I need to gain weight, but not sure how.

iwishiwasbatman

Hello,
I'm 122 lbs, 20% bodyfat, 20 years old (I'm a guy).

I'm trying to build lean muscle and get my bodyfat to 10%, but I was told by my personal trainer (and many other people on here) that I need to gain 20 lbs more and not worry about bodyfat right now, because right now, I'm "skinny fat" and trying to lose more body fat includes losing weight, which would cause me to end up in the hospital or would affect my body in a bad way; however, I'm scared to gain weight because I don't want to become 'overweight' or I might do it wrong, or anything like that.
I was wondering if some of you could help me by giving me advice and food advice as well?

My macronutrients are:
40% carbs.
40% protein.
30% fat.

I need to eat around 2,600 calories a day in order to gain more weight, the thing is that I don't know how to measure my carbs, protein, and fat. I usually am around 1,600 calories and I am already going over my carbs (I know that if you eat more carbs than your body needs, your body stores it as fat). I was hoping someone could teach me how to track my macronutrients and food and if they had any meal plans or something they'd recommend.

My workout routine is:
• Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: legs and core.
• Tuesday and Thursday: upper body.

(Personal trainer told me to work on my legs more because the stronger my legs are, the heavier I can lift and more balance I'll have--along with my upper body).

I take whey protein after my workout (only when I do upper body though) and sometimes I take it before and after a workout (in case that helps any of you in what you're going to say).

Thank you for taking your time to read this.

auddii

The easiest way to try and figure out how to fill your macros is to preplan your days.

That said, you need to change your mentality on food; your body does not store extra carbs as fat. Your body stores extra calories as fat if they're not being utilized for other processes (such as building muscle).

I'm not always the best at hitting my macros, and I eat less than you because I'm on a cut, but feel free to check out my diary.

Also, macros should not be just percentages. You have to use them because that's how mfp is set up, but mine are based on how much i weigh.

This is what I use:
Protein- 0.8g per pound of body weight
Fat- 0.35g per pound body weight
Carbs- all the rest

There is a range that is trcommended, and all the rest doesn't have to be carbs; you can split the remainder how you like, but I'd recommend carb heavy since you seem to gravitate that way anyways.

Wheelhouse15

20% at 122lbs? No, I don't think so...How tall are you?

auddii

Wheelhouse15 wrote: »

20% at 122lbs? No, I don't think so...How tall are you?

Yeah, I glossed over that, but it seems highly unlikely.

OP, I'd focus on gaining muscle, and you will always gain fat with muscle. If you keep your surplus relatively moderate (500 calories is a good starting point, but you may need to adjust once you start) and aim to gain a pound a week, usually you end up with 1:1 ratio of fat to muscle gain, which is considered optimal.

JoRocka

"not sure how"

lift progressively
eat at a calorie surplus
rest.

lather rinse repeat for 4-8 months- or you cannot stand yourself any more.

Wheelhouse15

auddii wrote: »

Wheelhouse15 wrote: »

20% at 122lbs? No, I don't think so...How tall are you?

Yeah, I glossed over that, but it seems highly unlikely.

OP, I'd focus on gaining muscle, and you will always gain fat with muscle. If you keep your surplus relatively moderate (500 calories is a good starting point, but you may need to adjust once you start) and aim to gain a pound a week, usually you end up with 1:1 ratio of fat to muscle gain, which is considered optimal.

OP, I hate to nit pick here but it seems you have an issue with your numbers and it would appear that they are very unlikely. 122lbs body weigh but you need 2600 calories to gain, ok I can see that but you seem to be at maintainance on 1K lower, so you are going to gain a lot more fat than muscle, which you don't need it seems, and your macros add up to a 110%. Also, your profile indicates that you want to lose 7 lbs so you want to drop to 115 lbs?

Seems to me you need to make up your mind because you seem to be confused. I believe that you aren't as skinny fat as you think you are but it's easy to determine by doing a waist to hip ratio along with your BMI. If you have a relatively low BMI (which is likely by your stated weight) and a high waist to hip ratio than you are, if not then aren't.

If you are skinny, or even skinny fat, then definitely bulk.

craigmandu

So at 122lbs you would have to have only 102lbs lean muscle on your frame...which is pretty low for a 20 year old male, even a short male. I don't know how tall you are but for a 5' 8" male your BMR would be about 1540 calories a day doing absolutely nothing all day every day. That puts your TDEE somewhere in the 1850 range if you have a sedentary lifestyle (not sure what your lifestyle is).

If it were me, I'd calculate my actual TDEE and then add 250 calories per day (for a 1/2lb gain per week). Now...that's only the calories portion of weight gain. Don't worry for one second what you "think" your current bodyfat% is...because as you put on muscle it will change and as you gain weight (as long as it's more muscle than fat) it will be getting better all the time. Slow and steady wins this race, the same as losing weight.

I would absolutely change up the workout routine though...3x a week legs with upper in between is a lot of workout time with not alot of "rest" time. Rest is super important. So is water...I hope you are drinking at least 8-12 glasses of water every day whether you work out or not. My suggestion would be to do a 4 day per week routine...upper then lower, then rest day, then upper, then lower, then 2 days off to start. Or you could try something like SS (Starting Strength) or SL 5x5 (Stronglifts) if you want a laid out system to follow.

Realize this process is very slow and it needs to be...you don't want to put on weight fast as it will almost assuredly be fat if you do....muscle doesn't build super fast, it takes time and rest to do its job. Get 8 hours of sleep a night...might sound like alot, but you NEED sleep to help repair broken down tissue, that's when the majority of repair happens.

Whatever lifting/eating program you decide to go with, give it at least 2 months before you re-assess. Changing up multiple times a month because you don't see the changes will derail anything you are trying to do.

Good Luck to you!!

richln

I also recommend that you rethink your routine. Upper/lower split is great, but most people do that 4 days a week. You might be able to handle 5 days a week since your 20 and bulking, but watch out for signs of overtraining. Also, at 122 lbs, you should bulk until you are disgusted by how fat you have gotten.

irejuvenateme

I think you should set several goals - first shoot for 18%., maintain that for a while, then go from there.
- I went from about 23% to under 18% but it was by keeping my strength training going, increasing workouts, and getting my eating cleaner (ongoing process). It did not happen overnight, but I was also losing weight so cardio was a big part of the mix... whereas you want to gain it.
But body recomposition is a gradual thing.
If you are increasing your calories, try to make them filled with protein and veggies/fruit, and perhaps good fats like Avocado- protein is good for muscle recovery and the fiber will keep you full
And regardless of the outcome you will be building healthy habits.

Are you willing to take a couple years to get to this goal? If so and you are willing to commit to that lifestyle over the long haul you can get to some pretty amazing places.

The good news is you are very young so your body should really respond well to these types of changes.

Not that you are asking, but if you just want calories, almond butter, even things like quinoa - good for you in moderation but calories add up quicker than you think and much better for you than a snickers bar!

iwishiwasbatman

Wheelhouse15 wrote: »

20% at 122lbs? No, I don't think so...How tall are you?

5"6'

iwishiwasbatman

auddii wrote: »

The easiest way to try and figure out how to fill your macros is to preplan your days.

That said, you need to change your mentality on food; your body does not store extra carbs as fat. Your body stores extra calories as fat if they're not being utilized for other processes (such as building muscle).

I'm not always the best at hitting my macros, and I eat less than you because I'm on a cut, but feel free to check out my diary.

Also, macros should not be just percentages. You have to use them because that's how mfp is set up, but mine are based on how much i weigh.

This is what I use:
Protein- 0.8g per pound of body weight
Fat- 0.35g per pound body weight
Carbs- all the rest

There is a range that is trcommended, and all the rest doesn't have to be carbs; you can split the remainder how you like, but I'd recommend carb heavy since you seem to gravitate that way anyways.

Fat came out to: 42.7 g.
Protein came out to: 96.7 g

How do I figure out the rest of the carbs?
Sorry, I'm kind of new to all this.

iwishiwasbatman

Wheelhouse15 wrote: »

auddii wrote: »

Wheelhouse15 wrote: »

20% at 122lbs? No, I don't think so...How tall are you?

Yeah, I glossed over that, but it seems highly unlikely.

OP, I'd focus on gaining muscle, and you will always gain fat with muscle. If you keep your surplus relatively moderate (500 calories is a good starting point, but you may need to adjust once you start) and aim to gain a pound a week, usually you end up with 1:1 ratio of fat to muscle gain, which is considered optimal.

OP, I hate to nit pick here but it seems you have an issue with your numbers and it would appear that they are very unlikely. 122lbs body weigh but you need 2600 calories to gain, ok I can see that but you seem to be at maintainance on 1K lower, so you are going to gain a lot more fat than muscle, which you don't need it seems, and your macros add up to a 110%. Also, your profile indicates that you want to lose 7 lbs so you want to drop to 115 lbs?

Seems to me you need to make up your mind because you seem to be confused. I believe that you aren't as skinny fat as you think you are but it's easy to determine by doing a waist to hip ratio along with your BMI. If you have a relatively low BMI (which is likely by your stated weight) and a high waist to hip ratio than you are, if not then aren't.

If you are skinny, or even skinny fat, then definitely bulk.

Losing weight was my goal at first because I thought that's what I needed in order to burn more bodyfat, but now that'd I've talked to people and stuff, I see that what I need to do is gain weight.

iwishiwasbatman

craigmandu wrote: »

So at 122lbs you would have to have only 102lbs lean muscle on your frame...which is pretty low for a 20 year old male, even a short male. I don't know how tall you are but for a 5' 8" male your BMR would be about 1540 calories a day doing absolutely nothing all day every day. That puts your TDEE somewhere in the 1850 range if you have a sedentary lifestyle (not sure what your lifestyle is).

If it were me, I'd calculate my actual TDEE and then add 250 calories per day (for a 1/2lb gain per week). Now...that's only the calories portion of weight gain. Don't worry for one second what you "think" your current bodyfat% is...because as you put on muscle it will change and as you gain weight (as long as it's more muscle than fat) it will be getting better all the time. Slow and steady wins this race, the same as losing weight.

I would absolutely change up the workout routine though...3x a week legs with upper in between is a lot of workout time with not alot of "rest" time. Rest is super important. So is water...I hope you are drinking at least 8-12 glasses of water every day whether you work out or not. My suggestion would be to do a 4 day per week routine...upper then lower, then rest day, then upper, then lower, then 2 days off to start. Or you could try something like SS (Starting Strength) or SL 5x5 (Stronglifts) if you want a laid out system to follow.

Realize this process is very slow and it needs to be...you don't want to put on weight fast as it will almost assuredly be fat if you do....muscle doesn't build super fast, it takes time and rest to do its job. Get 8 hours of sleep a night...might sound like alot, but you NEED sleep to help repair broken down tissue, that's when the majority of repair happens.

Whatever lifting/eating program you decide to go with, give it at least 2 months before you re-assess. Changing up multiple times a month because you don't see the changes will derail anything you are trying to do.

Good Luck to you!!

What's TDEE?
I do drink water. That's pretty much all I drink (and juice sometimes).

Thank you!

JoRocka

iwishiwasbatman wrote: »

craigmandu wrote: »

So at 122lbs you would have to have only 102lbs lean muscle on your frame...which is pretty low for a 20 year old male, even a short male. I don't know how tall you are but for a 5' 8" male your BMR would be about 1540 calories a day doing absolutely nothing all day every day. That puts your TDEE somewhere in the 1850 range if you have a sedentary lifestyle (not sure what your lifestyle is).

If it were me, I'd calculate my actual TDEE and then add 250 calories per day (for a 1/2lb gain per week). Now...that's only the calories portion of weight gain. Don't worry for one second what you "think" your current bodyfat% is...because as you put on muscle it will change and as you gain weight (as long as it's more muscle than fat) it will be getting better all the time. Slow and steady wins this race, the same as losing weight.

I would absolutely change up the workout routine though...3x a week legs with upper in between is a lot of workout time with not alot of "rest" time. Rest is super important. So is water...I hope you are drinking at least 8-12 glasses of water every day whether you work out or not. My suggestion would be to do a 4 day per week routine...upper then lower, then rest day, then upper, then lower, then 2 days off to start. Or you could try something like SS (Starting Strength) or SL 5x5 (Stronglifts) if you want a laid out system to follow.

Realize this process is very slow and it needs to be...you don't want to put on weight fast as it will almost assuredly be fat if you do....muscle doesn't build super fast, it takes time and rest to do its job. Get 8 hours of sleep a night...might sound like alot, but you NEED sleep to help repair broken down tissue, that's when the majority of repair happens.

Whatever lifting/eating program you decide to go with, give it at least 2 months before you re-assess. Changing up multiple times a month because you don't see the changes will derail anything you are trying to do.

Good Luck to you!!

What's TDEE?
I do drink water. That's pretty much all I drink (and juice sometimes).

Thank you!

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=TDEE

iwishiwasbatman

richln wrote: »

I also recommend that you rethink your routine. Upper/lower split is great, but most people do that 4 days a week. You might be able to handle 5 days a week since your 20 and bulking, but watch out for signs of overtraining. Also, at 122 lbs, you should bulk until you are disgusted by how fat you have gotten.

That last sentence sounds scary =\

iwishiwasbatman

irejuvenateme wrote: »

I think you should set several goals - first shoot for 18%., maintain that for a while, then go from there.
- I went from about 23% to under 18% but it was by keeping my strength training going, increasing workouts, and getting my eating cleaner (ongoing process). It did not happen overnight, but I was also losing weight so cardio was a big part of the mix... whereas you want to gain it.
But body recomposition is a gradual thing.
If you are increasing your calories, try to make them filled with protein and veggies/fruit, and perhaps good fats like Avocado- protein is good for muscle recovery and the fiber will keep you full
And regardless of the outcome you will be building healthy habits.

Are you willing to take a couple years to get to this goal? If so and you are willing to commit to that lifestyle over the long haul you can get to some pretty amazing places.

The good news is you are very young so your body should really respond well to these types of changes.

Not that you are asking, but if you just want calories, almond butter, even things like quinoa - good for you in moderation but calories add up quicker than you think and much better for you than a snickers bar!

I do eat veggies and fruits. In fact, all we buy in my house is clean (healthy) food. We might have bread and stuff, but I don't eat that (the bad kind of bread). I usually eat whole wheat or whole grain.
I do eat chips only once a week, and then I start eating clean at the beggining of the week until the 6th day.

iwishiwasbatman

JoRocka wrote: »

iwishiwasbatman wrote: »

craigmandu wrote: »

So at 122lbs you would have to have only 102lbs lean muscle on your frame...which is pretty low for a 20 year old male, even a short male. I don't know how tall you are but for a 5' 8" male your BMR would be about 1540 calories a day doing absolutely nothing all day every day. That puts your TDEE somewhere in the 1850 range if you have a sedentary lifestyle (not sure what your lifestyle is).

If it were me, I'd calculate my actual TDEE and then add 250 calories per day (for a 1/2lb gain per week). Now...that's only the calories portion of weight gain. Don't worry for one second what you "think" your current bodyfat% is...because as you put on muscle it will change and as you gain weight (as long as it's more muscle than fat) it will be getting better all the time. Slow and steady wins this race, the same as losing weight.

I would absolutely change up the workout routine though...3x a week legs with upper in between is a lot of workout time with not alot of "rest" time. Rest is super important. So is water...I hope you are drinking at least 8-12 glasses of water every day whether you work out or not. My suggestion would be to do a 4 day per week routine...upper then lower, then rest day, then upper, then lower, then 2 days off to start. Or you could try something like SS (Starting Strength) or SL 5x5 (Stronglifts) if you want a laid out system to follow.

Realize this process is very slow and it needs to be...you don't want to put on weight fast as it will almost assuredly be fat if you do....muscle doesn't build super fast, it takes time and rest to do its job. Get 8 hours of sleep a night...might sound like alot, but you NEED sleep to help repair broken down tissue, that's when the majority of repair happens.

Whatever lifting/eating program you decide to go with, give it at least 2 months before you re-assess. Changing up multiple times a month because you don't see the changes will derail anything you are trying to do.

Good Luck to you!!

What's TDEE?
I do drink water. That's pretty much all I drink (and juice sometimes).

Thank you!

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=TDEE

Thank you!

AliceDark

OP, do you have an ED or crash/yo-yo dieting history? The only way 122 pounds @ 20% BF on a guy makes sense is if you lost weight in a way that didn't preserve your muscle.

iwishiwasbatman

AliceDark wrote: »

OP, do you have an ED or crash/yo-yo dieting history? The only way 122 pounds @ 20% BF on a guy makes sense is if you lost weight in a way that didn't preserve your muscle.

I'm not sure. I used to weight 90 lbs when I was 15, then went to 110 when I was 16, 125 when I was 17 - 18, then 128 at 19 and at 20 I was 124, a month ago, but I started running for about 50 minutes plus weight lifting, so I went down to 122. Now I only run for 20 minutes.

iwishiwasbatman

So my BMR came out to 1507, and my TDEE came out to 2204.

auddii

Well, you can figure out your amounts of carbs through a lot of math or by messing around in MFP.

To be lazy and mess around in MFP:
Go in to manually adjust your calorie goal, set your total calorie goal (2600 is likely a good starting point given what your TDEE was calculated at, but you may need to adjust). Then set your percentages until you get the grams in line with what you calculated. I call this the lazy way, but it can often be difficult because if you change one percentage, it often messes up the others and you have to save changes every time you want to get it to calculate grams. Might be a long process.

If you're not afraid of math:
Fat: 42.7 g * 9 calories per gram of fat = 384 calories from fat
384 calories from fat / total calories = 15%
Protein: 96.7 g * 4 calories per gram of protein = 386 calories from protein
386 calories from protein / total calories = 15%
Carbs: everything else = 70%

The numbers seem a little skewed, which is likely because you are so light (mine breaks down into 35/35/30 c/p/f). I would be starving all the time if I ate so little fat and protein (which would be a good thing if I were bulking, so this may work for you). I end up with 130ish grams of protein a day and 60g of fat for comparison. I also outweigh you by 65lbs...

Those are starting points, but you will need to mess with the levels based on how hungry you are, and if you're able to eat enough. With those splits at that calorie intake level, you will likely find it very difficult to exceed your carb intake. You might want to slowly increase your calorie level each week to get used to eating more. It isn't that hard to add an extra 100 calories a day, and then once you are used to that for a week, add another 100.

And again, don't fall in the trap as viewing food as "good" or "bad" or "healthy" and "unhealthy". Consider your diet as a whole, and eat the foods that will get you to your goals.

craigmandu

iwishiwasbatman wrote: »

So my BMR came out to 1507, and my TDEE came out to 2204.

So that BMR looks right, and the TDEE would indicate you chose something like 5 workouts a week or something similar...so understand that those are simply estimates, and there are different formulas that give slightly different results.

So that would mean in my scenario you should be eating at least 2454 daily calories. I would go ahead and give that a shot and ensure you get there everyday while keeping as close to your desired macros as you can (it doesn't have to be perfect and don't sweat it if it takes you a while to dial in your diet to get there).

Me personally, I would shoot for a bit more protein than what has been laid out in this thread...not saying it will matter too much one way or the other given your light weight...I have always gone on a 1-1.2g protein/lb of bodyweight instead of the 0.8 recommended earlier, but that is up to you...I don't really think it will make/break anything you are trying to do.

You may want to set your MFP profile at a "sedentary" activity level to get the lowest possible daily expenditure and actually record all your exercise back to get a more "true" estimate of your daily expenditure. I had to do that when I started losing weight..I selected an activity level that I really wasn't maintaining...and because of that I was eating more on days than I should have been, it works the same when you are trying to gain. If you are actually working out "more" than the calculators estimate, then you shortchange your caloric surplus and thus gain slower than you should. Up to you. I wish you the best.

auddii wrote: »

And again, don't fall in the trap as viewing food as "good" or "bad" or "healthy" and "unhealthy". Consider your diet as a whole, and eat the foods that will get you to your goals.

^^^This

iwishiwasbatman

auddii wrote: »

Well, you can figure out your amounts of carbs through a lot of math or by messing around in MFP.

To be lazy and mess around in MFP:
Go in to manually adjust your calorie goal, set your total calorie goal (2600 is likely a good starting point given what your TDEE was calculated at, but you may need to adjust). Then set your percentages until you get the grams in line with what you calculated. I call this the lazy way, but it can often be difficult because if you change one percentage, it often messes up the others and you have to save changes every time you want to get it to calculate grams. Might be a long process.

If you're not afraid of math:
Fat: 42.7 g * 9 calories per gram of fat = 384 calories from fat
384 calories from fat / total calories = 15%
Protein: 96.7 g * 4 calories per gram of protein = 386 calories from protein
386 calories from protein / total calories = 15%
Carbs: everything else = 70%

The numbers seem a little skewed, which is likely because you are so light (mine breaks down into 35/35/30 c/p/f). I would be starving all the time if I ate so little fat and protein (which would be a good thing if I were bulking, so this may work for you). I end up with 130ish grams of protein a day and 60g of fat for comparison. I also outweigh you by 65lbs...

Those are starting points, but you will need to mess with the levels based on how hungry you are, and if you're able to eat enough. With those splits at that calorie intake level, you will likely find it very difficult to exceed your carb intake. You might want to slowly increase your calorie level each week to get used to eating more. It isn't that hard to add an extra 100 calories a day, and then once you are used to that for a week, add another 100.

And again, don't fall in the trap as viewing food as "good" or "bad" or "healthy" and "unhealthy". Consider your diet as a whole, and eat the foods that will get you to your goals.

Thank you.
I usually have my carbs at 30%, fat at 30%, and protein at 30%. The thing is that I don't know exactly were to check my fat and protein on here because it only shows the percentage, but doesn't tell me how much more grams I need.
I usually end up going over my carbs though.
Most of the time, it looks like this:
60% carbs, 20% fat (sometimes 12%), and 20% protein (sometimes 30% or 25%).

iwishiwasbatman

craigmandu wrote: »

iwishiwasbatman wrote: »

So my BMR came out to 1507, and my TDEE came out to 2204.

So that BMR looks right, and the TDEE would indicate you chose something like 5 workouts a week or something similar...so understand that those are simply estimates, and there are different formulas that give slightly different results.

So that would mean in my scenario you should be eating at least 2454 daily calories. I would go ahead and give that a shot and ensure you get there everyday while keeping as close to your desired macros as you can (it doesn't have to be perfect and don't sweat it if it takes you a while to dial in your diet to get there).

Me personally, I would shoot for a bit more protein than what has been laid out in this thread...not saying it will matter too much one way or the other given your light weight...I have always gone on a 1-1.2g protein/lb of bodyweight instead of the 0.8 recommended earlier, but that is up to you...I don't really think it will make/break anything you are trying to do.

You may want to set your MFP profile at a "sedentary" activity level to get the lowest possible daily expenditure and actually record all your exercise back to get a more "true" estimate of your daily expenditure. I had to do that when I started losing weight..I selected an activity level that I really wasn't maintaining...and because of that I was eating more on days than I should have been, it works the same when you are trying to gain. If you are actually working out "more" than the calculators estimate, then you shortchange your caloric surplus and thus gain slower than you should. Up to you. I wish you the best.

auddii wrote: »

And again, don't fall in the trap as viewing food as "good" or "bad" or "healthy" and "unhealthy". Consider your diet as a whole, and eat the foods that will get you to your goals.

^^^This

Thank you!

I workout 5 days a week.
It's what I put on the profile here, if I skip one day, I do a workout at home, but I try not to skip any.