I am trying to gain weight. I have a vastly fast metabolism and a stubborn body that would weight 129 pounds.
My GOAL is to hit 160 with muscles. I have been at this project for 3 week so far and I have gained about 6 pounds, so I believe it is working for me.. but I'm not sure if I'm doing it correctly and want to make sure I'm avoiding gaining fat weight and just muscle weight.
In a run down:
I consume:
2700 Calories a day
180g of Protein
I work out
4 days a week for about 60 min in the morning and 20 at night.
Try to run twice a week for 20 min
Most of my diet has consist of Chicken, Eggs, occasionally Beef and Tuna, English Muffin or Bagels with Peanut Butter and 3 protein shakes mixed with 2% milk. And if Im not drinking milk, im drinking water with my meals.
I split it into 6 small meals (A protein shake counts as 1 meal).
NOW, my question is: Am I consuming too much calories or protein, not enough, or just right? I know obviously, it takes a while, more then a month to make any progress in weight gain but I just don't want to over consume if I don't have too.
are you male? look at most of the posts from people gaining here...... they're mostly eating 3500 plus... so eat up!!
if your set point is 129 and you want to be 160, you have a lot of work to do and you will have a lot of work to do if you want to maintain it....
yeah I'm
Male, 5'9 and I'm currently now stationed at 134.
Now Protein is a signficiant importance in gaining muscle mass as well, but is the appopriate intake of 180g of protein good for me or should I be reducing that and uping my calories intake?
Some say that you are to eat 1g of Protein for every lb and other says its .04 or .08. I know that too much Protein can be damaging and not even help you produce the gain weight if you intake too much.
You're not eating any where near enough cals. 3500 is a better target. The protein is good, dont increase or reduce, but you definitely need real Food; use food to bump up your carbs. Your body needs carbs to have the energy for muscle/protein synthesis. Where are all the necessary vitamins and minerals? too many shakes, too, its not necessary to use only them for a fast protein source. Try adding in a daily veggie stirfry using olive oil, add a banana your protein shakes, add an apple with your PB,... shakes are convenient but grossly misused/promoted in the muscle building/weightlifting etc industry. Food will always give you better results. try breaded salmon cakes, adding some ww pasta, and lean beef has more vitamins, minerals and creatine than chicken btw. good luck. start eating more cals though, and more actual food.
I do eat a an apple once a day, and have a helping of mixed vegtables for every meal.
What are good food that have high calories but not so much protein so I don't change the amount of protein in my diet when trying to raise my calories. That's the part I gamble on, cause I can't figure out what has a healthy source of calories but doesn't affect anything else.
I'm not looking for a high cholestroal or a heartattack either.. ha.
So any other food examples would be great!
the very best sources of dense carbs that are 1) easily used by the body, 2) provide longterm energy, and 3) easy to eat are 100% whole wheat pasta, 100% wholewheat/grain bread/toast. Also oatmeal, high-fibre cereals like kaashi go lean or branflakes, ..raisins, dried fruits, grains in general....sweet potato has a lower GI than regular potato (they make great fries) ww bagels....you surely know these are dense carbs? what makes them the best is that they are pure and unrefined; great longterm energy and wont spike your blood sugar. Firstly why not omit 1 shake and have a bean salad; high fibre, equal protein:carb ratio..try kidney beans, blackbeans and chickpeas for a 3bean salad.
remember a carb source the size of a clenched fist at everymeal is what we're all taught. veggies and fruit dont count as a real dense carb. so bump up your bulky carbs for a better body & results! dont be scared of carb-cals 
You really should be eating at least 3000 calories, most likely more. For most people, the hardest part of eating that many calories is the sheer volume. So, to avoid tummy aches, stick to high calorie, low volume foods. Here are some examples:
- nuts
- dried fruit
- eggs
- whole milk
- full-fat yogurt, cottage cheese, etc
- healthy oils (olive oil, canola, etc)
- meats
- nut butter (peanut butter, almond butter)
- dark chocolate
- whole wheat pasta
- brown rice
- sandwiches
- whole wheat bread
- juice
- granola
- oatmeal
- smoothies
- milkshakes
Another thing might be to make sure you are getting an adequate fat intake. From the looks of it - the only real sources of fat you have are peanut butter and eggs, with a little bit from the meat (I'm assuming its lean cut?) Try adding dressings or olive oil to your meals - like if you have grilled chicken with whole wheat pasta for dinner - toss with it with a few TBS of dressing or some olive oil. Makes it taste better, and fats are necessary for maintaining cellular structure/integrity and keeping up proper organ and muscle density. Everyone's already covered the carb thing - but essentially when one needs to increase calories, it should mainly be by way of fats and carbs. You're already getting enough protein to fit a meal-plan of 3,000-3,500 calories at around 20-25%, so fill up to that with healthy carbs and fats. Whole grains, fresh and dried fruit, nuts, trail mixes, vegetable oils, starchy veggies and legumes.
More balance and less protein required. Excess protein just gets peed out.
You need more fruit, more veges, carbs and fat in your diet. I would suggest that you don't need more than 1g protein/lb.
Do not take any more protein, at most you need like 1.5g per lb and your there so leave that be. Staples need to be yams and brown rice. Also, some avocado and salmon for some omega 3's. and beans are also good but if your gonna put those in there then tweak your meals to take some protein away since beans a legumes have a lot of protein. Also, in the morning take down some oats and bananas. Bananas are awesome and you know it!
Original Post by clay010:
Staples need to be yams and brown rice.
Why? Sure these are healthy but there are thousands of good carb options out there.
Original Post by merylwhite1:
Original Post by clay010:
Staples need to be yams and brown rice.
Why? Sure these are healthy but there are thousands of good carb options out there.
I find that these are the cheapest to get and are more widely available. If your near a whole foods or a co-op i would go for quinoa and amarath as those are awesome sources of carbs. These were also a couple calorie-dense foods that i could think of off the top of my head. Most likely though, im sure its cause ive been craving the both of them like a mother.
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