Muscle mass and weight gain

I was always a skinny person and hated when my folks made that a subject at every party,family reunion etc and around the dinner table.I am 26 yrs of age, male. When i was 18-25-- i was at 114-117lbs.I took up weights and exercise and now after a yr im at average 131lbs.I am 5'6"tall.Small body frame. I look and feel much better now.I have a good muscular physique but have ways to go to get those good abs and keep it all without loosing it as it is easy to loose what u worked on.

But, i want to get my body weight to like 140lbs,(not sure if its wise), and get some more muscle mass.The foods are where i start i guess. I just did my caloris count for this morning till lunch time and its at 1100 cal already with
 Fat - 21.4% (26 grams)
Protein - 17.0% (47 grams)
Carbohydrates - 61.7% (169 grams)

I know i know, fat has to be reduced!but same time id ont want to eat diet foods.Im not wanting to loose weight but gain health weight along wtih my regular exercise routines..i have weights at home,,have tips from websites  etc.
All i need is some good sugesstion on recipes easy and high in protein etc etc.
Any suggestion advice opinions :)
thanks

Woot. Another guy! Huzzah!
(You have to look out for other guys - we're a minority here!)

I have no idea how easy and quick it is to GAIN a pound of muscle. But... I've learned that if you really want to bulk up your muscle, you need to do less reps with higher weight.. this leads to more microfissures in your muscles, and, when fixed, bigger muscles.

Fat % looks good to me, actually.. you should have wo - 30% fat in your diet. Protein looks a little low, though.. you should also try to have about 25% protein, I THINK

Do you cook, crosswire? I have a book my girlfriend and I use called Fix and Forget it, Lightly.. it's got alot of meat recipes in it. Meat's OK, so long as it's lean cuts or otherwise lean meats (Chicken Breasts, Turkey, Buffalo, etc.)

Good luck! :)
And keep letting us know how you're doing with building your muscle mass. I know I'd like to see someone else improving their muscles besides myself! :) (flexes for you to show you his as-yet-still-hidden-behind-fat muscles)

LOL
Thanks for the welcome..Im at an office desk job,(government)..not bad thought.but i have this lazy time to get info on my lifestyle.Just the exhileration of wearing clothes that show ure muscles heheh gets me all excited.As i said b4, i didn't have the "hot" phrase coined to me by my friends.It was mostly, "why dont you eat something"...

Anyways, yes protein foods the way to go and i love my seafood and meats.I like cooking and check the menshealth website often for good recipes etc.
I think i went overboard when it showed i was gaining weight few months back and i was so excited since i usually never gained weight.I ate everything and lots of fat lol..
Now trying to loose that small little belly fat covering up those bulked up abs lol...any tips?

Hey crosswire... check out this site's articles
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/frontnutrition .php?id=14&subId=16

I think you definately need more protein. Try egg beaters, whey protein and lean meats. Fish is good but you have to keep an eye on the cholesterol.

Also this is a very good article on optimizing your nutrition with your workouts.

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/windowofopport unity.php

Hey I work for the government too! Fun times....definatley lots of downtime to surf the net. Are you provincial or federal?

To answer your questions tho..

You don't necessarily need to reduce your fat intake, as long as it's coming from good sources (fish, olive oil, eggs, avocados, nuts, etc). You will definately need to increase your protein intake.

The average guy will be able to put on about 2lbs of muscle a  month if they're following a good weight routine and eating a fair amount of protein.

How many calories are you eating in a day?

Try adding some protein shakes as snacks. GNC has some really good protein powders and shakers that you can take with you to work. You can also use protein powder in different recipes (do a search for "protein pancakes" under Recipes... I posted this a while ago.

The BEST thing that I found was bison beef burgers (sorry I had to put that in bold, they're just THAT great). They're 200 calories each, with very little fat, and a whopping 36g of protein. I'll cook them on a grill and eat them like a burger, or just like a steak. I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend them!

Cottage cheese (if you can stomach it) is a great source of protein. I use it when I make omelets, or mix it up with salsa. Low fat regular cheese is another option, and yogurt.

The more common protein sources (for bodybuilders) are chicken and tuna... so I'm sure you know this already.. but chicken and tuna sandwiches or wraps would be good.

Hope this kinda helps! If you need exact recipes of anything, let me know.

I should check out Men's Health. I keep meaning to, but.. I'm a lazybutt.

I'm a contractor for the government.. well for FEMA.
*hides*

So I come home from my long day of longness and head directly to the gym to pump weights or to my PS/2 to do DDR, so that when my gf comes home, I'm usually mostly done. The important thing is to fit exercise in your life where you can, and don't stop.

Boo for unsupportive friends, perhaps not really friends at all.

Thanks for the advice..I will def eat more protein.My calorie count for yesterday was at 2300

Fat - 23.1% (61 grams)
Protein - 32.8% (195 grams)
Carbohydrates - 42.0% (250 grams)
Alcohol - 0.0%
Other - 2.0%

Daily Sodium Intake - 2944 mg
Daily Cholesterol Intake - 829 mg
Daily Fiber Intake - 8 grams

It seemed i ate healthy only after i went home lol.
I worked out a bit and had rice,salmon steamed,n 2 poached eggs for dinner.Downed with milk.

the cholestrol intake seems a bit high lol..not sure.

One thing good is that im just sitting at computer during work  and not burning off the things i eat during the day so when it comes time to work out i have the energy or is that mmm... laziness.lol

I have whey protein from GNC, and guess what its been a while since i last had it since last fall.I gave it a try last nite and almost gaged..(vanilla flavour)..guess it takes getting used to lol..Maybe i should use it in recipes like babyd sugested.

I was told that i did have  fast metabolism..and hence couldnt gain the weight..But i have been gaining steady weight..

I shall keep u updated...Menshealth is vry good magazine howeevr,if you are tall and modelesque! lol
I still refer to it for recip,,good workout guides etc.!

Crosswire, eat more calories per day concentrating on protein intake as has been suggested.  Hit the gym hard with heavy weights and lower reps (I like a fully body workout 3 days a week) to add the muscle and make sure you take in a good amount of protein right after your workout when your muscles are calling for it most.  In order to build the muscles you need to feed them!  If you find that you cant add enough protein with food then look into protein supplements.

It shouldnt be hard for you at all to add 10lbs of muscle if you follow that advice.

Crosswire I'm only a little old girl in this tread, but try Optium Whey Protein Shake. I dont believe this one is GNC but get the chocolate flovor. It tastes awesome..like chocolate milk and it has 24gms of proteins in it...

Also I know you're working out hard and everything and you're a guy and correct if I am wrong, but try not to have so much sodium. It's really bad for you.

hope this helps A LITTLE :)

so here are my "words of wisdom" <cough>

my husband has the same problem and he's been getting some good basic tips/advice from skinnyguy.net  ... it's not the most flashy site, but it shows how a thin guy gained weight that was primarily muscle. they try to get you to buy stuff (of course) but you can still get a lot of content without doing that.

Heh, funny, most of us here would kill to have your problem.  I understand, though (or think I do).  I've got a girl friend who has a similar problem.  She tones up really easily but she can't gain muscle to save her life.

High weight, low reps.  I think I heard 80% of the maximum weight you can lift for 8-10 reps. 

Hmm, I've forgotten something, oh!  That's right.  Welcome to the site!

My stepfather was a "lean" skinny guy with a very high metabolism.  I say this because he could eat, I mean eat, and not gain weight.  Finally, he was able to gain weight - about 40lbs in six months.  He ate lots of protein, drank lots of protein shakes, ate lots of eggs, and peanut butter sandwiches.  He also lifted heavy weights.  I remember his tranformation...It was amazing!  An "unbelievable" tranformation.  I also remember his favorite sandwhich -   peanutbutter and mayonaise!  Ewww!!!    =)

Dude if you want to put on Muscle Mass you need to eat big.

Go to http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=45942 9

And do yourself a favor, if you want advice on building muscle and eatting right your better off spending your time at www.t-nation.com

No offence intended but most of the people on this site have some of the worst eatting habits and nutritional advice I have ever heard.

I would only use this site for tracking my nutrition.

There are some EXCELLENT protein bars too you could try.  Around 300 cals with 30 grams of protein in them.  Down one of those suckers after a workout.

And make sure you add a little cardio to your weight training workout.

Fine Wine is absolutly right, a post work out meal is actually one of the most importtant meals to eat. At this time your muscles are open to and starving for nutrients, feed them and they will grow. Lots of protein, I usually down a 45g protein shake after my work out and a 35g shake during my work out.