The Official Weight Gain Thread - share your ideas, tips and suggestions here.

[Turk3y]

I thought I'd make this thread to compliment the weight loss thread. Personally I've always had a problem putting enough weight on, which can be as much of a hindrance as gaining weight too easily. Looking skinny/unwell isn't pleasant. I'm not medically "under weight" but boarder line for my height, if I ever don't eat well for a few days for whatever reason it really shows.

Lately I've been consciously trying to eat more but it doesn't seem to be having much effect and it's probably not particularly healthy as I'm most likely not eating more of the correct food.

If anyone wants to share any ideas, tips or suggestions on how to healthily GAIN weight, fire away...

 

[Dre1990]

I'm trying to gain weight. I've been skinny all my life.
What I'm trying to do lately: do a regular push-up and sit-up routine (every Monday Wednesday and Friday); drink a lot of water throughout the day (it helps digestion, so it probably helps to eat more.). Other than I'm out of ideas about what might really work.

 

[Jabberwocky]

butter (higher quality the better, like unsalted grassfed/finished organic would be ideal)

 

[Glaive]

I'm sort of in the same boat. Trying to maintain a healthy weight and diet while having no appetite (adderall use). I find it very difficult to eat 3 full meals a day, let alone 2.

I was hoping I could find some sort of bar/shake/packaged product that would be easy for me to consume that also contained a good amount of calories and nutrients.
Creatine may also be an option, but that won't give me any vitamins

 

[Pagey]

While these days I'm more looking to lose weight, a few years ago I was hospitalized for being dangerously underweight due to anorexia so thought I'd share how I went about putting the weight back on relatively quickly -
Snack. Even if it's just on fruit, eat irregularly. My thing was cereal personally, I would just have a bowl of cereal every few hours or so. Add sauces to your meals. Keep an 'eating schedule' where you plan out your meals for the day. Keep a log of what you've eaten each day and try to pay attention to calories etc. If you like sodas, drink maybe one a day (although do try to go for the least unhealthy ones).
Although you may get full very quickly now, your stomach will start to expand within a few days of eating bigger portions and your appetite will thus get bigger as well.
Oh and be sure to eat even when on drugs.

In terms of sports, cardio probably isn't the best way to go in general when you're trying to put on weight or bulk up and the only one I'd recommend for that is swimming. Then do pure muscle work-outs instead of cardio, so weights, push-ups, abs, whatever.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[XThexXTank]

If yer workin out n bulking there's two ways to do it. Either clean bulk or dirty bulkin.

Dirty bulkin is where ya eat anythin in order to gain weight (but the food is also high in protein). That means its ok to eat fast food like mcdonalds n all that. Ya take in more calories than you burn so ya gain weight.

Clean bulkin is basically takin in more calories than ya burn but its a low fat diet. That means no to very limited fast food. Ya eat a lot of calories but its clean and high in protein like steak chickin n all that.

Other things ya can take in order to bulk is a weight gainer protein. This protein has a lot more calories carbs n fat as opposed to regular protein. Monster mass is a good example. Made from cytosport the guys that make muscle milk. If ya eat right and workout you'll eventually put on muscle weight and mass get big and reachh yer goals.

 

[Jabberwocky]

^'clean bulking' does not mean "low fat", it means clean foods (fat is irrelevant and you'd actually be sabotaging yourself by lowering intake of quality fats/proteins, these are WORLDS more important than carbs)

 

[XThexXTank]

Oh yeh true ny bad when bulkin ya do need to have a cosiderable amount of fat intake. The difference is what sorta fat yer consumin like saturated vs unsaturated fat. Its better to consume unsaturated fats in yer diet.

 

[Jabberwocky]

next thing i know you'll tell me i shouldn't be going through ~1.25sticks butter daily
fat is better than carbs cuz it's easier, it's a go-to for bulking that carbs cannot match. if i wanna eat 1k calories do you know how hard that is to do w/ good carbs? far easier (and healthier) to do so w/ good fats adn proteins.

 

[Serotonin101]

As bmxxx said. Fats are fucking awesome. Make peanutbutter your staple food (natural, not the processed shit) and whole milk. You'll put on weight. Find calorie dense foods to help put on poundage. They're small in volume but pack a lot of calories (lots of fat pretty much). 1g fat=9kcals. 1g carb/protein=4ckal. Also unused protein is excreted while carbs and fats are stored (unless in a state of ketosis then unused fat ketones will be excreted as well).
As for the guy taking adderall, eat before med effects kick in. Blend calorie dense shakes if you have to. I know how hard it is to eat on stims but I was always thirsty and drinking never triggered that "oh god no food please" gag response when chewing.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

go out to eat

you're liable to get a serving that's bigger than you need packed with salt, fat, and sugar

 

[What 23]

Starches/carbs. That would be for fat.

 

[SirTophamHat]

what has worked for me:

1. liquid calories
2. (as already touched upon) fats and proteins are worlds much more dense than carbs. try eating 1000kcal of a grain. hard as shit yo. yet its easy as pie (no pun intended) to eat 1000kcal of nuts, butters, or oils.
3. microwaveable burritos
4. steak and chocolate milk combo

 

[---]

Oh yeh true ny bad when bulkin ya do need to have a cosiderable amount of fat intake. The difference is what sorta fat yer consumin like saturated vs unsaturated fat. Its better to consume unsaturated fats in yer diet.

saturated fat is not bad for you.

 

[Jabberwocky]

topham- protein is same density as carbs, fat is 1.25X as dense. further, the bio cost of processing protein is typically higher than carbs (ie the calories spent to accomplish digestion are higher)

 

[XThexXTank]

Well y'all can say I'm somewhat of a health freak. I'm the guy who will stand at the grocery store for 20 min debatin on what product I should based on which is more beneficial to my health. Oh this has 1 more gram of fiber but that's got 2 more grams of protein but has 15 more clas per serving but the other has a few more carbs. Fuck!!! Which do I buy? Ya know what I'm sayin?

 

[SirTophamHat]

topham- protein is same density as carbs, fat is 1.25X as dense. further, the bio cost of processing protein is typically higher than carbs (ie the calories spent to accomplish digestion are higher)

sorry, i should have clarified! i know that protein and carbs are 4 calories per gram while fat is 9 and alcohol 7. unless you're talking about molecular weight and stuff, in which case you've lost me. i was referring to the volume of food one must take in in order to achieve similar calories. i apologize for the confusion.

and for what it's worth, encouraging people to realize that saturated fat is not bad for you is akin to hitting one's head against the wall, sadly. they say, "but how can REAL butter be better for you than FAKE butter? isn't FAKE butter made because it's HEALTHIER?" enough face palming there to last a lifetime.

 

[XThexXTank]

I never said ya shouldn't consume unsaturated fat. I dnt know where y'all got that from. I just said its better to conusme more unsaturated n less saturated bcuz its healthier. Never said ya should take it completely outta yer diet but that's better when yer cuttn. Also if yer clean bulkin yer gonna do the same thing. If yer dirty bulkin ya will a lot of saturated fats from fast food with high protein like KFC and mcdonalds.

 

[SirTophamHat]

I never said ya shouldn't consume unsaturated fat. I dnt know where y'all got that from.

From here:

I just said its better to conusme more unsaturated n less saturated bcuz its healthier.

Not exactly true.

Never said ya should take it completely outta yer diet but that's better when yer cuttn.

It's carbs you want to avoid on a cut, not fats.

Also if yer clean bulkin yer gonna do the same thing.

Finally, not true again, but you can't be faulted for thinking so, considering it's in line of thought with the other misconceptions.

If yer dirty bulkin ya will a lot of saturated fats from fast food with high protein like KFC and mcdonalds.

Fast food is from the Gods :D

 

[Jabberwocky]

i don't know if i could eat fast food now, would def need to read the label to be comfortable eating it (i have a near-obsessive avoidance of hydrated oils and anything soy)