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Gaining Weight?

Shovel

Guest
Jun 4, 2013
449
399
27
Massachusetts.
I was wondering if any of you had any advice for gaining weight. I'm not doing it for a sport or anything, I'm just very skinny and very uncomfortable with it. I'm around 5' 7" and 112 pounds at the moment, and would like to get up to at at least 130.
I know that some people think that being underweight isn't a problem but at least for me it is. My girlfriend weighs more than me, and that makes me a pretty insecure (I don't quite know why).
 
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I got about 100 extra I wish I could send you! I used to have that problem in my teens and 20s. Then I got a desk job and got old. (When I first cleared 6' at age 12, I weighed 115 or so. Now, well......)
 
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I am going to take your question quite seriously because I too had the same problem for the first 30 years of my life. Even though I wasn't necessarily teased much, I was very self-conscious of being skinny all of my life.

At one point in my mid 20's I went to the bookstore to look for weight-gain books. You can imagine that 99 out of 100 were about losing weight. I bought the 1 which talked about eating all sorts of fatty foods several times a day. None of it worked as my metabolism just burned everything ate. I was also a very picky eater which didn't help matters much.

Finally when I was in my late 20's, someone was throwing away an old bench press with barbells and weights left outside of an apartment building. It even had a whole bunch of 20 year old weight lifting how-to books. I started reading all of the books and more importantly really learned how to lift heavy free weights and eat more protein and sleep more since my body exhausted from lifting. I was too self-conscious to go to a gym so lifting at home was the best option for me. I ate a lot of protein; meats, eggs, protein shakes, etc. My rule of thumb was to eat my weight (but in grams) in protein daily, e.g. if I weighed 160lbs, I would eat 160 grams of protein per day.

Inside of about 2 years, I went from a very skinny 160 (I'm 6'4") to about a solid and strong 210.

I was very athletic growing up and even tried to lift weights in high school but never really knew the correct way to actually pack on muscle. I would always just do Nautilus machines but it never did anything for me. I just figured I was just doomed to be skinny all of my life.

I stopped lifting about 15 years ago but have maintained a good weight of about 215 which I'm fine with. I don't know how old you are but I wish I would have discovered this in my youth. Weight lifting is not unlike bass playing in that you have to have the proper equipment and commit to learning how to do it in order to get the results you want. My previous attempts at weight lifting were functional equivalent of playing 'Smoke on the Water' every single time I sat down to play the bass. No progress whatsoever.

So make it a priority this weekend to find and/or buy a used bench press with about 200 lbs of weight and dumbbells from 10 to 50 lbs. Then learn about heavy weight training online After you get all of that I can help you with the specific workout routines I did that helped me gain muscle weight.
 
I'm also curious what your age is. It's an important factor, because metabolism changes at some point.

Regardless of your age, I do think it's real important to have a thorough physical to find out if anything physical is going on. I'm also 5'7", and weighed 124 until I was in my late 20s. I was pretty thin. I'm at 150 now, and in the best shape of my life. Metabolism had something to do with that, but so did my changing many habits that needed to be changed.

If your health is fine and you have no thyroid or other problems, then I'd recommend not trying to eat to gain weight (as that's not a healthy habit to get into), but to eat to be as healthy as you can be - and to exercise regularly. Your body will then take care of itself.

If you really want help here you might want to post what your typical diet is like too. And how much exercise you get a day.

I just signed up for the school of integrative nutrition, after teaching HS health for several years and realizing that most of what we learned in school is wrong. Will be able to advise you much better once my classes begin. Would be happy to, also.
 
I am going to take your question quite seriously because I too had the same problem for the first 30 years of my life. Even though I wasn't necessarily teased much, I was very self-conscious of being skinny all of my life.

At one point in my mid 20's I went to the bookstore to look for weight-gain books. You can imagine that 99 out of 100 were about losing weight. I bought the 1 which talked about eating all sorts of fatty foods several times a day. None of it worked as my metabolism just burned everything ate. I was also a very picky eater which didn't help matters much.

Finally when I was in my late 20's, someone was throwing away an old bench press with barbells and weights left outside of an apartment building. It even had a whole bunch of 20 year old weight lifting how-to books. I started reading all of the books and more importantly really learned how to lift heavy free weights and eat more protein and sleep more since my body exhausted from lifting. I was too self-conscious to go to a gym so lifting at home was the best option for me. I ate a lot of protein; meats, eggs, protein shakes, etc. My rule of thumb was to eat my weight (but in grams) in protein daily, e.g. if I weighed 160lbs, I would eat 160 grams of protein per day.

Inside of about 2 years, I went from a very skinny 160 (I'm 6'4") to about a solid and strong 210.

I was very athletic growing up and even tried to lift weights in high school but never really knew the correct way to actually pack on muscle. I would always just do Nautilus machines but it never did anything for me. I just figured I was just doomed to be skinny all of my life.

I stopped lifting about 15 years ago but have maintained a good weight of about 215 which I'm fine with. I don't know how old you are but I wish I would have discovered this in my youth. Weight lifting is not unlike bass playing in that you have to have the proper equipment and commit to learning how to do it in order to get the results you want. My previous attempts at weight lifting were functional equivalent of playing 'Smoke on the Water' every single time I sat down to play the bass. No progress whatsoever.

So make it a priority this weekend to find and/or buy a used bench press with about 200 lbs of weight and dumbbells from 10 to 50 lbs. Then learn about heavy weight training online After you get all of that I can help you with the specific workout routines I did that helped me gain muscle weight.

This post has all you need for an answer. You gain weight the quickest by building muscle. Believe me, you are not trying to add fat.
 
I didn't check that till now. I agree.

You may simply just need a new girlfriend :). Lots of girls love skinny dudes. And I'm pretty sure I weighed about the same at that age.
I was skin and bones when I was 12-15. I was tall, but had no fat or muscle. A few years later I filled out and now I'm 31 and about 75lbs overweight. That's why I say be patient. The fat/muscle will come.
 
I'm almost 16 (I'm fully aware of how young I both am and look)

I didn't check that till now. I agree.

You may simply just need a new girlfriend :). Lots of girls love skinny dudes. And I'm pretty sure I weighed about the same at that age.

No she's fine with it. It's really just me being relatively insecure.

I am going to take your question quite seriously because I too had the same problem for the first 30 years of my life. Even though I wasn't necessarily teased much, I was very self-conscious of being skinny all of my life.

Finally when I was in my late 20's, someone was throwing away an old bench press with barbells and weights left outside of an apartment building. It even had a whole bunch of 20 year old weight lifting how-to books. I started reading all of the books and more importantly really learned how to lift heavy free weights and eat more protein and sleep more since my body exhausted from lifting. I was too self-conscious to go to a gym so lifting at home was the best option for me. I ate a lot of protein; meats, eggs, protein shakes, etc. My rule of thumb was to eat my weight (but in grams) in protein daily, e.g. if I weighed 160lbs, I would eat 160 grams of protein per day.

Inside of about 2 years, I went from a very skinny 160 (I'm 6'4") to about a solid and strong 210.
.

Dude thanks a lot. I'm not athletic at all so I'll have to get on that and really start working towards it.
 
I'm almost 16 (I'm fully aware of how young I both am and look)

Just go and look at some weights.

Seriously though, do you have a weightlifting program at school? Football? Now is the best and easiest time to bulk up. Eat big, lift big.
Look up Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. It focuses on big compound lifts and eating enough calories to build muscle. It's a great starter routine.
I'm not sure I'd eat a 3000+ calorie surplus like he recommends...but certainly read up on healthy eating, macros, and calorie surplus.

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