Putting on Weight

theholyghost

Hi

I hope this is the correct forum.

I'm a bit underweight and I'd like to put on about a half stone just for healthiness sake. Also, Im a cyclist and when I start getting back to training and racing after Christmas I know Im going to loose even more weight. So, Id at least like to put on a bit to loose!

The hard part is how I live and work isnt good for eating and I usually have a pretty small lunch and one substantial evening meal a day. I know this is something I need to address. But is there anything good for grazing on while Im in the office? Like a rice cake an hour or something! Any healthy option I could make an effort to take in while Im at my desk to put a few pounds on.

I know it's probably not a solution but I just can't get my weight moving up as things are.

Thanks!

Inspector Coptoor

rice cakes arent exactly calorie heavy.
have a handful of nuts and raisins a few times throughout the day.
easy way of getting more cals in

metamorphosis

Im a runner and cyclist - when i introduced more cycling this summer on top of my running this summer i dropped a couple of KGs. Iv put on close to 3kgs lately easily just by adding calorie dense foods into my diet more - milk, cocnut oil and coconut milk, nuts and seeds - ridiculously easy to scoff down 1-200gms without noticing, same with nut butters, use real butter, dark chocolate. eat plenty of these as snacks which is done easily and without excuse and you will put on weight.

theholyghost

That sounds like good advice, Im guessing these are reasonably healthy options i.e. not full of sugars, bad fats?

Also should it be full fat milk?

Thanks again!

Frogdog

theholyghost wrote: »

That sounds like good advice, Im guessing these are reasonably healthy options i.e. not full of sugars, bad fats?

Also should it be full fat milk?

Thanks again!

Yes, all healthy options. Full of good fats and not much sugars.

And yes, full fat milk. It has more calories than low fat.

Khannie

Milk has quite a few carbs in it, but it seems to be an easy way to bump calorie intake.

In general you need to look at calorie in take. Half a stone should be no effort. I've put that on in the last 3 weeks without even trying (seriously .... I hope my coach doesn't read this ). A good high calorie breakfast should be your starting point (it sounds like you're skipping breakfast currently?). I found museli an easy way to get the calories in at breakfast time. Flahavans hi-8 is lovely stuff. You can get in 500 calories without even really trying. Throw in a few extra nuts (almonds are good) to bump calorie count further.

What weight are you now if you don't mind me asking? (this affects how many calories you need to take in to achieve weight gain)

squod

Read Evander Holyfield's article in the Times magazine there last month, he is still in training and has a big fry-up and a bowl of grits in the morning. Years ago he said he had a steak before bed to help him bulk.

theholyghost

Khannie wrote: »

should be your starting point (it sounds like you're skipping breakfast currently?). I found museli an easy way to get the calories in at breakfast time.

Yep, im skipping it, I think maybe a porridge everyday when I get to work would be a good start.

What weight are you now if you don't mind me asking? (this affects how many calories you need to take in to achieve weight gain)

Im hovering just under 9 stone. My all time high would have been 10, 10 and a half.

metamorphosis

essentially you know what to do to gain the weight now

If you are maintaining your current weight and not losing - then a 500 increase every day should logically see a 1lb increase in weight at the end of the week (since 3500 = 1lb)

It is easy to gain more than that though so stick to cal dense and nutritious foods like nuts/nut butters. at this stage really - focus on gaining sufficient weight and then maintaining that.

Detailing out a typical days food and drink intake may help you see the blingingly obvious and where you are going wrong

Khannie

theholyghost wrote: »

Yep, im skipping it, I think maybe a porridge everyday when I get to work would be a good start.

Porridge can be quite low calorie. I use it when I'm desperately trying to lose weight. Just be conscious of your calorie intake and you'll be grand.

metamorphosis

Khannie wrote: »

Porridge can be quite low calorie. I use it when I'm desperately trying to lose weight. Just be conscious of your calorie intake and you'll be grand.

On the flahavans HI8 muesli part - i have a 1kg bag here and throw some in a nice bowl here - out of interest weight it and came close to 200gms, after i added figs and H&B mixed seeds and scoop of USN chocolate whey - must be close to or more than 1000cals there i reckon haha, 600 for the muesli alone, jaysus you wouldnt see it

Nom tho

El Horseboxo

My breakfast when looking to put on weight is

Porridge mixed with a spoonful of peanut butter, flaxseed, greek yoghurt, berries, banana, rasins and almonds.
3-4 egg omelet with 1 slice of low gi granary bread
1 chicken fillet
glass of milk
1 scoop of whey in water

Doing something similar to the above and loading on good carbs before and straight after exercise time and restricting the rest of your diet to lean meats, fish, unsalted nuts, milk, eggs and whatever source of healthy fats you wanna snack on you will add weight in no time. You will put on a bit of excess fat but since you say you cycle a lot you will eventually shed it.

Westwood

full jar of natty peanut butter and a 2 litre of milk a day.

Transform

squod wrote: »

Read Evander Holyfield's article in the Times magazine there last month, he is still in training and has a big fry-up and a bowl of grits in the morning. Years ago he said he had a steak before bed to help him bulk.

wow what high quality food - not.

Win for nut butters, making your own flapjacks and a whey protein powder if you really struggle to get in the cals

El Horseboxo

Ah that reminds me. I bought all the ingredients for flap jacks recently and never made them. Time to play martha Stewart.

squod

Transform wrote: »

wow what high quality food - not.

Win for nut butters, making your own flapjacks and a whey protein powder if you really struggle to get in the cals

I figure he has a George Foreman. Betcha he just calls it a grill.

themandan6611

as me grandad used to say in relation to my skinny brother "the only way to put weight on him is to concrete his arse and feed him cabbage & bacon".