Help me gain weight! Please!

Eat more food! What is your current caloric intake? What are your activity levels?

Hi Micclancy16,
Your problem is that you are not eating enough. The way to gain weight is to eat more calories than your body requires. To find this out, google a calorie calculator and enter your age, weight, height, etc. It will tell you your 'maintenance' calorie goal, which is what you need to consume to stay at the weight you are. In order to gain weight, you need to increase your 'maintenance' calories by around 200-300 calories (If you want to put on 'clean' weight) and not get fat. If you increase your calories by too much, you will get fat and that can lead to health problems. The goal is to gradually increase body weight, a good goal is around 300-500gms per week.

In order to put on "clean" weight, focus on complex carbs, that is carbs that are low on the glycemic index. They absorb slower into the blood and fuel you throughout the day. Examples of complex carbs are, Oats, Sweet Potato, Rice (Preferably Brown). Now, depending on whether or not you plan to work out, ie, weights, etc. You need to be consuming 'lean' proteins, such as, Chicken, Eggs, Milk, Turkey, etc. These will aid in muscle growth and are also a good source of calories. Note, an increase in protein puts more stress on the kidneys, anything over 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight should see an increase in water consumption, at least 2-3 liters a day.
Fats are also important, healthy fats (Un-Saturated Fats) are essential, most contain good cholesterol and also actively lower your bad cholesterol. Healthy fats include, oils (Olive, Avocado, Flax Seed, Canola) Nuts, Fish (Salmon) and things like avocados are great, and peanut butter (Natural, preferably).

If you find it hard to consume copious amounts of food, or lack the time to cook/eat food, then shakes are an alternative. Certain weight gain shakes like 'Optimum Nutrition Pro Gainer' have over 600 calories per serve, coupled with a cup of milk and a scoop of peanut butter can see at least 800 calories. Shakes are a fast, effective way to increase your caloric intake. Be wary, some weight gain shakes are made up of simple sugars, and can lead to excessive weight gain.

Hope I answered some of your queries, Thanks.

HamsterManV2 wrote: »

Calculate your TDEE - this is how many calories to eat to MAINTAIN weight. Scientifically, 3500 calories = 1lb. So if we divide 3500 calories by 7 days of the week, you need to eat TDEE plus 500 calories to gain 1lb per week.

So that means you need to log and measure EVERYTHING you put in your mouth, and eat TDEE + 500 calories. I assume you are lifting during this time, as the caloric surplus will greatly aid in strength and muscle growth. I would not recommend going any more than that, as you can only build a certain amount of muscle and any excess will turn into fat.

i.e. I am a 27/male/5'7", gymming 4 days a week. I put in my stats and my TDEE comes out to 2300 calories. To bulk, I have to eat 2800 calories DAILY for +1lb per week. If I wanted to gain 10 lbs, that's roughly 3 months of bulking. If I wanted to lose weight, I'd cut and eat 1800 calories daily for -1lb per week.

Remember, consistency over intensity. Skinny people overestimate how much they eat (and overweight people underestimate). The scale and food tracking keeps us all honest. It's not how much you eat in 1 meal or 1 weekend, but what you do day-in-day-out.

ensure enlive shakes, 350 calories and 20 grams of protein in one small bottle.