HELP A SKINNY GIRL 🦋

AllyJohnson358

Hello! I am on my road to gaining weight , I have always been around 100 pounds. But I started working out and eating (not super consistent) but I put on weight. I am currently at 114.5 right now. I want to be at 120-125 . I workout 5 days out of the week , weight training. I am now tracking my calories , I am on day 3 of being consistent and my plan is to nail this for the next few months. I am eating right now around 2800 calories. Is that enough? Also any tips / advice on the DIET. would love to put on some pounds .

nossmf

Simply throwing a number out there is less useful than you may think. I'm right now gaining on 2200 plus exercise eat-back, a coworker is losing on 3200.

A better approach is to know what your "break even" point is, the calorie total where your weight remains constant, then add on top of that. For example, say your weight doesn't change if you eat 2000 per day. You then increase to 2250 (+250) for a slow and steady gain, 2500 (+500) for a bit faster. Most here on MFP will not recommend you increase by more than 500 per day, as you will gain weight, but a large percentage of it will NOT be muscle.

As far as diet goes, if you're wanting to add muscle, you definitely want to include sufficient protein. You'll hear a lot of different numbers for how much is enough, from 0.4g per pound body weight when sedentary, up to 1g per pound BW when lifting and looking to gain or even higher. At your weight, that translates to 46g if a couch potato up to 114g while lifting and looking to gain. Feel free to up it a little more, say 120-125, but really no need to leap up to the 180's or some other huge number.

neanderthin

Yeah, it tough for sure and I hope when you get to your desired weight that you don't start to lose weight and hopefully you find the increased food demands to maintain that weight comfortable enough and it isn't a push for you where you feel somewhat stressed and that you don't slip and go back to consuming less food that would be needed to maintain your increased weight. You could cut back on exercise a little, maybe change up your diet to find foods that are more satiating. I had the same problem from childhood until, around 30, then the weight slowly crept up, so I know your struggle. I know my problem was my metabolism, it was through the roof with NEAT being ridiculously high and of course today I wouldn't have that problem, because video games, just kidding, anyway good luck, cheers.

GaryRuns

Are you gaining weight at 2800 cals/day? Then it's enough. If you're not gaining weight then it's not enough.

I know that's not particularly helpful but you have to remember that all the calculators and formulas and websites and recommendations some individual may give are you are estimates of what your caloric intake should be for a given goal, in this case gaining weight. That's all it is, an estimate. There's a pretty wide variation in the value you need from individual to individual and so you have to start with that estimate, track your weight over a period of time, and see where that level of caloric intake is moving you. If you're not gaining the weight you'd like then you increase the level by some percentage, say 10%, and start over. The main thing to remember is that you have to use some type of average for your weight over time, rather than a day-to-day basis, because your weight can vary so much on a daily basis.

lilybelmunoz

Hey Ally! I know I’m super late to contributing to this convo, but I have also recently been on a bulking journey and found a few things super useful!

1. Bulking protein powder

Using bulking powders in shakes (with other high calorie ingredients like whole milk instead of water, or other add ins like peanut butter/almond butter) it’s much easier to intake your desired number of daily calories. Especially if you’re like me and find it relatively difficult to find time to make all the meals needed or to fit it all in our tummies.

2. Getting lots of rest + sleep

Obviously rest is vital for hypertrophy and gains, but at the begging of my bulking journey I tended to overwork myself and did not realize that gains happen while you sleep, after you’ve already ripped them up at the gym.

ninerbuff

Getting in enough protein and carbs to gain will depend how things like how long you workout and recovery time. As mentioned above, you gain when you REST, not when working out.
A client of mine gained on just 300 calories over TDEE with no cardio and gained little fat along with it, just working out 3 times a week on a full body workout.

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

nbg8nczyn6

Ninerbuff: is there a way for us to chat so I can get your help or discuss your willingness to take me on?… 5”1 female early 30 and currently 97.5 pounds and totally overwhelmed on how to make those gains both fat and muscle… ?

PAV8888

@ninerbuff see above