5-6 smaller meals a day. get protein with each meal. 1.5-2 grams of protein, per pound of bodyweight, per day. Do some lifting, and get back to us
Buzzbass knows what he's talking about.
Why not embrace activities that take advantage of your physique? Instead of fighting an uphill battle in the weight room, get into rock climbing or cross country running or something like that? If you excel at something athletic, you'll be comfortable in your body without trying to completely reshape it.
Build from your strengths, I've seen way too many people who weren't made to build bulk muscle waste years in the gym, when they could have been great at something else.
I will bet a very large pile of money that the people you observed CLAIMED to be trying to build bulk muscle, but weren't doing it in a sensible fashion. If you eat a caloric excess, particularly a high-protein diet, and lift HEAVY using the big, compound lifts, you gain weight. When people spend a couple hours dancing around with light weights, they can't be surprised when they don't gain ANYTHING.
Here is my advice:
1. Avoid the routines of "pros" or anything you find in a "muscle magazine". For now, you don't need high reps for individual body parts. After you put 30-40lbs of muscle on, you can add more definition, but don't start with this. Routines in muscle magazines are usually worthless for beginners. You get all jonesed up thinking you'll look like the guy in the pictures (which is a function of lighting, photoshop, etc.), when that person didn't start to look like they do due to the routine listed. When Arnold started lifting, he was doing the big, compound lifts.
2. Do big, multi-joint exercises, over a full range of motion. What this means is that when you bench, the bar touches your chest (gym bros do half reps on the bench so they don't "work back", whatever the F that means). When you squat, go below parallel. When you do chins / pullups, it means all the way down & back up. Do your deadlifts. If anyone tells you otherwise, ignore them. Everyone doles out advice, especially in the gym. A vast majority of it is absolute nonsense (like the comment I quoted about people wasting YEARS in the gym...).
3. Rippetoe's Starting Strength is a great resource. His book is thorough, and everything is explained well. His beginner program focuses on gaining strength. There is a forum on his website (startingstrength.com), where some folks have posted some great nutritional information. Another great resource is Bob Whelan, anything written by Ken Leistner, Bill Starr, Hardgainer magazine. I have a training log on Rippetoe's website, as do many others, including many who are your size, or with similar goals. I post under "Chebass88" there also.
4. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS focus on progression. Add a little weight EACH session, or after you reach a certain number of reps. If you spend enough time in a gym, you'll quickly observe the same folks lifting the same weight every week. If you add 5lbs per week, that is 260 lbs per year. 5lbs/month is 60 lbs per year. Think of it this way: What will build more muscle - a set of 20 squats at 135 or a set of 20 squats at 225?
