my goal at gaining weight

Hi, I'm a 21yo college student with 173cm height n about 55-56kg. I started going to gym in hope of gaining some muscle tone n weights at the same time.
I started when I was 18, I used to be about 44-46kg by the way.
My goal now is to reach at least 60kg. I already cancel my membership on the usual fitness club I visited n workout at my apartment gym. It doesn't have a lot of equipments so I need to improvised.

Anyway, I need help in gaining more weights cause it seems like it's getting harder to gain weights n muscles at the same time. Can anyone calculate how much of calories intake I should have in a day n any recommendations for protein shake?

PS: I workout 3-4times a week
My metabolism seems to be high n I easily sweat

Replies

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
    sweating has nothing to do with metabolism.

    If your gaining has slowed down then you need to add in 100 calories a day and see what happens. If no gain then increase again until you start gaining. As you gain weight, your calorie needs will increase so you need a corresponding increase in calories to support your new weight and add more mass.

  • ajnb88
    ajnb88 Posts: 339 Member
    Lower protein, raise carbs + fats.

    I was stuck continually losing weight for ages until I did that.
  • Joshyusernametaken
    Joshyusernametaken Posts: 50 Member
    Imo I wouldn't be so worried about counting calories and being so technical. Calorie counting and macros is a great guide but it's not the definitive solution, you'll just confuse yourself. Eat, eat and eat some more I guarantee you're not eating enough. If you were you'd gain wait, simple. You will get used to it over time. I was 69 kilos when I was 19 and thought I 'couldn't put on wait no matter what and how much I ate' - that was rubbish. Up your food intake and you will gain the wait. Eat the right food and you will gain the right wait. Resistance train and you will build the muscle.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
    Imo I wouldn't be so worried about counting calories and being so technical. Calorie counting and macros is a great guide but it's not the definitive solution, you'll just confuse yourself. Eat, eat and eat some more I guarantee you're not eating enough. If you were you'd gain wait, simple. You will get used to it over time. I was 69 kilos when I was 19 and thought I 'couldn't put on wait no matter what and how much I ate' - that was rubbish. Up your food intake and you will gain the wait. Eat the right food and you will gain the right wait. Resistance train and you will build the muscle.

    if you don't count calories then how can you know if you are in a surplus or not? Most people actually underestimate portions by about 20% so if OP follows your recommendation and assumes he is eating 2000 calories and is off by 20% then he would only be eating 1600...

    I would be curious what the "right foods" are...
  • jdscrubs32
    jdscrubs32 Posts: 514 Member
    edwardkho wrote: »
    Hi, I'm a 21yo college student with 173cm height n about 55-56kg. I started going to gym in hope of gaining some muscle tone n weights at the same time.
    I started when I was 18, I used to be about 44-46kg by the way.
    My goal now is to reach at least 60kg. I already cancel my membership on the usual fitness club I visited n workout at my apartment gym. It doesn't have a lot of equipments so I need to improvised.

    Anyway, I need help in gaining more weights cause it seems like it's getting harder to gain weights n muscles at the same time. Can anyone calculate how much of calories intake I should have in a day n any recommendations for protein shake?

    PS: I workout 3-4times a week
    My metabolism seems to be high n I easily sweat

    As @ndj1979 said sweating has nothing to do with your metabolism. I'm a wee bit smaller than you but I started out at the same weight a year and half ago at 55kg. I'm now 67.5kg but that is only since I started on the current calorie amount that I am on since last November which is 4,000. I'm not saying you need to be on that amount of calories. Do as @ndj1979 keep increasing the calories till you see gains. I had to do this when I wasn't gaining on 3,000 nor 3,500 cos like you I have a high metabolism. Set your macros up as 50% carbs, 20% protein & 30% fats but stick mainly to reaching whatever calorie amount you have set every day. To get all the foods in, I found it best to pre log my day and split what I was eating into 4 meals & 2 snacks. Log everything. Weight the foods that need to be weighed to make sure you aren't underestimating the amount. If you do cardio, cut it down to 1 30 minute session a week. Good luck.
  • sweetochiken
    sweetochiken Posts: 51 Member
    Do you do a lot of cardio? If so, you might need to decrease cardio, and increase your strength training. Like others said eat more carbs and fats, but still eat protein because you need that for growing muscles.
  • Joshyusernametaken
    Joshyusernametaken Posts: 50 Member
    Imo I wouldn't be so worried about counting calories and being so technical. Calorie counting and macros is a great guide but it's not the definitive solution, you'll just confuse yourself. Eat, eat and eat some more I guarantee you're not eating enough. If you were you'd gain wait, simple. You will get used to it over time. I was 69 kilos when I was 19 and thought I 'couldn't put on wait no matter what and how much I ate' - that was rubbish. Up your food intake and you will gain the wait. Eat the right food and you will gain the right wait. Resistance train and you will build the muscle.

    I never said 'don't count calories' I said it's not the definitive answer. It's a great guide but if you are really struggling to gain weight you simply need to eat more! Good foods = complex carbs, good fats, protein rich foods with limited processed low gi food
  • edwardkho
    edwardkho Posts: 8 Member
    jdscrubs32 wrote: »

    As @ndj1979 said sweating has nothing to do with your metabolism. I'm a wee bit smaller than you but I started out at the same weight a year and half ago at 55kg. I'm now 67.5kg but that is only since I started on the current calorie amount that I am on since last November which is 4,000. I'm not saying you need to be on that amount of calories. Do as @ndj1979 keep increasing the calories till you see gains. I had to do this when I wasn't gaining on 3,000 nor 3,500 cos like you I have a high metabolism. Set your macros up as 50% carbs, 20% protein & 30% fats but stick mainly to reaching whatever calorie amount you have set every day. To get all the foods in, I found it best to pre log my day and split what I was eating into 4 meals & 2 snacks. Log everything. Weight the foods that need to be weighed to make sure you aren't underestimating the amount. If you do cardio, cut it down to 1 30 minute session a week. Good luck.

    I rarely do cardio n if I did it'll usually only last for 10mins. (Walking and jog a bit)
    In my consumption of foods, I actually try to eat healthy, meaning less oily foods. Am i doing it wrong? Am i supposed to just eat anything i could find including junk foods just so i could reach the surplus?
    I do struggle when it comes to counting the foods macros. It's a bit confusing. Some of the products doesn't exactly have nutrition facts on them.

    @Joshyusernametaken can u explain what a complex carbs, good fats n protein foods with limited processed low gi food? What kind of foods that meet the category?
  • jdscrubs32
    jdscrubs32 Posts: 514 Member
    edited July 2015
    edwardkho wrote: »
    jdscrubs32 wrote: »

    As @ndj1979 said sweating has nothing to do with your metabolism. I'm a wee bit smaller than you but I started out at the same weight a year and half ago at 55kg. I'm now 67.5kg but that is only since I started on the current calorie amount that I am on since last November which is 4,000. I'm not saying you need to be on that amount of calories. Do as @ndj1979 keep increasing the calories till you see gains. I had to do this when I wasn't gaining on 3,000 nor 3,500 cos like you I have a high metabolism. Set your macros up as 50% carbs, 20% protein & 30% fats but stick mainly to reaching whatever calorie amount you have set every day. To get all the foods in, I found it best to pre log my day and split what I was eating into 4 meals & 2 snacks. Log everything. Weight the foods that need to be weighed to make sure you aren't underestimating the amount. If you do cardio, cut it down to 1 30 minute session a week. Good luck.

    I rarely do cardio n if I did it'll usually only last for 10mins. (Walking and jog a bit)
    In my consumption of foods, I actually try to eat healthy, meaning less oily foods. Am i doing it wrong? Am i supposed to just eat anything i could find including junk foods just so i could reach the surplus?
    I do struggle when it comes to counting the foods macros. It's a bit confusing. Some of the products doesn't exactly have nutrition facts on them.

  • jdscrubs32
    jdscrubs32 Posts: 514 Member
    edwardkho wrote: »
    jdscrubs32 wrote: »

    As @ndj1979 said sweating has nothing to do with your metabolism. I'm a wee bit smaller than you but I started out at the same weight a year and half ago at 55kg. I'm now 67.5kg but that is only since I started on the current calorie amount that I am on since last November which is 4,000. I'm not saying you need to be on that amount of calories. Do as @ndj1979 keep increasing the calories till you see gains. I had to do this when I wasn't gaining on 3,000 nor 3,500 cos like you I have a high metabolism. Set your macros up as 50% carbs, 20% protein & 30% fats but stick mainly to reaching whatever calorie amount you have set every day. To get all the foods in, I found it best to pre log my day and split what I was eating into 4 meals & 2 snacks. Log everything. Weight the foods that need to be weighed to make sure you aren't underestimating the amount. If you do cardio, cut it down to 1 30 minute session a week. Good luck.

    I rarely do cardio n if I did it'll usually only last for 10mins. (Walking and jog a bit)
    In my consumption of foods, I actually try to eat healthy, meaning less oily foods. Am i doing it wrong? Am i supposed to just eat anything i could find including junk foods just so i could reach the surplus?
    I do struggle when it comes to counting the foods macros. It's a bit confusing. Some of the products doesn't exactly have nutrition facts on them.

    @Joshyusernametaken can u explain what a complex carbs, good fats n protein foods with limited processed low gi food? What kind of foods that meet the category?

    While I'm not saying you are doing it wrong, eat a mixture of both healthy and what people might call unhealthy foods. For you its all about getting the calories in. Eat foods that have good fats in them like almonds, cashews, peanut butter. Make sure to eat nutrient dense food like rice, chicken, etc but you will go cracked if you eat purely this way so if you want eat ice cream, bagels, etc. You can do it slow and the increase in both muscle and fat should be roughly the same or you can do it quick but be prepared for fat to increase more. Don't be put off by the body fat increasing as you cant really have one without the other
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
    Imo I wouldn't be so worried about counting calories and being so technical. Calorie counting and macros is a great guide but it's not the definitive solution, you'll just confuse yourself. Eat, eat and eat some more I guarantee you're not eating enough. If you were you'd gain wait, simple. You will get used to it over time. I was 69 kilos when I was 19 and thought I 'couldn't put on wait no matter what and how much I ate' - that was rubbish. Up your food intake and you will gain the wait. Eat the right food and you will gain the right wait. Resistance train and you will build the muscle.

    I never said 'don't count calories' I said it's not the definitive answer. It's a great guide but if you are really struggling to gain weight you simply need to eat more! Good foods = complex carbs, good fats, protein rich foods with limited processed low gi food

    you said don't worry about it, which usually means don't do it. If I tell my employee to not worry about something, I then don't go back to them and reprimand them for not doing the thing that I told them not to worry about.

    As OP indicated he is having a hard time gauging the proper intake level, I think that telling him not to worry about counting calories is counter productive to his goals.

    Please explain to me how overly processed foods would hinder ones bulking attempt? I would also like to know what is considered a "bad" carb for bulking?



  • AsISmile
    AsISmile Posts: 1,004 Member
    edited July 2015
    What
    edwardkho wrote: »
    jdscrubs32 wrote: »

    As @ndj1979 said sweating has nothing to do with your metabolism. I'm a wee bit smaller than you but I started out at the same weight a year and half ago at 55kg. I'm now 67.5kg but that is only since I started on the current calorie amount that I am on since last November which is 4,000. I'm not saying you need to be on that amount of calories. Do as @ndj1979 keep increasing the calories till you see gains. I had to do this when I wasn't gaining on 3,000 nor 3,500 cos like you I have a high metabolism. Set your macros up as 50% carbs, 20% protein & 30% fats but stick mainly to reaching whatever calorie amount you have set every day. To get all the foods in, I found it best to pre log my day and split what I was eating into 4 meals & 2 snacks. Log everything. Weight the foods that need to be weighed to make sure you aren't underestimating the amount. If you do cardio, cut it down to 1 30 minute session a week. Good luck.

    I rarely do cardio n if I did it'll usually only last for 10mins. (Walking and jog a bit)
    In my consumption of foods, I actually try to eat healthy, meaning less oily foods. Am i doing it wrong? Am i supposed to just eat anything i could find including junk foods just so i could reach the surplus?
    I do struggle when it comes to counting the foods macros. It's a bit confusing. Some of the products doesn't exactly have nutrition facts on them.

    @Joshyusernametaken can u explain what a complex carbs, good fats n protein foods with limited processed low gi food? What kind of foods that meet the category?

    It is always okay to eat healthy food for the nutrients since they are beneficial to our bodies.
    The fact that you need to eat in a surplus does not mean you need more healthy food than someone on maintenance. There is nothing wrong with some of those surplus calories coming from "unhealthy foods". I personally try to eat "healthy" most of the time, but still have a cookie every day and eat chips on the weekend. That doesn't sound like bad eating habits right?
    Now the next point, fat in general is not bad. However, plant based fats are more healthy. Olive oil has a substantial role in the Mediterranean diet, and those people are quite healthy. I think the whole low fat thing stems from the fact that 1 gram of fat has double the amount of calories 1 gram of carbs or protein does. Since you want to gain weight, I think adding some fats to your diet is not a bad choice.
    An easy way to do so is by buying full fat yoghurt and milk instead of low fat. Nuts are also a good source.

    Hope this helps
  • Joshyusernametaken
    Joshyusernametaken Posts: 50 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Imo I wouldn't be so worried about counting calories and being so technical. Calorie counting and macros is a great guide but it's not the definitive solution, you'll just confuse yourself. Eat, eat and eat some more I guarantee you're not eating enough. If you were you'd gain wait, simple. You will get used to it over time. I was 69 kilos when I was 19 and thought I 'couldn't put on wait no matter what and how much I ate' - that was rubbish. Up your food intake and you will gain the wait. Eat the right food and you will gain the right wait. Resistance train and you will build the muscle.

    I never said 'don't count calories' I said it's not the definitive answer. It's a great guide but if you are really struggling to gain weight you simply need to eat more! Good foods = complex carbs, good fats, protein rich foods with limited processed low gi food

    you said don't worry about it, which usually means don't do it. If I tell my employee to not worry about something, I then don't go back to them and reprimand them for not doing the thing that I told them not to worry about.

    As OP indicated he is having a hard time gauging the proper intake level, I think that telling him not to worry about counting calories is counter productive to his goals.

    Please explain to me how overly processed foods would hinder ones bulking attempt? I would also like to know what is considered a "bad" carb for bulking?



    Mate, ask a body builder if they count calories or a power lifter. Generally they dont. I have trained with many of both and almost all don't stress over precise calorie intake. Some do but once you know what you need to eat it gets easier.

    Overly processed foods will most definitely allow for weight gain, that is fat gain. if you want quality muscle you will need the right fuel for the job.

    Carbs serve their place like any macro. I however don't see the benefit of eating a refined simple carb like bread or sugar which is going to metabolise more rapidly as fat on the body. If you are trying to 'bulk' to just gain weight sure go for it. But if you are looking at being healthy and actually gaining good quality muscle, different story. im not going to argue with you as you obviously get a kick my trying to stir people opinions on a public forum.

    to the OP, speak to some like minded people you might know who have good results to get a sense of the right idea with nutrition and be caredult sourcing info from the net. if you are at a gym, ask one of the muscular fit traininers what they are doing and hear it straight form the source. Who will you believe, the guy with the big pot belly or the guy with the great physique?

    personal message me if you want any food ideas mate, more than happy to help with the exposure of this forum :)
  • edwardkho
    edwardkho Posts: 8 Member
    @ndj1979 @joshyusernametaken ur solutions are both great although they also may have pro n con.
    When I started gym a few years back, I never even once try to take a look at how much of a nutrition I should have. I kept stuffing my face with unhealthy foods n I did gain weights. But after I hit about 52-53kg it, I stop gaining n struggling to even maintain the weights I was in at that time. (I ate the same portions each day so go figure)
    Now I'm pretty much a beginner at the whole counting whatever nutritions that I have, but it did help me with how much I should reach in cal surplus. And in additions, since I started eating more healthy instead of just stuffing everything I actually could gain few kgs. Maybe once I figure out more about the foods nutrition then it'll be a lot more easier hence what you said @joshyusernametaken the body builder eats whatever they could get their hands on, but probably just to fill that additional nutrition's they need. They obviously know whatever was in the foods they ate. And I would really appreciate the food ideas.
  • Brolympus
    Brolympus Posts: 360 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Imo I wouldn't be so worried about counting calories and being so technical. Calorie counting and macros is a great guide but it's not the definitive solution, you'll just confuse yourself. Eat, eat and eat some more I guarantee you're not eating enough. If you were you'd gain wait, simple. You will get used to it over time. I was 69 kilos when I was 19 and thought I 'couldn't put on wait no matter what and how much I ate' - that was rubbish. Up your food intake and you will gain the wait. Eat the right food and you will gain the right wait. Resistance train and you will build the muscle.

    if you don't count calories then how can you know if you are in a surplus or not? Most people actually underestimate portions by about 20% so if OP follows your recommendation and assumes he is eating 2000 calories and is off by 20% then he would only be eating 1600...

    I would be curious what the "right foods" are...

    Absolutely. It is not a good idea to tell somebody to just "wing it". This is the bro-tastic approach to lifting. It's why you see people in the gym, day after day, lifting the same weight they were last week, making zero progress.

    You need to measure you intake to understand if you are in surplus or not, and whether that surplus is appropriate. Dreamer bulking, gaining 50lbs in 5 months, and then realizing most of that was fat, is just setting up the OP for disappointment as much as him making no progress at all.
  • Brolympus
    Brolympus Posts: 360 Member
    Also, OP, if your training program is not sufficient, you will fail to make gains regardless of nutrition. Do you have access to a gym with a barbell and some kind of power rack or half rack? You should really be training using compound lifts (squats, deadlifts, bench, overhead press, etc.) to maximize your gain potential. There is a reason they are the staple of every major athletes training program.

    If you don't have a set training program, pick one and stick to it if you are starting out. Stronglifts, Ice Cream Fitness, or Starting Strength are all great for somebody with 0-2 years of experience.
  • edwardkho
    edwardkho Posts: 8 Member
    The gym place I'm in literally have no barbell or any power racks n like I said, I improvise. The rest of the equipments are pretty good enough so I could train few body parts. They got lots of dumbells though so I used dumbells for some of the compound lifts.
    Wait, I guess I'll retract my words about no barbell. We got one barbell, ONE. N its not even own by the club's. Someone left it there, with only 2sets of 5kg n 1 set of 2kg. I am not suppose to use it, but the owner is never there to claim it so I can't help myself. Like I said, I improvise n try everything I could use. :D
    Brolympus wrote: »
    Also, OP, if your training program is not sufficient, you will fail to make gains regardless of nutrition. Do you have access to a gym with a barbell and some kind of power rack or half rack? You should really be training using compound lifts (squats, deadlifts, bench, overhead press, etc.) to maximize your gain potential. There is a reason they are the staple of every major athletes training program.

    If you don't have a set training program, pick one and stick to it if you are starting out. Stronglifts, Ice Cream Fitness, or Starting Strength are all great for somebody with 0-2 years of experience.