People say I'm too skinny

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alyssakoconis
alyssakoconis Posts: 8 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
i know I'm really skinny and I've been trying to gain weight for two years but I don't have time to workout since I work so much and have school. What should I do? What can I eat to help gain weight?

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  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,363 Member
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    Eat calorie dense foods.

    Nuts, seeds, avocados, nut butters, smoothies, up portion sizes, good fats (add olive oil or oil of preference to salad dressings), do not eat diet or lf foods, don't eat fruit by itself eat it with yoghurt or cottage cheese, cheese, eggs, etc...

    Determine your daily calorie allowance to gain weight, plan your daily meals and snacks in advance to ensure you hit target.
  • motivccess
    motivccess Posts: 201 Member
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    sooooooo luckyyyyy :'(
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    motivccess wrote: »
    sooooooo luckyyyyy :'(
    hardly. Being too thin is just as much an issue as being overweight. Just because it isn't YOUR problem doesn't mean the OP is "lucky" that response is really lacking in understanding and maturity. This is the "GAINING WEIGHT" forum after all.
  • AoifeElmo
    AoifeElmo Posts: 23 Member
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    Yep nut butters. Put them on whatever you can. Pb jelly sambo, peanut butter in oatbran/ Oats, peanut butter on dates... Avocado on wholemeal seed toast (seeded breads have more nutrients and calories) Beans on toast, kidney beans in Soup ( you can add lentils/ noodles to Soup too) Bagels instead bread rolls. Sweet potato fries roasted. Banana smoothies, hot milk drinks before bed... It is hot Cocoa season after all... But seriously, these are things that helped me gain weight.
  • JoshLibby
    JoshLibby Posts: 214 Member
    edited December 2015
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    alyssakoconis wrote: »
    i know I'm really skinny and I've been trying to gain weight for two years but I don't have time to workout since I work so much and have school. What should I do? What can I eat to help gain weight?

    It's a hard topic since you said you don't have time to workout. Are you doing anything resistance wise to build muscle, or do you only care about the scale going up?

    Unfortunately, you won't be able to pick where the mass goes on your body unless you use some resistance. Weights are the only way to help guide body parts to look bigger and get bigger and it takes time build muscle, if the goal is just gaining weight, it really comes down to eating more. Although, you could and probably will just end up being skinny fat if there is no resistance.

    So, if you find time to workout, that will help a lot. Google programs, youtube is your friend if you don't go to a gym.

    I think tracking what you eat now without adding anything is a start. Then add some extra food or start tracking calories constantly. You're going to have to make time for this if you're that serious.

    I'd recommend finding a way to workout, either body weight or regular weights.

    To be honest it sounds like learning to manage time more efficiently will be the deciding factor overall. If you really want it, you'll find the time.

    Good luck!
  • tmielcarek129
    tmielcarek129 Posts: 4 Member
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    I agree, not lucky. I'm struggling to gain also. It's not healthy to be too thin. I agree try upping portion sizes and adding healthy fats. Hope you succeed in your goals.
  • alyssakoconis
    alyssakoconis Posts: 8 Member
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    tmielcarek129 wrote: »
    I agree, not lucky. I'm struggling to gain also. It's not healthy to be too thin. I agree try upping portion sizes and adding healthy fats. Hope you succeed in your goals.

    Thank you! I hope that you also can achieve your goal
  • holm6677
    holm6677 Posts: 9 Member
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    Skinny dude here too. What's with all the big "losers" coming into the weight gain section saying we're all "lucky" or just doing everything wrong. High metabolism is real guys. Ever seen an older skinny guy sitting across from you at Burger King? Guess what, he's probably been eating there a lot longer than you have.

    But more to the point, healthy fats, and lots of calories. Carbs will put some weight on you, if you're not working out. Noodles, rice, oats, veggies, sweet potatoes, etc.
  • majolap
    majolap Posts: 4 Member
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    Google BMR calculator and workout what your Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR) is. With this figure you know the amount of calorizes you burning to maintain your weight. So use myfitnesspal to help you count how many calorizes you eating and try eat 400 more calorizes (surplus calorize) above your BMR.

    This should help you out. I'm in the same position and using this method I've picked up 10kgs. Like one user has said if you not training and working out you have no control of where you likely to pick up weight.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    majolap wrote: »
    Google BMR calculator and workout what your Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR) is. With this figure you know the amount of calorizes you burning to maintain your weight. So use myfitnesspal to help you count how many calorizes you eating and try eat 400 more calorizes (surplus calorize) above your BMR.

    This should help you out. I'm in the same position and using this method I've picked up 10kgs. Like one user has said if you not training and working out you have no control of where you likely to pick up weight.

    BMR (which is essentially the number of calories your body burns just to function - if you were lying in a coma all day) is meaningless with regards to calculating a calorie goal for weight gain or loss.

    The number you want is your TDEE - that is - the (average) number of calories you burn each day taking into account ALL activity. There are a number of online calculators that you can use to approximate it based on your stats and activity level. But ultimately you'll need to start with that approximation and use trial and error to gently adjust it up or down based on your actual results.

    Once you have your TDEE calculated or approximated, from that number you add calories (to encourage weight gain) or subtract calories (to encourage weight loss).
  • carolgrn
    carolgrn Posts: 657 Member
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    @alyssakoconis - I have know people were just pure skinny and just gained weight without thinking how. You will not be happy with the way you look. The added weight focuses on wherever your body has the largest 'fat' spots.
    @JoshLibby is telling you a good way to gain weight and be very happy with the way you look.
    Start using weights however you can. Also just using your body, as weight, works. There are ways to gain muscles without going to the gym, but (of course) a gym will provide you with many more options for muscle gain.
  • Vcorz
    Vcorz Posts: 75 Member
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    carolgrn wrote: »
    @alyssakoconis - I have know people were just pure skinny and just gained weight without thinking how. You will not be happy with the way you look. The added weight focuses on wherever your body has the largest 'fat' spots.
    @JoshLibby is telling you a good way to gain weight and be very happy with the way you look.
    Start using weights however you can. Also just using your body, as weight, works. There are ways to gain muscles without going to the gym, but (of course) a gym will provide you with many more options for muscle gain.

    This is true.....but some people are so skinny they really do just need to gain some good old fashioned fat. it sounds like the OP might be one of those.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    alyssakoconis wrote: »
    i know I'm really skinny and I've been trying to gain weight for two years but I don't have time to workout since I work so much and have school. What should I do? What can I eat to help gain weight?

    How many cals are you eating daily? You don't have to workout to gain weight, you have to eat more calories than you burn to gain weight.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    holm6677 wrote: »
    Skinny dude here too. What's with all the big "losers" coming into the weight gain section saying we're all "lucky" or just doing everything wrong. High metabolism is real guys. Ever seen an older skinny guy sitting across from you at Burger King? Guess what, he's probably been eating there a lot longer than you have.

    But more to the point, healthy fats, and lots of calories. Carbs will put some weight on you, if you're not working out. Noodles, rice, oats, veggies, sweet potatoes, etc.

    It's not your metabolism you know

    Skinny people tend to underestimate their calorie intake and activity level as much as overweight people tend to overestimate

    But in general all our metabolisms are within a similar range (excluding outliers / med conditions)

    Carbs don't put any more weight on you than proteins and fats ...it's eating over your calories of TDEE that count

    Of course if you do eat adequate carbs you won't be messing round with glycogen and associated water weight as much

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