Gaining Weight Issues

I am 5'5" and 96Lbs ( I lost alot of weight on siroquel recently) and I am looking to get back up to 120Lbs at least.

Ensure helped a little last time but if i add in protien shakes after my workout (to help with my anxiety) would they help with weight gain at all or are they just to boot your protein levels or something? I never understood the purpose of them. Though I find them extremly yummy.

I read this:

"If you are very skinny and have problems gaining any kind of weight regardless of how much you may eat, start with higher amounts of protein and fat, maybe a 40-30-30 diet. "

What exactly does that mean? 40% of something - 30% protien and 30% fat?

I am hoping to gain 20Lbs and some muscle tone of the next year to get my body back to what it was before I got lazy. Hitting 30 the body works a little different I think? LOL or so ive been told..... myth?

I don't want to work out too much and lose more weight.

Cardio, Martial Arts, Swimming, and Yoga is what I am probably going to get into. Anything else that might work to better define my abs?

24Lbs in a year, I have no idea on how I am going to do it AGAIN. Ensure and eating 6 servings a day? with a protien shake somewhere in the middle?

I need to gain 24Lbs in the next year, or I might end up in the hospital if I continue to LOSE weight. I don;t want THAT to happen.

Oh and my BMI is 16.0 Underweight = <18.5 Normal weight = 18.5-24.9 Overweight = 25-29.9 Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater.

So I am severely underweight and need to gain this weight properly and in the right time and before I wind up in the ER for god knows what related to my weight and meds.

Any help much appreciated

i wouldn't do cardio

Eats lots of nuts. Walnuts, almonds, etc. They have a high unsaturated fat content; in other words, it's the healthy fat, good for gaining weight. You could also load up on avocados, bananas, soy products. If you like hot chocolate, drink lots of that. It has antioxidants as well as plenty of fat, which I've sadly realized through my recent obsession... But if you don't care for the difference between gaining 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' fat, then just pig out on red velvet cake or something.

Definitely continue with the protein shakes and ensure; those things are designed for gaining weight and building muscle. To be honest, they feel a little unnatural to me... but if you don't mind that, go for it. Personally I'd aim to get all those vitamins and etc from food sources, but hey, they're easy, tasty calorie-dense drinks and will give you fast weight gain.

Maybe try making your own fruit or vegetable smoothies as well. Combining those fiber-rich foods with lowfat yogurt, milk, soymilk, or whatever other dairy substitute you like is sure to fill you up and add fat & protein as well as, of course, fiber and carbs.

Your abs aren't already well defined, just from your thinness? I'd say to just work out the ab muscles through plenty of crunches. Cardio (jogging, swimming probably, etc) is just going to burn more fat/muscle. I don't know how effective yoga is for muscle building, either; I always thought it worked primarily on improving flexibility and relaxation, but I can see the weight burn and muscle building happening as well...

Anyway, I'm no nutritionist, just dishing out suggestions from experience and research. Good luck with your goals.

Yoga might be just the thing. I'm just speaking from the evidence (spoken and visual) from my friends with fast metabolisms. I have a very slow metabolism, especially after suffering from a serious back injury/subsequent surgery/metabolism changes afterwards (turned 35 on top of everything else), but I packed on very dense muscle from intense yoga workouts over the period of a year or so. But the muscle gains I realized were not "bulky" but sleek and trim. And I have a body that builds muscle very easily.

I don't know if I'd rely on age to slow your metabolism down. I went from years of running 30-35 miles per wk/biking/fast walking/weights with a consistent regimen, to being immobile for 9 months to a year. I've never had a quick metabolism, but I don't think I would have undergone such a drastic change if I hadn't gone from intensely active to virtually couch-bound. And I was 35.

My yoga teachers were quite lean but extremely muscular.

Look at some of rm-fm's posts in the Healthy Living thread. I don't know if it's kosher to reference him without his consent, but I do so just because I have a lot of respect for his regimen and exercise choices. As I understand it, he's gone from lifting to martial arts, and he has an extraordinarily lean, powerful physique. This seems like something you can achieve.

Since your body tends towards being thin and compact, you're probably going to have to adopt a very strict diet and regimen that allows you to gain. Most people I know have gained weight from Seroquel, so you have a difficult, but achievable, challenge to surmount.

With your body type, I think that swimming is also an ideal activity for building a balanced muscular build. But you will need to pack on the calories. Guava-jam has some excellent suggestions (nuts, seeds, avocado).

Up the protein (but keep it healthy, avoid high fat), and carbs a bit, and start doing pilates and mild weights.

The 40 30 30 ratio is similar to the zone diet, look at some of the zone recipes... actually grabbing zone protein bars or other protein bars would be good.

A sure fire way to gain weight = drink more beer

yucatanboy2 said:

A sure fire way to get fatter= drink more beer

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Yogi's gain strength (and therefor muscle if their diet allows it) by performing increasingly leverage disadvantaged movements over time. Very similar to gymnastics. If your studio doesnt do those exercises and just sticks to basic stretching and balancing, dont expect to see much muscle gain, so be sure to seek out one that does.

"Hitting 30 the body works a little different I think? LOL or so ive been told..... myth?"

Your ability to recover from workouts is affected by ageing, gains come slower.

Mr_Fluffykins said:

i wouldn't do cardio

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Do cardio, it's good for your mental and physical health. It doesn't burn off too many calories either so it won't stop you putting on weight. Jogging for one hour burns 300 calories, equal to one bottle of gatorade (which you can consume while jogging!).

i suggest eating and eating and eating lots of unhealthy foods, just not to much sugar,

because if you do this for about a year you can always repair the damage, and it will get your weight up, then once you weight is up, you can be healthy

lift big, eat big, sleep big

yucatanboy2 said:

Up the protein (but keep it healthy, avoid high fat), and carbs a bit, and start doing pilates and mild weights.

The 40 30 30 ratio is similar to the zone diet, look at some of the zone recipes... actually grabbing zone protein bars or other protein bars would be good.

A sure fire way to gain weight = drink more beer

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Im an alcoholic but thanks

Captain.Heroin said:

Get high and the munchies will help you gain back 30 lbs in no time!

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I'm trying doing everything drug free for the sake of my good friend, I have quit all recreational drugs, so we can be clean together and I wouldn't be a reminder of the party days but that never worked in my teens, i don't think it would work now.

ranunky said:

Do cardio, it's good for your mental and physical health. It doesn't burn off too many calories either so it won't stop you putting on weight. Jogging for one hour burns 300 calories, equal to one bottle of gatorade (which you can consume while jogging!).

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cool thanks! I love cardio

Mr_Fluffykins said:

i suggest eating and eating and eating lots of unhealthy foods, just not to much sugar,

because if you do this for about a year you can always repair the damage, and it will get your weight up, then once you weight is up, you can be healthy

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Actually I was watching Dr Oz or maybe it was Dr. Karl Caposel (sp?) on tv and they said that getting fat then turning it into muscle is a myth, all you will get is unhealthy and put strain on your heart.

I rather build a little fat the healthy way, then put on some muscle because as we all know muscle weighs more than fat.

I used to have a 4 pack abs and ripped thighs when I worked out and I went up to 121Lbs and I am sure if I kept what I was doing up, I could have gone up to 128Lbs. At least that was my goal but then I quit working out because I got lazy and money got tight.

Now I got more energy and more money and can work out to my hearts desire, the gym is a 10 minute bus ride too YAY! :D

guava-jam said:

But if you don't care for the difference between gaining 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' fat, then just pig out on red velvet cake or something

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Im just going to say, fat is FAT. There is no such thing as unhealthy fat on a human being and having healthy fat.

Now if you meant to say, if you dont mind EATING healthy and unhealthy fat...then yes, you are correct.

And while we're on this note, a pound of fat and a pound of muscle weigh the same. You'd think that makes sense to some people right?

Good luck with your ventures my man.

chazmann said:

...
And while we're on this note, a pound of fat and a pound of muscle weigh the same. You'd think that makes sense to some people right?

Good luck with your ventures my man.

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A pound of muscle will be much more dense though, and pound for pound muscle will have a much greater effect on your resting metabolic rate.

You should remember though crevan that females are meant to have a higher body fat % than males so it's not unhealthy to have a little fat

weight gainer shakes can bulk you up very quickly when applied ontop of a good diet.

Take a 1000 calorie weight gainer everyday ontop of a good diet, and you'll have no choice but to gain weight!!

crevan said:

I'm trying doing everything drug free for the sake of my good friend, I have quit all recreational drugs, so we can be clean together and I wouldn't be a reminder of the party days but that never worked in my teens, i don't think it would work now.

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That's real commendable. If you *do* use recreational drugs don't do anything but weed though. Heroin, meth, coke, crack.... all will make you shed pounds whether you like it or not. Not so much because eating on those drugs isn't pleasant, but because you would trade all the food in your house for 1 more dose of said substance.

If you stick to not using drugs congratulations!

crevan said:

cool thanks! I love cardio

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Don't do cardio if you are trying to gain weight. You are just making it more difficult to consume the amount of calories necessary for weight gain. You need to be constantly eating and make sure you lift heavy with low reps in the gym.

This is a good article on diet to gain weight http://www.gainingweight.info/weight-gain-diet-and-nutrition/

I'm having the same issue(s). I am 5'8'' and weigh 108lbs. For some reason I can't seem to gain ANY weight. I've increased caloric intake and am working out much much less; sometimes not even once a week (note, this is not a permanent thing as working out is important for the self).

Someone above suggested eating nuts. I agree! In the past when I was trying to gain weight (and it worked) I ate lots of almonds/cashews/etc and added avocado to my diet. What else...switch to whole grains and incorporate MORE of it into your diet. Get your metabolism on track so it's not too quick or too slow. So, eat yogurt daily.

That's a start.