Weight gain

Weeyin

Hello

I'm too skinny for my own good and would like to put on at least a stone. I don't want to start eating loads of junk, but i need some tips on how to get my calorie intake up. I can't eat loads at the one time, so i really need some easy ways to add calories to my exisiting meals and high calorie snacks and drinks. Has anyone tried to put weight on before - whats a good target for weekly gain? I'm just under 7st (5 feet 2), but think a weekly target will hopefully spur me on to keep going (have tried and failed countless times!!). What sort of excersies are good to gain (a bit of) muscle?

Thanks

Nile

Hello Weeyin

I'll move your thread to the 'Health, Beauty & Fashion' board.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Regards

Nile

daisybella

peanut butter is excellent for calories/good fats needed for weight gain, you can get salt free versions which would cut the risk of excess sodium.

Cooking with olive oil where possible is a good way to up your nutrition without bulking out meals, as well as frying with it, you can add it as a dressing to salads or over pasta.

A good breakfast helps! Porridge with full fat milk and dried fruit/honey will give you a great boost! Also smoothies with full fat yoghurt etc.

Greek yoghurt (or indeed, any full fat dairy) is also excellent, try dried fruit and nuts if you like them...
you can get protein bars, TREK bars are very nice but expensive, with a little googling you can make your own quite easily for portable and nutrient dense snacks.

Be realistic,
if the amount of food is an issue, split meals up in to 5 a day with small, high energy snacks.

I'm not much use on the exercise, sorry!

Weeyin

Thanks Daisybella, i think the porridge in the mornings is an excellent idea, i can make it different each days with nuts and fruit which suits me cos i get bored easily. I will maybe make myself a smoothie and drink it on the way to work.

daisybella

I was going to say, smoothies are excellent for portable snacks as are cereal/protein bars (homemade if money is tight). Would be a good substitute for breakfast if you didn't have time at home!

Oh, do you like avacados?
They are fantastic in sandwiches and salads and very nutrient dense!

*eta*

A good target for weekly gain is generally 1kg/2.2lbs
Minimum target calories for weight gain
2500 for females
3000 for males

that's the base rate, you may need more, or perhaps slightly less depending, and expect to need to increase as time goes on
(you then drop down slowly to a rate where you weight maintains)

Weeyin

I like guacamole, but never really tried avocado on it's own. Will look up some sandwich recipes with avocado and that can do a few lunches a week. Two pounds a week!!! I ate an extra meal a night and nuts/sliced mars bar as snacks for months and only managed to put that on. I was a teenager at the time, so hopefully my metabolisim has slowed down a bit now. Thanks

daisybella

No problem
good luck with it

(chicken and avacado sandwiches are my addiction!)

LittleMissAspie

If you like nuts, eat them between meals as a snack. They are very healthy but also high in calories.

foxy-roxy

Hi, you are the same height as me, and i weigh 8.5 stone now, although i used to weigh about 7.5 and i was fed up of being told how ill i looked.
I wasn't intentionally trying to lose weight, i just put partying before eating, and i had a very physical job etc.
I started eating more regular, every 2 hours, if poss, and slowed down, i got a new job in an office, and stopped partying as much. Obviously i dont know your lifestyle etc or job but i recommned you go to your doctor and he will refer you to a nutritionist.
It will take time but if you up your calorie intake everyday you should be fine.

Weeyin

I'm a real lazy bones, a bit of exercise would probably put weight on me, but i really hate it. I work in an office, so i don't think i burn loads of calories aday, but i suppose i do a fair bit of walking during the day and i fidget loads.

I'm sitting at my desk just now munching my way through a bag of peanuts, will [STRIKE]try to [/STRIKE]fit this in daily.

brokeinwales

Weeyin wrote: »

I'm a real lazy bones, a bit of exercise would probably put weight on me, but i really hate it. I work in an office, so i don't think i burn loads of calories aday, but i suppose i do a fair bit of walking during the day and i fidget loads.

I'm sitting at my desk just now munching my way through a bag of peanuts, will [STRIKE]try to [/STRIKE]fit this in daily.

Just wondered - have you tried adding either powdered milk, ground almonds, coconut milk, porridge oats, full fat yoghurt and cream, or wheatgerm to "liquid" dishes? (such as curries, stews, casseroloes, bolognese etc - even smoothies) - obviously it takes a bit of common sense to work out which of these work with which dishes, but they're quite an easy way to boost the calorie content without feeling you're forcing huge amounts of food down. Split red lentils are also easy to add to many things, though they take about ten-fifteen minutes to cook properly.

You need to do some form of strength building exercise as well as cardio (I am constantly telling people to do more weight bearing exercise!). Start with about fifteen minutes every other day, even if you really do hate exercise, that's not going to be a huge task. You can encorporate some press ups, some crunches, some squats etc (ask someone to show you how to do these, or if all else fails, google...), and some weights - if you don't have, can't afford and can't borrow proper weights, you could do what I do and use baked bean tins, or water bottles filled with sand or similar. You should be able to build up the amount you do gradually.

(btw, I personally believe anyone who thinks they hate exercise just hasn't found the right exercise yet - or has been put off it by previous bad experiences. Moving is what your body is designed to do. It's like saying you hate eating.)