Are you a hard gainer, please read!

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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
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  • dharank
    dharank Posts: 7 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Since one of the most common threads in this section seems to be that people struggle to gain weight, I wanted to create a one stop source for members to read on how to gain (particularly, specific foods to help and some techniques). First, you have to eat enough calories to get above your maintenance levels; you cannot add mass, if you are not providing a foundation to grow (i.e - calories). Once you achieve a surplus, and you want to minimize fat gains, you should consistently maintain a surplus (as opposed to huge calorie fluctuations) and ensure proper training (progressive overload lifting program that is focused on compound moves).

    There are a variety of reason why people struggle to gain. One of the main reasons why people feel they are hard gainers is because they believe they have a high metabolism. Statistically speaking, the average person doesn't have a slow or fast metabolism, but rather have one of the following issues: 1. current eating style isn't conducive towards their goals, 2. psychological struggles or 3. high/active job/daily routine. What I mean by each is simple. Many people develop eating strategies, whether during dieting or habitual, that focus on many low calorie or "diet" foods. This in turn, makes it very difficult to add enough calories to get into a surplus. Also, bulking can be a huge psychological barrier for many people. It's hard going into a program where you are intentionally gaining fat and getting rid of the progress you previously had. And lastly, there are some people (teachers, construction workers, etc...) whom have jobs that are extremely active and will burn a ton of calories. This in turn, makes achieving a surplus a more difficult task than those of us who have desk jobs. Unfortunately, if you want to achieve the goal of gaining muscle, you must hit a surplus and ideally, in a consistent manor.

    With that in mind, hopefully the below list of foods and some dietary strategies will provide you a guide to meet your goals:

    Foods:
    • Avocado
    • Nuts, granola
    • Olive/Coconut Oil (as a dressing or to cook in)
    • Peanut/Almond/Pumpkin/etc butter
    • Butter and spreads
    • Greek Yogurt (higher fat options)
    • Cheese (put that crap on everything or eat a brick of it)
    • Creams (sour cream, cream cheese)
    • Ice cream, chocolate, candy
    • Chocolate/Strawberry milk
    • Bagels (I use P28 protein bagels and top with peanut butter and jelly/jam)
    • Pancakes (if you want a "healthier" version, then go protein pancakes)
    • Waffles
    • Muffins/Scones
    • Syrup, honey, jams, fluff, nutella
    • [Marinade all meats - especially oil based marinades
    • Add sauces to foods
    • High sugar fruits (pineapple, banana, mango, apples, etc...)
    • High calorie protein bars (Cliff Builder, Cliff Energy Bars, etc...)
    • High calorie protein drinks (put in milk)
    • Red meats (Buffalo, Bison, Steak, 80/20 Hamburger, Duck, Ribs)
    • Dark Fish (Salmon,Tuna)
    • Bacon (thick cut)
    • Eggs
    • Starches (potatoes, corn, etc..)
    • pizza
    • Rice
    • Couscous
    • etc...


    While above is not a full list and I can expand if people have other suggestions, there are a few other things you can try to get those calories up:
    • Increase meal frequency
    • Limit cardio while you bulk
    • No diet foods (stay away from low calorie dense foods - again, aim for the veggies/fruits that are higher in sugars)
    • Limit "clean" foods
    • Drink calories
    • Recognize this is mental and that getting nutrients in a bulk is a lot easier
    • And trust the program and the math.

    Hopefully, this can provide a good start to a bulk.
    @psuLemon Thanks for your post. as you have mentioned im hardgainer. Could you please tell me shall i drink protien shake without workout? or do i need workouts after consuming protien shake. could you also suggest very good protien shake please?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    dharank wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Since one of the most common threads in this section seems to be that people struggle to gain weight, I wanted to create a one stop source for members to read on how to gain (particularly, specific foods to help and some techniques). First, you have to eat enough calories to get above your maintenance levels; you cannot add mass, if you are not providing a foundation to grow (i.e - calories). Once you achieve a surplus, and you want to minimize fat gains, you should consistently maintain a surplus (as opposed to huge calorie fluctuations) and ensure proper training (progressive overload lifting program that is focused on compound moves).

    There are a variety of reason why people struggle to gain. One of the main reasons why people feel they are hard gainers is because they believe they have a high metabolism. Statistically speaking, the average person doesn't have a slow or fast metabolism, but rather have one of the following issues: 1. current eating style isn't conducive towards their goals, 2. psychological struggles or 3. high/active job/daily routine. What I mean by each is simple. Many people develop eating strategies, whether during dieting or habitual, that focus on many low calorie or "diet" foods. This in turn, makes it very difficult to add enough calories to get into a surplus. Also, bulking can be a huge psychological barrier for many people. It's hard going into a program where you are intentionally gaining fat and getting rid of the progress you previously had. And lastly, there are some people (teachers, construction workers, etc...) whom have jobs that are extremely active and will burn a ton of calories. This in turn, makes achieving a surplus a more difficult task than those of us who have desk jobs. Unfortunately, if you want to achieve the goal of gaining muscle, you must hit a surplus and ideally, in a consistent manor.

    With that in mind, hopefully the below list of foods and some dietary strategies will provide you a guide to meet your goals:

    Foods:
    • Avocado
    • Nuts, granola
    • Olive/Coconut Oil (as a dressing or to cook in)
    • Peanut/Almond/Pumpkin/etc butter
    • Butter and spreads
    • Greek Yogurt (higher fat options)
    • Cheese (put that crap on everything or eat a brick of it)
    • Creams (sour cream, cream cheese)
    • Ice cream, chocolate, candy
    • Chocolate/Strawberry milk
    • Bagels (I use P28 protein bagels and top with peanut butter and jelly/jam)
    • Pancakes (if you want a "healthier" version, then go protein pancakes)
    • Waffles
    • Muffins/Scones
    • Syrup, honey, jams, fluff, nutella
    • [Marinade all meats - especially oil based marinades
    • Add sauces to foods
    • High sugar fruits (pineapple, banana, mango, apples, etc...)
    • High calorie protein bars (Cliff Builder, Cliff Energy Bars, etc...)
    • High calorie protein drinks (put in milk)
    • Red meats (Buffalo, Bison, Steak, 80/20 Hamburger, Duck, Ribs)
    • Dark Fish (Salmon,Tuna)
    • Bacon (thick cut)
    • Eggs
    • Starches (potatoes, corn, etc..)
    • pizza
    • Rice
    • Couscous
    • etc...


    While above is not a full list and I can expand if people have other suggestions, there are a few other things you can try to get those calories up:
    • Increase meal frequency
    • Limit cardio while you bulk
    • No diet foods (stay away from low calorie dense foods - again, aim for the veggies/fruits that are higher in sugars)
    • Limit "clean" foods
    • Drink calories
    • Recognize this is mental and that getting nutrients in a bulk is a lot easier
    • And trust the program and the math.

    Hopefully, this can provide a good start to a bulk.
    @psuLemon Thanks for your post. as you have mentioned im hardgainer. Could you please tell me shall i drink protien shake without workout? or do i need workouts after consuming protien shake. could you also suggest very good protien shake please?

    You can drink them with or without a work out. Its just a protein supplement.
  • serapel
    serapel Posts: 502 Member
    PsuLemon, I have gained roughly 5 lbs over the past 5 months (as you know :)) and it's mostly more of a body recomp effort due to how slow I'm gaining it seems.

    My maintenance cals used to be 2000 cals, so I increased daily cals to 2250 cals.

    For every pound of muscle, you need an extra 40 cals right? So as you gain muscle, you increase your cals? So if I've gained about 4 lbs of muscle (bc visually I don't see any extra fat), I should now be eating about 2400?

    Man that is a lot of food if that's accurate!!!

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    serapel wrote: »
    PsuLemon, I have gained roughly 5 lbs over the past 5 months (as you know :)) and it's mostly more of a body recomp effort due to how slow I'm gaining it seems.

    My maintenance cals used to be 2000 cals, so I increased daily cals to 2250 cals.

    For every pound of muscle, you need an extra 40 cals right? So as you gain muscle, you increase your cals? So if I've gained about 4 lbs of muscle (bc visually I don't see any extra fat), I should now be eating about 2400?

    Man that is a lot of food if that's accurate!!!

    For every lb of muscle its 4 to 6 calories per day.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    serapel wrote: »
    PsuLemon, I have gained roughly 5 lbs over the past 5 months (as you know :)) and it's mostly more of a body recomp effort due to how slow I'm gaining it seems.

    My maintenance cals used to be 2000 cals, so I increased daily cals to 2250 cals.

    For every pound of muscle, you need an extra 40 cals right? So as you gain muscle, you increase your cals? So if I've gained about 4 lbs of muscle (bc visually I don't see any extra fat), I should now be eating about 2400?

    Man that is a lot of food if that's accurate!!!

    It's really not.
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
    serapel wrote: »
    PsuLemon, I have gained roughly 5 lbs over the past 5 months (as you know :)) and it's mostly more of a body recomp effort due to how slow I'm gaining it seems.

    My maintenance cals used to be 2000 cals, so I increased daily cals to 2250 cals.

    For every pound of muscle, you need an extra 40 cals right? So as you gain muscle, you increase your cals? So if I've gained about 4 lbs of muscle (bc visually I don't see any extra fat), I should now be eating about 2400?

    Man that is a lot of food if that's accurate!!!

    Honestly,it's not - it's around what I've been taking in and I'm not a big eater.
  • serapel
    serapel Posts: 502 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    serapel wrote: »
    PsuLemon, I have gained roughly 5 lbs over the past 5 months (as you know :)) and it's mostly more of a body recomp effort due to how slow I'm gaining it seems.

    My maintenance cals used to be 2000 cals, so I increased daily cals to 2250 cals.

    For every pound of muscle, you need an extra 40 cals right? So as you gain muscle, you increase your cals? So if I've gained about 4 lbs of muscle (bc visually I don't see any extra fat), I should now be eating about 2400?

    Man that is a lot of food if that's accurate!!!

    For every lb of muscle its 4 to 6 calories per day.

    You mean 40 to 60 cals per day?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    edited November 2016
    serapel wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    serapel wrote: »
    PsuLemon, I have gained roughly 5 lbs over the past 5 months (as you know :)) and it's mostly more of a body recomp effort due to how slow I'm gaining it seems.

    My maintenance cals used to be 2000 cals, so I increased daily cals to 2250 cals.

    For every pound of muscle, you need an extra 40 cals right? So as you gain muscle, you increase your cals? So if I've gained about 4 lbs of muscle (bc visually I don't see any extra fat), I should now be eating about 2400?

    Man that is a lot of food if that's accurate!!!

    For every lb of muscle its 4 to 6 calories per day.

    You mean 40 to 60 cals per day?

    No, I literally only mean 4-6 calories extra burned per day. So 10 lbs of muscle (not lean body mass) would be 40-60 calories. The claims of calories burned per lb of muscle are highly exaggerated.

  • serapel
    serapel Posts: 502 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    serapel wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    serapel wrote: »
    PsuLemon, I have gained roughly 5 lbs over the past 5 months (as you know :)) and it's mostly more of a body recomp effort due to how slow I'm gaining it seems.

    My maintenance cals used to be 2000 cals, so I increased daily cals to 2250 cals.

    For every pound of muscle, you need an extra 40 cals right? So as you gain muscle, you increase your cals? So if I've gained about 4 lbs of muscle (bc visually I don't see any extra fat), I should now be eating about 2400?

    Man that is a lot of food if that's accurate!!!

    For every lb of muscle its 4 to 6 calories per day.

    You mean 40 to 60 cals per day?

    No, I literally only mean 4-6 calories extra burned per day. So 10 lbs of muscle (not lean body mass) would be 40-60 calories. The claims of calories burned per lb of muscle are highly exaggerated.

    that sucks!!!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    serapel wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    serapel wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    serapel wrote: »
    PsuLemon, I have gained roughly 5 lbs over the past 5 months (as you know :)) and it's mostly more of a body recomp effort due to how slow I'm gaining it seems.

    My maintenance cals used to be 2000 cals, so I increased daily cals to 2250 cals.

    For every pound of muscle, you need an extra 40 cals right? So as you gain muscle, you increase your cals? So if I've gained about 4 lbs of muscle (bc visually I don't see any extra fat), I should now be eating about 2400?

    Man that is a lot of food if that's accurate!!!

    For every lb of muscle its 4 to 6 calories per day.

    You mean 40 to 60 cals per day?

    No, I literally only mean 4-6 calories extra burned per day. So 10 lbs of muscle (not lean body mass) would be 40-60 calories. The claims of calories burned per lb of muscle are highly exaggerated.

    that sucks!!!

    Increases in TDEE generally come from exercise and NEAT.
  • Great thread
  • LaShonaK
    LaShonaK Posts: 2 Member
    edited December 2016
    So is anyone giving all this advice on here, have a professional Medical Degree?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    LaShonaK wrote: »
    So is anyone giving all this advice on here, have a professional Medical Degree?

    You'd be more informed by people who hold degrees in biology, chemist, biochemistry, etc... . One of my best friends is a pedantic cardiologist and i know a crap ton more than her in nutrition as she didnt have any classes in it.
  • letsgain01
    letsgain01 Posts: 106 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    LaShonaK wrote: »
    So is anyone giving all this advice on here, have a professional Medical Degree?

    You'd be more informed by people who hold degrees in biology, chemist, biochemistry, etc... . One of my best friends is a pedantic cardiologist and i know a crap ton more than her in nutrition as she didnt have any classes in it.

    Right? You don't need a degree to know what you're talking about
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    LaShonaK wrote: »
    So is anyone giving all this advice on here, have a professional Medical Degree?

    No, the majority just have EXPERIENCE...much more useful!

    Especially when you consider that most doctors have minimal (at best) training in nutrition:

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2430660/
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    In all seriousness, if you want, there are a plethora of good people to follow on social media or on other sites, many of which have PhDs or Masters: Layne Norton, Alan Aragon, Brad Schoenfeld, James Kreiger, Lyle McDonald, Mike Matthews, and so many more.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Giving this a good 'old bump
  • cinnimartz
    cinnimartz Posts: 3 Member
    Are there supplements you can take while eating enough calories to help you gain weight? If so what would they be?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    edited January 2017
    cinnimartz wrote: »
    Are there supplements you can take while eating enough calories to help you gain weight? If so what would they be?

    Proteins shakes have calories, but outside of that no. Gaining, just like weight loss, comes down to energy balance. You have to eat a consistent surplus to gain weight. That is why I created this thread, so you can get some ideas of foods that make it easier. And don't be afraid to drink some calories.
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  • rdouma73
    rdouma73 Posts: 2,064 Member
    Wow, great post. Nice to see that not everyone on here is looking to lose a few pounds.
  • 111katie111
    111katie111 Posts: 8 Member
    I find it really hard to eat sometimes. I have digestive issues that cause me to but nauseated 80% of the time but doctors dont know why. I also cant eat certain foods (fatty, fried, spicy, nuts, seeds, greasy and sometimes just random foods). Im lactose intolerant but I have medication for that. The only formal diagnosis i have is GERD (acid reflex). Ive been having trouble gaining weight because i cant get enough calories. Any advice?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    I find it really hard to eat sometimes. I have digestive issues that cause me to but nauseated 80% of the time but doctors dont know why. I also cant eat certain foods (fatty, fried, spicy, nuts, seeds, greasy and sometimes just random foods). Im lactose intolerant but I have medication for that. The only formal diagnosis i have is GERD (acid reflex). Ive been having trouble gaining weight because i cant get enough calories. Any advice?

    Does non nuts/seeds include products made by them? I would probably add fatty cuts of meats. If you can eat/drink foods maybe from nuts, that flavored milks with a scoop or two of protein. Higher GI fruits and veggies, add butters and marinades to all meats, hard cheese.

    Really, it's about finding the right combination foods that help you eat a lot of calories. There are a lot of high calorie oatmeals and shakes that you can probably consume.
  • 111katie111
    111katie111 Posts: 8 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    I find it really hard to eat sometimes. I have digestive issues that cause me to but nauseated 80% of the time but doctors dont know why. I also cant eat certain foods (fatty, fried, spicy, nuts, seeds, greasy and sometimes just random foods). Im lactose intolerant but I have medication for that. The only formal diagnosis i have is GERD (acid reflex). Ive been having trouble gaining weight because i cant get enough calories. Any advice?

    Does non nuts/seeds include products made by them? I would probably add fatty cuts of meats. If you can eat/drink foods maybe from nuts, that flavored milks with a scoop or two of protein. Higher GI fruits and veggies, add butters and marinades to all meats, hard cheese.

    Really, it's about finding the right combination foods that help you eat a lot of calories. There are a lot of high calorie oatmeals and shakes that you can probably consume.

    I think its just raw nuts/seeds. Thanks
  • yomingen95
    yomingen95 Posts: 5 Member
    looking for advises,
    i use to be skinny three years ago, my weight is about 50kg, when i hit to gym and i start to plan the meal, i actually gain the weight, currently in 64 kg, but i stuck in 64kg, am i still need to bulk up?Do i need to add more calories in my meal? i am doubt with that, i still look skinny but muscular.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
    As your weight goes up, your base calorie needs go up. Have you been adjusting it as you've been gaining?