Need advice/Help in my Weight gain journey

vanessajshay

I follow a cyclical ketogenic/paleo lifestyle as well as enjoy weight training. I work a desk job so for the majority of the day I am sitting. I follow the lifestyle I do for health reasons and am not looking for negativity or bashing, I am simply looking for support and community and hopefully some advice.

This means I do not eat grains/gluten, sugar, processed foods, beans etc. I do follow a cyclical version meaning I do introduce carbs into my diet but carbs like sweet potatoes and usually at dinner. I am going to start experimenting with consuming a little higher carb before my work out to see what changes I feel. All sounds ok ya?

Well I walk around at 5'9/5'10 and between 117-120lbs and am 27. Last time I checked my body fat was around 7-8%. I DO NOT starve myself. I try and intake as many calories as I can however my metabolism is fast. Some days I am able to eat more then others but I just find myself getting full easily or just not being hungry in general. I have tried carb loading and not only did I feel like -ish i still wasnt gaining.

Any advice/Help is greatly appreciated!

sardelsa

If you are not willing to change over from keto to adding more carbs, then you are going to continue to have a difficult weight gain journey, and it explains why you are having such a difficult time gaining. Also too many food restrictions and limiting what you can eat is going to make it that much harder for you.

I am not trying to be negative and not saying you have to ditch your current way of eating, but eating more carbs can definitely benefit you. Not only around workouts but all day. You don't have to carb load, but increasing your carbs slowly over time can help unless you have intolerance or allergies (just avoid those if that is the case). Ultimately you have to think about your goals as well as how being so underweight and lean can impact your health.

If you really want to stay keto you can increase your calories with high fat foods like oils, coconut milk, avocado, high fat meats, eggs yolks, nuts, nut butters, seeds etc. However, also keep in mind that gaining weight with keto is fairly inefficient in terms of muscle gain.

Lean59man

Good advices from sardelsa.

AnvilHead

I'd echo sardelsa's advice. Also, if you're truly 7-8% body fat, I'm sure you're feeling very poorly and headed for some serious health issues, since "essential fat" levels for women are around 10-13%. Most women experience amenorrhea and other problems as they even approach essential fat levels, let alone go far below them. At 7-8%, you should be lean/ripped even beyond most female bodybuilders - striations in all your muscles (even your glutes) and vascularity like a roadmap.

You don't have a "fast metabolism" (especially since metabolic rates don't vary that widely amongst humans), you just aren't eating enough to gain weight.

kimny72

Have you ever accurately logged and tracked your food to see how many calories you are eating? In my experience, for whatever that's worth, most people who think their metabolism is really fast or really slow find that their estimation of how much they were eating was way off. Regardless, logging really accurately will help you see where the best places to make changes are.

If that is BF% is accurate and typical for you, that is really unhealthy. You need to find a way to get more calories in, regardless of how you eat. While you may not be hungry, if you are underweight and staying at a dangerously low BF% while being sedentary, you kind of are starving yourself.

I don't eat keto or low carb, so not sure if my dietary advice would be helpful. But I tend to find nuts, chicken wings, and guacamole easy to eat without feeling stuffed. You need to find some foods that you can eat more of without feeling stuffed. And if you really can't eat enough to be at healthy weight and BF%, please consult a doctor if you haven't already.

Sorry if this isn't what you were looking for, but I hope something in there was helpful. Please take care of yourself.