Comments on: How to Put on Weight Safely

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:47:53 +0000

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.

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:29:07 +0000

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.

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:43:27 +0000

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)

By: David

David — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 12:55:19 +0000

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.

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:16:24 +0000

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.