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[ChrisD]

26 and finally hit 140. Eating large amounts of bad shit. Wish it'd actually make me fat so I had better incentive to eat healthy

This is the most annoying thing. Eating, eating lots, and eating pretty unhealthy. Don't gain a thing. Meanwhile you have those who are overweight that have the complete opposite problem and then I feel bad for being annoyed.. Why are bodies so finicky?

OP idk what to tell you other than... no I really don't know. But I hope you can find something that works with you.

 

[S.Holmes]

Can you gain weight with just 3 meals per day ?
I know it depends on what you eat per meal but do people generally just eat 3x a day ? On average ?

Is this like a fairly ok way of eating 3x a day ?
Meal 1:
A liter of shake
two pieces of fruit
2 slice of whole wheat bread with cheese or meat

Meal 2:
2 slice of whole wheat bread, a plate of salad and usually a full plate of pasta, or rice and beans, or like at least 8 chicken wings.

Meal 3:
4 slices of whole wheat bread tuna (150+ gram) sandwich or cheese or chicken breast
100ml of Quark (no fat at all, a lot of carbs and protein, it's a type of yoghurt here)
2 handful of different nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashew etc)

+ during the day I drink some milk and at least 3l of water sometimes up to 4l.

This is what I eat at the least. Sometimes I eat more slices of whole wheat bread but overall this is how I recently started eating. Is this ok ? I'm 165 lbs 5ft9.

 

[TickleMeElbow]

This is the most annoying thing. Eating, eating lots, and eating pretty unhealthy. Don't gain a thing. Meanwhile you have those who are overweight that have the complete opposite problem and then I feel bad for being annoyed.. Why are bodies so finicky?

OP idk what to tell you other than... no I really don't know. But I hope you can find something that works with you.

Idk I used to think like that, and then I calculated my TDEE and started counting calories, and found out I wasn't really eating that much. I was only eating 1800 a day, and that was fast food, takeout, pizza, etc. I was never a big snack or soda person though, which probably contributed. I think most skinny people who say they can't put on weight just burn more than they think throughout the day (physical job, pacing around, walk a lot, etc), or aren't used to eating a lot, so what they think is a lot isn't really that much.

When I actually started counting, 3000 calories a day felt like a massive amount of food, when truth is a lot of people down that everyday without even trying.

 

[backflip10019]

Can't say I've ever had that issue OP. Just eat a fuck load of peanut butter, meat, pizza, ice cream and drink IPAs. You'll be a tub of lard in no time!

 

[Loki]

This reminds me of this super skinny guy at my old job. He was maybe 23-25 years old and was trying desperately to put on weight. I asked him "do you care whether you're putting on muscle or fat?" He said he didn't. I then directed him to my fat-ass staples:

- pizza
- ice cream
- soda
- McDonalds
- Cakes (Entenmann's etc.)

I told him to eat these as often as possible and it would be IMPOSSIBLE to not put on weight. The wrong kind of weight, of course, and I told him that it could lead to health problems if he did it for more than a few months, but imo it is impossible to stay lean on that diet.

 

[Burai]

Don't worry OP, when you hit 35 so much as looking at a doughnut will make you gain weight. And all around the belt line too!

 

[Psychotext]

Can you gain weight with just 3 meals per day ?

I do intermittent fasting... and eat three meals max in about four or five hours. Bulking that way is hell on earth (try eating 4,000kcal of relatively healthy food in that timescale)... but it is doable.

Obviously the key is having every meal be ~1,300kcal.

 

[Summer Haze]

Peanut butter is absolutely packed with calories, protein, and 'good fats'. Oats are good, too. I'm bulking at the moment and I regularly blend those two things together with milk and whey protein. Delicious.

 

[loudbill]

You have to sit around and eat all day. Nothing really to it.

 

[brawly]

Do you even have a calorie surplus? You won't put on weight by eating protein alone.

Eat high carb/low sugar stuff, like brown rice, brown pasta, oats, whole wheat bread etc.

 

[Dawg]

I'm 6 feet and 2.8 inches. 154lbs.

Want to gain weight but all this protein/calory stuff sounds so complicated :>

 

[S.Holmes]

I do intermittent fasting... and eat three meals max in about four or five hours. Bulking that way is hell on earth (try eating 4,000kcal of relatively healthy food in that timescale)... but it is doable.

Obviously the key is having every meal be ~1,300kcal.

Is there a specific reason as to why you're doing that ? Did I understand it right? You eat three times a day all within 5 hours and the rest of the day you eat nothing?

 

[Jacksinthe]

This is the most annoying thing. Eating, eating lots, and eating pretty unhealthy. Don't gain a thing. Meanwhile you have those who are overweight that have the complete opposite problem and then I feel bad for being annoyed.. Why are bodies so finicky?

OP idk what to tell you other than... no I really don't know. But I hope you can find something that works with you.

The problem with eating lots of unhealthy stuff is that it's shit for macronutrient profiles.

Most bad food is heavily slanted towards a single macro. You need proper amounts of ALL of them to make the needle move in either direction properly.

And listen to Psycho about intermittent fasting. He has that shit on lock.

Is there a specific reason as to why you're doing that ? Did I understand it right? You eat three times a day all within 5 hours and the rest of the day you eat nothing?

IF is usually timed around your workout window. You will see the largest benefits from food, usually.

I gained all my weight the past year by focusing a majority of my calories split 2 hours before and immediately after my workout. The rest I sprinkled on throughout the day and before bed. 4.5k with minimal fat gain. Same size pants after 50 weeks and almost 28lbs. For the record I'm also 6'3", a T1 diabetic on a pump, have zero thyroid function thanks to Hashimo's and cancer. The deck is stacked against me but some smart eating and exercising and you can do it.

 

[Psychotext]

Is there a specific reason as to why you're doing that ? Did I understand it right? You eat three times a day all within 5 hours and the rest of the day you eat nothing?

That's right, I have an eating window of about 4-6 hours normally (depends when I work out as I train fasted and eat right afterward)... the rest of the day I eat nothing. The reasoning is a bit complicated to go into here, but scientific reasons aside, the best two for me would be...

• You don't snack... you can't, because you're not eating.
• Hunger is a distant memory. The first week or two was hard, but now I pretty much never feel hungry, even on ridiculously low calorie intakes when cutting.

Edit - I used to have a really good infographic that explains a lot of the science, but annoyingly I can't find it anywhere. This pretty much covers it though: http://burnfatnotsugar.com/intermittent-fasting.html (I don't subscribe to the Keto / Low carb aspect because I'm a competitive cyclist and it would destroy me)

 

[Darktails]

Here's the plan :

Part A Do a free weights strength program based on a linear progression like starting strength or stronglifts. Read the fitness OP for more info.

Part B Drink milk. Really. There's no better way of putting on weight than milk. If you have lactose malabsorbance then drink lactose free milk. Drink skim if you are worried about the Fat.

A liter of lactose free, skim milk has over 400kcal, 150 of which come from protein. It's also easy to consume since it's liquid and it's delicious (IMO) .

Buy some whey and bananas. Add a scoop or two of whey to the milk along with a banana and blend.

Now you have a delicious shake with about 85g of high quality protein, a good amount of carbs and some fat. Drink at least one liter of this every day. More if you feel hungry.

Buy peanut butter and carry it around with you. Eat a scoop whenever you feel like it. A good snack is oatmeal and peanut butter.

Your meals should focus on a high protein high fiber higher carb diet. Have a cheese omelet for breakfast and a sweet potato. Chicken breast, rice and broccoli for lunch. Tuna or beef for dinner. Make sure to have protein with every meal.

Do this and I promise I promise you'll gain weight.

I went from 145lb to a lean 215lb doing this.

This is good advice.

 

[S.Holmes]

That's right, I have an eating window of about 4-6 hours normally (depends when I work out as I train fasted and eat right afterward)... the rest of the day I eat nothing. The reasoning is a bit complicated to go into here, but scientific reasons aside, the best two for me would be...

• You don't snack... you can't, because you're not eating.
• Hunger is a distant memory. The first week or two was hard, but now I pretty much never feel hungry, even on ridiculously low calorie intakes when cutting.

Edit - I used to have a really good infographic that explains a lot of the science, but annoyingly I can't find it anywhere.

I believe you and I don't think i'm smart enough to understand that infographic annyway. I'm just amazed how you are capable of that. I mean I think 800cal per meal is a lot and it takes 3 hours for me to even consider eating another 800cal meal and even then consuming that is an uphill battle but to eat 3k calories within max 4-5 hours ? Amazing. But maybe it's about getting used to it like most things.

I usually have the most difficulty with whole wheat bread. Are shakes the easiest and most effective bang for buck meal ? If its not much to ask can you post what you eat a day? I'm curious.

 

[Psychotext]

Shakes are one of the easiest ways to pack a shitload of calories into a relatively healthy package, yes. But if you're trying to gain weight then things like oats, nuts, pasta, milk (full fat), cheese and the like are generally helpful too.

As for what I eat a day. When I'm bulking it's almost always along the lines of.

Pasta / Rice
Chilli / Curry
Spanish Omelettes
High Protein / High Calorie Shakes
Milk (lots of milk)
Peanut Butter (I'm not a fan, but it's got the calories, fats and protein I need)
Beef Steaks
Bacon (pretty high in salt, so avoid if you have blood pressure issues)
Chicken Thighs (tastier than chicken breasts, higher in fat / calories too)
Slow cooked meals (heavy in meat and veg, easy to freeze / reheat)
Cheese (usually cheddar, I'm not very adventurous)
Veg (I don't get much, but I do try and get some, usually steamed)

I've probably forgotten stuff, but you get the idea. Very little that's processed, though I have been known to eat a pizza from time to time.

I still generally tend not to eat bread, unless I make it myself, but that's rare these days.