Anyone else found it impossible to put on weight?
Anyone else found it impossible to put on weight?
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MrChips

Original Poster:

3,299 posts

239 months

Thursday 26th May 2011
quotequote all
Not really a weight training query (although I think it'll have to be part of the solution)... but has anyone else on here really struggled to put ON weight. I'm talking people who are or have been very very slim (just within the "healthy" limit) but who had never been able to put on weight?

If so, have you ever found a successful solution diet wise?

I've recently turned 30, and am still the same weight as I was at around 17-18. 5'10 and i'm hovering around 9 stone and I just don't seem to have found any way of putting on any weight.

I've seen a couple of nutritionists, who have basically agreed that my diet is ok, but didn't really go so far as to suggesting a full diet plan etc.

Apart from wolfing down weight gain shakes all day long (I have tried 2 a day.... and no effect!) is there any other suggestions as to what to look for to try? I've tried increasing portion sizes, but find it quite difficult. I also try to have a decent snack/sandwich etc between meals, although maybe I haven't done this as religiously as really will be necessary.

For someone with a high metabolism, is it necessary to do some weights to encourage muscle growth at the same time? My main goal is looking more healthy, and a better build for my height.

Cheers
MrChips!

RemainAllHoof

79,981 posts

311 months

Thursday 26th May 2011
quotequote all
Eat cakes. You just need more carbs in your diet. Or train the muscles more than you are now (if at all).

Something that people with weight issues often get confused over: the problem with "healthy" diets is that eating healthily doesn't mean they will lose weight; similarly, a healthy diet doesn't mean you'll put on weight. You need to look at what you're eating.

And stop fidgeting. You're burning calories unnecessarily. biggrin

gareth.e

2,071 posts

218 months

Thursday 26th May 2011
quotequote all
Theres a very high probability you think you're eating loads but you aren't. I would place a substantial bet on this.

But if you genuinely are which I strongly doubt.. cut calls down to maintenance for a while then increase them again

Edit : oh and I use to weigh 60kg at managed to hit 92 despite my high metabolism.. just takes work

Top tips are 4 pints of milk a day, drink it like its water and eat half a jar of peanut butter split between a snack and pre bed

Edited by gareth.e on Thursday 26th May 21:46

mattikake

5,109 posts

228 months

Thursday 26th May 2011
quotequote all
^ I'll go with that. Milk is the wonder food IMO. I swear by it.

Don't overload on Protein though. Try to max out at about 30g per sitting, preferably around 20g, and leave it at least 2 hours between eating.

Could just be an over-active Thyroid. Think yourself lucky! I'd love to be be like that but sadly I'm a fat bastado by design (put weight on very easily, but sadly, the wrong sort!).

jdl1981

299 posts

212 months

Friday 27th May 2011
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I had the same problem albeit I'm 6ft and was 11 and a half stone. Was training really hard and thought I was eating loads but really wasn't. I now eat loads and put on 3 stone and still growing with a reasonable body fat percentage. If its edible get it down your throat. I found doubling things up worked for me, 4 weetabix instead of 2, 2 chicken breasts instead of 1 etc.


Salgar

3,285 posts

213 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
Yep ive got this problem, and when I did do it properly, I.e. Eating over 3k kcal a day, I found I was feeling sick a lot of the time from overeating, and then the minute I stopped, all the weight disappeared again straight away. Sadness

PoleDriver

29,571 posts

223 months

Friday 27th May 2011
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On behalf of all of the fatties on here who are trying to lose weight I would just like to say shout fk OFF!
That is all!
getmecoat

Sunglasses Ron

540 posts

194 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
PoleDriver said:
On behalf of all of the fatties on here who are trying to lose weight I would just like to say shout fk OFF!
That is all!
getmecoat
hehe

Animal

5,666 posts

297 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
PoleDriver said:
On behalf of all of the fatties on here who are trying to lose weight I would just like to say shout fk OFF!
That is all!
getmecoat
Nom nom nom pass the chicken nom nom nom

Scantily

395 posts

200 months

Friday 27th May 2011
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Whenever a skinny person tells me this I can't help but think even though they think they're eating loads that they're really not, I bet if you ate like a fat man for a few weeks you'd pile the weight on.

gareth.e

2,071 posts

218 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
Scantily said:
Whenever a skinny person tells me this I can't help but think even though they think they're eating loads that they're really not, I bet if you ate like a fat man for a few weeks you'd pile the weight on.
Not really pile it on for some people but you can gain.. I had to eat something like 5000+ cals a day to gain

200 grams of oats a banana milk and whey
4 bits of bread 200g beef lettuce cheese sauce
200 g of fish or chicken and 200 to 500g potatoes
100g oats milk whey blueberries
Banana dextrose whey cee
Chicken curry and 200g rice
130g peanut butter and apple
4 pints of milk throughout the day
Maybe a pizza or pasta depending how hungry I am
Another 130g of peanut butter downed with the final but of milk and whey

Without going into it breaky was over 1000 cals
Peanut butter was about 1400 cals
Milk was over 1000 cals

That's 3400 without trying

MrChips

Original Poster:

3,299 posts

239 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
I would definitely agree that there's a good chance that I just can't seem to eat enough to get enough calories, and although it feels like i'm eating loads, i'm not.

When you're v.slim, you get full on less so it sometimes just feels impossible to eat any more! A typical day's food may be:
- 4 weetabix (with sugar) plus a pint of orange juice
- a bacon or sausage baguette when I get to work
- mid morning chocolate and or crisps, or a couple of apples
- lunch at 12 is normally a full hot meal from the work canteen... such as lasagne and chips, pie, or jacket potato with cheese, beans and salad
- Maybe a cake for pudding
- late afternoon snack.. again normally chocolate twix/kitkat etc or similar
- Dinner when I get home.. normally something healthier, steak with some veg..or pasta but often includes jacket potato or chips as well.
- Snacks in the evening.. grapes, apple, ice cream
- a nutrition shake about half an hr before bed.

To me... this feels like a lot... but maybe it's just making me feel full rather than actually giving me enough calories.

I'm quite happy to drink milk so i'll give that a try... maybe look for some tastier weight gain shakes so that I can drink these throughout the day, or is that not a good idea??

Ordinary_Chap

7,520 posts

272 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
MrChips said:
I would definitely agree that there's a good chance that I just can't seem to eat enough to get enough calories, and although it feels like i'm eating loads, i'm not.

When you're v.slim, you get full on less so it sometimes just feels impossible to eat any more! A typical day's food may be:
- 4 weetabix (with sugar) plus a pint of orange juice
- a bacon or sausage baguette when I get to work
- mid morning chocolate and or crisps, or a couple of apples
- lunch at 12 is normally a full hot meal from the work canteen... such as lasagne and chips, pie, or jacket potato with cheese, beans and salad
- Maybe a cake for pudding
- late afternoon snack.. again normally chocolate twix/kitkat etc or similar
- Dinner when I get home.. normally something healthier, steak with some veg..or pasta but often includes jacket potato or chips as well.
- Snacks in the evening.. grapes, apple, ice cream
- a nutrition shake about half an hr before bed.

To me... this feels like a lot... but maybe it's just making me feel full rather than actually giving me enough calories.

I'm quite happy to drink milk so i'll give that a try... maybe look for some tastier weight gain shakes so that I can drink these throughout the day, or is that not a good idea??
Not only are you not eating enough, you're eating pure junk which isn't going to help either your health or help with muscle gain. Seems you're eating a great deal of carbs and sugars.

Be healthy, eat plenty and lift heavy and you'll gain.

I've help other folk gain muscle and size who have been in the same position. The great thing is, you probably only need to gain a couple of stone and with a high metabolism you'll look great!

I'm your size and about 15 stone and look ok but I have to diet hard if you've seen my thread to look anything like toned!

MrChips

Original Poster:

3,299 posts

239 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
Taking actual weight training, muscle gain etc out of the equation.... would the diet above be enough just to put on general weight (obviously only a snapshot, and I do eat quite varied). From seeing a nutritionist, they seemed to think it was generally ok... although I can't say I was very impressed with them generally!

For those you've helped before... was weight training the only way to put on weight itself? i.e. Will doing a proper weights regime and going the full hog with a suitable diet to gain muscle... will it be likely that I can also put on some general weight.. fill out my facial features etc?


Ordinary_Chap

7,520 posts

272 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
MrChips said:
Taking actual weight training, muscle gain etc out of the equation.... would the diet above be enough just to put on general weight (obviously only a snapshot, and I do eat quite varied). From seeing a nutritionist, they seemed to think it was generally ok... although I can't say I was very impressed with them generally!

For those you've helped before... was weight training the only way to put on weight itself? i.e. Will doing a proper weights regime and going the full hog with a suitable diet to gain muscle... will it be likely that I can also put on some general weight.. fill out my facial features etc?
If a nutritionist told you, your diet was ok, they should be sacked and removed from their profession.

Your diet is awful, unhealthy and not conductive to anything.

If you get to the point of adding fat eating junk, you'll be unhealthy and fatty and will not look good at all.

If you train 3-4 times a week for 30 minutes, eat healthy and stick to the plan, you'll look good, be healthy and feel great.

Seems like that is the only healthy and positive outcome to me.

RemainAllHoof

79,981 posts

311 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
OC, I thought eating stloads of carbs would be the way forward for him if he just wants to get fat?

Ordinary_Chap

7,520 posts

272 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
RemainAllHoof said:
OC, I thought eating stloads of carbs would be the way forward for him if he just wants to get fat?
Possibly but I'm strongly against him being unhealthy and doing that.

MrChips

Original Poster:

3,299 posts

239 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
Would it suprise you that they actually told me to spread butter more thickly on my toast as "every little helps" hehe Gotta love the NHS!

I'm definitely with you that I don't just want to eat crap and get fat on bad foods. The example above isn't all I eat, there's plenty of fresh vegetables, salads and fruit as well.... although I would never claim to have even a "good" diet at the moment.

To separate the diet from training.... would you say that if I followed a diet suggested for those doing serious weights... but I didn't actually do the weights. Would that still be beneficial for general weight gain? Or should I really be getting focussed on training AND diet if I am serious about gaining weight?

Cheers
MrChips

Ordinary_Chap

7,520 posts

272 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
MrChips said:
Would it suprise you that they actually told me to spread butter more thickly on my toast as "every little helps" hehe Gotta love the NHS!

I'm definitely with you that I don't just want to eat crap and get fat on bad foods. The example above isn't all I eat, there's plenty of fresh vegetables, salads and fruit as well.... although I would never claim to have even a "good" diet at the moment.

To separate the diet from training.... would you say that if I followed a diet suggested for those doing serious weights... but I didn't actually do the weights. Would that still be beneficial for general weight gain? Or should I really be getting focussed on training AND diet if I am serious about gaining weight?

Cheers
MrChips
If you follow a 'bulking' diet which is what I'd suggest and don't train, you'll just get fat if it works.

I really can't stress enough doing this in a healthy and controlled way. I don't about you but I want to look half decent and be healthy so I train.

Getting fat will just make you look awful, make you unhealthy and feel terrible!

Chapppers

4,483 posts

220 months

Friday 27th May 2011
quotequote all
You bloody bunch of feckless ungrateful bds hehe