help me gain weight!

[roostnureye 2]

ok i am a 32 year old guy, 6' and 150lbs, i have always been skinny, i eat like a horse, but dont gain weight. i am very active. im looking for some real info on how to gain some weight. ive tried creatine,protiene, weight gainer, i can gain about 6 lbs and thats it, if i get sick i lose it all instantly, im just looking for some ideas on how to keep weight on. and ya i drink plenty of beer, already got that one down. thanks

Flock University FWC / ZFlock
B.A.S.E. 1580
Aussie BASE 121

[quade 3]

Quote

ok i am a 32 year old guy, 6' and 150lbs, i have always been skinny, i eat like a horse, but dont gain weight. i am very active. im looking for some real info on how to gain some weight.

Don't. Seriously. Just don't. There is no logical reason whatsoever for you to gain weight simply for the sake of it. It's WAY better to be a bit underweight than overweight.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[skyrider 0]

Get married....it happens instantly! (to both sexes)

[TImBryant 0]

I wish I had your problem!

tagline..... what's a tagline?

[virgigirlie 0]

This may seem like a dumb question, but have you spoken to a doctor about this? Both the risks of trying to just gain weight and why you don't gain weight.

Perhaps it's just how you're built, but perhaps you have an overactive thyroid or something...

Just something to think about.

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning." ~Catherine Aird

[GaVak 0]

You sound like an ectomorph body type .. this could be genetic and/or have something to do with a thyroid issue.

Google topics like:
"Ectomorph weight gain"
"Hyperthyroid"
"Overactive Adrenal Gland"

I'm not a doctor, so I can't really tell you what to do for actual medical problems.

Presuming there is no disorder, the key is to eat lots of protien, do weight training with as heavy weight that you can only do 8-10 reps with, and staying away from Cardio. You also need to eat more calories than you burn a day... and if you are a true ectomorph, you have to keep it up. Having more muslce means your daily minimal calorie requirements will go up.

I used to be the same way until I hit 30 -- now I pretty much keep the weight level I'm at unless I up or down my eating habits.

~Gav

Life doesn't need reasons, just participants.

D.S.#21

[jumpslo 0]

Keep a log of what you are eating for a week...
Count total calories.. You could break it down into CHO, pro, and fat, but just get total calories at first.
I know a great deal of guys through the years that are Ectomorphs and they all said "they eat like a horse" even though they tried a food log for a week and weren't at nearly enough calories.

If you are at a significant number of calories, then it may be you have an amazing thyroid.. I'd rather have an overactive one than an underactive..

Protein shakes during the night, PB&J's during the night... And I do mean wake up to eat just doing ruin sleep cycles. A good amount of fat and casein protein before bed (milk, cottage cheese, peanut butter). If your still not gaining weight then try to take in 1/4 of your total calories during the day post-workout on top of the normal calories for that day.

Those are all methods that can work, but an EASY/EFFECTIVE and quick way to gain weight, assuming your not lactose intolerant, is GOMAD... A Gallon Of Milk A Day on top of what you are eating.. Make it whole milk. It has a decent percentage of CHO/Pro/Fat. I've seen it work for many people. http://stronglifts.com/gomad-milk-squats-gallon-gain-weight/

And.. get plenty of sleep - 8 hours

EAT, LIFT, SLEEP, REPEAT...

"Good rule of thumb; is what you are doing the EASIEST for You? Because if it is, it ain't going to work for the people around you."

[ltdiver 3]

I went from 135 to 115 one year when under alot of stress. I struggled to gain it back and couldn't, even though my intake was substantial. A good friend brought me a jar of cashews (from Costco) and told me to eat it as a snack between meals. Put it by my computer, by the tv, etc . . . and snack every chance I got.

This worked brilliantly and the healthy weight came back within a few months. Might work for you?

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[jonstark 8]

I have had the same "problem" since forever. I am 54 now and weigh exactly the same as when I got out of high school. 5'11" and 150#. Trying to eat supplements and too much food will just make you shit expensive. Just learn how to ARCH!

jon

[k-dubjumps 0]

I'd check with a doc first to make sure it isn't a thyroid issue or something else first. If you're all clear, then eat an avocado a day. Should do the trick.

Adrenaline is my crack

DPH #3
D.S. #16 FAG #12 Muff Brother #4406

[mdrejhon 8]

Quote

You sound like an ectomorph body type .. this could be genetic and/or have something to do with a thyroid issue.

Google topics like:
"Ectomorph weight gain"
"Hyperthyroid"
"Overactive Adrenal Gland"

I'm not a doctor, so I can't really tell you what to do for actual medical problems.

Presuming there is no disorder, the key is to eat lots of protien, do weight training with as heavy weight that you can only do 8-10 reps with, and staying away from Cardio. You also need to eat more calories than you burn a day... and if you are a true ectomorph, you have to keep it up. Having more muslce means your daily minimal calorie requirements will go up.

I used to be the same way until I hit 30 -- now I pretty much keep the weight level I'm at unless I up or down my eating habits.

~Gav

I agree with Gav. I am personally ectomorph. I used to be 148 pounds in 2002, and underweight to the point where my ribs showed through my chest muscles. That's too underweight for me...

For 2002-2003, I more than doubled my food intake, while doing some gym strength training (staying away from cardio or running), and I did the whey-creatine-glutamine with the 6-7 meal-a-day thing that many bodybuilders typically do. That worked, and I gained about 15 lbs in 6 months to about 163 pounds.

To kickstart my high-metabolism ectomorph body to gain weight and get rid of my "starving-ribs-chest" look, I had to:
- ALWAYS eat when waking up (within 1 hr)
- ALWAYS re-electrolyte yourself immediately after exercise (dilute gatorade-like concotions).
- ALWAYS eat a good meal within 1 hour or less of exercise (refuel your muscles quick before body burns them up or muscle pain comes back)
- ALWAYS eat throughout the day (even when not hungry)
- ALWAYS eat a meal right before bed.
- Total, 6 smallish-to-medium size meals.

In most of my gatorade-like concotions, I threw some creatine, glutamine, and dextrose in the mix too, along with a little powdered vitamins, in recommended doses. I also used whey powder in many home made protien shakes, but don't depend on them for lifetime (it can stress the liver, etc)

In fact, nutrition cost me $600-900 per month and was like a part-time job in itself, having to pre-prepare food, to prevent myself from going hungry 2-3 hours from now; or bringing lots of food with me, whenever I had to travel, or go to work.

While my food intake dramatically went up (even to the point of some little bit of olive-oil and flaxseed-oil supplementation in some protien smoothies), I didn't really eat much of the fattening stuff...

I had no coffee, I had no candy, I had no sweetened desserts, I never touched granulated sugar... Man, I missed all of that (I have a sweet tooth, as my friends would know).... Tons of smoothies and fruits, to compensate though.... Sugars (carb) is still important component of refueling your body, but the right sugars is needed. Though, the sweetest sweetened stuff were fruit-bottom yoghurts and flavored oatmeal powder, but that was my only guilty pleasure of factory-sweetened stuff rather than naturally-sweetened... Intentionally avoided eating too much processed stuff at the time... I drank zero, too... no beer, no wine.

I kinda avoided low-density foods such as iceberg lettuce: I could not cram much of that in my tiny stomach; so high-density high-color vegetables had to substitute, for increased stomach-space efficiency...

roostnureye, you're in the wrong forum. For the proper forum, go to http://forum.bodybuilding.com -- Lots of info that backs up GaVaK for the most healthy ways of gaining weight, but please don't overdo it. Just eat VERY healthy.

Also, while not a hard rule of thumb for ALL body types, there is medical evidence that now show that being slightly overweight is more healthy than being slightly underweight. That said, being even moderately overweight is more unhealthy than either, there's a narrow window there. Unless you're an ectomorph, it's easy to overshoot a target weight.

Remember, stay away from the treadmill, stay away from EFX, stay away from ellipticals (at first) -- you can hit those a little later, or only lightly in order to exercise your heart but not to burn too much weight -- your goal is a kickstart bodybuild stage first so maximum strength training seems to works best, before doing any bodysculpting or 'cutting down' procedure... (I actually never really did that, although I did cardio later for other reasons, but some bodybuilders did)

Limit your gym visits to 3 per week (this works best for ectomorphs), because ectomorphs need about 48 hours rest between intense 1-2 hour gym workouts. Otherwise, you just burn the sore muscles away before it's fully recovered. I gained 15 pounds (7.5lbs muscle, 7.5lbs fat) on just 5 hours gym per week, and that included warm up exercise time.... But NOTE... I intentionally exercised HARD to the point where my muscles often became sore after a 1-2 hour workout, and stayed sore the next day -- so that's how intense I had to work out on various types of exercises I got from a bodybuilding book...

I could have violated my diet a few times here and there with no problem (a drink, a coffee, a beer, a yummy chocolate mousse dessert), once every few days -- but I avoided all of that nearly completely for something like half a year, during my bodybuilding progression.

As always, for a diet like I did, preferably _please_ check with a professional body trainer AND a doctor first, before commencing on a weight-gain diet, which ideally NEEDS to go with a good gym/exercise program, so that more of the gain is muscle than fat.

Lost some muscle definition since (it's been years since I've gone to gym regularly). Today, I have slacked off, and am about 165 pounds, and probably want to go back to 160 pounds, or convert some fat back to muscle -- my metabolism is slowing down now and finally gained about 5 lbs fat, but maintaining there. I haven't been to the gym much. I really should start again, but I simply have no damn time to work on the nutrition (that's often more than 50% of the work of bodybuilding for an ectomorph -- nutrition can be more time and work than the bodybuilding itself!). But I certainly look better than the "starving-ribs-show-thru-chest" look I was in 2002... So the 2003-2003 bodybuilding kickstart on me still has some lasting effects on me. But I'm still back to a lazy eater and exerciser, which isn't that good, but at least I don't have the starving-ribs look anymore.

It can be done, but it's not easy, and be prepared to spend a fortune on lots of good fuel for your body (AKA food). You've been warned!

[lippy 764]

Are you a smoker? I'm 6'3" and have weighed right around 160 for the past few years. I was retardedly skinny. I quit smoking back in January and I'm gaining weight at a healthy pace (and exercising to make sure that I don't end up one of those skinny guys with a belly hanging out).

If you smoke, stop! It'll help in the weight gain and you'll feel much better

I got nuthin

[birdshit 0]

I wish I had your problem. Enjoy the fact that you have very little body fat. For the rest of us poor bastards its a struggle.

[ryoder 1,380]

1. Don't try to gain weight unless you are weightlifting.

2. Take up bicycle racing.
You never appreciate what a drag excess weight is until you try climbing races.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[roostnureye 2]

hey everyone thanks for all the GREAT knowledge, i will do some research on this whole ectomorph thing. i drink an absurd amount of whole milk already, ive had bodybuilders tell me to drink baby formula. and as far as exercise i guess i need to slow down on the cardio. i will do a week of calorie counting and see how that goes, what range should i be in per day?? and as far as the bicycle racing, i raced bicycles in the nbl for 6 yrs, had national sponsors, won state championships, and raced presidents cup and grand nationals quite a few times. i know the bicycle well. but my knees arent what they use to be so i had to give that up. now i just surf,skateboard,discgolf,race atvs and streetbikes, and jump of course. once again thank you everyone for the input!!! i love u guys and gals, especially the gals!!!

Flock University FWC / ZFlock
B.A.S.E. 1580
Aussie BASE 121

[jonstark 8]

You can be skinny as hell and still have bad cholesterol so watch out how much and what kind of fats you insist on taking in.

[Herky 0]

Same problem...I will say this. I gained more weight when I did a steak diet for two weeks than when I did creatine for a month. Lost it all when I quit though.

[hookitt 0]

OH geez, don't do the body builder diet suggestions That's so not healthy.

Just keep eating healthy and stay active. The whole weight gain idea is understandable but not necessary. My room mate is strong as an ox. He's 6 foot something, skinny, eats a LOT of calories because he just has too. He's 48 and you'd just never know it.

It's just easier to do things when you don't have unnecessary weight to deal with. Besides, skinny people freefly better. I honestly have to suggest just do what you're doing. Eat well, and keep active.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[jumpslo 0]

Quote

i will do a week of calorie counting and see how that goes, what range should i be in per day??

Find your weight in kg's..
Protein: 1.6-1.7g/kg of body weight for strength gain (2.2g/kg is the highest that's been studied to show gains)
Carbs: 6-10g/kg body weight
Fat: 20-25% of the diet (works for me)

Try this out for a week or 2 if your not making gains then add 500 calories a day (keeping the same ratio of pro/carbs/fat).. Also, keep in mind the bigger you get the more you'll need to eat to maintain that size..

Quote

was like a part-time job in itself, having to pre-prepare food, to prevent myself from going hungry 2-3 hours from now; or bringing lots of food with me, whenever I had to travel, or go to work

Agree with this 100%.. If you want to gain weight you will be thinking food a lot.

It really comes down to what works for you. I usually eat around 45/30/25% Carbs/protein/fat (which would be seen as "lower-carb" but it works best for me).

"Good rule of thumb; is what you are doing the EASIEST for You? Because if it is, it ain't going to work for the people around you."

[BillyVance 34]

I used to work with a guy that is 6'-2" tall and weighs 165 lbs, just a few lbs more than I weigh at 5'-6".

Would you believe he used to weigh 260 in high school and was an offensive lineman on the football team? He had to eat an insane amount of food every day to maintain that weight and most of it was muscle. When he graduated and didn't play college football, he went to normal eating habits and dropped weight almost instantly. He has a really high metabolism rate and has to eat two lunches just to keep from going rail thin.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban