Weight gain

jpgarcia7787
jpgarcia7787 Posts: 2 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hello. I used to weigh 165-170 lbs approximately 2 yrs ago, and now I'm down to 150 lbs. I've picked up a lot of weekly strength training, running and cycling during that time. Are there any key foods that would help me put more back on? Thank you for any help.

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,197 Member
    I guess I'd ask you to think about whether it's a struggle for you to eat more, or not: Do you feel that you're now a so-called "hard gainer"? That might influence the answer.

    If it's simply that your old eating habits plus your current high activity level have caused an undesirable degree of weight loss, but your appetite is up to the challenge, any foods that deliver more calories will add weight. Of course, for health and performance reasons, you want to be sure you're getting at least the minimum of protein, healthy fats, fiber, and micronutrients (including not just vitamins/minerals, but also beneficial phytochemicals, pre- and probiotics, etc.). Assuming body composition and performance are goals, optimizing at least protein will be a good plan. Carbs may also matter, including carb timing, for endurance athletes, even recreational ones.

    Once good overall nutrition is dialed in, I think it's fine to add some more calorie-dense treat foods, within reason. Especially for someone doing a lot of endurance exercise - which your running and cycling likely are - calories are the foundation of performance, body weight, and even body composition.

    If you have difficulty summoning up the capacity (appetite-wise) to eat enough calories for best results, then it can be useful to figure out which calorie-dense foods you can eat that don't make you over-full. That can vary from one person to the next, but some common things are calories that are drunk (rather than chewed) such as smoothies, juices, etc.; fattier cuts of meat, fatty cold water fish, nuts or nut butters, seeds, extra olive oil or the like used in cooking or on foods, full-fat dairy; and that sort of thing. Even more refined calorie-dense treat foods can be helpful, if it's hard to get adequate calories otherwise.

    There's a thread here with tips for the hard gainers:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read#latest

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