I Need Help Gaining Weight!!

Hi, im Chris and I'm currently 15 years old. I'm 5'9" and i weight 120. My BMI is 17.7, which this site told me im underweight lol and i kinda know that. I was wondering what is the quickest way to gain wait on a daily schedule such as school and all. Are there any pills or proteins stuff i could take to help me gain weight so i could be a lil above average? Aslo wat is the average weight for my height/age?  Thanks!!

Acne: i was just wondering if anybody could suggest me a real good facial cleanser that will help me clear my breakouts. i tried proactive and that didnt work too well, and i am currently using neutrogena. i saw a commercial about the neutrogena ID, but i havent given it a shot. also is there good cleanser for the body? i've sorta been breaken out on my body as well...mainly back and chest. strange huh? haha Thanks again!

Eat a lot, move less, start weight lifting. By move less I mean don't do aerobic exercise as much such as bike riding, running, playing sports like basketball and football and so on. If you do aerobic exercise, then you'll have to eat more.

Start out with 2,500 calories a day, if you don't gain a pound or two in a week after eating that much, then eat 3,000 calories a day. It can be difficult to eat that many calories, so remember to drink more milk, and use Meal Replacement Powders like Myoplex.

It can be difficult to get all of your protein requirements when you're trying to build muscle, so you can buy Why Protein Powder to get enough protein without consuming too much meat. If you don't plan on working out and building muscle but just want to fill yourself out with fat, then don't worry about your protein that much, just eat a lot.

Make your meal ratios 35% protein, 20% fat, and 45% carbs.

Get Anthony Ellis' E-book The Secrets to Gaining Muscle Mass Fast. This book is specifically designed for skinny guys that want to put on muscle weight.

For Acne, make your parents take you to a dermatologist before it scars your face up and you lose a lot of money on buying products that do not work. Accutane is one drug that doctors can prescribe for acne that will clear your acne up quite nicely, but it has some vicious side effects. haha...

Also check out www.acne.org for other solutions.

ya i wanted to gain muscle as well, but i figured I'm too thin to gain muscle. so i figured id gain fat first then do muscle.....

where could i find these proteins to help me gain muscle/fat so i could look thicker? Henry's? GNC? Are there any pills or shakes our there where i could take it or mix it so i could get thicker?

@- horacewalpole: where could i find Myoplex at? is it like another way of getting thicker by mixing it into drinks...etc? i think im going to google it and check it out.

Well as for sports, i was planning on doing wrestling cause i think it could make me look more cut-and thicker. i dont think wrestling would make me lose that much weight since it could always gain in lose in wrestling. it would also help me build muscle i think and that would be helpful.

Thanks!!

You can do any sport such as wrestling, playing basektball, and running. But you have intake a larger amount of calories each day when you do these things or you'll burn a lot of those ingested calories off you ate. You may need up to 3,500 to 4,000 calories a day if you do intense areobic type exercise.

You really have to experiment and tweak your calorie intake. If you're eating 3,000 calories a day and you don't gain a single pound in two weeks, you need to try 3,500. if that doesn't work, try 4,000. Go up 500 calories every time.

Haha.. It would be preferable to gain muscle at the same time, then you can burn off the fat through dieting at a later stage and looked ripped.That E-book I mentioned will teach you how to do it. You have to eat a LOT to gain muscle, especially if you're naturally a skinny guy.

You should get at least 1 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily, so that is 120 grams at least if you're at 120 pounds. A lot of bodybuilders say you should consume 2 grams per pound of body weight. A good bodybuilding forum to check out is on the website www.bodybuilding.com, there are guys on there that tell you everything you need to know. Hardly anyone wants to be a bodybuilder, but everyone wants to look better, and these guys know the secrets.

The shakes, pills, and powders that are called "Weight gainer" and all that stuff is mostly made up of simple carbs. I've heard a lot of terrible stories about these weight gainer powders. One fact is that they don't contain enough nuitritonal value to help build muscle and promote health.

Whey Protein can be found at places like GNC and other nutritional places. Whey Protein is jsut protein, you need protein to build, maintain, and repair your muscles after you weight lift. It';s difficult trying to get your  protein requirements in your system just by eating food sources like fish, eggs, chicken breasts, tuna, dairy. So bodybuilders supplement  their protein intake with Whey protein to fill in the gaps.

Myoplex can be found at GNC, online, and most nutritional places. I don't think it's needed if you can manage to eat enough each day, but it's good to have if you find yourself incapable of eating a large amount of calories, and you hate to cook or can't cook.

well my daily schedule for meals is like this

6am i eat a lil snack

and i eat schools food

then i come home and eat rice possibly with others stuff

and then dinner.

so would all taht add up to about 3k?

Little snack is 150 calories

School's food is 600  calories

Rice with other stuff  is 400  calories

dinner  is 700 calories

A grand total of 1855 calories, it's probably that or 2,000 calories, so you're about a 1,000 calories away.

These are just estimates, I don't know how many calories you're eating because I don't know what you're eating and how much.

You have to look up the calories of things on the back of the food package called the nutrition facts. For foods that don't have nutrition facts, Look them up on here according to how much you ate. Did you eat 50 grams of chicken breast, a cup of white rice, two cups of whole milk, a teaspoon of JIF peanut butter?

You need some measuring cups that measures cups, teaspoon, tablespoon, and so on. and preferably a weight scale to measure the weight of your food.. There are books you can find in cooking sections of bookstores that will tell you the calories of common foods, you just look up the food in the book and it will tell you instantly.

For fast food like Taco Bell and Subway, you can go to their website and look at their nutrition facts for their food, and it will tell how many calories they have in their food.

Breakfast should be a large meal for you. Try eating two to three cups of cereal with two cups of milk and one banana for breakfast.

As for your middle school or high school lunch, it would be difficult to know how many calories you're consuming, I would just count it as 500 calories.

so if im 1000 calories off, is there any powders i could get from GNC or somthing so i could mix it in my drink to get that 1000 calories? i averaged my daily calories and its about 2k a day. which does seem pretty low cause i want to pack on some pounds.

What are some things i should eat to gain more calories throughout the day?

i just read an article online and it suggested a product called Ensure?? is that another good way to help me gain my calories close to 3k? is it bad to take more than one bottle of those a day? the Ensure products a bit pricey =/ but i want to gain weight as fast as possible so should i? well here is the article i read:

http://nutrition.about.com/od/dietsformedical disorders/f/GainWeight.htm

and the Ensure product i was thinking about buying....

http://www.amazon.com/Ensure-Complete-Balance d-Nutrition-Homemade/dp/B000ARWL0A/ref=pd_sim _hpc_6

If it's healthy and high calorie, get it. I don't know anything about Ensure.

To get extra calories, i use milk, peanut butter, and high calorie bread. I also add extra toppings on things like cheese extra mayo, and olive oil.

One peanut butter (2 tablespoons) and banana sandwich on whole grain bread with a glass of skim milk is about 800 calories. I can eat a few of those pretty easily, that racks up to 3,000 calories pretty easily.

Cereal is also good for getting in calories. Use about 3 cups of cereal, and two cups of milk and you have nearly a 1,000 calories.

Just type in "high calorie foods" in Google or some other search engine, and it will give you some ideas. Also find Lean sources of protein as well.

Original Post by horacewalpole:
One peanut butter (2 tablespoons) and banana sandwich on whole grain bread with a glass of skim milk is about 800 calories. I can eat a few of those pretty easily, that racks up to 3,000 calories pretty easily.

Cereal is also good for getting in calories. Use about 3 cups of cereal, and two cups of milk and you have nearly a 1,000 calories.

Sorry this is a bit off-topic but... Are you sure? Because:

Peanut butter (50-100 cals?) + 2 slices of bread (170 cals) + 1 banana (110), 1 cup milk (90) =400-500 calories.

3 cups cereal (300-500 cals) + 2 cups milk (180) =480-680 cals.

Sorry but I just have to know how could you make a PB-banana sandwich 800 calories...

Hi there Chris! First up, good for you on looking into weight gain. Being underweight in any situation is never kind on your body in the long run. To gain, you'll want to focus on (a) eating enough and then eating more and (b) building weight in a healthy way. 

As you're male you should aim for for 3000 at first. I would avoid weight gainer formulas, though. I have had an intake of 3000-4000 in recovery and it CAN be done without them! Instead, invest in high calorie, low density foods. Nuts and nut butters, avocados, dried fruits (and bananas to a lesser extent), wholegrain pastas, olive oil in cooking or as a dressing, whole fat dairy products (or alternatives if you're lactose intolerant like me!), oily fish and so much more... there is a sticky at the top of the forum with a nice long list of foods that can help in weight gain.

Oatmeal is a good base for foods: you can mix lots of high-cal low-density foods into it and not really notice. Smoothies are also awesome and fun to make yourself, as are ice cream concoctions. I used to love custard on ice cream while I was blissfully ignorant to my intolerance as an odd treat, haha.

Aim for a good balance of nutrition and food groups - wholegrains, healthy fats, dairy, proteins and fruit and veg. Aim for carbs, fats and proteins at every meal, and work your dairy and fruit/veg in where appropriate or lacking. I know some people sometimes cut out on their veggies during weight gain because they're low calorie, which isn't ideal as there are so many nutrients in veg. Instead, try buttering them or lightly frying them, or using EVOO as dressing like I already mentioned. Just ideas! :]

Now then, sports and muscle: you are not too skinny to put it on! As a guy you'll actually find it EASIER than the ladies to put it on, you lucky bugger. :D Try asking in the Fitness forum for advice on a suitable work out routine. When doing cardio sports, you'll need to eat back what you burn to keep gaining - but by no means consider them not-doable. For weigh ins, stick to a weigh in of once weekly or fortnightly. For your first weigh, I would eat 3000 consistently, then weigh yourself in two weeks so that any water fluctuations can calm down.

Towards your acne trouble, I personally recommend (but do not insist!) eating clean. I have acne too, but it has cleared up sosososo noticably after I cut out sweeteners - and oddly enough, when I cut back on my caffiene intake, too. However, you're a fifteen year old boy. Heh. Make sure your clothes are clean and not irritating the break out area (it sounds like a given, but certain fabrics make mine worse). Dx I'm against cleansers as harsh as Neutrogena, personally. Tea tree is very effective, especially if you're prone to oily skin. However, you're fifteen! A lot of it will be down to hormones. ]: It clears up as you get older, trust me.

Lastly, an ideal range for a 15 year old boy of 5'9 is from 119lbs to 158lbs. I used this calculator for teens: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html to work it out for you. If you have any more questions feel free to ask me! Good luck with your gains!

ieevee: Depends on how much peanut butter they use, the quality of the PB, bread types, size of the bananas and quantity of banana... Cereal, the type of cereal, the fat content of the milk. Things vary, heh.

also another tip, if you are trying to fit 3,000 cals in a day, try to have 6 meals a day. Makes it alot easier, making it only 500 cal meals each. Or just start with 5 meals a day and then work your way up to 6

Original Post by ieevee:

Original Post by horacewalpole:
One peanut butter (2 tablespoons) and banana sandwich on whole grain bread with a glass of skim milk is about 800 calories. I can eat a few of those pretty easily, that racks up to 3,000 calories pretty easily.

Cereal is also good for getting in calories. Use about 3 cups of cereal, and two cups of milk and you have nearly a 1,000 calories.

Sorry this is a bit off-topic but... Are you sure? Because:

Peanut butter (50-100 cals?) + 2 slices of bread (170 cals) + 1 banana (110), 1 cup milk (90) =400-500 calories.

3 cups cereal (300-500 cals) + 2 cups milk (180) =480-680 cals.

Sorry but I just have to know how could you make a PB-banana sandwich 800 calories...

 

Haha. I use 4 tablespoons of peanut butter actually. I use JIF, not some organic type of peanut butter. JIF has 190 calories per 2 tablespoons.

The bread I use is called Arnold's Whole Grain Double Protein bread. Two slices amounts to 220 calories.

Most of the time, I use one banana, but I also use two.

I drink one 8 ounce cup of skim milk with it—90 calories.

190 x 2=380 + 220 + 110 + 90=800 calories.

With two bananas, it's 910 calories.

I'm getting mostly Carbs in that, so I have to supplement my protein with Whey protein Powder.

THANKS!!! i will take all this in and try to get FAT!! haha.....

Well my house is pretty much empty on groceries, and we suck at cooking so what are some high calorie items i could buy at Vons and are easy to cook haha

This is kind of a dumb question, but what percent milk should i get that gives the most fat?

i looked at the sticky of high calorie foods, and i notice its mostly just snacks which is good so i could eat at school, but....wat are some high calorie meals that i could whip up instantly at home?

As for fruits, banana's is on my list. Do mango provide high calories? Any other fruits you'd recommend?

I've been trying to get close to 3000 calories these past days and i am usually in the 2000 zone. i might need higher calorie food and then it might help a lot more. i would gain like a pound or 2 after a day, and when i go to school and come home, i am back at the original weight. Does this mean i need to eat more so i would gain weight but lose a little every day?

hey, i dont like to cook either and rely on a lot of frozen foods, sandwiches, and cereal.  not sure if its the healthiest but its quick and easy-my priorities.

i often have fish stick or chicken nuggets w/ french fries and a salad where i add lots of trail mix and clumps of almond butter as my dinner.

bfast and lunch are centered around PB+J or cheese sandwiches.  have bagels, pasta, trail mix aded to everything, potatoes, granola, and dont forget ice cream and treats!

Nguyenee: Whole milk is the highest fat percentage. I'm not sure what the labels actually list that as. Many meals can be made high-cal with easy by stir frying with oil or adding nuts in, but I'm not a whiz with recipes. @__@ There's a sticky up right now with high-cal recipies on it, too, I think! And I'm certain that, if you ask about, people will be willing to suggest a few.

Fruits - mangos are actually fairly low calorie if I remember right. According to CC they weigh in at 107 calories per 165g. Try apples, pears, and dried versions of fruits: apricots, dates, prunes, dried mango, coconut, raisins and sultanas... it's very easy to make your own trail mix up too with things like unsalted pretzels, dried fruit and nuts. Chocolate chips, too! :D But fruit and veg are still very important for a range of nutrients. Try making a fruit salad with a combo of high and low density fruits and eat it with a whole fat yoghurt? That way you can still enjoy mango or melon or other slightly lower fruits without impeding your progress.

Weighing in more than once a day (or more than once a week) won't give you a true vision of your gain and loss. Our body fluctuates wildly with water and the food eaten. Stick to weighing once a week. As for your intake... go for 3000 at first, and when you have solidly been eating that level for one week weigh in. If you see a gain, keep going at 3000 (or up it if the gain is minimal/too slow) and if you see loss or maintainance take it up by 500.

A quick and not-too-filling way to get extra calories in at night could be with PB and bananas on toast with a glass of milk - the bananas and milk are good sleeping aids too! (Well, for me, anyway!) Or a bowl of oatmeal or cereal with milk and with dried fruit and nuts mixed in. Oily fish are good, too. I've eaten leftover salmon on toast before bed once, it was rather pleasant considering it was late at night! Heh.

But yes, do ask about with other CCers in the WG forum about recipes! I recommend asking gibbit and theofornay particularly - they're both superb chefs by the menus they post and know they'd be willing to share. :]