Trying to GAIN WEIGHT!!

jnimeskern

I am 21 years old. I have been skinny my entire life, meaning 130 pounds and 6'2. I have been made fun of my entire life. (Heard it all: chicken legs, Ethiopian, twig, etc.)

I understand this to be a FITNESS website and I couldn't find any topics of anyone trying to gain weight. I guess it's unheard of and I know most of you probably think, "Wow he is skinny I wish I were in THAT position.", but honestly no you don't. Being too small is just as bad as being too big. I understand I am on the other side of the spectrum, and I read people's success stories of weight loss and although it is the opposite of what I want to achieve, it gives me motivation.

Being skinny, people just assume I don't eat enough. "Put some meat on those bones!", they say.

I eat three decent meals a day just like everyone else and I work in an office where I don't do a lot physical work, although I guess I do a lot of yard work at home but not enough to burn a lot of calories in a given day.

I've tried gaining weight before. Binge eating. Stuffing my face with food constantly. Every American's dream, right? I tried it the unhealthy way, the healthy way, the no exercise way, and the calorie counting way. I've downloaded the apps, tracked my eating on excel sheets, everything. I'd gain 4 or 5 pounds of "water-weight" and lose motivation, and just fall back to 125 pounds.

So here I am. Trying to be the salmon going upstream from everyone else, trying to gain weight instead of lose it. And trying to keep my body healthy. (Less junk food, more calorie inclusive foods, etc) It's hard. It's honestly the hardest thing I've ever done.

Being married, working a full time job, and going to school make me a busy person full of excuses to quit. But not this time.

I've started two weeks ago weighing myself each Wednesday, and so far I'm up to 130 (from 128) I took pictures and everything and so far my pants are fitting better, but I have a long ways to go to get to 160 (my goal) by next summer.

I want to be able to go to the beach, take my shirt off like a man, and not think about what others are thinking about me the entire time. That is my goal.

SouthernDad

When I was younger I had the same problem. Don't worry, it will catch up with you one day.

True Story - I was trying to enlist in the military when I was 17 years old. I was 6'1" tall and required to weigh 150 lbs. No matter what I ate, I couldn't cross 145. The recruiter, who knew every trick in the book filled me up with bananas and chocolate milk. I couldn't have got another bite in my mouth by the time I weighed in. The scale showed a 149... Fortunately, the doctor must have liked me. He looked at the scale from an angle and put 150 on the paperwork.

sammkate

Good luck!!! I have a couple of friends who are trying to gain weight also without just gaining in the belly (that tends to happen as you age, but you hopefully wont have that problem at 21).

djames92

if you want to gain weight try getting a weight gaining protein powder they add about 800 calories to your every day along with alot of protein and carbs to help you build muscle as your extra weight

DrFlave

It's nice to see other people on here who are also trying to gain weight. I also had tried to gain in the past, but failed and just assumed it was because I had a fast metabolism. Now that I'm actually tracking calories I realize that I simply wasn't eating enough. Cutting out cardio and just focusing on lifting weights helps too I think.

rpjmartin

Speaking as someone who has found it difficult to gain weight, my experience is pretty similar to yours. Earlier this year, I took stock - I am 40, work full time etc etc etc. My diet, looking back, was cr"p. Meal after meal based on Chicken kievs and oven chips and other rubbish including loads of crisps . I was drinking alcohol every night, maybe just a can of lager, but drinking all the same and I did no exercise at all. The manboobs were growing and the muffin top was starting to bulge.

For six weeks, I did my own low carb diet. Cut out the booze and lived off salad and roast chicken (this is probably easier to do in the spring/summer!). I lost about 1.5 st in 6 weeks. It was difficult for sure and there were occasional bags of crisps and the odd pizza but not enough to affect my overall weight drop.

Then I started the gym. I didn't want to be a low weight, untoned guy who wouldn't take his t-shirt off on the beach and I didn't want to be one of those fat dads. So I go to the gym every other day after work, do an hour of weights and have started to see some definite body changes in four months. It is worth it for sure!

So with my porridge at 7am , I eat something every two hours, even if its just a banana, to try and get my body accustomed to being fed frequently (with good stuff). Plus I found that since I exercise frequently now, I have a massive appetite and can eat a lot more. I maybe have one can of beer a week now but I could easily go teetotal. I've also been supplementing my diet with protein shakes which add about 300- 500cals per serving to my daily intake. It is definitely not easy trying to get 3000 cals in per day!

I'm sure you can achieve your goal. Good luck!

da_bears10089

My husband is also trying to gain some weight while working out, and i came across a tip for adding size is to drink a gallon of whole milk daily. best of luck!