How long does it take to gain weight?

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runway12
runway12 Posts: 63 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I increased my calories by 500 to be able to gain a pound or maybe 1/2 a pound a week. I am wondering if once a pound is gained, is it seen on the scale right away? I know this may sound stupid, but it's been a week and I still weigh the same. Is it at all possible to wake up one day and weigh 3 pounds more a couple months from now? Or would the scale show the gains immediately once they happen? I am afraid to increase any more calories because I don't know if it would make me gain too much down the road, and one day have my body just uncontrolably gaining

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  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Scale weight will fluctuate on the daily. Handful of factors will contribute to it: water, food volume, etc.

    Best to look at the trend over several weeks and adjust accordingly.
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
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    ^^what he said...

    sometimes an increase in carbs will make it look like your gaining faster than you are due to watert retention.. try something for a few weeks.. dont freak out daily
  • runway12
    runway12 Posts: 63 Member
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    I will wait a couple more weeks then, so I'm taking it isn't possible to gain a ton of weight at once then? It will be gradual even with the increase?


    Scale weight will fluctuate on the daily. Handful of factors will contribute to it: water, food volume, etc.

    Best to look at the trend over several weeks and adjust accordingly.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    It would depend upon the amount of the surplus. Are you just looking to gain weight? Gain muscle? What's the end game here?
  • runway12
    runway12 Posts: 63 Member
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    The surplus is only at 500 right now, doing 5 days a week of weight lifting for 45 min. I am looking to gain weight and muscle because I am very bony and underweight currently.





    It would depend upon the amount of the surplus. Are you just looking to gain weight? Gain muscle? What's the end game here?
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Gotcha. I would say a 500 calorie surplus is fine. Just do weekly weigh ins eating at the same number for a few weeks. If you begin to taper off on scale weight add in additional calories at that point.

    It would depend how concerned you are with fat gain. For someone like myself, my surplus is mild since I'm trying to remain relatively lean while bulking. I'm also a bit more experience so I won't gain as quickly as someone who is in their beginner stages. I'm assuming you're still relatively new to lifting so 500 would be a good point to be able to gain at a reasonable rate without ballooning up.
  • mcdona84
    mcdona84 Posts: 3 Member
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    The surplus is only at 500 right now, doing 5 days a week of weight lifting for 45 min. I am looking to gain weight and muscle because I am very bony and underweight currently.





    It would depend upon the amount of the surplus. Are you just looking to gain weight? Gain muscle? What's the end game here?

    Agreed that you should wait a few weeks as your weight can fluctuate up to 10 pounds a day. You can also take girth measurements. Have some one take your bicep, forearm, thigh, etc. circumferences. This can be a measure of hypertrophy (although this is likely to occur much later as increases in strength are primarily due to neural adaptations). You can perform muscular strength and endurance tests as well (e.g push-ups, sit-ups, 1-rep max etc). It takes time, so be patient.

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