Trying to gain weight!

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carynrequejo
carynrequejo Posts: 9 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
hi everybody! I'm 5'4" and 110 pounds. I've tried gaining weight before without much success but for the past month I've been really trying. Based on what I read online I thought I could gain on 1,800. Not a pound. I'm now up to at least 2,500 calories a day for the past week or so and maybe I've gained 1 pound! I don't think I can eat much more than 2,500 a day maybe I could go to 3,000 but that seems like a ton. I swear sometimes I think I have a tapeworm! Any suggestions?
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  • beastcompany
    beastcompany Posts: 230 Member
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    How accurately are you honestly tracking your intake? Are you using guesstimations/"close enough" for the large majority, or actually taking the time to weigh/measure what you're consuming?

    How active are you?

    It's not impossible that you could require upwards of 2700-3000 calories/day to grow...but it's unlikely based on your current stats and if this if your first time attempting to bulk.
  • carynrequejo
    carynrequejo Posts: 9 Member
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    I'm trying to be as accurate as possible. I'm totally accurate at home but eating out is harder to track I realize there are huge variables if you enter turkey burger for example.

    I excercize 4 to 5 times a week. Mainly yoga, pilates and light weights. I steer clear of straight cardio.

    The one weird thing I've noticed is that at 2,500 calories I sweat at night which has never happened to me before. It's like my body is trying to burn off the extra calories while I sleep!
  • giantrobot_powerlifting
    giantrobot_powerlifting Posts: 2,598 Member
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    You need more muscle. Find a program and trade in those light weights for heavy. :D
  • janerfitnesspal145
    janerfitnesspal145 Posts: 55 Member
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    carynrequejo wrote: »
    I'm trying to be as accurate as possible. I'm totally accurate at home but eating out is harder to track I realize there are huge variables if you enter turkey burger for example.

    By accurate, are you using a scale to weigh everything? Just asking as I got my sister on MFP because she wanted to gain weight, or at least maintain (she's a mail carrier and tends to lose weight in the summer...FL heat!). She was using measuring cups and I convinced her to get a scale. She found out that a lot of things, esp the fruits, nuts, etc. where she logged a serving she was actually getting maybe a half serving. Needless to say, her calories were a lot less than what she thought.

  • carynrequejo
    carynrequejo Posts: 9 Member
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    Wow. I never even thought about a scale. I do use a measuring cup for juices and cereal and I count out things like nuts. For meat and other things I just eyeball it. I'm really surprised that measuring cups wouldn't be accurate?
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Here's a video explaining why measuring cups aren't accurate:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
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    I thought my metabolism was on the fast side*, which it might be, because I was having problems gaining for a couple months. I just kept upping the calories to just over 20 cals/lb and it's now working. You just need to find your range and then keep adjusting as you go.

    *I had no doubt I could gain weight since I was pretty good at it before. ;)
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
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    What's wrong with gaining a pound at 2500 in a week? Sounds good to me....
  • carynrequejo
    carynrequejo Posts: 9 Member
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    I would be happy with a pound a week but I haven't been gaining. I'm still at 110.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    carynrequejo wrote: »
    I would be happy with a pound a week but I haven't been gaining. I'm still at 110.

    You've only been at it for a week, so give it a bit more time. I'd also try increasing calories in smaller increments than 500 calories at a time. Maybe 100 every two weeks if you don't see a change. And make sure you're logging accurately and not accidentally overestimating your intake.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
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    carynrequejo wrote: »
    I would be happy with a pound a week but I haven't been gaining. I'm still at 110.

    You said in your original post 'maybe I've gained one pound'

    Just keep on eating girlfriend. It'll go on, hopefully you'll hit some weights on the way up!

  • janerfitnesspal145
    janerfitnesspal145 Posts: 55 Member
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    carynrequejo wrote: »
    Wow. I never even thought about a scale. I do use a measuring cup for juices and cereal and I count out things like nuts. For meat and other things I just eyeball it. I'm really surprised that measuring cups wouldn't be accurate?

    You'd be surprised at how off a measuring cup is. My sister, like you, has a hard time maintaining her weight, and because of her job, she drops weight quickly. Before I talked her into buying a digital food scale, she too was counting out the peanuts one by one (talk about carpal tunnel!). When she finally got the scale, she went back and weighed baggies of peanuts and they were all under, some by quite a bit. When you put solids in a measuring cup, it doesn't fill in the spaces. The fruits, etc. she thought were a full serving, ended up only being around a half, or less. I was surprised that my "eye balling" chicken was actually low. What I thought looked like around 4 oz ended up being only around 2 oz. So my sister thought she was eating around 1,500+ calories a day, but she was actually eat much less. Now that she's measuring things, she's managing to keep her weight up.

  • kyri12may
    kyri12may Posts: 6
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    I recently just started trying to bulk up. I eat 2,800 calories a day but I also take a mass gainer because like you said it is a lot of food. I am also lifting weights. I am on this program on bodybuilder.com called jim stoppani shortcut to size. You download the app bodyspace and select that program and its a 12 week program it tells you what you which excersice you need to do on what day and you can track how much you lift how many reps and your rest time. Right now I just finished my third week and I went from 103lbs to 107lbs so I'm excited I'm gaining weight. My goal weight is 120lbs. Also I read that you go out to eat. I make my food at home so that way I track exactly how much I eat and be precise.
  • carynrequejo
    carynrequejo Posts: 9 Member
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    Thanks for the advice I'll look into bodybuilder.com. I do probably need to go the shake route as it's hard to get a ton of calories in everyday and still eat somewhat healthfully. I've done shakes before and for some reason they tend to give me the worst heartburn!
  • se015
    se015 Posts: 583 Member
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    auddii wrote: »
    carynrequejo wrote: »
    I would be happy with a pound a week but I haven't been gaining. I'm still at 110.

    You've only been at it for a week, so give it a bit more time. I'd also try increasing calories in smaller increments than 500 calories at a time. Maybe 100 every two weeks if you don't see a change. And make sure you're logging accurately and not accidentally overestimating your intake.

    I agree with above statement. Also like that you're thinking shakes, this will allow you to eat more calories without having to force food down your throat all day haha. There are also nutritional supplements like Boost or Ensure, I think they taste good, these are loaded with carbs, protein, and fat! I'd say 120 lbs would be good for you I think, not sure your goal on how you want to look ya know? Limit your cardio for now as this will burn calories and you need a caloric surplus so cardio will set you back. Be patient. One week isn't going to change much, see how one month of this goes and if no gains, then you might have to add about 200 cal/day to your total daily calories. Give it time, don't rush or force this, just like anything else in life. Just stay focused and disciplined and you'll get there!

    For solid foods like meat, I typically do use a food scale, they're cheap and easy to use. If you like peanut butter that's great to eat, I eat 4 spoonfuls per day not all at once. But for like rice, pasta, etc..I typically still use measuring cups, if it fills the entire cup well that's sufficient, can't be that different. I mean I guess I'll have to read that link someone posted earlier.

    Are you eating small meals throughout the day? When you eat out you're right it is hard to measure what you eat, so you can only approximate in that situation, unless there's anyone out there that thinks she should carry a food scale with her everytime she decides to go out and enjoy herself eating a a nice place haha.

  • jetgirl5000
    jetgirl5000 Posts: 8
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    I didn't read this whole thread, but have you had your thyroid checked?
  • carynrequejo
    carynrequejo Posts: 9 Member
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    Yes! My doctor said I'm fine and she wishes all her patients were skinny like me :)
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    carynrequejo wrote: »
    Thanks for the advice I'll look into bodybuilder.com. I do probably need to go the shake route as it's hard to get a ton of calories in everyday and still eat somewhat healthfully. I've done shakes before and for some reason they tend to give me the worst heartburn!

    give up on that notion.

    I'm not saying eat twinkies only- but bulking- or putting on weight is your time to dive face first into the ice cream and oreos.

    High calorie- low density (meaning not very filling) foods is what you need. All those things people losing weight try to avoid in an effort to the most of their caloires (eat as much as possible while taking in as few calories as possible).

    You have to go the opposite direction- eat your chicken and broccoli and rice- but go home and crush up 4-6 oreos in 2-3 servings of your favorite ice cream with a big glass of full fat milk.

    bam- 500-1000 calories depending on serving sizes.

    keep eating. By the time I was rounding out my bulk I was over 3000K.

    it happens.

    But it's the real practical test- if you're gaining it's enough- if you aren't gaining- it's not enough food.
  • se015
    se015 Posts: 583 Member
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    I actually like that ice cream, oreos, and milk idea haha. I might try that! Isn't a TON of sugar though at one time? I mean I know we're all about bulking on here and gaining weight, but I mean you can't go too crazy with sugar, that can put you at risk for pre-diabetes haha, I guess it's okay to do once in awhile just not everyday!
  • TristanMacNessaCampbell
    TristanMacNessaCampbell Posts: 79 Member
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    wow, same here only I have trouble managing over 600cal my body gets ill. but I'm also working on gaining weight.
    weight training will help grow muscle which weighs more than the same amount of fat.
    I wish you luck

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