If you seriously want to put on weight, you have to find a healthy way to do so by planning a good weight gain program. Sitting around and eating junk food will most definitely put pounds on your frame, but these are not the kind of pounds that you want to gain lean muscle mass. There are certain steps you want to follow religiously that help you put on weight safely. Having a disciplined diet to put on weight is an important component for putting on more muscle. This will include increasing your protein intake and consuming more calories from clean sources. You also want to be changing your workouts so that you work on gaining mass rather than burning fat.
With so many overweight people in the world, you would think it would be very easy to put on weight. The problem is that there is only a few safe ways to do so. Make sure you take the safe road if this is your goal. Don’t look for quick fixes with weight gain pills or using steroids to put on weight fast. Even though you may have skinny genetics, this doesn’t mean you can not build a much better physique, it just takes hard work, and you will still impress the ladies.
I regularly speak with skinny people who on a daily basis ask themselves how to put on weight. Many of them will talk about how they want to put on weight, but I know they really don’t mean it. They just think about the end goal without worrying about what’s involved in achieving it. In order to put on weight you need to focus on the small steps each and every day which overtime will make a difference and guarantee that you will gain weight.
When you are first trying to put on weight, it would be a good idea to count how many calories you would eat in an average day. Eat how you normally would and take note of what you eat and how many calories are in everything. This is actually a really important step when planning to put on weight.
To gain weight you need to be consuming more calories then what your body requires. If you don’t know what daily calories you are currently consuming, you won’t know how many additional calories you will need to consume to start making progressed. Once you have made the calculation, increase your calorie intake by 500 calories to begin with, and keep an eye on progress. If you are not seeing progress when incorporated with muscle building workouts, increase your caloric intake by an additional 500 calories, and re-evaluate. Worry less about what percentage of food is from carbohydrates/protein/fats and focus more on consuming sufficient calories.
This is achieved by making sure you don’t skip on meals. Have 3 large meals per day and 2-3 other snacks. Eat calorie dense foods so you are not just filling yourself with low calorie foods which satisfy your appetite but don’t do much else for gaining weight. When snacking, eat lots of nuts and seeds and other plant based fats like avocado. There is no harm in consuming good fats from these sources.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Not many people are disciplined enough to record how much calories they eat during the day. I find that it is sometimes best to start with an absolute number for daily caloric intake and then build from there.
If you check out this link: http://hardgainer-transformation.com/2008/12/24/determine-caloires-needs-weight-gain/
I’ve presented two of the more well known ways to determine absolute caloric intake values.
Brian, starting with an absolute number for daily caloric intake based on your weight is also a good indicator. In my opinion the formula you have used to calculate the general method for determining weight gain calorie needs on your blog is inaccurate. You want to take into account your activity level to determine how many calories you will need to gain weight. If you fail to take into account daily activity level, then you assume a sedentary person burns the same number of calories as someone who exercises a lot more, which is clearly not true. This is explained in more detail in my weight gain calorie needs article.
Hey David,
There is no “right” or “wrong” way to determine what caloric intake is needed to put on weight. The point of the “General” method is to give people who are not concerned about calculating BMR, Cost of Activity, Percent body fat etc.. a quick way to get started.
From that Point forward they can make adjustments based on whether they are gaining weight or loosing weight. Converting pounds to kg might be necessary for your calculation but not for mine.
The majority of the people looking for ways to add weight to their frame suffer from information overload. They search up hundreds of different philosophies and get so rattled that they don’t even start trying to gain weight. Most people just need a simple method. Thats why I gave them two options. (there are several more on the way)
I agree there is no right or wrong way to determine caloric intake. The best way i found was take the weight you want to be and then adjust your eating habits to incorporate daily activity levels and other factors. So basically you need to eat at your next body weight level.
I use 100 calories for every 1.5 to 2 pounds of weight gain. You can always cut back and lean out.
Also if you have fast metabolism eating every 2 hours seems to help as well. I think the misconception with most people is they continue at their current calorie intake level or increase there calorie intake by small increments.
I agree also information overload, people just starting out don’t know what to believe and not believe.
Please help me I am down to 90 lbs. I strained all the back muscles off of my spine and have lost a tremendous amount of sleep for the last two months.
I tried muscle relaxers they contributed to losing weight. I am 5’4” I also have cancer. I am fighting for my weight. I live alone now and have a fixed income. I need helpful advise pronto.
I try to drink one ensure a day. My stomach must be the size of a walnut or something. It is hard to eat a lot on top of being alone a lot.