Skinny runner. Want to gain weight. Please help

stormintormenta

Hey guys. I'm a 18 year old skinny kid who runs Cross Country. I weigh 115 lbs and want to get up to at least 125-130lbs. I want to gain weight but still be able to run at the same time. I've seen guys who take all these different types of protein like Gold Standard, and these other Whey products, but I can't take any of that because I have a kidney problem. I run about 5-6 days a week, and ranging around 5-10 miles a day. Is there any way I can gain weight while keeping this up? Thanks. I really appreciate the feedback.

cleback

Can you visit a registered dietitian on campus or through your regular doctor? You have heavy caloric needs complicated with chronic medical issues. I don't think it would be a good idea to follow advice from nonprofessionals. Best of luck.

stormintormenta

cleback wrote: »

Can you visit a registered dietitian on campus or through your regular doctor? You have heavy caloric needs complicated with chronic medical issues. I don't think it would be a good idea to follow advice from nonprofessionals. Best of luck.

We don't have very good dietitians at school, and I usually just go to my doctor once a year because I am fairly healthy. (Never any complications with the kidney). What I have is a Horseshoe Kidney. Thanks

monikker

I'm thinking high protein consumption may be a problem. But in general, you need to eat 200+ calories more than you burn every day. Have you set up your goals on MFP? Find your maintenance calories (the amount you need to eat every day just to maintain weight), figure out how many calories you burn from running, add those together and then add on at least 200 more calories. It will probably take at least a few months or longer of eating this much every day to gain 10 more pounds (so be patient). You don't have to have such a high protein intake if you can't handle it, but you'll have to make up for it with more fats and carbs. You're gonna need to eat A LOT of carbs.

If you really have no access to an expert, first I would Google your kidney problem and research as much about it as you can especially how it relates to what your diet should be. Don't start eating more until you've done this and really know what you should and shouldn't be eating with your condition.

Then, calculate your macros you need to consume (fats, carbs and proteins). This will factor in how many calories a day you burn including with your running. Do this by going to a flexible diet calculator site (Google "IIFYM") and entering in all the appropriate info. It's easy. MFP also does a decent job with that, you can enter your goals into MFP.

After that, start eating. I would also recommend reading up on "bulking" as that is the term for eating at a calorie surplus. Eat whatever fits into your macro goals (accounting for your kidney issue, of course). If you can, start lifting some weights or doing body strength exercises. While you will need to account for the additional calories burned here and eat more, they don't burn as much as cardio and if you are lifting heavy, then eventually you will gain some muscle mass and that will add to your weight in a healthy and attractive way. But if you've never lifted before then seek out help because you can really injure yourself if your form is incorrect.

foursirius

GOMAD if you can handle dairy.