6"4 150lbs looking to gain weight

you might think my weight to height ratio is low right now, but when I started working out 2 months ago I started at 138 pounds. Very, very skinny. I started eating more, really eating whatever I could, and managed to gain around 15ish pounds.

Right now I'm having trouble eating healthy/relatively cheap because of the fact that I am a student who also works 20-30 hours a week. I want to eat more healthy, but also have a relatively easy to follow plan, and was wondering if you guys had any advice?

Replies

  • zaxx1953
    zaxx1953 Posts: 389 Member
    Add this before bed every night; it's very cheap, simple and helps you gain weight (both fat and muscle) which is what you want right now. Do NOT fall into the trap of being overly scared of gaining SOME body fat. It is infinitely easier to gain both SOME fat and A LOT of muscle while training hard and eating a caloric surplus than it is to try and dribble the lean gains in by being perfect with cals/ training.

    Before bed simply eat 2 generously filled PB&J sandwiches on white bread with 16-24 ozs of 2% milk.

    Train, sleep as much as you can (8+ hrs) and eat a caloric surplus....rinse repeat.

    Remember, gains are the product of the triangle of training, rest and nutrition; do NOT expect optimal results if one of the sides is being shortchanged. Young men in particular seem to UNDERVALUE rest and nutrition and OVERVALUE training.
  • yellowantphil
    yellowantphil Posts: 787 Member
    I don’t have much advice to add, but I am the same height and weight as you (6'4", varying between 150 and 154 lbs). At your age, I think I weighed 140–145 lbs.

    Are you looking for an eating plan, or a workout plan?

    I’m looking at weightlifting plans, and using MyFitnessPal to make sure I eat enough. I’ve heard good things about StrongLifts 5x5, but I haven’t tried it yet.

    As for healthy and cheap food, make gainer shakes out of milk, peanut butter, oats, and bananas. Or whatever else you can throw in.
  • AsISmile
    AsISmile Posts: 1,004 Member
    Well, if in eating healthy you mean eating enough vegetables, try getting beans, corn, etc in cans or jars.
    Perhaps frozen for veg that is out of season?

    I am assuming that you are in the US since the majority of users here is, and from what I know is that fresh vegetables are kinda expensive right?
    Anyway, personally, a really large part of my grocery bill is fresh vegetables because they are yummy.
    We are able to stay around €3 p.p. a dinner just through shopping smart. You can't get a McDonalds menu for that...
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    On a tight budget you going to have to fill out a large portion of your calories in cheap carbs like pasta, rice, oats, and cereals. That's fine, calories are king on a weight gain but you'll need to get sufficient protein, which you should be fine at about 100g/day at your weight. For development of skeletal muscles you need those that are rich in the amino acid Lucine, which are abundant in eggs, dairy, fish, and meats so tuna, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, chicken etc will be your best source of protein. You will also need about .45g/pound of body weight for fat so nuts and oils are good here.

    Fruits and vegetables will be more expensive in many areas but definitely needed. You'll need to look for the seasonal and frozen for the best deals in most cases.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Ice cream goes on sale for like 2$ or 2.50$ a carton- easy way to get those calories up without busting your budget.
  • Brolympus
    Brolympus Posts: 360 Member
    Oreos. Dipped in peanut butter. NOM. 4 cookies with 2 tbsp PB ~ 400 calories. Have that as a quick snack a few times a day and your cals will be up real fast.