8 replies to this topic

[bijao~]

I consume ~3000-4000 calories daily, yet find it near impossible to gain weight. I do not exercise daily, aside from the walking required of a student, because I don't want to burn calories, I want to gain weight. I am 5''11 and 128 lbs. I wish to gain weight because I look nearly anorexic, and as such my current weight can't be healthy. Any insight or dietary and exercise recommendations are appreciated.

Edited by bijao~, 11 July 2016 - 08:41 PM.

[aconita]

Are you male or female?

 

What do you eat and how (how many meals and when/what)?

 

Not training is not a smart strategy, if you aim to gain healthy weight it has to be muscles, not fat.

 

...and if you don't train, unless you go for anabolic steroids, you are not going to gain muscles.

[bijao~]

Are you male or female?

 

What do you eat and how (how many meals and when/what)?

 

Not training is not a smart strategy, if you aim to gain healthy weight it has to be muscles, not fat.

 

...and if you don't train, unless you go for anabolic steroids, you are not going to gain muscles.

 

Heya, 

 

I'm female and eat whenever I'm hungry, which usually works out to 4-5 meals a day, often consisting of pasta/pizza/breads etc.

 

I realize not training is not necessarily in my best interest, but it simply hasn't been high on my priority list as I've always equated exercise = weight loss, which I also realize isn't necessarily true lol, but bias' die hard.

 

All of my immediate family have lots of trouble keeping off weight, so I've always assumed that eventually my metabolism would slow. Hence my lack of initiative regarding the subject in the past.

 

What would you recommend?

 

Regards

[tunt01]

Higher protein intake (~20% of calories), lift weights (compound movements like squats, etc.).  Less meal frequency, same calories.

[aconita]

I do agree with the above suggestion.

 

More in details.

 

You eat mainly carbs from wheat which is loaded with gluten of the bad kind (hard wheat, creso variant).

 

Gluten plays a very bad role on your immune system and gut health in general, that translate in likely hormonal imbalances or at least weird reactions to nutrients, usually it leads to gain weight but it might lead to difficult in gaining weight as well, it sounds like a contradiction but often an imbalance can lead to two opposite outcomes.

 

The point is that the picture is not healthy.

 

Regarding exercise you have to realize the biggest factor is it leads to an hormonal balance which has huge health implications, a better physique is a welcome side effect but it just reflects an healthier internal environment.

 

The take home message here is that when you are underweight or overweight the cause may likely be quite the same: an hormonal imbalance.

 

In order to correct that I suggest to avoid gluten, especially wheat, lower your carbs intake and increase proteins which means automatically to increase fats too, include olive oil, butter and/or coconut oil which are all good healthy fats, substitute wheat carbs with rice (maybe long grain like basmati or jasmine) and/or sweet potatoes.

 

Eat plenty of veggies of all kind but be aware potatoes, carrots and pumpkins have to be considered carbs.

 

Every time you eat something insulin release is triggered, insulin is an hormone, if our aim is to optimize hormones to trigger insulin too often is not smart, it might lead to diabetes and anyway doesn't play our game, therefore 4 or 5 meals a day might no be the smartest choice, I would recommend 2 or 3 instead, bigger meals but not so often, that will lead to less frequent insulin spikes which is a good thing.

 

Training 2 or 3 times a week lifting kind of heavy weights in compound movements and maybe some HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training, like Tabatas, for example) would make a huge impact on your hormones in a positive way.

 

Following the above recommendations will make the overweight to lose fat and the underweight to gain muscles, those are just main principles, of course, there are many and different strategies to optimize according to individual needs but the nuts and bolts are those described.

 

I know...it means to dedicate more time and care to prepare proper meals and to find those 2-3 hours a week to train...but it is your health, your body, your life....your choice. 

 

 

[Dolph]

No way you are consuming 3000-4000 calories! It's that easy. There are no "metabolic miracles". Just get your counting in check. Problem solved.

[William Sterog]

No way you are consuming 3000-4000 calories! It's that easy. There are no "metabolic miracles". Just get your counting in check. Problem solved.

I'm a male, 1,88cm and 65kg, I eat more than 3 000 calories everyday, I calculated it lots of times with differents apps. Is impossible to me to gain weight. I used to hit the gym 5 times per week, now only 3. I've tried every supplement, every diet, every exercise. Is just impossible to me to gain any weight.

[aconita]

For some individual is not easy to gain weight as for some is not easy to stay lean, again likely the main factor is hormonal.

 

I may suggest an hormone screen in order to evaluate if and where to optimize.

 

3000 cal/day may seem quite a bit but for someone 1,88 training intensively 3-5 times a week are too little, I am 55, 1.80, 85kg, about 10% body fat, training heavy 5 days a week and stable at about 5000 cal/day, at 3000 cal I would be in high starvation mode and loosing fat very fast, leave alone adding muscles. 

[Manwhoworkstoomuch!]

Eat a lot of carbs every 2 hours and a big meal during the day involving protein, carbs and fat. Do some heavy lifting 3x/week.