snacks during the day that would reach the 300 cal mark?

I am so glad I found this site, there are plenty of people who want to gain weight but all the hype and media focuses on loosing weight !!! In every magazine my wife has there is always a diet of some kind, never anything on putting weight on.

A 300 calorie snack could be something like 1/3 cup of nuts, or a peanut butter and whole wheat sandwich and a piece of fruit.

Agreed with jewels: nuts will get you 300 very quickly. Dried fruit, too. You could make your own trail mix with fruit and nuts of your choice, or cereal bars of your own. The sandwich is a good idea, too. A slice of thick wholewheat bread is about 90-100 calories, a tablespoon of PB about 60 - or, alternatively, you could try an avocado sandwich. According to CC about 150g of avocado rakes up 240 calories. Alternatively, you could have a few scoops of ice cream of an evening if you wanted, a bowl of oatmeal with some goodies mixed in, or even leftovers - as long as it totalled 300.

And I totally agree with you about the focus in the media on weight loss instead of gain. I only recently finally saw a question column in a UK newspaper asking for help with gaining and someone commented "just eat McDonalds every day, lol". Bah.

Thanks all for the helpful advice.

Karl