Gaining Weight & Overall Advice

Jessika100426
Jessika100426 Posts: 10 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I’ve struggled to gain and maintain my entire life. I’m 5’7” 111 lbs currently with a BMI of 17.4%. I take in about 2200-2300 calories a day. If I’m more active like during the summer I lose weight. I don’t exercise and I’m a engineer so I sit at a desk all day. I’ve started doing lunges, squats, donkey kicks and hip thrust. I don’t want to lose weight though so I’m afraid to push to hard when exercising. I need help and advice so anything you can add. I’m thinking of meal planning so I can make sure I’m getting the macros I need.

Replies

  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    I would recommend that you look at weight lifting. It will help you build muscle in addition to gaining fat (you likely need to gain both), and it doesn't burn that many calories. Maybe 100-200 at most. You just eat more to compensate.

    For your calorie goal, have you put your stats into MFP and told it you want to gain weight? What calorie goal does it give you?
  • GaryRuns
    GaryRuns Posts: 508 Member
    There's a really good thread dedicated to folks who have a hard time gaining with lots of useful information. Take a look at it:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1
  • Jessika100426
    Jessika100426 Posts: 10 Member
    @MikePTY MFP gives me 2260 other sites and resources have given me less some as low as 1170. It’s so difficult to find good resources for gaining weight. I eat more than 2260 a day already. So the best option is to weight lift and whatever I burn eat. Am I understanding?
  • Jessika100426
    Jessika100426 Posts: 10 Member
    Thank you so much @GaryRuns for the excellent resource, I really appreciate your help.
  • Jessika100426
    Jessika100426 Posts: 10 Member
    @MikePTY I’m already at 1940 and I haven’t had my 2 snacks or dinner yet.
  • JessAndreia
    JessAndreia Posts: 540 Member
    Are you sure you are consistently (daily) taking in 2200-2300 calories a day? Are you weighing your food or just estimating?
    At your height, weight, and being sedentary (doesn't seem like you have much muscle mass either), you should at least slowly be gaining weight eating those calories daily.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    can you open up your diary? but that being said - if you just joined today (which your profile seems to indicate) we likely won't be able to give you much advice until you get a couple solid weeks of logging

    my guess is that you are logging more than you are eating - that is a very common psychological issue
  • Jessika100426
    Jessika100426 Posts: 10 Member
    Nope not putting in more than I eat. I logged 2650 today which is more than I thought. This is a slow day for me. I usually eat more than this. My biological mother and her sister have been diagnosed with a hyperactive thyroid condition. They too struggled to maintain weight. The issue is, until my thyroid stops working, swells or I have some other complication, they can’t test me for this particular condition. The thyroid specialist has theorized that I have it but he can’t be sure without testing that hormone. I’ve been to several specialist, and brought in food journals. I’ve had my thyroid checked over the years from the time I was 9 and nothing’s ever came back. I will say I eat like *kitten* lol. I really didn’t want to go this much into detail but I feel it’s necessary considering people assume I log more than I eat. When I say I’ve tried so many things it’s not an exugeration or mental thing it’s the truth. I took in 4000 in a year and gained 15 lbs. They put me on medical steroids and I gained up to 145 which I loved and was ecstatic with. As soon as they weaned me off, my weight dropped with it. People are amazed when they watch me eat. My Regular Doctor has always told me I could eat a house and walk to the mailbox and lose it. Oh and that year I took in 4000 calories I didn’t exercise. 1. Because I didn’t want to lose weight 2. I really didn’t know what to do or where to start. Maybe increasing my protein and weight lifting? It’s the only things I haven’t tried specifically. Before, I’ve always drank whey, in a high protein smoothie. All I can do is try.
  • Jessika100426
    Jessika100426 Posts: 10 Member
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  • Jessika100426
    Jessika100426 Posts: 10 Member
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  • Jessika100426
    Jessika100426 Posts: 10 Member
    Oh and Tonight I’ll probably eat 2 s’mores or 2 pieces of toast with Nutella around 12am. With a glass of sweet almond milk
  • Jessika100426
    Jessika100426 Posts: 10 Member
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    Sorry I posted 2 of the same section
  • JessAndreia
    JessAndreia Posts: 540 Member
    Have you gone back to the doctor after losing the weight? Sounds like you know you can gain weight on 4000 calories a day. How hard is it for you to have enough appetite to eat that much without medical steroids?
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    I’m confused, why won’t they test you for hyperactive thyroid, especially given your family history? If it’s an insurance thing, pay for the testing yourself.
  • Jessika100426
    Jessika100426 Posts: 10 Member
    @rheddmobile They can’t test for the particular issue until my thyroid quits working or acts bc of the hormone required to test. That hormone is only eligible for testing when something’s wrong. Simple hyperactivity isn’t enough apparently. I don’t understand the medical science behind it, I just know that’s what 2 specialist told me. One of them being the one who diagnosed my bio mother. I’ve been tested several times and nothing ever shows up. That’s why I didn’t usually say anything bc I’ve never been diagnosed with it. The only reason I mentioned it in the first place was to give some background. I’ve always eaten more than daily recommended and have always struggled to maintain much less gain. Hell, I thought I was eating 2200-2300 when in reality I’m eating closer to 2500-2600. I don’t count calories, that first number when I first commented was just what I assumed I ate in a day. After logging in the MFP I realized my caloric intake is higher.

    @JessAndreia I ate 4000 calories a day for an entire year. By the end I maybe gained 15 lbs and I’m being generous. I was on medical steroids bc I kept catching step, bronchitis bc of black mold located on campus. They have me the steroids to strengthen my immune system until I could be moved. That’s when I gained to 145 which would be just amazing to me. I’m not worried about exercising or any of that I just want to gain weight but my problem has never been not eating, picky eater, whatever, I just struggle for some reason and no one really can tell me why. I’ve begged them to keep me on steroids or put me on a longer plan but they won’t bc they said it’s dangerous and not good for your body. Anyway, from what I getting from others, maybe I can weightlifting’s, since I’ve never done it. Hopefully that will help me gain. Muscle weighs more than fat so it could work. I’ve always been scared to work out bc I didn’t want to lose weight.
  • GaryRuns
    GaryRuns Posts: 508 Member
    Jessika100426 wrote: »
    Anyway, from what I getting from others, maybe I can weightlifting’s, since I’ve never done it. Hopefully that will help me gain. Muscle weighs more than fat so it could work. I’ve always been scared to work out bc I didn’t want to lose weight.

    It's worth a shot. It's not guaranteed though. If your body is using all the fuel you feed it for something else it may not have what it needs to build muscle. That said, you've got nothing to lose. Make sure you're getting sufficient protein, in your case I'd say at least 1.0 gram of protein per pound of body weight, and make sure you pick a lifting program to follow that suits your goals and was developed by someone that knows what they're doing. Here's a thread with a list of a lot of good ones:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

    Sorry about your experience with doctors. It's tough to get one to care and really listen these days because they see so many people. Ideally you'd keep trying until you found one that would listen and help you figure this out, but I get how frustrating an experience that can be.

    Anyway, good luck and keep us up to date on how things are going.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
    A good and quick way to get calories is chocolate milk. Compared to sweetened almond milk, you should get almost 2 or 3x the calories. I like the Fairlife brand. Additionally, with your oatmeal, you can sweeten it with some syrup or honey.

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