gain weight but still have a flat toned stomach

pebbleslaura1

hiya im trying to gain weight but want to be fit and toned and have a FLAT stomach with maybe slight 6 pack worried if gain ill get fat belly and look like a blob! how can i stay tonned

queenliz99

Eat at a slight surplus and lift heavy

ninerbuff

One can't really dictate where fat gets stored on the body while gaining weight. While you can dictate the rate you gain weight, your nutritional values, and exercise, the body does what it feels it needs to do on it's own based on the stimuli it's receiving.
I think the real problem lies on how you view yourself. Not uncommon with people who may have had issues with disordered eating.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

FitnessFreak_69

The key to gaining lean mass and losing fat, or keeping it off, is by keeping a positive nitrogen balance In your body. In laymen's terms this means eating enough protein throughout the day to let your body build muscle and burn fat. If you don't have enough nutrients in your body at all times, your body will begin storing fat.. The best way to do this is by eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day. These meals should be high in protein and good fats. The protein will keep the nitrogen balance perfect for building muscle. The healthy fats (unsaturated) will help burn off fat, and eating five or six times a day will keep your metabolism skyrocketed. Of course you must also lift heavy too. Be smart about what meals to eat and when. High carb meals should be before you lift to supply you with good energy. Your biggest protein meal should be after you lift, to start the recovery and rebuilding phase. I would also recommend that you do some research on supplementing casein protein before bedtime. Casein is a slow digestive protein that will keep your body in an anabolic state (building state) and out of a catabolic state (breaking down). Good luck!

ISSA certified personal trainer
Working on my associates in exercise sciences

MagnumBurrito

queenliz99 wrote: »

Eat at a slight surplus and lift heavy

This. After you put on a some muscle and fat. Cut the fat by lifting heavy and eating at a deficit. It's that simple.

zipa78

FitnessFreak_69 wrote: »

The key to gaining lean mass and losing fat, or keeping it off, is by keeping a positive nitrogen balance In your body. In laymen's terms this means eating enough protein throughout the day to let your body build muscle and burn fat. If you don't have enough nutrients in your body at all times, your body will begin storing fat.. The best way to do this is by eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day. These meals should be high in protein and good fats. The protein will keep the nitrogen balance perfect for building muscle. The healthy fats (unsaturated) will help burn off fat, and eating five or six times a day will keep your metabolism skyrocketed. Of course you must also lift heavy too. Be smart about what meals to eat and when. High carb meals should be before you lift to supply you with good energy. Your biggest protein meal should be after you lift, to start the recovery and rebuilding phase. I would also recommend that you do some research on supplementing casein protein before bedtime. Casein is a slow digestive protein that will keep your body in an anabolic state (building state) and out of a catabolic state (breaking down). Good luck!

ISSA certified personal trainer
Working on my associates in exercise sciences

The amount of broscience in this post is nothing short of astonishing. I think that the only myth you forgot was to not eat more than 30 grams of protein in one meal.

pebbleslaura1

Wow thanku for all your help i want to understand how to eat an train right get healthy and recover from anorexia. I dint eat meat i was vegan but just started to eat eggs am thinking about fish just for protein not sure yet what other protein is there? I also hav digestive disorder cant hav wheat onion chilli strawberries only small amounts of dairy few other foods but wont list them all if i post a typical day of eating could u make suggestions? Also where can i find info on eating an train right

alan_huynh2000

There is some credible scientific literature out there... Basic breakdown.

-Don't have to lift "heavy" to get bigger/stronger
-You do need to eat enough protein, however not to much. 1-2 gram per kg of body weight MAX.
-Your body will put fat where it wants.
-Muscle is more dense than Fat. Which means the same weight, takes up different space.

So, eat at least what your burning to stay alive, but a little bit more. Putting ALOT in won't make your body grow faster. It will grow as fast as it wants. A LITTLE extra kcals is enough (once your met your daily requirements to live)

Follow the basic 2-4 sets per exercise, 8-14 reps per set. The key is to chose a weight that leaves the last 2 or so reps very difficult.

For info on nutrition. There are TONS of websites and info... I use to be a vegan as well. You can get plenty of protein without meat, its just harder. The science can be confusing but basically think of it like legos. People want a complete square and you need specific types to get a square. However there are different combinations and sizes of pieces to make different sizes of squares. There are plenty of vegan proteins out there that use soy, pea, hemp, rice, etc. In the right combos, they all offer legos.

JoRocka

-Don't have to lift "heavy" to get bigger/stronger

what?

explain thyself- because no. You don't magically get bigger or stronger by just eating protein.

FitnessFreak_69 wrote: »

The key to gaining lean mass and losing fat, or keeping it off, is by keeping a positive nitrogen balance In your body. In laymen's terms this means eating enough protein throughout the day to let your body build muscle and burn fat. If you don't have enough nutrients in your body at all times, your body will begin storing fat.. The best way to do this is by eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day. These meals should be high in protein and good fats. The protein will keep the nitrogen balance perfect for building muscle. The healthy fats (unsaturated) will help burn off fat, and eating five or six times a day will keep your metabolism skyrocketed. Of course you must also lift heavy too. Be smart about what meals to eat and when. High carb meals should be before you lift to supply you with good energy. Your biggest protein meal should be after you lift, to start the recovery and rebuilding phase. I would also recommend that you do some research on supplementing casein protein before bedtime. Casein is a slow digestive protein that will keep your body in an anabolic state (building state) and out of a catabolic state (breaking down). Good luck!

ISSA certified personal trainer
Working on my associates in exercise sciences

Strong first post.























also PS- I can't believe I FINALLY got to say that.


























ALSO PPS.

Just no. to all of that.

alan_huynh2000

"lifting heavy" is often misused. You don't have to go into the gym, and throw 8x your body weight onto a bar and toss it across the room to get bigger. There is good research that has shown little to no difference between lean muscle gains between lifting 400 lbs 3 times and lifting 200 lbs 10 times for beginners.

Someone new to weight lifting, someone who would post a question like this on a forum is going to go through a lot of nervous system improvement before any type of hypertrophy.

alan_huynh2000

I didn't say you get bigger stronger by JUST eating protein. I said you just need to follow the standard principles of resistance training.

peachyfuzzle

FitnessFreak_69 wrote: »

ISSA certified personal trainer
Working on my associates in exercise sciences

Yet another one of "those" trainers who someone will make a post about in the future...

alan_huynh2000

ACSM trainer.
I HAVE a Bachelors in Exercise Science.

JoRocka

alan_huynh2000 wrote: »

I didn't say you get bigger stronger by JUST eating protein. I said you just need to follow the standard principles of resistance training.

And just laying out a blanket "you don't have to lift heavy" statement in order to get bigger stronger is might suspect and confusing to people who wouldn't know better.

Progressive body weight loading is a perfectly acceptable method of training to get bigger and or stronger. So no heavy lifting in the traditional 5 x 5 sense is not necessary- but just making a blanket claim like you don't have to lift heavy- is going to cause some serious confusion.

You have to do work in order to get a result.

alan_huynh2000

Sure thing. I guess your right, many people are not able to understand things they read and can construe them in the wrong ways. I'll have to remember the mental capacity of others who score lower on the "reading and comprehension" part of the exams.

scg17

If the original poster is trying to recover from anorexia as they say, they would probably do best with a doctor setting their eating and exercising goals. Just my two cents. Good luck in recovery!

pebbleslaura1

alan_huynh2000 wrote: »

There is some credible scientific literature out there... Basic breakdown.

-Don't have to lift "heavy" to get bigger/stronger
-You do need to eat enough protein, however not to much. 1-2 gram per kg of body weight MAX.
-Your body will put fat where it wants.
-Muscle is more dense than Fat. Which means the same weight, takes up different space.

So, eat at least what your burning to stay alive, but a little bit more. Putting ALOT in won't make your body grow faster. It will grow as fast as it wants. A LITTLE extra kcals is enough (once your met your daily requirements to live)

Follow the basic 2-4 sets per exercise, 8-14 reps per set. The key is to chose a weight that leaves the last 2 or so reps very difficult.

For info on nutrition. There are TONS of websites and info... I use to be a vegan as well. You can get plenty of protein without meat, its just harder. The science can be confusing but basically think of it like legos. People want a complete square and you need specific types to get a square. However there are different combinations and sizes of pieces to make different sizes of squares. There are plenty of vegan proteins out there that use soy, pea, hemp, rice, etc. In the right combos, they all offer legos.

pebbleslaura1

Thanku for that info :-)

alan_huynh2000

Your welcome, and good luck.