# Anyone have experience with weight gaining?



## awfulness (Jul 13, 2009)

Hi I'm looking for advice with gaining weight..

I'm really skinny, 125 lb at 5"11(male). I can't feel confident at all when my body feels so weak and fragile.. 

I would mostly like to know what I'm supposed to eat. I've done some reading through google and it says stuff like "fish, chicken, pasta" etc, but I'm really bad at cooking.. how am I supposed to make that stuff!? All I have to eat are the stuff my parents cook and when we go out to eat, and ramen noodles that I make for myself. 

I know I'm supposed to keep a good schedule of when to have my meals, but that's kind of difficult when I don't even have any good food available.

So.. any suggestions on easy to make food that is high in calories/protein/carbs?

Thank you in advance.


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## STKinTHEmud (Jun 21, 2009)

I've recommended this site before, and I'll recommend it again in the future:

http://www.gain-weight-muscle-fast.com/

It was a big help for my weight gain. I was a really skinny guy, too. I went from 160 lbs to 195 lbs. in about 5 months. A good bit of that gain was muscle, but much of it was fat, but in order to gain any real muscle quickly, that's just what you have to expect. Diet and exercise like a bodybuilder: Go through a weight gain phase in which you eat massive amounts of calories and then a cutting phase (to cut the fat, but keep the muscle), in which you eat less calories.

Here's the real thing about diet and exercise when you're a skinny guy (like me): A lot of what you hear from friends and bodybuilding magazines are geared toward those guys that have a genetic disposition to have a normal body weight or those that are overweight. Naturally skinny guys have to do things a bit differently. All that crap about keeping your calorie intake low by eating fish, chicken, etc. is all wrong for us. We have to eat LOTS of calories, and eat them in 5 or 6 meals everyday. When I started mass gaining, I was eating 3200 calories in 5 meals a day. It sounds like too much, I know, but I was gaining 2.5 lbs a week (at first). It took quite a bit of getting used to, but once you work out a schedule and a diet plan, it gets easier, and then you expect all those calories - you actually start getting hungry every 3 hours. When you think about it, it makes sense, since it's impossible to really gain weight without eating more.

Ideally, you would want something like 30% of your calories to come from protein, 40% from from carbs, and 30% from fat. Of course, it's hard to hit that high calorie intake everyday without eating more fatty foods. Really, as long as you're eating, you'll gain (though with more fatty foods, of course, you will gain more fat). I was eating lots of steak (I learned to cook steak), beans, and frozen pizza (yes, yes, very fatty, but the brand I get has a whopping 1550 calories!). I also recommend a good mass gain protein shake, something in the 600 calorie range with a bunch of protein. Go to a GNC and ask them for a mass gainer- they'll help you out. I was drinking a mass gainer for 2 of my 5 meals, and it helped a lot. You might also want to try high calorie meal replacement bars if you can't be home to cook a meal.

I would recommend you either learn to cook, or ask your mom to give you an extra serving of steak for dinner. Ask your mom to prepare leftovers for you so that you can eat between main meals. Ask your mom to pack you 2 peanut butter sandwiches instead of one for lunch (peanut butter is a GREAT source of calories), and mix a protein shake and pour it into a water bottle to drink after school. Be creative. And don't listen to what anyone says about your eating habits: you have a plan, and you WILL gain weight.

Diet is maybe 50% of a mass gain program. Exercise is 25% of it. When you first start working out, you'll gain muscle regardless of your diet (when I first started 10 yrs ago, though I still ate like a skinny guy, I gained about 20 lbs. of muscle), but if you want to reach an average weight for your height, you'll have to focus on diet as well. You can basically ignore cardio, save for a 10 minute cardio warmup before you start lifting. Focus on lifting weights, and lift heavy: aim for 5-10 repetitions before failure. But be sure not to overtrain. I was lifting 4 times a week, for less than an hour for each session, doing smaller muscles much less than big muscles (5 sets for smaller muscles like biceps and triceps, and 8-10 sets for big muscles like chest and back). It's not very hard to pick up on the basics of working out. The trick is to listen to the good advice, and ignore the bad about lifting, and when you realize that you're doing something wrong, don't be stubborn about changing your routine.

The last 25% of a good diet and exercise plan is sleep. We don't build muscle in the gym, we build it when we sleep, so it's important to get a good night's sleep every night. I tend to need about 9 hrs every night, but you might need less than that.


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## STKinTHEmud (Jun 21, 2009)

Oh, by the way, I learned to cook steak by googling "how to cook a steak."


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## awfulness (Jul 13, 2009)

You were eating 3200 calories a day.. wow! I know that's how much I also should be eating, or at least 2000, but right now I'm probably eating like 600.. I just don't feel hungry! I have a hard time eating when I'm not hungry.. did you ever get that too? I just sit there staring at my food trying to eat it even though I'm full. Perhaps I have some kind of thyroid disorder or just kind of illness that kills my appetite? Should see a doctor... 

Do protein powders really work? I don't really understand how powders could give my body the same nutrient as if I were to eat a steak.. and yet one cup of protein powder is like 60 mg of proteins and a bunch of calories. Is my body seriously absorbing all that or am I just peeing/pooping 90% of it out?

Also, what if I somehow manage to eat 3000 calories a day.. will I be gaining weight if I eat that much but I don't exercise at all? I want to gain at least 20 more pounds before I go to the gym... otherwise I feel so self conscious.

Thank you for the very informative post.. I hope I'm not being annoying with these questions, it's just that I've tried a bunch of times to gain weight by "eating more" and I stick to it for 2 months then give up when I don't see results! I want to try again this time... and I really *really* want it to work. I swear it'll fix like 65% of my self esteem problems.


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## CircularThinking (May 9, 2009)

awfulness said:


> You were eating 3200 calories a day.. wow! I know that's how much I also should be eating, or at least 2000, but right now I'm probably eating like 600.. I just don't feel hungry! I have a hard time eating when I'm not hungry.. did you ever get that too? I just sit there staring at my food trying to eat it even though I'm full. Perhaps I have some kind of thyroid disorder or just kind of illness that kills my appetite? Should see a doctor...


Most people who try to gain weight, don't _want_ to eat all that food all day, but they force themselves to do it because it gives them the results they want. It's difficult at first but you will get used to it over time.



> Do protein powders really work? I don't really understand how powders could give my body the same nutrient as if I were to eat a steak.. and yet one cup of protein powder is like 60 mg of proteins and a bunch of calories. Is my body seriously absorbing all that or am I just peeing/pooping 90% of it out?


Protein powders give you protein, they're extremely helpful (especially for people who usually don't feel hungry enough to eat) because it helps you reach your daily protein intake goals. The misconception is that they are going to be enough on their own to transform you into the incredible hulk. Protein powders on their own generally have very few calories (120~ per serving) and you can't consume just protein and expect to get significant growth. There are meal replacement (weight gain) powders which have loads of calories (some up to 1k+ per serving) but while they will probably work (eat that many calories and you're bound to gain weight regardless of the type), it's far less than ideal.

Buy a blender imo, then buy fresh food and throw it in the blender. Olive/Flaxseed oil, nuts, vegetables, yogurt, fruit, etc are all great sources for calories and you'll get more nutrients to support growth.



> Also, what if I somehow manage to eat 3000 calories a day.. will I be gaining weight if I eat that much but I don't exercise at all? I want to gain at least 20 more pounds before I go to the gym... otherwise I feel so self conscious.


You'll be gaining tons of weight, problem is it will all be fat.

This doesn't mean you should exercise *every day* though. 3 days of resistance training a week is often enough to offset 7 days a week of heavy eating. Assuming you're surpassing your intake goal, you will probably gain some fat, but you should stick with it because it's fairly easy to lose afterward. If you don't want to go to the gym I'd suggest buying a set of dumbells in addition to doing bodyweight exercises. Just cause you're at home doesn't mean you can't train.

I'd definitely suggest buying a blender because as someone who hates eating large portions of food I found it a lot easier to down a couple glasses than eat an enormous bowl of salad.


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## socially inept (Mar 6, 2009)

awfulness said:


> Hi I'm looking for advice with gaining weight..
> 
> I'm really skinny, 125 lb at 5"11(male). I can't feel confident at all when my body feels so weak and fragile..
> 
> ...


you need to consume 15-20% more calories than you burn. this will ensure that the weight you gain is healthy e.g muscle not fat. if you go beyond 20% then you will gain fat not muscle .

as well as that you must also train with weights. all you need to do is 45 minutes 3 times per week, thats it

to see how many calories you need use the katch- mcardle formula (should be able to find it on google). 
basically you figure out how many calories your body burns just to function. then you add that amount to the amount of calroies you will burn through your 3 weeights sessions per week.

lets say your body burns 2000 calories a day. and you burn 1000 calories by training with weights. so thats 3000 calories. so to gain wieght you wopuld need to consume 15-20% above this.

15% of 3000 is 450, so add that to 3000 and you get 3450
20% of 3000 is 600, so thats 3600

to gain weight you would need to consume 3450-3600 calories per day

from those calories 55% needs to be cabrs, 30% protein and 15% fat

you need to spread those calories evenly over 6 meals per day

each meal should consist of complex carbs, protein and fruit or veg. also add some essentail fat to some meals e.g olive oil , flaxseed oil

meal 1-complex carbs , protein , fruit 
meal2-complex carbs, protein , fruit 
meal3-complex carbs , protein , veg 
meal4-complex carbs , protein , veg 
meal 5-complex carbs , protein , veg 
meal 6-complex carbs , protein , veg

each meal should be spaced 2-3 hours apart. never go 3 hours without a meal

good sources of complex carbs are oatmeal, yams, sweet potatoe, potatoe, brown rice.

good sources of protien are whey protein powder, tuna, chicken , steak , eggs

my advice would be to use a weight gainer for meal 2 and 4. a weight gainer is like a protein shake that contains both carbs and protein and is packed full of calories. its like a full meal but liquid. a normal protein shake is just protein , no carbs and needs to be added to a carb

meal 6 should be consumed about 30 mins before bed. try and make this slow release protein such as cottage cheese or a prtoein supplement that is casein protein (not whey) or a even better a blend of both whey and casein

here is an example :

meal 1 -bowl of porridge , whey protein shake, banana, olive and flaxseed oil
meal 2- weight gainer , apple 
meal 3- yams, tuna , veg , olive and flaxseed oil 
meal 4- weight gainer , veg
meal 5- brown rice, chicken , veg , olive and flaxseed oil
meal 6- 200g cottage cheese on wholegrain toast, olive oil

you should also use creatine. its very cheap , you can get a tub of creatine monohydrate (100 servings ) for £20.

on weight training days have your creatine straight after your weights.

on non training days have creatine 1st thing int he morning , 30 mins before breatfast .

here is how to take it. after weights mix 5g creatine with 24g whey protein , at least 35g dextrose (this is simple sugars, u can get dextrose from your health food store) and some water

1st thing in the morning, on non weight days, mix 5g creatine with at least 35g dextrose and some water

have the creatine drink as well as your 6 meals. dont include it as a meal, but do include it in total calories

after your weights you need to have your whey/creatine/dextrose drink straight away. and then 1 hour later have a propper meal . *THIS IS EXTREMELTY IMPORTANT. look it up on the internet as i havent got time to explain why

you should aim to gain 1 pound a week .

here is a weights routine :

mon - chest , shoulders , triceps

wed - legs and abbs

fri - back , biceps, traps and forearms

*monday :

bench press 2 sets of 6-12 reps 
incline bench press 2x 6-12 
flys 2 x 6-12

military press 2 x 6-12
lateral raise 1 x 6-12

tri pushdown 2x 6-12 
ez bar skull crusher 1 x 6-12

*wednesday :

squat 2 x 6-12
leg press 1x 6-12

stiff leg deadlift 2x 6-12
leg curls 1 x 6-12

standing calf raise 2 x 12
seated calf raise 2 x 12

crunch 2 x 12
leg raises 1 x 12

fri:

deadlift 2 x 6-12
pullup 2 x 6 -12 
bent over barbell row 2 x 6 - 12

shruggs 2 x 12

barbell curls 2 x 6-12
seated curls 1x 12

wrist curls 1 x 12

on all sets the last rep should be impossible .

progress each session by either doing more reps or more weight than the previous session


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## socially inept (Mar 6, 2009)

awfulness said:


> You were eating 3200 calories a day.. wow! I know that's how much I also should be eating, or at least 2000, but right now I'm probably eating like 600.. I just don't feel hungry! I have a hard time eating when I'm not hungry.. did you ever get that too? I just sit there staring at my food trying to eat it even though I'm full. Perhaps I have some kind of thyroid disorder or just kind of illness that kills my appetite? Should see a doctor...
> 
> Do protein powders really work? I don't really understand how powders could give my body the same nutrient as if I were to eat a steak.. and yet one cup of protein powder is like 60 mg of proteins and a bunch of calories. Is my body seriously absorbing all that or am I just peeing/pooping 90% of it out?
> 
> ...


 coure protein powders work. they are just the same as food. chicken breast is protein , whey is protein . they are the same just in different forms

infact protein powder is better than most foods. i think there is this thing called the biological value or something. the foods highest on the biological value are the ones that get used best by your body . i think eggs are number one and whey protein is number 2. its ahead of chicken, steak , tuna etc....

most weigh gianers have 35g protein, meal replacements have 42g protein and whey usually had 24g protein.

if you have more than 24g whey it doesnt get used by the body, it just goes to waste. but in wieghtgianers and meal replacement sthe 35 or 42g is not from just whey on its own, its a mix of different proteis therefore you can have more than 24g


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## socially inept (Mar 6, 2009)

awfulness said:


> You were eating 3200 calories a day.. wow! I know that's how much I also should be eating, or at least 2000, but right now I'm probably eating like 600.. I just don't feel hungry! I have a hard time eating when I'm not hungry.. did you ever get that too? I just sit there staring at my food trying to eat it even though I'm full. Perhaps I have some kind of thyroid disorder or just kind of illness that kills my appetite? Should see a doctor...
> 
> Do protein powders really work? I don't really understand how powders could give my body the same nutrient as if I were to eat a steak.. and yet one cup of protein powder is like 60 mg of proteins and a bunch of calories. Is my body seriously absorbing all that or am I just peeing/pooping 90% of it out?
> 
> ...


if you eat 3000 calories and dont exercise then yes you will easilly gain 20 pound but it will be 20 pound of FAT!!!!!

and who wants that ? not only is it not good to look at but its unhealthy

if you eat lots of cals and train with weights you gain healthy weight muscle. if you eat loads of cals and dont train you gain fat

why dont you work out at home for about 3 months and then join the gym

somebody who has never trained with weights before or has had a long break can gain muscle like a MANIAC.

its so easy for people like that. if you worked out at home you would gain so easily.

the workout rouine i gave yu in a previous thread can easily be done at home if you justmake a few minor adjustments to it.

all you need to do is swap squats for dumbell squats , leg press for leg extension, leg curl for dumbell lunge , standing calf raises for dumbel calf raises , seated calf raise for 1 leg dumbell calf raise, pullups for lat pulldown or one arm dumbell row (unless you have the iron gym which is a pullups thing for the home),

all you need is a bench that has a lat pulldown thing onit and aleg extension on the end, and that can adjust from flat to incline. a barbell, an ez bar, some adjustable dumbells and some plates

if you can afford a gym membership you should be able to afford some home equipment

one youve gained a bit a home and feel cnfy going the gym then you can join


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## awfulness (Jul 13, 2009)

I ate until I'm really full for breakfast today, along with a glass of milk. It made me feel a bit nausous and really tired because I had to force myself to eat more than I'm used to.. 

I would love to work out and go on this rigorous diet plan and everything, but I'm having so much difficulty with just my first meal.


How long will it take for my body to get used to eating more food without making me feel like crap?

I don't even care if I gain fat... I just want to gain weight. If I could just gain 20 lbs of fat, I would be really happy because I could then easily go to the gym and start working out, knowing that the fat will turn into muscle. Right now, eating enough food is hard as hell and I'm skeptical that my body is even absorbing everything.

I might try out the meal replacement shakes.. but I kind of have a hard time believing they're equivalent to actual meals. So, if that were true and meal replacement shakes are just like a real meal, then theorectically, can somebody live off of meal replacement shakes without eating or drinking anything else?


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## CircularThinking (May 9, 2009)

awfulness said:


> I kind of have a hard time believing they're equivalent to actual meals. So, if that were true and meal replacement shakes are just like a real meal, then theorectically, can somebody live off of meal replacement shakes without eating or drinking anything else?


They aren't. They're equivalent to the calories/protein you might consume in a meal.

Like I said just throw a bunch of fruit/nuts/flaxseed oil and some protein powder into a blender and you'll get a real meal replacement.


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## STKinTHEmud (Jun 21, 2009)

Your questions were answered pretty well by the others (and socially_inept gave you a great workout routine to start with), but I figure I'll let you know about my own experiences regarding your questions.



awfulness said:


> You were eating 3200 calories a day.. wow! I know that's how much I also should be eating, or at least 2000, but right now I'm probably eating like 600.. I just don't feel hungry! I have a hard time eating when I'm not hungry.. did you ever get that too? I just sit there staring at my food trying to eat it even though I'm full. Perhaps I have some kind of thyroid disorder or just kind of illness that kills my appetite? Should see a doctor...


I think that if you ate 600 cals a day at 5'11'', you'd probably be dead by now, or maybe you'd look like one of those malnourished African kids with huge bellies (retained water). Read nutrition labels and look up calorie info about the foods you eat. Calculate how many calories you're eating. I did this in order to compare what I was eating before I started mass gaining and found that I was getting 1800 cals on a day that I would stuff myself too full for comfort. When I was your age, I was eating even less. It's not an illness, it's just a habit that you can break.



awfulness said:


> Do protein powders really work? I don't really understand how powders could give my body the same nutrient as if I were to eat a steak.. and yet one cup of protein powder is like 60 mg of proteins and a bunch of calories. Is my body seriously absorbing all that or am I just peeing/pooping 90% of it out?


There's a difference between powders. What many call "protein powders" give you a whole bunch of protein, but little carbs and fat. "Mass gainers" give you a lot of everything, including calories, which you need. And it does work. Powder is mostly concentrated calories. Consider: normal foods have calories as well as water and a bunch stuff that doesn't count for calories that your body may or may not use. Eating normal foods is healthier, but for guys that don't have much of an appetite, often mass gainers can be easier to swallow. I suggest you drink only 2 shakes per day. Watch out for the serving size: many powders require you to mix 2-3 scoops for one shake, which you MUST do for the full benefit of that mass gain powder.



awfulness said:


> Also, what if I somehow manage to eat 3000 calories a day.. will I be gaining weight if I eat that much but I don't exercise at all? I want to gain at least 20 more pounds before I go to the gym... otherwise I feel so self conscious.


As was said before, you will gain weight, but mostly fat, which will NOT make you look better. You really should start hitting the gym immediately, so you will gain muscle sooner. It's easier to build muscle from nothing than it is to build fat from nothing and then somehow turn that fat into muscle (BIG NOTE: MUSCLE BUILDING DOES NOT WORK THIS WAY - FAT GUYS MUST LOSE THE FAT, THEN MAKE MUSCLE FROM NOTHING).

Being self-conscious is normal for most beginning body builders. After all, if we weren't self-conscious, we wouldn't really care about improving our appearances and so we wouldn't be at the gym in the first place. When you get there, you might feel bad because you won't quite know how to do everything and others (but NOT all) might look bigger than you, but consider that everyone there must have started somewhere, so they were in the same position before. Besides, most people at the gym won't really care what you do there so long as you don't chuck weights at them or tickle them during big lifts.



awfulness said:


> Thank you for the very informative post.. I hope I'm not being annoying with these questions, it's just that I've tried a bunch of times to gain weight by "eating more" and I stick to it for 2 months then give up when I don't see results! I want to try again this time... and I really *really* want it to work. I swear it'll fix like 65% of my self esteem problems.


Weight gain really won't work unless you keep track of your calorie intake by putting in the effort, reading nutrition labels, and exercising. I find that those who haven't seen me for a while can hardly recognize me and compliment me on how good I look. Muscle won't solve ALL your self-esteem problems (you've got to work on eliminating negative THOUGHTS as well), but it might go a good long way.

About how long it takes to get used to it: It took me only about 3 weeks of eating 3200 cals a day (EVERYday) to get used to it. The first week was the hardest. I found myself wanting to cheat and skip a meal quite a lot. The second week, it got easier. The third week, even easier. By the fourth week, I started getting hungry every three hours. You've just got to put up with a little nausea for a little while. The long term benefits outweigh the temporary discomfort you're feeling.

About creatine: Most bodybuilders, it seems, swear by it, but I opt for a routine that minimizes supplements. I used to take creatine when I was a kid, but it was giving me bladder... issues. I hear that it can have harmful effects on your liver as well. On the other hand it will help keep you from getting too sore after a workout, and it will help your lifts. Make an informed decision about supplement: read up on them before taking them.


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## tiberius (Feb 9, 2007)

Here's an article about foods that help you build muscle. The foods mentioned are eggs, almonds, salmon, yoghurt, beef, water, olive oil, and coffee. Of course no food itself builds muscle, but they help when you're training.


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## socially inept (Mar 6, 2009)

awfulness said:


> I ate until I'm really full for breakfast today, along with a glass of milk. It made me feel a bit nausous and really tired because I had to force myself to eat more than I'm used to..
> 
> I would love to work out and go on this rigorous diet plan and everything, but I'm having so much difficulty with just my first meal.
> 
> ...


the best thing to do ifyou struggle to eat a lot of food is to have 3 meals a day of whole food for breakfst dinner and tea. and have 3 liquid meals per day for mid morning and afternoon snack and before bed.

here is an example :

1- porridge, fruit, protein shake
2- meal replacement shake or weight gainer shake, veg
3- pasta, chicken, veg
4-meal replacement or weight gainer - veg
5-pasta, chick, veg 
6-meal replacement , veg

meal replacemtns and weight gainers taste nice (depending on which brand you use ) and you can drink then in less than a minute and you dont feelfull or bloated after wards.

even if you struggle to hve the veg with the shakes just take fibre gel instead of the veg

meal replacements etc.. are more than equivilent to a propper meal, infact they are better. the list of nutrients and vitamins in them is immense compared to food and they have carbs and protein just lke a real meal. the biologicALLY VALUE OF THEM IS TOP NOTCH.

if a banana says it has so much vitamin c in it , then you cant be sure wether you will get that actual amount cos were was the banana grown, how long has i been ont he shelf etc...

if a meal replacement say its has got 50g vitamin c in it then you canguarantee it has

i dont understand yoursceptisicm about shakes. tey are incredible. nobody should live without real food , but having half of you meals as food and the other half shakes is very healthy.

i think you are being a bit silly about this 20lbof fat gain thing before entering a gym. id be more self concious with being 20lb fatter than being skinny. nobody in the gym cares if you are skinny.

gaining fat is just plain unhelathy and i dont know why ayone would want to do it.

and no your fat will not turn into muscle , thats impossible. what will happen is you wll go the gym with 20lb of fat and then you wll gain muscle . you will have lots of muscle as well as 20lb of fat. then you'll have to spend time losing the fat after youve gained the muscle . its pointless


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## socially inept (Mar 6, 2009)

CircularThinking said:


> They aren't. They're equivalent to the calories/protein you might consume in a meal.
> 
> Like I said just throw a bunch of fruit/nuts/flaxseed oil and some protein powder into a blender and you'll get a real meal replacement.


thy are equivlent to a ral mea .

they contain carbs, protein, a tiny bit of fat, loads and loads of nutrients and vitamins - everything that is in a real meal

what is in real meal that isnt in a meal replacemnt ? absolutely nothing


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## CircularThinking (May 9, 2009)

socially inept said:


> thy are equivlent to a ral mea .
> 
> they contain carbs, protein, a tiny bit of fat, loads and loads of nutrients and vitamins - everything that is in a real meal
> 
> what is in real meal that isnt in a meal replacemnt ? absolutely nothing


Uhh... fiber?

What you end up missing really depends on which one you buy, most contain more aritifial sugars and flavoring than quality protein and nutrients. People don't consume weight gainers for proper nutrition, they do it for convenience.


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## socially inept (Mar 6, 2009)

CircularThinking said:


> Uhh... fiber?
> 
> What you end up missing really depends on which one you buy, most contain more aritifial sugars and flavoring than quality protein and nutrients. People don't consume weight gainers for proper nutrition, they do it for convenience.


all you av 2 do is av a bit of brocoli on the side and hey presto theres your fibre.

the ones that contain moreartificial flavouring and sugars are few and far between , they are cheep micky mouse stuff. if you buy from a quality brand you get a quality product

yer people use weight gainers for convenience buts thats not to say you dont get propper nutrition from it.

a meal eplacement is just as good as a real meal (sometimes it has a lot more nutrients and vitamins) apar form the fibre it was you say is true.

im not saying live off supplements . i do think its best to stick to real food as much as possible but i dont want this guy who started the thread to be thinking meal replacements etc... are a bad aternatie to food . cos the fat is they are not. they are just as good and at times better


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## STKinTHEmud (Jun 21, 2009)

tiberius said:


> Here's an article about foods that help you build muscle. The foods mentioned are eggs, almonds, salmon, yoghurt, beef, water, olive oil, and coffee. Of course no food itself builds muscle, but they help when you're training.


Disagree on the salmon and coffee. Salmon is low in calories and could make us too full to eat more cals. We need all the cals we can get. Coffee might make you able to lift longer, but really, you don't want to workout for more than an hour at a time, so it's not quite necessary.


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## awfulness (Jul 13, 2009)

Thanks everyone

Looks like drinking meal replacement shakes 3 times a day along with 3 meals a day to get 3k calories will be the way to go for me. Though.. a lot of the meal replacement products look very pricy if I'm going to drink 3 servings a day.. which is fine as long as it gets me results.


I'll purchase some dumbells online, I don't want to go to the gym yet I'm still very self conscious. You say that nobody cares if you're skinny at the gym but let me repeat how much I weigh.. ~125 lb, 5"11. That's not just normal skinny, that's like the polar opposite of being obese. 

I'm not sure how I could work out my legs, I want to buy 2 dumbells, one 10 pound and one 20 pound. I'll just do a couple squats to work my legs out I guess. I have a pullup bar at home too so.. 

It looks like I should be all set... 3k calories a day, work out a couple times a week to exhaustion.. results are guaranteed, right?


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## STKinTHEmud (Jun 21, 2009)

awfulness said:


> Thanks everyone
> 
> Looks like drinking meal replacement shakes 3 times a day along with 3 meals a day to get 3k calories will be the way to go for me. Though.. a lot of the meal replacement products look very pricy if I'm going to drink 3 servings a day.. which is fine as long as it gets me results.
> 
> ...


I was 6'1, 130 lbs, a bit skinnier than you, when I first started going to the gym. No one really cared how I looked, especially since I still looked a whole lot better than the old fat guys that didn't really know what they were doing at the gym. I actually made a couple of friends with random people that would regularly work out at the same time I did.

I don't think two pairs of dumbells will really help that much. If you're going to workout at home (which is a totally all right way to go) you'd probably want to get a full set, complete with adjustable bench, maybe something like a bowflex. But even that won't get you as good a result as a full gym.

"Couple times to exhaustion" is pretty vague. You want a set workout plan. Someone else outlined a good plan earlier on this thread- follow that. If you don't know how to do those exercises, go to this site and check out the videos on that particular exercise: http://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/main.html


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## CircularThinking (May 9, 2009)

2 Dumbbells is fine.

Use bodyweight exercises to work your legs and chest (pistol squats, pushups, etc.) You can increase the resistance of a pushup by elevating your feet, and to increase the resistance of a squat you obviously just hold something heavy. Keep in mind that different form pushups work different muscle groups so proper form is very important.

The only problem with using just 2 dumbbells is that if you never increase your weight your growth will plateau, at that point you'll have to go to a gym or simply buy a heavier weight.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm

Searchable database of exercises complete with videos, can filter the results so that it only shows dumbbell exercises.

I'd highly suggest getting a pullup bar also if you're going to work out at home.


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## awfulness (Jul 13, 2009)

I've went through this before.. when I started taking a psychiatric med for sleeping that also happened to increase my appetite. I wasn't working out at this time, so I gained 15 lbs from 125 to 140, and of course all the fat gathered at my stomach. Still toothpick chest/arms/legs.. except with a bigger belly. 

I went to the gym 4 times a week, trying to space them out, tried to work to exhaustion as much as I could and drank whey protein powders that I bought. I gave up.. I don't know why. But I think it was because I saw no results, and it was just too hard..

I don't want it to be like that this time.. I want to go through with this! I just want to know.. if I *just* eat 3k calories a day and do some pull ups, squats, and exercise with some dumbells for one month, will I see any results at all besides gaining a lot of belly fat? 

I am going to start eating more from now on.. I haven't bought meal replacement shakes yet, but I will. and I'm planning on ordering a $30 40lb adjustable dumbell set. I think this will cost me around $100 total.. I hope I don't waste money like I did in the past by giving up, like I've always done.


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## socially inept (Mar 6, 2009)

awfulness said:


> Thanks everyone
> 
> Looks like drinking meal replacement shakes 3 times a day along with 3 meals a day to get 3k calories will be the way to go for me. Though.. a lot of the meal replacement products look very pricy if I'm going to drink 3 servings a day.. which is fine as long as it gets me results.
> 
> ...


meal replacements are very dear . they are usully £40 for 20 sevings .

what i do is i have 1 meal replacements a day - before bed. that way the box lasts for 3 weeks

then for mid morning and mid afternoon snack i have whey protein powder mixed with oatmeal (you can blend them if you want it to be a liquid meal).

whey is very cheap. optimun nutition 100% whey is the best. is 80 servs for £40 which is 50p per sevring. a 1kg bag of oameal costs £1 and lasts a wole week, so mixing whey and oatmeal is cheaper than using meal replacements

with 2 dumblells, for your legs, you can do squats , stiff leg deadlift, lunges, angled calf raises and 1 leg calf raises

you need adjustable dumbells though cos to be guaranteed results you need to follow the law of :

*PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD

this means that every set you do the last rep should be impossible, and you must progress every session by ether doing more reps or more weight. if your dumbells are not adjusable you will not be able to increase the weight which means yu wont be progressing and you wont be over loading the muscle

there is this great new set of dumbelss were all different weigths are built into it. i dnt no wot its called though


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## STKinTHEmud (Jun 21, 2009)

CircularThinking said:


> 2 Dumbbells is fine.


Disagree.



socially inept said:


> you need adjustable dumbells though cos to be guaranteed results you need to follow the law of :
> 
> *PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
> 
> ...


Agreed. With adjustable dumbbells, working on the plan outlined by socially_inept and 3k calories a day, I'm 99.9% sure that you'll see very good result for the first 6 months, which means 20-30 lbs weight gain in the next 6 months. After that you'll probably need to change your routine (actually, you'll probably want to change your routine sometime after the first 2 months).


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## dollparts (May 26, 2009)

OK for a week eat... 
Then at the end of the week step on the scale.. 
You need to eat like 5,000-8,000 calories a day which is possible eating these foods.. (it isn't healthy but it will work).. 

CHEESE. CHEESE. CHEESE. Puts on the pounds in a hurry.
Eat cheese and crackers, make POUTINE, so high in calories and fattening.
Bake french fries in the oven, load it with cheese and fattening gravy.
Also nachos are quite fatty.
Eat cake!!! cake, cake, cake! High in calories. 
Chocolates, alfredo, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken ceasar salad, tacos, etc. 
Loaded with fat and calories!


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## STKinTHEmud (Jun 21, 2009)

dollparts said:


> OK for a week eat...
> Then at the end of the week step on the scale..
> You need to eat like 5,000-8,000 calories a day which is possible eating these foods.. (it isn't healthy but it will work)..
> 
> ...


Wow, sounds like a pure fat-gain diet. And it sounds like it could be bad for your heart. I know you're trying to help, but I think more healthy solutions are more in order.


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## dax (Nov 19, 2004)

socially inept said:


> you need to spread those calories evenly over 6 meals per day


lol, who has the time to eat SIX meals in a day? I have a hard enough time fitting in three.


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## awfulness (Jul 13, 2009)

Thanks everyone. I've been eating more than I'm used to this past week, but I still haven't officially kept track of all the calories and bought meal replacements and dumbbells yet.. though I have been doing some pullups and running.

Hopefully this time I don't give up.. I think changing your body is always going to take a lot of willpower for you to actually succeed.. but I am going to take this one step at a time, starting with stuffing myself as much as possible.


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## STKinTHEmud (Jun 21, 2009)

dax said:


> lol, who has the time to eat SIX meals in a day? I have a hard enough time fitting in three.


You get used to it. Since I've started mass gaining, I've been getting really hungry if I go for more than 3 hours without food.


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## Phibes (Mar 8, 2009)

Get on Paxil and you'll gain some weight  
No, **** that drug is evil. I'm tapering off it atm as a matter of fact. 

You skinny people are so lucky to be skinny. I'm a naturally big muscley boy and I wish I was skinny. It's weird, you're attracted to the opposite of who you're.


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## dax (Nov 19, 2004)

STKinTHEmud said:


> You get used to it. Since I've started mass gaining, I've been getting really hungry if I go for more than 3 hours without food.


Yah, I do too but I just wait for lunch or dinner. Who has time to eat like 3 times when they are at work? I'm lucky if I get my full lunch break at work. I don't think you need to go to those lengths. That's just impractical for most people.


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## mountain5 (May 22, 2008)

I'm 5 foot 9. I was normally 160-165lb. About a year ago I went down to 150lb (!) due to a really stressful situation I was going through. About 6 months ago I started lifting weights at the gym on a regular basis. I'm at about 180lb now and I'm slowly gaining more strength. For example, in January, 80 pounds was about my reasonable limit on the bench press machine, now that number is 160.

All I did was start going to the gym three times a week, and start doing reps on the weight machines after my usual cardio. It took me a couple months to get used to how the machines work, and by that time I about knew what my limits were and how to push them.

I'm sure there's a lot of people who say this is terrible advice, I need to use free weights and take supplements, etc., but I don't care. I'm still not much, but I look like a beast compared to a couple years ago. I'm not doing this on a deadline.

Honestly, I think all the advice on making a workout plan, taking X number of calories a day, etc. doesn't matter at this level and it will overcomplicate you to death. If you find a good trainer who wants to work through that stuff with you, then great.

Obviously there's some common sense involved, take a day of rest between workouts and don't starve yourself. I started bringing packed lunches and snack nuts into work so I would have more food available.

Not sure if it helps, but that's my opinion.


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## STKinTHEmud (Jun 21, 2009)

dax said:


> Yah, I do too but I just wait for lunch or dinner. Who has time to eat like 3 times when they are at work? I'm lucky if I get my full lunch break at work. I don't think you need to go to those lengths. That's just impractical for most people.


When you use meal replacement bars, which give you 400+ calories and take 5 mins to eat, peanut butter sandwiches, which can also give you 400+ cals and also take 5 mins to eat, and weight gain shakes, which can give you 600+ cals and that you can drink while you work, it's really not that hard to make the time for a mass gain diet.



mountain5 said:


> Honestly, I think all the advice on making a workout plan, taking X number of calories a day, etc. doesn't matter at this level and it will overcomplicate you to death. If you find a good trainer who wants to work through that stuff with you, then great.


I was naturally VERY skinny. I did the same thing back in high school (I didn't worry about making a plan or eating right), and I went from 6'1", 135 lbs. to 160 lbs., which was a big improvement, but I was still pretty skinny, I just had a moderate tone. And until I focused on my plan and diet, I didn't get over 160 lbs. for the 10 years that I worked out off and on. Of course, in all those years, I was never described as having a good looking body, and only two girls were genuinely attracted to me (but I didn't like them). Your body type sounds a bit different than mine, so maybe you don't really need to, but I'm just sharing my own experiences with weight gaining.


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## socially inept (Mar 6, 2009)

dax said:


> Yah, I do too but I just wait for lunch or dinner. Who has time to eat like 3 times when they are at work? I'm lucky if I get my full lunch break at work. I don't think you need to go to those lengths. That's just impractical for most people.


i have my breakfast at home, my dinner in my lunch break at work, my tea at home and my before bed meal at home .

the other 2 meals are mid moring and mid afternoon snack which i eat at my desk in work whilst im working .

its really not time consuming at all. my breakfast is porridge which is done in 2 mins in the microwave, protein shake which is done in 20 seconds and some blueberries.

dinner and tea is simple throwing and baked potatoe and some frozen veg in the microwave which only takes minutes to cook, and then adding some tuna or already cooked chicken to it.

my snacks are oatmeal mixed with protein powder and then a piece of fruit. i make the oatmeal in the morning before work and then take it with me. it takes only a few mins to cook it in the microwave.

before bed i have a meal replacement shake which is made in 30 secs and consumed in minutes

not time consuming at all


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## Makaveli (Jul 15, 2009)

awfulness said:


> Thanks everyone
> 
> Looks like drinking meal replacement shakes 3 times a day along with 3 meals a day to get 3k calories will be the way to go for me. Though.. a lot of the meal replacement products look very pricy if I'm going to drink 3 servings a day.. which is fine as long as it gets me results.
> 
> ...


Mate don't worry. When I was 19 I was where you were. I hated going to the gym so I went with a friend. No one really gives a crap. Think about it, in 2 years time when you're the size of The Hulk will you care about a skinny little dude in the weights section or the self conscious over-weight girl on the bike? Probably not...

I was 5'8" and 115 lbs at the point I started.

Then I took mass gainer and worked out and due to a lack of motivation I went up to 175 lbs but a fair bit was fat! I went up 4 inches on the waist which reflected the fat gain.

My advice to you would be to stay away from the mass gainer products as they have too much sugar in them. Alternatively just try and find one with low sugar content, ask someone @ a health shop or browse online for the best ones.

No one said you have to be massive to look and feel good.

Start off with basic calisthenics - which are body weight exercies. That way you will stabalise your core and this will help you when you move onto weighted workouts.

Start off with some light dumbells. eg; 2 lots of 20 pounds (plated).

- shoulder presses/lateral raises
- pull ups
- squats & lunges
- push ups
- tricep dips
- bicep curls
- crunches

Then once you get used to this for 4-6 weeks starting off lightly then moving up to 3-4x a week then buy a weight set or grab one from a garage sale or sign up for the gym.

Trust me it's so much easier to work off a frame with little body fat and gain muscle from it than a bigger frame which has more body fat.

You need to be disciplined as well, esp when you take mass gainer as you crave foods after workouts and you must cut out non essential fats and sugars or at least have them in moderation.

Don't forget to do cardio, it gets your heart rate up, burns calories and releases endorphins which make u feel better and can reduce depression.

Good luck


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## socially inept (Mar 6, 2009)

Makaveli said:


> Mate don't worry. When I was 19 I was where you were. I hated going to the gym so I went with a friend. No one really gives a crap. Think about it, in 2 years time when you're the size of The Hulk will you care about a skinny little dude in the weights section or the self conscious over-weight girl on the bike? Probably not...
> 
> I was 5'8" and 115 lbs at the point I started.
> 
> ...


i hae to disagree with a fewthings here :

1) avoid cardio. you are trying to gain weight not burn fat. cardio does not help you gain weight. if you do cardio you will have to eat more than you already are cos the cardio burns alot of calories

2)bodyweight exercises arent good enough if you want mass gain. you need compound exercises like bench press, deadlift, squats

3)starting off with some light dumbells is just nothing short of bad advice. to gain weight you mut train to failure. e.g if you are doing 12 reps then the weight should be heavy enough that the a 13th rep s impossble. a couple off light dumbells cant promise that the 13th rep will be impossible
also you MUST progress every single session, prefeably by increasing the weight. try to increase the wight every session. sometimes you wont be able to therefore an increase in reps is ok e.g if you did 6 reps with 5kg last time them aim for 6 7 8 or 9 reps with 5kg this time 
YOU MUST IMPROVE ON YOUR LAST SESSION EVERY SINGLE TIME BY EITHER INCREASING WEIGHT OR REPS - otherwize you are wasting your time


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## STKinTHEmud (Jun 21, 2009)

socially inept said:


> i hae to disagree with a fewthings here :
> 
> 1) avoid cardio. you are trying to gain weight not burn fat. cardio does not help you gain weight. if you do cardio you will have to eat more than you already are cos the cardio burns alot of calories
> 
> ...


I agree (with socially_inept). Also I believe mass gainers are a godsend, not to be avoided.


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## mountain5 (May 22, 2008)

STKinTHEmud said:


> I was naturally VERY skinny. I did the same thing back in high school (I didn't worry about making a plan or eating right), and I went from 6'1", 135 lbs. to 160 lbs., which was a big improvement, but I was still pretty skinny, I just had a moderate tone. And until I focused on my plan and diet, I didn't get over 160 lbs. for the 10 years that I worked out off and on. Of course, in all those years, I was never described as having a good looking body, and only two girls were genuinely attracted to me (but I didn't like them). Your body type sounds a bit different than mine, so maybe you don't really need to, but I'm just sharing my own experiences with weight gaining.


Of course, I'm glad you found a routine that worked for you. Likewise, I'm just sharing my own experience...take from it what you will.


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## Makaveli (Jul 15, 2009)

socially inept said:


> i hae to disagree with a fewthings here :
> 
> 1) avoid cardio. you are trying to gain weight not burn fat. cardio does not help you gain weight. if you do cardio you will have to eat more than you already are cos the cardio burns alot of calories
> 
> ...


Does the person want to just gain weight and "look bigger" or actually gain muscle and be stronger through body building?

I'd have thought it was the second bit. I've been through both (wanting to be bigger vs being bulky and fit also) and it seems as though he's a beginner so what's the point of feeding him so much confusing stuff which is more relevant for later on. In that case it'd be better to invest in a PT for about 10 sessions to get in the swing of things.

Regarding points 1 & 2. There's no point gaining weight if alot of it is muscle with excess fat. Bodyweight/lightweight exercises were only suggested as a start up to get into the swing of things. Unless you wanna turn out like those blockhead heroes @ the gym who can bench 400 pounds but couldn't do 5 push ups...

The last point is obvious but I only mentioned starting off with light/simple weights @ first to get used to the feeling your muscles will go through. You still have to to the sets and reps to failure to get any results, no one is disputing that. Again, I'm speaking in terms of him being a total beginner. My bro seems about as skinny or even more skinnier than him and there's no way I'd throw him into 1RM and heavy lifting right away when his smaller muscle groups, tendons and core aren't equipped to handle it. Everything takes time.

anyway best of luck to him  just keep at it and you will reach your goals, and feel good at the same time.


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## socially inept (Mar 6, 2009)

Makaveli said:


> Does the person want to just gain weight and "look bigger" or actually gain muscle and be stronger through body building?
> 
> I'd have thought it was the second bit. I've been through both (wanting to be bigger vs being bulky and fit also) and it seems as though he's a beginner so what's the point of feeding him so much confusing stuff which is more relevant for later on. In that case it'd be better to invest in a PT for about 10 sessions to get in the swing of things.
> 
> ...


i dont undestandyour point about gaining water with the muscle , or wanting to gain weight or gain muscle . i dont know what you are talking ABOUT


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