Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

How to gain weight?

  • 20-03-2012 7:31pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭


    Hi all,

    Just looking for some tips on how to gain a few pounds.

    I'm 19, 6ft and weigh 11st 2pound AND THE FRAME OF A STICK!

    I dont play any team sports, would probably only lead me to lose more weight anyway.

    I have a weight bench, weights etc.. and I'd be looking for a routine to do at home, 3 times a week.

    My diet currently is:

    Breakfast: Bowl of fruit and fibre OR scrambled eggs(3 eggs) and 2 slices of toast.

    Dinner: Supds with chicken/fish and vegetables.

    Tea: Scrambled eggs/cereal/chips/ could be anything really.

    AND I eat a load of shoite in between.

    Just writing what I eat has made me realise I need to get a more structered diet:eek:

    So what I'm looking for is a weight programme to start off with and a diet plan aswell.

    Hope to get a few replies.

    B2010.


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 315 ✭✭Ice87


    Hi there,

    Your diet is key to putting on weight. What I found easy was to make sure you get in at least 1 gram of protein per pound of your weight, along with a high proportion of carbs/fats and you should be on the right track. You can track this on myfitnesspal.com.

    Your not by all means a whippet but you shouldn't find it that hard to gain weight and increase by maybe 2-3 pounds every week for the first couple of weeks provided you lift/eat well.

    I'd recommend a 5x5 programme.

    http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/

    If you aren't putting on weight within the first two weeks introduce a supplement to your diet or what works well as a substitute is drinking an extra litre of milk a day to get the extra calories in.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 21,981 ✭✭✭✭Hanley


    Very simply, as a starting point;

    -Bodyweight in lb x16 = total daily kcals
    -1g of protein per lb of bodyweight
    -sleep 8 hours a night
    -train to get really strong

    Tracking your kcals initially may be a pain, but once you get into it you'll develop and ability to just eye ball what you're eating and have a fairly good idea how many kcals you're taking in.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,339 ✭✭✭El Horseboxo


    Reason you're eating a load of shíte in between is because you have your eating schedule set up to allow just that. A breakfast, lunch and dinner or breakfast dinner and tea or whatever approach is perfect for snacking as there a long periods between each main meal.

    If you eat roughly every 2-3 hours and have smaller portions structuring your meals around whole foods with some form of lean meat, complex carbs or good fats and some veg you will keep yourself full. And you will be getting your calories from sources that will benefit muscle growth or fat loss depending on your workout plan.

    Thinking outside the box is where you should think about going. You don't need complete meals that compliment each other. By that I mean you don't need to eat mince with pasta and a sauce or chicken with rice etc. Laziness or tiredness can play a role in not eating good. So sometimes I'll eat a fillet of chicken and just eat porridge as my carbs. Or I'll make a beef burger on the grill and just eat a few handfuls of non salted nuts for the good fats. I keep fats and carbs separate from each meal. Neither are complete meals but I get my required calories and macros. Cooking in advance is also something that has helped me stay on top of eating. I boil a big pot of rice every Sunday night and cook 21 chicken fillets and a load of veg. That is very handy to heat up and good calories.

    You could also try drinking lots of milk. You'll put on a bit of body fat with this.

    If you eat loads and train hard you'll increase your weight or at least begin to change your body to a physique that won't make you look stick thin.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,339 ✭✭✭El Horseboxo


    Reason you're eating a load of shíte in between is because you have your eating schedule set up to allow just that. A breakfast, lunch and dinner or breakfast dinner and tea or whatever approach is perfect for snacking as there a long periods between each main meal.

    If you eat roughly every 2-3 hours and have smaller portions structuring your meals around whole foods with some form of lean meat, complex carbs or good fats and some veg you will keep yourself full. And you will be getting your calories from sources that will benefit muscle growth or fat loss depending on your workout plan.

    Thinking outside the box is where you should think about going. You don't need complete meals that compliment each other. By that I mean you don't need to eat mince with pasta and a sauce or chicken with rice etc. Laziness or tiredness can play a role in not eating good. So sometimes I'll eat a fillet of chicken and just eat porridge as my carbs. Or I'll make a beef burger on the grill and just eat a few handfuls of non salted nuts for the good fats. I keep fats and carbs separate from each meal. Neither are complete meals but I get my required calories and macros. Cooking in advance is also something that has helped me stay on top of eating. I boil a big pot of rice every Sunday night and cook 21 chicken fillets and a load of veg. That is very handy to heat up and good calories.

    You could also try drinking lots of milk. You'll put on a bit of body fat with this.

    If you eat loads and train hard you'll increase your weight or at least begin to change your body to a physique that won't make you look stick thin.


  • Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭Browning2010


    OK after reading a few different sites, I've decided this to be my new diet, just seeing what yous think.

    Breakfast: Bowl of cereal, 2 slices of toast.

    Lunch: Scrambled egg(4eggs) and 2 slices of toast. OR Rice with a chicken fillet.(Which ever of these I have for lunch I'll have the other after dinner).

    Dinner: Potatoes with either chicken/cod/salmon and mix veg.

    Snacks throughout the day: Nuts(Not sure what type) Pears, Banana, Oranges, Jaffa Cakes.

    I also plan to drink 2l of Milk and water every day along with a scoop of whey protein mixed with milk after the weight lifting.

    Any suggestions on how I could better this?


    This works out about 3000kcal a day
    B2010.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 9,454 ✭✭✭billyhead


    OK after reading a few different sites, I've decided this to be my new diet, just seeing what yous think.

    Breakfast: Bowl of cereal, 2 slices of toast.

    Lunch: Scrambled egg(4eggs) and 2 slices of toast. OR Rice with a chicken fillet.(Which ever of these I have for lunch I'll have the other after dinner).

    Dinner: Potatoes with either chicken/cod/salmon and mix veg.

    Snacks throughout the day: Nuts(Not sure what type) Pears, Banana, Oranges, Jaffa Cakes.

    I also plan to drink 2l of Milk and water every day along with a scoop of whey protein mixed with milk after the weight lifting.

    Any suggestions on how I could better this?


    This works out about 3000kcal a day
    B2010.

    Stick tothe mantra train hard, eat big and rest well. Once you finish your last meal you should be thinking of your next one. Aim for about 650 cals per meal 6 times a day. As others said try to get 1-1.2g of protein per pound of bodyweight. Actually forget counting cals etc. The way I went from 10 stone at your height to my current weight of 13 stone was to eat like a pig and trian like a beast in the gym. You will put on a little fat around the mid section but you can plan to try and get rid of that when you reach your target weight which for your height is at least 12.5 stone minimum


  • Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭Browning2010


    I've decided to eat like a beast for the next few months along with my own weight lifting routine of bench presses, leg curls, sit ups and pushups and I'll see were that brings me.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,874 ✭✭✭deadlybuzzman


    I've decided to eat like a beast for the next few months along with my own weight lifting routine of bench presses, leg curls, sit ups and pushups and I'll see were that brings me.

    best of luck with it-you sound like you mean business. Speaking as someone that was in a similar position as yourself ill give you 1 piece of advice along with whats been said.
    Pick a tried and tested programme that works, your 1st few months can potentially give you your biggest gains if done right and its definitely best to along with a programme from those that have been there and done it already.
    You could stumble around for years figuring things by trial and error and only make the same progress that 6 months on a good template would have given you anyway.

    Google starting strength
    bill starr 5x5
    madcow 5x5

    theyre just off the top of my head and theres probably plenty of other ones too. Just pick one and stick with it for months
    good luck!


  • Registered Users Posts: 854 ✭✭✭pedatron


    How did you get on Browning? Fairly underweight myself and could do with putting on about two stone of preferably muscle! :P


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 16,707 ✭✭✭✭Tigger


    He was planning on eating toast and doing push-ups and leg curls
    Same as most who do t like the answer they get when the ask how to put on muscle he decided he knew better
    So I'd say he's about the same


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭Browning2010


    Tigger wrote: »
    He was planning on eating toast and doing push-ups and leg curls
    Same as most who do t like the answer they get when the ask how to put on muscle he decided he knew better
    So I'd say he's about the same


    Yeah good man. Great saying 'If you've nothing good to stay say nothing at all'.


  • Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭Browning2010


    pedatron wrote: »
    How did you get on Browning? Fairly underweight myself and could do with putting on about two stone of preferably muscle! :P

    I gained weight alright just not as much as I'd like tho.

    The weight training is going well just hard getting the right high calorie diet.


  • Registered Users Posts: 316 ✭✭Mossess


    Eat a ham sandwich before going to bed. Do that every night for a month and you’ll add a stone no problems at all :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 487 ✭✭BlueIsland


    I gained weight alright just not as much as I'd like tho.

    The weight training is going well just hard getting the right high calorie diet.


    The "right high calorie diet" is advised by Hanley above. Your BW in lbs x 16.... Lift heavy weights...sleep right = gain weight.


  • Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭Browning2010


    BlueIsland wrote: »
    The "right high calorie diet" is advised by Hanley above. Your BW in lbs x 16.... Lift heavy weights...sleep right = gain weight.

    I'm 74kg now which is 163 pound, so I should be taking in 2600 calories a day?

    Any links to diet plan that could get me in and around that figure?

    Thanks.


  • Registered Users Posts: 487 ✭✭BlueIsland


    I'm 74kg now which is 163 pound, so I should be taking in 2600 calories a day?

    Any links to diet plan that could get me in and around that figure?

    Thanks.

    1g protein for every LB BW also.

    Go onto Fitday.com or myfitnesspal.com log everything you eat and see where you going from there.

    meat, eggs, nuts, cheese, milk are all great sources.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 16,707 ✭✭✭✭Tigger


    Yeah good man. Great saying 'If you've nothing good to stay say nothing at all'.

    you gained 2 kg in 9 months
    so as i said you're about the same

    its easy to know what to eat, when you are as skinney as you are
    How much do I need to eat?

    1) More

    2) There is an old business adage, “don’t dress for a job you have; dress for the job you want.” Apply this to your eating. If you want to be 215, you need to eat for 215, not for your 165 pound sprint-Tri doing self. You won’t get 70’s Big by pushing bird seed around your plate at your local hippy bistro. Start with 125-150% of what you’re eating now and see how that goes for a couple weeks.

    I can’t eat all the food. Can’t I just train harder?

    Eating is training. Beowulf had Grendel. We have Mongolian and Chinese buffets. If you don’t have at least one dining experience every couple of weeks that resembles an epic struggle worthy of telling over beers, you’ll be putting from the rough for the foreseeable future.

    We understand that eating for size and strength, especially if you have a high metabolism, is not easy. The body is very good at adjustment to small increases in caloric consumption. You may have to double your current intake to make appreciable gains. That’s why the gallon of whole milk a day works so well for the lean guys.


    from here
    http://70sbig.com/food/


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,148 ✭✭✭PizzamanIRL


    Make sure you get protein into you after your workout obviously but also just before you go to bed. Put whatever protein you use into a shaker with a pint of milk. That will keep your body ticking over while you sleep and the fat from the milk will slow down the digestion.

    Eat big and train hard. And rest. Its up to you to figure out how much you have to eat.


Advertisement