Hi, any advice for weight gain please?

Deanow

New member
Hi
I have just started trying to get into shape. I'm underweight (9 stone & 6" tall), tried for years to gain weight including eating just junk food, kebabs etc. Past four weeks I've been trying to consume 5,000+ daily and also exercising, first proper exercise in years (nearly kills me :) , made me realize how out of shape I am). GP has said to continue with high calorie diet (which currently includes a protein shake gainer from Holland and Barrett) and also lots of intensive exercise. I know very little about nutrition for weight gain and all the different gainer powder out there.
Can anyone recommend a good mass gainer from a good supplier?(cheaper than the £60 per 2.6kg tub I currently have would be good too). Also any advice on creatine, is this something that could help either prior to a workout (currently doing T25) or just daily for weight gain? Finally foods, looking for high calorie foods that don't involve massive plate loads, struggling to eat so much.
Thanks in advance
Dean
 
Those weight gainer shakes are pretty expensive. Here is a thread (and another linked thread in there) that has recipes for homemade shakes.

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If you're set on a premade gainer I'd check out iForce Mass Gainz.

-Carbs sourced only from oats and quinoa to help limit fat gain
-limited ingredient profile
-mixes easy and is easy on the stomach aka no bloat
-comes in great flavors
 
I would suggest against a mass gainer product, they're usually loaded with maltodextrin and crappy carb sources. The link kenpoengineer is great. I would suggest buying a quality whey protein, and making your own shakes. Use milk, oatmeal, frozen fruit, peanut butter, vegetables, nuts, and whey and make some high calorie shakes. You can easily make 1000+ cal shakes with the ingredients I listed above.

As far as whole foods, I agree with TrainerTone. Oats, quinoa, potatoes, rice, etc. are all good carb sources. When it comes to nutrition, keep it simple. Lean cuts of meat (your cheapest will probably be chicken breast), quality carbs, and healthy fats like nuts, nut butters, and olive and coconut oils. Make sure you don't neglect vegetables and greens, but don't eat too much because they tend to be more filling.

As far as staple supplements, just stick to whey protein and 5g of basic creatine monohydrate for now. You seem new to training and nutrition, so keep it simple and track your progress. I find it hard to believe that you're consuming over 5000 calories a day. I may be wrong, but its possible that you aren't counting calories correctly. 5000 calories is A LOT. But if you're tracking and your counting is correct, just focus on eating simple whole foods. Healthy carb sources will be your cheapest form of calories (rice and potatoes), so stock up and eat big!
 
Are you REALLY eating 5,000 calories a day? Are you tracking it? Or do you just go by feel?

I don't have personal experience with trying to gain weight like this, since I have spent most of my life trying to lose fat, but I think the principles seem to be the same but reversed. I have many friends who "can't gain weight" and tell me how much they eat, but then when we start talking about what they ACTUALLY eat, I see that they are very light eaters and they may eat different foods, but in such low volume that it doesn't mean much. They may say, "I had a big plate of pancakes for breakfast and a sandwich, and ....whatever" and I find out they had 2 pancakes and a sandwich with 2 oz. of meat and lettuce and not much in it.

On the other hand, people trying to lose weight often say, "I barely eat anything" and then you find out all they had was chicken but they had 12 oz. of it in barbeque sauce.

Weight gainers have a place, and finding one that is solid from a protein and healthy carb perspective is good. Also, increase healthy fats - eat coconut oil by the tablespoon, peanut butter, etc.

If you really have trouble with appetite, there are supplements that may help. Anabeta Elite has been said to increase appetite, Controlled Labs has "Black Hole" which gets mixed reviews, and amazon has this product which gets decent reviews and seems interesting:

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Main thing is just getting those calories in. It's funny how we all generally have a bit of a disconnect when it comes to what we're actually consuming. E.g. I bet you may be over-estimating what you're taking in on some days while I on the other hand think I'm doing great at a lower amount and actually eating 800 more calories a day than I'd intended. It's hard when you don't actually measure every single thing.

But in your case, I'd focus on calorie dense foods -- peanut butter, eggs, whole milk, oils (olive, coconut, MCT).

And don't forget, the more you exercise, the more you're burning, so you may be making that deficit even bigger (i.e. you may need to now eat even more! lol).

If you have any specific questions, let us know!
 
lol, John Patterson and Midwestbeast and I wrote those responses at the same time ....I feel smart now.
 
"T25" looks like A 25 minute cardio session (had to look it up). Not ideal for somebody trying to gain weight.

Lift heavy
Eat a **** ton
Sleep
Repeat
 
Thanks for the replies, I'll definitely look at the appetite supplements. Yep definitely consuming 5,000+ daily every day but 2,000 of those come from protein shakes, the rest is high calorie foods (quiche, dried fruits). I count all my calories (annoys partner as she's trying to lose weight). But so far all I've got is a constant bloated feeling and an extra 3lb. The shakes I currently have are not very nice and I'm just not convinced they're helping. Maybe I'm impatient, only been four weeks.
I opted for the T25 because of time and it's at home. I ain't walking into a gym, wouldn't feel comfortable. As it stands I won't even where short sleeve tops outdoors. Would some kind of weight training be much better than high intensity interval training then?
 
Frozen pizzas and pints of Ben and Jerry's.

Seriously, if you can't come up with enough calories from that, I don't know what will do it LOL.

:)
 
Adding in ABE would definitely be beneficial. It increases my appetite and is the type of supplement you want to put on lean mass. Another supplement i've tried is glycobol by AI Sports. It increased my appetite. Besides trying those just changing your diet and macros for you goals will be the biggest thing. Don't do cardio if you're trying to put on mass of course.
 
Weight training would be about 1000 times better than interval training. You shouldn't be embarrassed to walk into a gym at all man! As long as you read up and know what you're doing, no one will judge you. The average joe would be surprised, but most gyms (in my experience) are very accepting places. As long as you're not acting like a know-it-all douche, people will appreciate your desire to learn and they will be kind and helpful.

If you're trying to gain weight, doing a quick 25 minute high intensity workout at home isn't going to do much for you. If you're serious about putting on some muscle weight, I would highly recommend joining a gym. There's no better way to put pounds on your frame than a quality diet and resistance training.
 
TrainerTone said:
If you're set on a premade gainer I'd check out iForce Mass Gainz.

-Carbs sourced only from oats and quinoa to help limit fat gain
-limited ingredient profile
-mixes easy and is easy on the stomach aka no bloat
-comes in great flavors
Click to expand...


Mass Gainz is a GREAT way to get some extra calories in PLUS they taste awesome

But besides a meal replacement shake what else are you eating? What is your exact marcro breakdown? 5000 calories is a lot, and if you're not gaining off of that alone then something else is going on.

Read up what john.patterson has stated, dude is spot on
 
Breakfast is usually a tin of rice pudding and a banana (380cal), then a shake (1000cal), snack pastry and pepperami (approx 450cal), lunch ready maid seafood salad or potato salad (400cal), protein drink (450cal), dried fruits (250cal), Dinner of at least 1000cal, yogurt (200cal) finally another shake (1000cal).
That's a typical day (get so sick of eating) but I'm assuming the longer I continue the more I'll get used to it.
Trouble with going to a gym is I'd have no idea what I was doing, bare in mind haven't exercised for many many years. Was hoping to put on 1 stone and feel a bit fitter then would feel more comfortable going to a gym (probably hire a trainer for a few months would be beneficial for me)
It's just getting that first bit of weight (at least enough so my arms don't look like shrink wrapped bones).
 
Deanow said:
Trouble with going to a gym is I'd have no idea what I was doing, bare in mind haven't exercised for many many years. Was hoping to put on 1 stone and feel a bit fitter then would feel more comfortable going to a gym (probably hire a trainer for a few months would be beneficial for me)
It's just getting that first bit of weight (at least enough so my arms don't look like shrink wrapped bones).
Click to expand...

Don't let the opinions and judgement of others impact your goals man. If you wanna put on weight, join a gym. There are plenty of great articles online that go into proper training technique and form. Read up, educate yourself, and join a gym. I'm always far happier to help someone willing to learn than to watch someone pretend they know everything. Focus on yourself and f*ck everyone else man. You'll grow much faster if you have access to the proper equipment and you're in a positive environment.
 
Thanks john.patterson. I've took your advice, joined my local gym. Paid online so can't now find an excuse to back out. Figured if I'm spending silly money on protein drinks may as make sure it damn well works. Got 8 initial sessions with a personal trainer to learn to use the equipment and get some idea of what routines I should be doing. Hopefully by the end of those sessions I should feel comfortable going.
 
Deanow said:
Thanks john.patterson. I've took your advice, joined my local gym. Paid online so can't now find an excuse to back out. Figured if I'm spending silly money on protein drinks may as make sure it damn well works. Got 8 initial sessions with a personal trainer to learn to use the equipment and get some idea of what routines I should be doing. Hopefully by the end of those sessions I should feel comfortable going.
Click to expand...

Awesome dude! You'll be glad you did it. Feel free to PM me if you ever have any questions, I'd be happy to help you out bro.
 
Don't know if it was mentioned but if you choose to do the homemade gainer shakes like people recommend, just make sure you use a good quality protein like pes select. Doesn't get much better than that for protein. The rest of the shake is milk and whole foods which are all the same. I.e. A banana is a banana where protein is not protein. There are many levels and types of protein out there just use the right one. If u buy a crappy one you're just spinning your wheels so to speak. Peace and good look on your quest. If you follow the advice in this thread and work hard you = WIN.
 
Great advice here - and glad to see you taking action! That is the key, and it sounds like you are doing a lot of the right things.

First - 3 pounds gained in 4 weeks isn't too bad. If you gain 3 pounds a month and keep that up, in 1 year you'll be 36 pounds heavier. Granted, eating 5,000 calories to do so suggest you have an extremely high metabolism and high activity level. Working backwards and assuming 3,500 calories needed to gain a pound, you consumed 35,000 calories a week for 3/4 of a pound gain. 3/4 X 3,500 = 2,625 calories above maintenance.

35,000 - 2,625 = 32,375
32,375/7 = 4,625 calories/day just to maintain your bodyweight. That's really VERY unbelievable, unless you're doing a TON of activity.

Maybe that actually is what you burn...it seems like you are keeping track. Wish I could eat 3/4 of that and maintain my weight :)

I am impressed to see you taking action, that is really the key. If you take action, you WILL learn and in 1 year you will be helping someone else overcome a problem that you've learned to solve. A lot of people want answers, but never take action, and never really learn and never get anywhere.

For training, since you seem like you are nervous about not knowing things, I would suggest looking into stronglifts 5X5 to get started. I say this because it's a relatively effective program, won't burn a TON of calories (so you can gain easier), it focuses on the major movements, and there are just 5 exercises to learn, so you won't be overwhelmed with not knowing what you are doing. In 2 weeks you will be comfortable and just doing your thing. After a little while, you will be comfortable in your new environment and can do different exercises, but you will be able to focus on learning the new movement without the distraction of learning about the gym.
 
Try a full body routine, using lots of compound movements, specifically squats, dead lifts, push and press, bench and incline press, pull-ups and dips.

Eat -- a lot; sleep -- a lot.

That's always helped me.

Good luck.
 
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