Dying trying to gain 13lbs. Tell me the secrets man.

joensg wrote: »

Have a dietician. Lift 5 days a week. Cardio 3 days a week. On a 3500 calorie a day diet and it seems impossible. Give me your wisdom guys.

Ps, Rangers lead the way!

You might need to reduce the cardio if you are not gaining weight. When you do this and if you still aren't gaining, you might need to increase the calories. How long have you been on 3,500 calories?

TDEE - Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This accounts for age, height, weight, sex, activity level, are you on your feet all day vs desk job, etc. To gain 1lb/week, you need to eat +500 calories over the TDEE (and to lose 1lb/week, it is -500calories). Your activity level is EXTREMELY high, which is good, but in order to gain weight, you must eat EVEN MORE food.

You have 2 options:

1. Increase calorie amount. You can go +200 calories each month until you see yourself gaining 1lb/week. Liquid calories like homemade shakes, olive oils, peanut butter, etc. are all good for bulking. Alternatively you "dirty bulk" which means add what's typically viewed as 'unhealthy', such as pizza, ice cream, smoothies, frappucinos, etc. People find it hard to 'clean bulk' for 3500 calories and greater.
2. Keep your 3500 calories but lower your activity level.

Both of these will work. You can meet in the middle - Raise your calories to 3700 and cut 1 lifting or cardio session.

Tell us, what are your stats? Age, height, weight, sex, training background, current routine?

Edit:
Spreadables like these help a lot.
Also you can do a "slow bulk" which is +0.5lbs per week - weight gain is slower but you get less fat with it. This is TDEE+250 calories. I love slow bulking as you lift like you are on a surplus, with minimal fat gains. It will take double the time, so if you have patience then recommend it (it will take ~26 weeks instead of ~13 weeks).

If I am doing cardio and eating only 3500 cals a day I won't gain a thing. Play with your program a bit to reduce cardio or up cals until you find that you start gaining. It is different for everyone. Aim for 1/2 -1 lb/wk is usually a decent goal.

sgt1372 wrote: »

The quickest and easiest way to gain weight is to drink a GOMAD in addition to your TDEE equivalent diet. That's an additional 2400 cals a day for whole milk. Of course, it won't work if you're lactose intolerant but, as long as you can handle the milk, you should be able to gain 1/2 to 1 lb a day doing this.

1/2 -1 lb a day is a stupid rate to gain weight. 99% will be fat. A rate of 2-4lbs a month is much more sensible.

sgt1372 wrote: »

The quickest and easiest way to gain weight is to drink a GOMAD in addition to your TDEE equivalent diet. That's an additional 2400 cals a day for whole milk. Of course, it won't work if you're lactose intolerant but, as long as you can handle the milk, you should be able to gain 1/2 to 1 lb a day doing this.

GOMAD was created by Coach Rip for the super underweight absolute novice who complains they cannot gain weight/muscle yet does not have the discipline to track calories and eat the right amount (think high school kids who are very new and not ready to commit to counting calories). Gallon Of Milk A Day is for them, to keep chugging milk and gaining as much weight to maximize benefits from 1) being a young adult going through puberty 2) getting strength and mass as quickly as possible in the shortest amount of time and 3) quickly adding +20lbs to their very underweight frame.

GOMAD is not meant for those trying to increase weight by a little bit and if a regular adult did this, they would be mostly adding fat.

Now we can suggest that the original poster adds 1-2 glasses of whole milk a day for the extra calories, but definitely not a gallon a day!

OP, cut down on the cardio possibly. Trying to gain weight and doing cardio not a very good mix.

Lift all the heavy weights you can, eat all the calories you can and do not expended unnecessary calories keeping you from gaining weight! I am curious what type of strength training program you are following as well.

Eat a lot of calorie dense foods that fit in your calories. Peanut Butter is number 1 on my list! You don't have to "die trying" to do this. It is basic simple principles and no need to over think this.

HamsterManV2 wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

The quickest and easiest way to gain weight is to drink a GOMAD in addition to your TDEE equivalent diet. That's an additional 2400 cals a day for whole milk. Of course, it won't work if you're lactose intolerant but, as long as you can handle the milk, you should be able to gain 1/2 to 1 lb a day doing this.

GOMAD was created by Coach Rip for the super underweight absolute novice who complains they cannot gain weight/muscle yet does not have the discipline to track calories and eat the right amount (think high school kids who are very new and not ready to commit to counting calories). Gallon Of Milk A Day is for them, to keep chugging milk and gaining as much weight to maximize benefits from 1) being a young adult going through puberty 2) getting strength and mass as quickly as possible in the shortest amount of time and 3) quickly adding +20lbs to their very underweight frame.

GOMAD is not meant for those trying to increase weight by a little bit and if a regular adult did this, they would be mostly adding fat.

Now we can suggest that the original poster adds 1-2 glasses of whole milk a day for the extra calories, but definitely not a gallon a day!

I agree. In addition to the extra fat gain from doing GOMAD, that becomes a massive dose of calcium that is well above the tolerable upper limit.

filbo132 wrote: »

When bulking, cardio is your enemy. Eat a lot of calories (about 3k to 3,5k calories), eat a lot of carbs (pasta, sweet potatoes,rice,beans,etc...), try to aim 1 to 1,5g of protein per pound and you should be set. That's what I did and it worked.

1) Cardio is not your enemy. Yes, it burns calories but also improves fitness.
2) "A lot" of calories means something to different to everyone. Personally I maintain on 3300.
3) 0.7-1 g/lb of lean body mass is all that is required for natural "bodybuilders".

filbo132 wrote: »

What I meant by enemy is that it will reduce your gains, but I do agree you still need to do some cardio, but without going overboard.

If you have effective training and calories, it wont mess with gains by any means. Reducing cardio is a way yo reduce tdee which makes it easier to eat above maintenance.