Need gaining advice for my husband

dixiewhiskey
dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
My husband wants to gain weight but can't seem to. He eats whatever he wants but his weight/body composition never changes. He's in his mid-30's, 145lbs, approx 15% BF and has a physical demanding job.

Does anyone here have any tips that I can suggest to him. Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • 212019156
    212019156 Posts: 341 Member
    No special trick. He is just going to have to eat calorie dense foods. I had the same problem when I was a teenager. I would go as far as eating things like ice cream. Another thing which is kind of gross is drinking vegatable oil. It has a ton of calories. It tastes nasty, but if he just needs to get the extra calories...
  • __freckles__
    __freckles__ Posts: 1,238 Member
    Does he weigh and measure his food and how many calories is he consuming?

    Tell him to add 250 to that and if he doesn't gain in a couple of weeks, add another 250. Do that until he starts gaining.

    Ta da!
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    He just has to eat more. No tricks required.
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
    Thanks for your reply! :)

    Vegetable oil... good for gaining weight (fat?) but is that good for the heart? He wants to gain weight, more so muscle but I'm not sure if he wants to have a heart attack :laugh:

    He eats all the stuff I won't eat often like ice cream but the scale never changes. I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of his metabolism. hehe
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
    He just has to eat more. No tricks required.

    I thought so too but I'm amazed at how he never measures anything and has 3x the portions (or more) than what I would eat and still gains nothing. We've tried high calorie meal replacements, shakes, gainers along with meals/snacks and nothing has worked.
  • EddieHaskell97
    EddieHaskell97 Posts: 2,227 Member
    Standard MFP answer to all posts regarding a male spouse:


    "You should leave your husband..." After all, if he really cared about your needs...

    Have him talk to a doctor and/or a personal trainer, instead of leaving.
  • __freckles__
    __freckles__ Posts: 1,238 Member
    He just has to eat more. No tricks required.

    I thought so too but I'm amazed at how he never measures anything and has 3x the portions (or more) than what I would eat and still gains nothing. We've tried high calorie meal replacements, shakes, gainers along with meals/snacks and nothing has worked.

    That's because he has a higher TDEE than you, which is not surprising as he is male and as you said has a physically demanding job. If he's really serious about gaining he should create an MFP account, weigh and measure everything and follow my advice above.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    He just has to eat more. No tricks required.

    I thought so too but I'm amazed at how he never measures anything and has 3x the portions (or more) than what I would eat and still gains nothing. We've tried high calorie meal replacements, shakes, gainers along with meals/snacks and nothing has worked.

    I maintain at between 3200-3400. How much more is that than you? Probably around 3 times. He is a guy, he has an active job, he is pretty lean. Like I said, he needs to eat more. It's that simple.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    He just has to eat more. No tricks required.

    Yup, it ain't magic.

    My question is, is he on a dedicated lifting program? If not he's just going to gain fat. And if he's 15% body fat he's not low by any means. Healthy range for men is supposedly about 8-19%. If anything he's near the top.

    So I guess the real question is, what is his goal?
  • redheadmommy
    redheadmommy Posts: 908 Member
    Make him eat fat , good fats. Coconut oil, avocado , grassfeed butter etc.
    1 g of fat is 9 calories , so the most dense in caloriwise.
    \
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    He just has to eat more. No tricks required.

    this.

    and lift. otherwise he'll just get fat. as noted.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
    Why does he want to gain weight? It's pretty easy, just go to Cheesecake Factory a few times per week. Although it's important that he also eats plenty of protein and lifts too, otherwise (as has already been mentioned) he'll just gain fat.
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
    He just has to eat more. No tricks required.

    I thought so too but I'm amazed at how he never measures anything and has 3x the portions (or more) than what I would eat and still gains nothing. We've tried high calorie meal replacements, shakes, gainers along with meals/snacks and nothing has worked.

    That's because he has a higher TDEE than you, which is not surprising as he is male and as you said has a physically demanding job. If he's really serious about gaining he should create an MFP account, weigh and measure everything and follow my advice above.

    Of course - I've kept that in mind just saying.. I might have a cup of ice cream at 200 cals where as he would have 3-4 cups then eat something else :laugh: He works 12-16 hours a day atleast 5 days a week but I'm going to gently suggest that he jump on board. It may be helpful for him
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Why does he want to gain weight? It's pretty easy, just go to Cheesecake Factory a few times per week. Although it's important that he also eats plenty of protein and lifts too, otherwise (as has already been mentioned) he'll just gain fat.

    to be fair- metered bulking is NOT easy- it's actual work.

    But- the concept is not difficult. eat more.

    You are correct on that- the concept is quiet simple LOL
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
    He just has to eat more. No tricks required.

    I thought so too but I'm amazed at how he never measures anything and has 3x the portions (or more) than what I would eat and still gains nothing. We've tried high calorie meal replacements, shakes, gainers along with meals/snacks and nothing has worked.

    I maintain at between 3200-3400. How much more is that than you? Probably around 3 times. He is a guy, he has an active job, he is pretty lean. Like I said, he needs to eat more. It's that simple.

    800 more, using your maintenance of 3400. I should have specified but he wants to put on muscle, not any kind of weight, just more muscle. I think he needs to eat more too but I'm amazed at how much he eats already. Thanks so much for your posts :)
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Include a couple of cookies, some milk, cheese, or peanut butter into one or two of his meals every day. Doesn't take much.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    He just has to eat more. No tricks required.

    I thought so too but I'm amazed at how he never measures anything and has 3x the portions (or more) than what I would eat and still gains nothing. We've tried high calorie meal replacements, shakes, gainers along with meals/snacks and nothing has worked.

    I maintain at between 3200-3400. How much more is that than you? Probably around 3 times. He is a guy, he has an active job, he is pretty lean. Like I said, he needs to eat more. It's that simple.

    800 more, using your maintenance of 3400. I should have specified but he wants to put on muscle, not any kind of weight, just more muscle. I think he needs to eat more too but I'm amazed at how much he eats already. Thanks so much for your posts :)

    Well, if he has been 145 for a while and not losing, then he has been eating at maintenance. To build muscle he is gonna need to lift and still....eat more :)
  • terizius
    terizius Posts: 425 Member
    He sounds a lot like me. I've been lean my whole life.. one of those "eat whatever I want" kind of people. But, even though I ate whatever I wanted, I didn't consistently eat "over" my maintenance. I've been bulking/gaining for the last 6 weeks now, and things are going well. If you are interested, feel free to check out my 6 week progress report here:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1207745-bulking-6-week-detailed-progress-report

    Also, my diary is open so you/he can check it out to get an idea of what it takes to get 3500 calories.. (what I'm at). Weight gainer shakes are my friend, simply because its difficult to put that much real food down my gullet on a regular basis.

    Let me know if you have any questions and good luck to you/him!
  • KingofWisdom
    KingofWisdom Posts: 229 Member
    Nuts are a good way to stack on the calories. Macadamia, pecans, walnuts, those are all in the 600-700 calorie range per 100 gram serving.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    beer and pizza.
  • gbasurto10
    gbasurto10 Posts: 3 Member
    You might think he's eating a lot in one sitting. But, what matters most is total calories throughout the day. On a usual bulk i'm gulping down around 4k cals a day. I would recommend to use the IIFYM calculator to calculate his TDEE and increase cals by 300 every week until he starts to add some pounds. But, you won't be able to do this by just "eyeing" his food. If he doesn't record it...there really is no way of knowing what his daily calls and macros are looking like.

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