Diet FAQ #5: How do I gain weight and do it right?

[Animal Rep]

Gaining weight properly is not a matter of gorging yourself on as much food as possible, throwing aside all concern for the quality of the food you’re consuming. Instead, aiming for 1 to 2g of protein per lb of bodyweight, bump up your daily overall calories by 500 until you begin to gain weight at a clip of 1 to 2 lbs per week. The other critical factors here are frequent feedings, consuming nutrient dense, protein rich whole foods every 2-3 hrs and food choice—selecting complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, lean protein and fruits and vegetables loaded with vitamins and antioxidants as the backbone of your nutrition plan.

[david87]

I know from my self experiences that the best way to gain weight is too eat clean and like 2 or 3 times week have some cheat food like a cheeseburger or a kfc meal but not fatty.thats how igained 25 lbs. in 6 months

[jmt92]

Now unlike the above poster I find the only way I gain weight is to contradict the rep and eat everything in sight.Whenever I'm hungry I just eat.Now everything I eat has a high protein content yes but I don't neccasarily pay atention to the fat of it as long as it isn't real high in the sats and dont have any trans fats.Alot of meat and alot of carbs and alot of calories and as long as it has all that I dont pay no mind to the fat and I gain weight quickly and with minimal excess fat gain.

[B.C.]

Now unlike the above poster I find the only way I gain weight is to contradict the rep and eat everything in sight.Whenever I'm hungry I just eat.Now everything I eat has a high protein content yes but I don't neccasarily pay atention to the fat of it as long as it isn't real high in the sats and dont have any trans fats.Alot of meat and alot of carbs and alot of calories and as long as it has all that I dont pay no mind to the fat and I gain weight quickly and with minimal excess fat gain.

That's because you're 14 dude. Keep it up, and by the time you're a senior, you'll be very pleased with the results. I wish I would have started that young...good on ya'.

[born0withno0soul]

That's because you're 14 dude. Keep it up, and by the time you're a senior, you'll be very pleased with the results. I wish I would have started that young...good on ya'.

wish i had started that young too. well i did for about 6 months then i met what i thought was a special girl. thats throws shit off in a teenager

[jmt92]

That's because you're 14 dude. Keep it up, and by the time you're a senior, you'll be very pleased with the results. I wish I would have started that young...good on ya'.

yea I rather enjoyed going from 161 to 181 in about 5 months with minimal fat gain.Trying to hit 200 atleast now don't know how long thatll take though.

[jmt92]

wish i had started that young too. well i did for about 6 months then i met what i thought was a special girl. thats throws shit off in a teenager

yea i learned better a while back.But I didn't really give anything up except 4 hours to talk everyday.waste of time.

[kaya( bermy beast)]

my first bulks going pretty steady. but im not jumping for joy yet im got a long way to go.

[arab910]

what defines a "whole food?"

like whole-SOME? fruits, lean carbs, protein-enriched, etc.?

[MassMan]

what defines a "whole food?"

like whole-SOME? fruits, lean carbs, protein-enriched, etc.?

Whole foods refers to foods that you eat. things like oats, steak, fruits, vegetables. They are all the bodybuilding friendly foods that you chew on, not drink, such as protein/mass gainers. Basically, whole foods, you chew. Hope this straightens some things out for you.

[Skemerz]

A gallon of milk a day and you will gain weight fast. You can even add Skim milk powder to it as well. I have gained 10 kilo's in a few months like that. I only eat 3 meals a day with that. I guess once your body get used to it then you could add more meals in or larger quantities.

[B.C.]

Does anyone map out their macros? What I mean by that is:

Getting a good bit of your fats in early in the day.
Consuming most of your carbs around your training.
Tailing off carbs and fats through the day, last meal being low carb and low fat.

Here's an example:

1- high on just about everything.
2- higher in carbs and healthy fats.
Train
3- high on protien and carbs, low on fats
4- Moderate on everything
5- Lower on fats and carbs
6- Basically all protien (cottage cheese, protien shake)

I'm trying to keep my bulk on the cleaner side, so I'm wondering if this might be the way to go, or should I just try and keep everything even troughout the day?

[mahscles]

yea i learned better a while back.But I didn't really give anything up except 4 hours to talk everyday.waste of time.

i just tell my gf that i have goals and nobody will get in the way of them. she is supportive of what i am doing all the way and understands that if i am at the gym or doing something involved with building myself that she shouldnt interrupt. and if she thought it would be a good idea, she would then remember that i keep my phone off when i am doing those things. everything is set up to work with minimal distraction from anyone in the normal human world.

[Leadsled]

i just tell my gf that i have goals and nobody will get in the way of them. she is supportive of what i am doing all the way and understands that if i am at the gym or doing something involved with building myself that she shouldnt interrupt. and if she thought it would be a good idea, she would then remember that i keep my phone off when i am doing those things. everything is set up to work with minimal distraction from anyone in the normal human world.

I like your style there animal! I too have the same relationship with my gf.

[mahscles]

I like your style there animal! I too have the same relationship with my gf.

animal is life... everything else has to adapt to that, because i sure as hell am not going to change my ways.

[tmaximus89]

Thanks for the info and links guys....
It is really helpful....
I was having those problem too. Thanks to you guys...
I am having no more trouble.

[HatemElAkkad]

Yo....

in my opinion, i agree with the whole not eating everything in sight thing....

start increasing your calories very gradually until u start gaining a little weight.....if you incoporate 2-4 cardio sessions, with one of those as HIT cardio, u should minimize fat gain while maximizing muscle gain...

get ur healthy fats, protein, and complex carbs...and get a cheat meal every week or so just to stay in the game!!

do ur best to keep your diet clean, yet eat like a freak and train like an even bigger freak!!!

the thing is to do things gradually, when it comes to calorie addition that is....

hope that helps...btw there are a lot of articles in the diet section of animalpak.com that would help.....

all the best, keep it real!!!

[paulmartin483]

It was interesting that you want to gain your weight.My self exprience,I want say that you have used eat food in which you can get protien,naturien.You have not eat junk food.It was harm your body.I can gain 21lbs in four months.You can use it.

[Zeus92]

i was chubby all my life (5'6 about 220 lbs.) and then this past august i decided to dedicate myself to losing weight to compete for the wrestling season. problem was i didnt know how to do it properly. i just basically starved myself and did crazy cardio and lifted weights everyday (over trained). i fooled myself into thinking i was getting cut up and putting on muscle when in reality i was just shriveling away. i hit my lowest weight around january when i weighed 143 one morning. since then i realised i had to change things up. i now workout with weights five days out of the week (three on, one off, two on, one off) with sporadic low intensity cardio. but i'm still terrified of putting the fat back on so i never really stopped with my constrictive diet. i've tried implementing some good complex carbs every now and then, but i just psyche myself out and go on another diet. i even recently started the keto diet when im only at 4.5% body fat (currently weigh about 153 lbs.) i guess what im saying is i never knew how to bulk up properly cause all of the articles just say. "eat a shit load of food" or "i had mcdonalds three times a day when i bulked up" i just cant do that to myself. i wanna put on quality muscle, but i dont wanna become a fat ass either. i dont mind putting on a little fat ( i know it's inevitable) but i still wanna look and feel good. Im not trying to make you my personal dietician or anything i know your extremely busy, but could you maybe give me some guidelines or maybe just a sample meal plan? any help is really appreciated cause i feel like i've been on a precontest diet since august and im looking to actually put on some weight and BUILD my body. not just tear it down.

if it helps at all heres my stats- im 18 yearls old 5'6'' about 153 lbs. and about 4.5% body fat. ive been lifting weights seriously since about december. and i currently eat 6 meals a day following dave's keto diet. no carbs high protein and fat. and i workout five times a week everyday a different body part.

[billgates.m88]

very Effortable post about diet plan. It is very easy to reduce the calories by
3 large eggs 1 cup of oats glass of milk. I Realy appreciate. It is good for health.