Am I the only person trying to gain weight?

Hi everyone.

I stopped smoking 8 weeks ago, and have been trying to eat sensibly to gain weight, as I had lost a lot of weight in the last year or so. So far I have gained roughly 18 pounds, and have started to exercise today in order to turn some of my new found weight into muscle. I am hoping to gain another 14 pounds as my base target, and hopefully have some shape and definition to go with it!

I am wondering if there is anyone else out there that is trying to achieve a similar goal, and if so, please feel free to add me.

Replies

  • tinyjourney
    tinyjourney Posts: 198 Member
    I'm not trying to gain, but I'm trying to convert. I have some body fat that I need to loose, and some muscle I want to gain. It isn't really about the number on the scale, it's the overall look of the body. I'm sure there are others in this same position.
  • It does seem to be that most people are looking to lose and convert. I have looked in different places to try and find help with gaining weight, and have got some tips, but I have never spoken to another person who is trying to gain, so have no-one to compare notes with :/ The biggest goal for me is to build muscle, so in that respect, I am probably like a lot of people. I'm just sick and tired of hearing people say things like "I wish I had your trouble" when I say that I need to gain weight. As far as I'm concerned, my problem is every bit as relevant as those trying to lose weight.
  • I am as well. I recently joined just to help keep track of my calories so I could actually see how (little) I was eating; hopefully it'll help remind me that I need to add more. Although I feel like I eat a lot, I'm finding that the things I snack on throughout the day have very little caloric impact. I'm looking into some of the meal replacement / calorie bars, not to replace a meal though, just to add on to what I'm already eating. I did a search to find if anyone else had posted about trying to gain, and your Topic was the first result I saw, lol.
  • helloburger
    helloburger Posts: 243 Member
    Have you used the search bar in the forums? I'm sure I've seen topics before where people wish to gain weight x
  • I've actually started making up milk shakes using my wifes slimming shake, but using full fat milk. I have a pint of that each day, and it amounts to over 500 calories. I usually have it with or after a meal, so that it doesn't fill me up too much!! I've said before that trying to add healthy calories to a diet is more difficult than you'd think, and my current daily target is 2850 calories. I don't want to be eating loads of crisps and sweets, so finding good food is hard.
  • I had a quick look at other forum posts yesterday, and the only ones I saw were all related to someone asking if they could add more calories without gaining weight lol. I may spend longer looking through them later. Thanks :)
  • Before I was trying to lose weight but now it seems that I go way overboard so now I'm aiming to gain a few pounds of muscle weight. Add request sent. :flowerforyou:
  • Muscle weight would be nice :p Just read your post about body types, and I'm one of those who needs to make sure to eat lots and lift lots, without sweating too much lol. Hopefully my metabolism has or will slow down a little now that I'm a bit older, so my body will have a chance to retain the weight I'm adding.
  • MomsTooBig
    MomsTooBig Posts: 201 Member
    I'm sorry I can't give you much advice as I'm in the 'trying to lose' category, but have you considered creating a group on here? (or seeing if there is one first I guess lol). Having people find you may be easier/faster then you finding people (although reading the posts are certainly a good thing!)

    Good luck with your goals. You made a very good point about trying to gain weight to be healthy just as important as losing. I know a few people who are in the same position as you (trying to gain and/or preventing loss)

    Tracy
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
    Maybe start a group for weight gainers? Then like-minded people could join and you could share info that way.

    My 23yr old son used the smartphone app for a while to gain weight. I helped him with a plan which included lots of protein, some fats and reasonable carbs, broken up into frequent meals.
  • Hi Lenny. Did you check out other sites beyond my fitness pal?

    I included links below to several articles found through a simple web search. Checked the information on them and it all seems in line with what I learned in a nutrition class a few years back. Unfortunately, I have not yet really applied what I learned in class...

    http://nutrition.about.com/od/dietsformedicaldisorders/f/GainWeight.htm
    http://www.wikihow.com/Gain-Weight
    http://www.gainingweight.info/a-sample-of-what-to-eat-to-gain-weight/
  • sjk, thanks for the list of sites. I'll definitely have a look into those, as I'm not actually keeping track of specifics in my diet at the moment, just the calories!! I'll definitely need to start planning for carbs, protein etc as I start to gain, so that I can balance my body for muscle development.

    Stormy and Tracy, I've joined one group on here already, but it does seem to be directed mainly towards people with eating disorders. While a group like this is good, I don't see it being a benefit to everyone if there are people like me who join and then start saying about how I've consumed over 3000 calories, while there are people there that are looking at hospitalisation because of their problems. I think they would benefit more from a group solely for people with similar problems, so I may end up creating my own site for people like myself. This is my first week here, so I'm still testing the waters with what I should and shouldn't be eating, so it may have to be something for the next few weeks.

    Thank you all for your advice
  • bmoody16
    bmoody16 Posts: 6 Member
    I am trying to lose, but my father in law is trying to gain weight. He lost a lot of muscle mass due to diabetes. He now has it under control, and is working on gaining weight back. He eats a lot of protein.