Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Gaining Weight for the Hard Gainers


Why would anyone want to GAIN weight??? This might not be a topic that is frequently talked about because usually everyone is trying to lose weight.  But this was definitely something that I had to deal with growing up.  For some people like me GAINING weight can be the hardest thing to do and if we mention it to others they will just give a WTF response of that’s easy just go eat a ton of junk food or whatever.  When I was entering high school I was a skinny 120 lb kid with arms like sticks and it really was something I wanted to fix.  I could eat McD’s everyday and still not gain a pound. I actually did eat it almost everyday for a semester my freshmen year of hs, now that I think back about it, it is a disgusting thought but hey I was young and it tasted good back then.  Just because your gaining weight doesn't mean that you are going to get fat or that you can't get the six pack abs you always wanted.  So this article goes out to all my fellow skinny hard gainers out there who want to put on some healthy weight and not have a heart attack while doing it. 

What is common with most people who are skinny is they have a fast metabolism or that they burn all the calories that they eat.  I know I thought I ate a lot and I still pretty much eat whenever I’m hungry now but the thing you need to realize is you are probably not eating enough.

Here’s some tips on gaining weight the right way.

Just as if you were trying to lose weight, start tracking your calorie intake.  I think you will be surprised by how little you are really eating everyday.  Start working out, it is a fact that muscle is heavier than fat so if you replace the fat in your body with muscle you will not only weigh more but probably look a lot better. 

Set your goal.  Rather than just say you want to gain weight give yourself a target.

Set your daily calorie intake number and hit it.  Depending on how active you are everyday this number can range anywhere from 3000-5000 cal/day.  Try to figure out how much you need to eat, 5000k will almost always let most people gain weight.  But you don’t need to eat that much just remember that you need to eat more than your body is using for most people that is ~2000 a day therefore the excess amount will be converted to fat.

Eat smaller but more frequent meals.  Never skip a meal.  Eating every three hours is a pretty good way to make sure of that.  I like to eat 5-6 meals a day.  A meal can be anything from just a post workout shake or even just a sandwich with some yogurt.

Keep at it and believe.  Results are never instant.  I know 15 year old me had times when he wanted to just give up but I kept at it and I was able to put on 10 lb of muscle my freshmen year.

Stay consistent.  If you continue to eat your goal and workout everyday you will be able to achieve your goal weight.  

Finally, here are some hints on what are the best things to eat.  You want to go for the calorie dense foods.  This would be things like pasta, nuts, banana, milk, cheese.  Also for those who are lazy you can also look into buy a weight gainer protein.  These are shakes you can make that will be anywhere from 500-1000 calorie per shake, they worked wonders for me as a meal replacement.

Here's a sample daily meal:
Meal 1-Breakfast (Wake up preferably early some time before 10)
  • Protein shake, oatmeal  or cereal, and a glass of milk.
Meal 2-Snack (2-3 hours later)
  • Peanut Butter Sandwich
Meal 3-Lunch (2-3 hours later)
  • Some sort of chicken, beef, or fish with rice or potatoes and a side of vegetables.
  • Or tuna sandwich
  • Glass of milk
Meal 4-Snack (2-3 hours later)
  • Peanut butter sandwich and a fruit
Meal 5-Post-Workout 
  • Whey protein shake
Meal 6-Dinner
  • Some sort of chicken, beef, or fish with rice or potatoes and a side of vegetables.
It's not the most exciting diet or tastiest for that matter but it would get the job done.  That's just an example you can mix and match or add whatever you like since the goal here is to gain muscle/weight its hard to go wrong.  If you follow this there no way you won’t gain weight and you can say bye to the skinny you forever.

3 comments:

  1. I am actually trying to lose weight myself.

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  2. hey ryan that's great that you trying to lose weight, maybe do the opposite of everything i mention in this article and that'll work. We'll write an article in the future about losing weight.

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  3. Dang it! I was gonna jump in a say I'm going to do the exact opposite, in hopes of dropping a couple of pounds. But you beat me to it, PD4SP! Ha!

    ReplyDelete