So I'm trying to put a lot of weight on and just recently started to watch my calorie intake. I was only eating enough to maintain my current weight and so when I used one of those calorie calculators to figure out how much I needed, it was about 3200 a day. For about the past four days now, I've been trying to eat as close to that as I can. I weighed myself earlier today just for the heck of it and noticed I lost a couple pounds! I mean, I wasn't expecting to see any changes this early but, if I were expecting any changes, it definitely wouldn't of been that. So what gives? ???
Any fitness experts out there?
- Thread starter Delgado
- Start date
You need to hit up Jet Li, he is a body builder and a doctor. He can set you straight bro.
Rainbow7
Registered
Do you exercise regularly? A brisk walk twice a day can help you lose weight and help curb appetite.
Do you drink beer or any kind of softdrink /soda? - If so, cut them right out. Drink lots of water.
Don't have sugar in your coffee.
It's generally a fairly simple equation: Energy output > energy input = weight loss.
Also, amphetamines can help you lose weight in an amazingly short time. (Of course, you'll end up losing everything else, too...)
Do you drink beer or any kind of softdrink /soda? - If so, cut them right out. Drink lots of water.
Don't have sugar in your coffee.
It's generally a fairly simple equation: Energy output > energy input = weight loss.
Also, amphetamines can help you lose weight in an amazingly short time. (Of course, you'll end up losing everything else, too...)
18.5 (according to the websites I went to)
Since I work at the airport, most of my physical activity comes from there. I don't drink alcohol but, I might drink like 4 cans of soda the entire week. I drink a lot of the minute maid stuff and orange juice.
The first time I tried to put on some weight, I noticed the same thing happening and I ended up quitting. And now that I'm trying to do it again, it looks like the same thing is happening. Is this just part of some weird weight gain process that I have to go through before I actually start to gain?
What a metabolism
Come visit me and I'll jump on your back 
Eats more and looses weight
MelodicMetalGod
Registered
What a metabolism
Eats more and looses weight
S4L
Registered
Reread his post, he wants to GAIN weight.
Bodybuilding.com has some good info and articles.
Eat healthy, eat often, and exercise. How tall are you and how much do you weigh now? Why do you want to gain weight?
Try ensure plus, I heard it work for some people.
MelodicMetalGod
Registered
Matabolism is simple:
Weight Gain: Calories consumed > Calories burned
Weight Loss: Calories consumed < Calories burned
Therefore, if you're losing weight, you're eating fewer calories than you're burning. The solution, eat more calories.
There are other short term considerations that might explain weight loss, such as losing water weight, increased waste elimination, etc, but these are not true weight loss just like emptying oil out of your bike doesn't make the bike truly lighter b/c as soon as you replace the oil, that weight is back.
The key to monitoring your weight is to weigh in at the same time every day, a time when your weight is most stable. A good suggestion is to weigh yourself in the morning right out of bed, before eating and after visiting the toilet. This ensures that you're as "empty" of food/fluid weight as you'll be when you hit the scale.
I can tell you that for a 150 lb person, weight can easily fluctuate up or down by 2 or 3 lbs over the course of any given day, depending on the consistency of their food/liquid intake and level of exercise/activity.
In all likelihood, the fact that you've changed your diet and lost weight means that you've simply overestimated your caloric intake or underestimated your caloric needs or some combination thereof.
My suggestions:
1) Get a good scale. I prefer the type that measure not only weight to the 1/2 pound but also body composition (% of body fat). Scales will measure a LOT of different things these days, but the most important thing is that they be consistent so that if you put a 10lb weight on it today and tomorrow, it should report 10 lbs both days. Worst thing you can do is monitor your weight using an incosistent scale.
2) Weigh in every morning, as I described above. Make a log of the results. After a week you'll have a solid baseline of data. Optional but educational: Weigh yourself as often as you can throughout the day for a while - before and after meals, workouts, bathroom visits, etc. You'll be surprised how quickly weight can fluctuate in a given day. I've lost over 5 lbs in two hours of playing sports due to fluid loss...but it means nothing b/c that weight will be back as I replace those fluids and have a meal.
3) Increase those calories. Make those calories good calories from whole foods, not junk food and soda. You'll gain weight either way, but good calories will help you stay healthy as you gain weight, bad calories can seriously compromise your health. I recommend plant based diets. Many of todays top athletes are vegetarians or vegans for the increased energy and endurance the lack of health complications that non-meat based diets provide over meat based diets.
4) Work out. Weight, cardio, stretching, sports. If you don't, you'll be gaining unhealthy weight. Presumably, you're gaining weight for a reason. Whatever that reason, you want to gain muscle, not fat...unless you're looking to float better in water...but i doubt that's the case. lol
5) Consult a physician, trainer, nutritionist. If you're not sure what you're doing, ask for help from those that do. Physician can evaluate your overall health and ensure that your body is up for meeting the challenges you wish to take on. Trainers can help you learn how to train for your goals. Nutritionist can guid your diet choices for your goals.
6) Get plenty of regular sleep. Go to bed at the same time every night. Get a full nights sleep every night. That's about 8 hours for most of us. For some it's as little as 6 hours. If you wake up refreshed and ready to go, that's a good indicator you've gotten enough sleep, and vice versa. If you want to buid your body up, you have to give it the time to do so. The body repairs and builds when it sleeps. When you workout and push your body, you're tearing it down EVER so slightly, which elicits a response from the body to repair and build up so as to be better able to cope with the new activity. If you don't sleep, you're body won't recover as completely or as quickly. Do NOT underestimate the importance of full and proper sleep.
So, to recap: Get a good scale, weigh in once/day every day, log the results and increase caloric intake to gain weight, work out to put on muscle, consult experts for guidance as needed and get plenty of sleep.
FYI: My first attempt at gaining weight using the above basic principles resulted in 20 lbs of additional muscle and virtually no body fat in about 6 weeks. Bear in mind, the younger you are, the easier it will be to add muscle and minimize fat. Results at 20 will be faster and better than results at age 40, but it can be done at any age.
Best of luck!
Weight Gain: Calories consumed > Calories burned
Weight Loss: Calories consumed < Calories burned
Therefore, if you're losing weight, you're eating fewer calories than you're burning. The solution, eat more calories.
There are other short term considerations that might explain weight loss, such as losing water weight, increased waste elimination, etc, but these are not true weight loss just like emptying oil out of your bike doesn't make the bike truly lighter b/c as soon as you replace the oil, that weight is back.
The key to monitoring your weight is to weigh in at the same time every day, a time when your weight is most stable. A good suggestion is to weigh yourself in the morning right out of bed, before eating and after visiting the toilet. This ensures that you're as "empty" of food/fluid weight as you'll be when you hit the scale.
I can tell you that for a 150 lb person, weight can easily fluctuate up or down by 2 or 3 lbs over the course of any given day, depending on the consistency of their food/liquid intake and level of exercise/activity.
In all likelihood, the fact that you've changed your diet and lost weight means that you've simply overestimated your caloric intake or underestimated your caloric needs or some combination thereof.
My suggestions:
1) Get a good scale. I prefer the type that measure not only weight to the 1/2 pound but also body composition (% of body fat). Scales will measure a LOT of different things these days, but the most important thing is that they be consistent so that if you put a 10lb weight on it today and tomorrow, it should report 10 lbs both days. Worst thing you can do is monitor your weight using an incosistent scale.
2) Weigh in every morning, as I described above. Make a log of the results. After a week you'll have a solid baseline of data. Optional but educational: Weigh yourself as often as you can throughout the day for a while - before and after meals, workouts, bathroom visits, etc. You'll be surprised how quickly weight can fluctuate in a given day. I've lost over 5 lbs in two hours of playing sports due to fluid loss...but it means nothing b/c that weight will be back as I replace those fluids and have a meal.
3) Increase those calories. Make those calories good calories from whole foods, not junk food and soda. You'll gain weight either way, but good calories will help you stay healthy as you gain weight, bad calories can seriously compromise your health. I recommend plant based diets. Many of todays top athletes are vegetarians or vegans for the increased energy and endurance the lack of health complications that non-meat based diets provide over meat based diets.
4) Work out. Weight, cardio, stretching, sports. If you don't, you'll be gaining unhealthy weight. Presumably, you're gaining weight for a reason. Whatever that reason, you want to gain muscle, not fat...unless you're looking to float better in water...but i doubt that's the case. lol
5) Consult a physician, trainer, nutritionist. If you're not sure what you're doing, ask for help from those that do. Physician can evaluate your overall health and ensure that your body is up for meeting the challenges you wish to take on. Trainers can help you learn how to train for your goals. Nutritionist can guid your diet choices for your goals.
6) Get plenty of regular sleep. Go to bed at the same time every night. Get a full nights sleep every night. That's about 8 hours for most of us. For some it's as little as 6 hours. If you wake up refreshed and ready to go, that's a good indicator you've gotten enough sleep, and vice versa. If you want to buid your body up, you have to give it the time to do so. The body repairs and builds when it sleeps. When you workout and push your body, you're tearing it down EVER so slightly, which elicits a response from the body to repair and build up so as to be better able to cope with the new activity. If you don't sleep, you're body won't recover as completely or as quickly. Do NOT underestimate the importance of full and proper sleep.
So, to recap: Get a good scale, weigh in once/day every day, log the results and increase caloric intake to gain weight, work out to put on muscle, consult experts for guidance as needed and get plenty of sleep.
FYI: My first attempt at gaining weight using the above basic principles resulted in 20 lbs of additional muscle and virtually no body fat in about 6 weeks. Bear in mind, the younger you are, the easier it will be to add muscle and minimize fat. Results at 20 will be faster and better than results at age 40, but it can be done at any age.
Best of luck!
danath 34
Registered
im no expert here, but I do quite a bit of weight lifting, so heres my input.
LOTS of protein. Protein is your friend for bulking up. Also, start lifting weights hard. Lift hard, and get lots of protein, and you will build some mass. Also stay hydrated, as that helps in everything you do.
And dont make any assumptions from a small gain/loss in weight. This could be anything from taking a dump (or needing to) to being a bit dehydrated, or not having anything in your stomache. If you constantly weigh yourself, you will see your weight actually wanders quite a bit from day to day.
LOTS of protein. Protein is your friend for bulking up. Also, start lifting weights hard. Lift hard, and get lots of protein, and you will build some mass. Also stay hydrated, as that helps in everything you do.
And dont make any assumptions from a small gain/loss in weight. This could be anything from taking a dump (or needing to) to being a bit dehydrated, or not having anything in your stomache. If you constantly weigh yourself, you will see your weight actually wanders quite a bit from day to day.
PaLVBusa
Registered
Its not uncommon to lose weight when you start eating more. The more often you eat the more often your metabolism kicks in causing you to digest quicker and more efficent. Are you looking to just gain weight or mass?
Protein is ur best friend. Whey protein is a good snack substitute. This will help gain some good mass and avoid gaining unwanted fat. Breakfast is best time to eat biggest meal wether your trying to lose or gain weight. Eat a big breakfast consistent with allot of protien (eggs are awesome). Avoid coffee and soda or virtually anything with caffein cause this will raise ur heart rate and cause you to burn more during a day. Plus caffein is a diaretic which means ur gonna lose some water weight as well. Sugars are a good way to gain extra weight if you have a crappy digestive system but im assuming you dont have that so ur body will process sugar better then ur average obese guy will so all that will do is stimulate ur heart rate slightly causing u to burn more calories and once again lose access water weight. Maybe a few extra lbs of fat but nothing noticable.
As far as exercising... Do less cardio and more weight training. In ur case you want to do less reps and higher weights. You want your muscles to be tired afterwards but not hurting. Stregthen your major muscles first, Chest/back/thighs/abs.. When you work them you will also be working ur smaller muscles like ur biceps/triceps and calves so the smaller muscles will get a double workout. Your muscles need a day to relax so dont train everything in same day. Ur abs you can do everyday since it is hard to really overwork them.
Ok to sum up everything... EAT PROTEIN and LOTS OF IT and change ur workout plan
Trust me im a Dr..
Protein is ur best friend. Whey protein is a good snack substitute. This will help gain some good mass and avoid gaining unwanted fat. Breakfast is best time to eat biggest meal wether your trying to lose or gain weight. Eat a big breakfast consistent with allot of protien (eggs are awesome). Avoid coffee and soda or virtually anything with caffein cause this will raise ur heart rate and cause you to burn more during a day. Plus caffein is a diaretic which means ur gonna lose some water weight as well. Sugars are a good way to gain extra weight if you have a crappy digestive system but im assuming you dont have that so ur body will process sugar better then ur average obese guy will so all that will do is stimulate ur heart rate slightly causing u to burn more calories and once again lose access water weight. Maybe a few extra lbs of fat but nothing noticable.
As far as exercising... Do less cardio and more weight training. In ur case you want to do less reps and higher weights. You want your muscles to be tired afterwards but not hurting. Stregthen your major muscles first, Chest/back/thighs/abs.. When you work them you will also be working ur smaller muscles like ur biceps/triceps and calves so the smaller muscles will get a double workout. Your muscles need a day to relax so dont train everything in same day. Ur abs you can do everyday since it is hard to really overwork them.
Ok to sum up everything... EAT PROTEIN and LOTS OF IT and change ur workout plan
Trust me im a Dr..
MelodicMetalGod
Registered
Good point on the hydration. Plenty of water is critical to any body, especially one getting lots of activity/challenges.
WRT to protein, this has always been the rule of thumb. However, many studies are finding that the massive protein intake that has been endorsed for so long in the fitness industry is not necessarily correct. It turns out that excellent results can be achieved with much less protein that was formerly believed. Recommend that everyone look into this for themselves and draw their own conclusions along with guidance from a nutritionalist.
PaLVBusa
Registered
The problem with this is the majority of the protiens the general fitness industry promotes is not regulated by the FDA so they can do and say pretty much what ever they want. Perfect example is Hydroxy-cut... Its a strong diaretic so you lose 5-10lbs in a week and think its working amazing but its all water weight and ppl become upset when they gain the weight back immedately after stopping the pills. The general fitness company will push supplimental protein down your throats. There is NO SUPPLIMENT FOR NATURAL PROTEIN. I am not arguing with you by any means but most of those studies are done with non FDA approved Protein suppliments like the ones sold at GNC. Your body needs protein to build muscle that is basic physiology and the less altered it is the better your body will use it to produce new healthy muscle fibers.
Best thing for you is eat good healthy foods high in fiber and protein and eat allot of it. Some ppl have a naturally strong digestive system (your the lucky ones) so you need to work at building muscle to gain weight. Hit the weight room hard and very often... You'll see a difference in a few weeks.
MelodicMetalGod
Registered
Agreed that a steady supply of protein is an essential component of muscle building and that healthy, whole foods is the way to go and that the supplement industry is a mess and not to be trusted as their goal is simply to sell product/make profit.
Still, there are concerns that too much protein on a regular basis can be unhealthy. Possible issues associated with excessive protein intake include kidney issues, osteoporosis and, if sourcing protein from meats, excessive intake of fat and cholesterol and the associated health risks.
As it seems to be with so many things, the more we learn, the more we find that extreme tends to be unhealthy and that the ideal is something of a balance.
Wow that's a great amount of information.. You guys are awesome I'll have to come back and read through it again. I'm 6'1 and never seen past 150lbs. I consider my job a form of 'cardio' due to the amount of walking / lifting I do plus the fact that it feels like your sitting in a sauna a lot of the times. I'd like to eventually lift weight but, not right now although that sounds like one of the best options besides eating constantly. After I just recently started, I have been logging my intake and its considerably more than what I have been eating in the past. I guess the only thing stopping me from eating more is my lack of an appetite. Hopefully though my body will slowly get used to this and want more.
I'll have to come back and read through it again. I'm 6'1 and never seen past 150lbs. I consider my job a form of 'cardio' due to the amount of walking / lifting I do plus the fact that it feels like your sitting in a sauna a lot of the times. I'd like to eventually lift weight but, not right now although that sounds like one of the best options besides eating constantly. After I just recently started, I have been logging my intake and its considerably more than what I have been eating in the past. I guess the only thing stopping me from eating more is my lack of an appetite. Hopefully though my body will slowly get used to this and want more.
FYI: My first attempt at gaining weight using the above basic principles resulted in 20 lbs of additional muscle and virtually no body fat in about 6 weeks. [/QUOTE]
Holy cow!!! I need your diet in detail! 20lbs of muscle in 6 weeks!! Not being rude, just truly amazed! If I could do that, I could move up to the pros by the end of the year!! I have only been able to add about 8lbs of quality muscle a year for the last 3 years.
But to the point of gaining weight posed by the starter of this thread, all I can add is if you feel confident in you calculations then you must exceed your basic daily caloric needs no just come close to them. Bodybuilding.com as suggested above does have great info and so do nutrition books. So educate yourself and don't be disappointed when the weight does not come on fast. Like I said, it took me over 3 years now to gain almost 25lbs!!
Eat, train, sleep, then just repeat!!!
Holy cow!!! I need your diet in detail! 20lbs of muscle in 6 weeks!! Not being rude, just truly amazed! If I could do that, I could move up to the pros by the end of the year!! I have only been able to add about 8lbs of quality muscle a year for the last 3 years.
But to the point of gaining weight posed by the starter of this thread, all I can add is if you feel confident in you calculations then you must exceed your basic daily caloric needs no just come close to them. Bodybuilding.com as suggested above does have great info and so do nutrition books. So educate yourself and don't be disappointed when the weight does not come on fast. Like I said, it took me over 3 years now to gain almost 25lbs!!
Eat, train, sleep, then just repeat!!!
I thought you were being sarcastic until I actually saw a Jet Li browsing this thread! LOL
If I was just sitting in bed all day I'd probably agree that 3200 will get my weight up. Unfortunately that isn't the case for me. I have noticed that my appetite is slowly increasing since I started so I can only hope it will increase more over time.
MelodicMetalGod
Registered
Holy cow!!! I need your diet in detail! 20lbs of muscle in 6 weeks!! Not being rude, just truly amazed! If I could do that, I could move up to the pros by the end of the year!! I have only been able to add about 8lbs of quality muscle a year for the last 3 years.
But to the point of gaining weight posed by the starter of this thread, all I can add is if you feel confident in you calculations then you must exceed your basic daily caloric needs no just come close to them. Bodybuilding.com as suggested above does have great info and so do nutrition books. So educate yourself and don't be disappointed when the weight does not come on fast. Like I said, it took me over 3 years now to gain almost 25lbs!!
Eat, train, sleep, then just repeat!!![/QUOTE]
My diet was "Gramma's cookin'".
Just good old fashioned meat and potatoes and vege's with home made desserts for treats now and then. I also "supplemented" for calories and protein with ice cream milk shakes buffed with a raw egg or two (didn't know about salmonella issues back then) and a spoon or two of peanut butter. I also ate 6 meals a day (big breakfast, small snack, huge lunch (sometimes 2 full meals, without feeling full), small snack, dinner, small snack. After that last meal, I was in bed at the same time every night getting my 8 hours of repairs/building, I mean, sleep! 
I went from 130 to 150 in about 6 weeks. However, I should point out that while I was always naturally active, I had NEVER trained ever before and I was somewhat underweight at 130, so my body responded very quickly and with great results. I should also point out that I have never duplicated that result...but then, I've never trained or dieted as religiously as I did then either.
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