Help With Diet to Gain Weight

Training Beginners
1

Hi folks.
This is my first post here, because I need some help. I am a terrible 62kg, and really want to gain weight. I have read, read and read on the net and lots of the great articles here, so I think i know a little bit - i.e. im not coming here being lazy and wanting it all fed to me! First off, here is my work out and diet.

Day 1 - Push:
Benchpress (Barbell)
Tricep Dips
Military Press

Day 2 - Pull:
Barbell bicep curls
Deadlift
Bent-over barbell row

Day 3 - legs:
Squats
Lunges
Stiff-leg deadlifts.

I take a day of inbetween workouts, and I do 3 sets of 8 reps at max weight. I have tried pyramiding reps and weights, but lots of people have told me max weights for 3x8, so that’s what I am doing.

Now, what I am eating (this is a sample):

Breakfast (6.30am)
Glass of milk (+ my multivitamin pills - I take GNC Ultra Gold Men or something, and a GNC Vitamin b-12 complex)
2/3 slices of fullgrain bread with meat + cheese OR bowl of oats + milk, or a muesli

Break (10am)
2 large meat + veggie sandwiches, 2 glasses of milk

Lunch (1pm)
Set lunch consiting of a piece of meat + 3 servings of vegetables. Glass of juice.

Home (4pm)
Myoplex Deluxe

Dinner(7pm)
Cooked meal by my lovely mum, and is usually meat with 3/4 servigns of veggie, + salad. Glass of juice.

Before bed (10pm)
Myoplex Deluxe.

I have worked out with the calculators on this site i need 2750 calories and 111g of protein a day to gain weight. The 2 protein shakes between them have 700 calories and 120g of protein, and so I’m sure I’m getting it. WHAT IS GOING ON!!

I have been on this for about 4 months now and not budged at all. I am really, really, really lost here!

Many thanks and warmest regards,

Julian

2

Whats going on plain and simple your trying to follow a cookie cutter equation for intake. They are good starting places but each individual may need more or less. You simply need MORE add moe intake bro.

You seem to be getting plenty of protein but no fats essentially. Load up Natural PB, nuts, olive oil etc. and if need be up the more starchy carbs they will digest fast leaving you hungry. Potato, rice, etc.

Read Massive eating and what JB had to do to gain weigh in highschool, carrying Bagel and PB sandwiches and gallions of whole milk etc

Phill

3

You have been doing this for four months, haven’t gained any weight, and haven’t thought of increasing your calories?!

Eat more until you start growing, simple as that :slight_smile:

4

Check out Cy Wilson’s article, I believe it’s called Nutrition for Skinny Bastards.

Also, what’s your current training program like?

In terms of Supplement, some staples you should use that you can get right here on T-Nation are:
Surge
Creatine Monohydrate
Metabolic Drive Complete (instead of Myoplex)
BCAA’s
Flameout

Also, a good enteric coated probiotic and Omegazyme digestive enzymes will make the whole bulking process a bit easier in terms of making sure you’re absorbing all the calories you eat.

5

[quote]novagreg wrote:
Check out Cy Wilson’s article, I believe it’s called Nutrition for Skinny Bastards.

Also, what’s your current training program like?

In terms of Supplement, some staples you should use that you can get right here on T-Nation are:
Surge
Creatine Monohydrate
Metabolic Drive Complete (instead of Myoplex)
BCAA’s
Flameout

Also, a good enteric coated probiotic and Omegazyme digestive enzymes will make the whole bulking process a bit easier in terms of making sure you’re absorbing all the calories you eat. [/quote]

Novagreg,

Other than perhaps the digestive enzymes (which I have personally no experience with) and a good whey protein, I don’t think that the OP really needs to worry about supplements at this point. Don’t get me wrong, I think that supps can give an advanced trainee that extra little edge to take them to the next level. But, at the OP’s current training level, he really just needs to focus on the basics (diet and training).

Juliancs,

As several people have already mentioned, if you are not gaining weight on 2,750 reps (which honestly sounds a bit low to me) then you need to INCREASE CALORIC INTAKE.

Gaining weight/muscle pretty much can be simplified into the following equation:

Progressive Overload + Caloric Surplus + Adequate Rest and Recovery = weight/lean mass gain

Everything other than that is fine tuning. If you are training hard in the gym (or even not training that hard in the gym) and are getting enough sleep, and are still not gaining weight. Then, guess what variable in the above equation is lacking? Yup, it’s the caloric intake. My suggestion is to try upping your calories to 3,750. If you still don’t start gaining weight, up it even more, until you start.

Good training,

Sentoguy

6

hi guys,
Thanks for the replies. My problem is, at the moment with all this eating, I am full to the point of feeling sick. I’m not sure HOW to eat more? I know I have to ‘push it down’, but I already am…is there anything I can do to increase my appetite? Any advice?

Many thanks in advance,
Julian

7

Try adding this in addition to what you’re eating right now.

In a blender, put: 1 cup of whole milk (full cream), 1 cup plain natural yogurt, 1 cup cottage cheese, then add some berries (preferably frozen) for flavor and nutrients, and if possible the berry flaovered Greens+.

Of course, you’ll want to toss in one or two tablespoons of the highest grade olive oil possible. Adding a little bit of ice makes it even more enjoyable, especially with a couple scoops of Metabolic Drive (Metabolic Drive complete or Low Carb will work)because it achieves almost a milkshake consistency and can add a lot more bang for your buck.

THis is a very clean calorie packed type of feeding supplement, and several a day will give you that extra push to get weight gain going.

Now, witht all that said, I did this for several months for muscle gain. It works very well, and I was putting on lots of muscle and really cranking up my metabolism with this method, which caused a bit of fat loss.

I’m not saying this is going to work this way for you. You might gain both fat and muscle, but at this point you seem focused on just gaining weight which makes this easy to tackle since you can cut down once you start getting things going in the direction that you are working for.

This is strictly for adding as much nutrition and calories as possible without making you feel like you’re going to puke it all back up. Experiment with it for a while and let us know how it goes.

FYI. This usually requires a large blender. If yours is smaller than 2 qts/2 ltrs, you should find a larger one, as a person will become compelled to push this to the limit.

8

I’ll give ya a red hot tip

Meal # 1:
(7.30am) 3 x whole eggs or 200g low fat cottage cheese
2 serves rolled oats or wholemeal toast (4 pieces)

Meal # 2:
(10.00am) 2 scoops Macro Whey }
2 scoops Pure Carbs } Shake or blend
1 x piece fruit

Meal # 3:
(12.30pm) 1 serve chicken, fish, lean beef or tuna
2 serves rice, potato, pasta, wholemeal bread (4 pieces)
1 serve of veg or salad

Meal # 4:
(3.30pm) 1 serve chicken, fish, lean beef or low fat cottage cheese
2 serves rice, potato, pasta, wholemeal bread or cheese

Pre Training:
(5.30pm) 1 x tspn Creatine 320,
1 x tspn Glutamine 320 mix in 400ml non-acidic fruit juice

(6.00pm) Train
Meal #5:
(Immediately after
training) 3 scoops Macro Whey }
4 scoops Pure Carbs } Mix in water
1 x tspn Creatine 320 }
1 x tspn Glutamine 320 }

Meal # 6:
(8.30pm) 1 serve chicken, fish, lean beef
1 serve rice, potato, or pasta
2 serves veg. or salad

Meal # 7:
(10.30pm)
Before Bed 2 scoops Macro Whey }
1 serve yoghurt }

Blend or shake in water
1 tspn glutamine 320 (if sore)

Serving sizes:

Protein:
Carbs:
Size of hand (palm only)
Size of clenched fist (cooked)

Note: Drink 42ml water/kg bodyweight/day

Exercise: Weight train to build muscle stick to mainly compound movements
Rep range: 6 to 10 reps

Train each muscle group once/week over 3-4 workouts
e.g. Monday
Shoulders, Triceps

Tuesday
Back, Hamstrings, Calves

Wednesday
Rest

Thursday
Chest, Biceps, Abs, Forearms

Friday
Quads, Calves

Sat/Sun

Rest

Multivitamins may be beneficial after Meal # 1 and # 6

9

Try adding in some peri and post workout nutrition to your current diet. In case you don’t know that means during (peri) and immediately after (post) your workouts you should be eating.

Try drinking a gatorade (or some other drink high in carbohydrates) while you are working out (sipping it throughout the workout). Then as soon as you are finished drink a post workout shake/drink. I’m not sure about the caloric content of the recipe that djoh suggested, but this would probably be a good time to drink that shake.

Good training,

Sentoguy

10

MORE simple carbs and fats bro, Things that have BIG impact and quick clearance time. PB and J sandwich on white bread white rice etc.

Phill