Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
gaining weight..
- Thread starter ricecook
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
odinsride
macrumors 65816
You need to increase your caloric intake (but make sure you balance out the protein and carb intake). This doesn't mean start eating greasy fast food, but eat larger quantities of good food. Protein powder and other supplements will probably help you. Also, you'll need to lift weights to bulk up..I suggest setting a workout plan and sticking to it. It does take time, so you have to be patient.
~Shard~
macrumors P6
Absolutely - they are some of the worst things you can eat in fact. Definitely stay away.
eric55lv
Guest
~Shard~
macrumors P6
Exactly. For people trying to lose weight for instance, eating less is one of the worst things you can do. Usually it comes down to eating less of the bad food, not eating less in general. The less you eat and the less frequently you eat, the more you slow down your metabolism which makes your body want to gain weight.
The common mistake most people make is eating 3 big meals a day and that's it. In reality, a person should eat throughout the day to keep their "furnace" going (their metabolism) and to keep things balanced. Breakfast should be your biggest meal, as it is the most important and your body has the most amount of time to burn it off. Eating a big supper is not good, as it is too late in the day for your body to deal with the intake properly. Ideally you should not eat 4-6 hours before bed, so I always try to eat supper no later than 6-7pm.
I could go on and on.... 😉 😎
juanster
macrumors 68020
yeah i completely agree, it woudl take hours and hours to get you all the info, just read into a it for a bit and read about diets and good nutrition tehre are lots of good sources in the net..
~Shard~
macrumors P6
Yes, stress can definitely have a part to play....
As for what to eat, organic, healthy, natural foods are best. Just use your common sense. Always look at the list of ingredients of anything you are contemplating buying and if you see a lot of artificial stuff, chemicals you can't pronounce, hydrogenated oils, refined sugar (sucrose, dextrose, fructose), etc. then stay away!
Be wary of foodss which claim to be "fat free" as well. They may have minimal fat content, but check the sugar content. Unless it is all completely natural sugars (such as the kind you get from fresh fruit juice) then guess what - your body is simply going to metabolize all that refined sugar into fat anyway!
It's not hard to eat smart. Simple choices, really. Eat multigrain cereal, not cereal loaded with sugar and crap. Eat organic food, not food coated in chemical pesticides. Don't have a chooloate bar or a bag of chips for a snack, have a piece of fruit or some veggies.
Once again, I could go on and on... 😉 Just do some research on the Internet as there is a plethora of info there for you on how to take care of your self.
After all, without your health, what do you have? To me, my health is the most important thing. I don't understand people who abuse it and don't care about themselves or their own well-being... but that's a topic for a rant... 😉
As for what to eat, organic, healthy, natural foods are best. Just use your common sense. Always look at the list of ingredients of anything you are contemplating buying and if you see a lot of artificial stuff, chemicals you can't pronounce, hydrogenated oils, refined sugar (sucrose, dextrose, fructose), etc. then stay away!
Be wary of foodss which claim to be "fat free" as well. They may have minimal fat content, but check the sugar content. Unless it is all completely natural sugars (such as the kind you get from fresh fruit juice) then guess what - your body is simply going to metabolize all that refined sugar into fat anyway!
It's not hard to eat smart. Simple choices, really. Eat multigrain cereal, not cereal loaded with sugar and crap. Eat organic food, not food coated in chemical pesticides. Don't have a chooloate bar or a bag of chips for a snack, have a piece of fruit or some veggies.
Once again, I could go on and on... 😉 Just do some research on the Internet as there is a plethora of info there for you on how to take care of your self.
After all, without your health, what do you have? To me, my health is the most important thing. I don't understand people who abuse it and don't care about themselves or their own well-being... but that's a topic for a rant... 😉
Gelfin
macrumors 68020
You haven't stated your age, but I'm guessing you're just young and skinny. Enjoy that while it lasts, seriously. If you get in the habit of eating food to bulk up now, you're setting yourself up for habits that will bite you in the rapidly-expanding bum in maybe ten years, and then you'll have an even harder time correcting back the other way.
~Shard~
macrumors P6
Very true - you often see this with professional athletes and bodybuilders. They become used to eating huge quantities of food, but then once their training and activity stops, coupled with a slowing metabolism, they continue to eat in that manner and as a result they become quite fat. 😀
Loge
macrumors 68030
While this may be good advice, the demands of a working life make this impractical for many people.
~Shard~
macrumors P6
Perhaps in some cases, yes. Road warriors come to mind, for example - a job I definitely do not envy in the least. Spending hours on a plane breathing stale recycled air (and other people's germs), eating out a lot, not being able to work out as much... I'm sure there are more examples as well.
In my case I guess I'm lucky - I have a 8-5 office job. So, I eat breakfast before work, have a snack or two mid-morning in my cubicle, have lunch, sometimes go to the gym over lunch hour (mostly after work though), then a couple more snacks throughout the afternoon (yogurt, muffins, apple, whatever at my desk while I work or while I'm in a meeting) and then a nice well-balanced supper when I get home.
Another key is to drink a lot of water - hydration is very important. Further to this, caffeine isn't very good for you at all in this respect, as it acts to dehydrate you. Therefore you should limit your coffee per day (I don't drink any) and obviously pop as well - Coke, Pepsi, etc. are the worst and contain a lot of chemicals and refined sugar - in some cases 40 grams! 😱 Yikes...
Once again, healthy choices are usually simple choices. It's a lot less expensive, complicated and restrictive than many people would have you believe. 😎
Iscariot
macrumors 68030
I would suggest creating an account at a "calorie counting" website like nutridiary.com and tracking what you eat for two weeks. It'll give you a good idea of how healthy your eating habits are while tracking your caloric intake, as well as fat, fibre, and vitamins. If you enter your height and weight, it gives you your recommended daily caloric intake.
It's a very good idea to know if you're meeting your daily nutritional needs. Nutrition and a healthy lifestyle are two subjects that are not covered even reasonably well in school, and the sooner you know more about it the healthier you'll be, and the more you'll enjoy your life and your body.
It's a very good idea to know if you're meeting your daily nutritional needs. Nutrition and a healthy lifestyle are two subjects that are not covered even reasonably well in school, and the sooner you know more about it the healthier you'll be, and the more you'll enjoy your life and your body.
Markleshark
macrumors 603
I've noticed a trend, this has nothing at all to do with you personally ricecook, but I think it's strange how we have more 'I want to gain weight' threads on MR, than we do 'I want to loose weight' threads.
Wouldn't have thought that, oh well.
That is all.
Wouldn't have thought that, oh well.
That is all.
EricNau
Moderator emeritus
I agree with most of what you said, but wish to chime in on a few points:
First of all, sugar is sugar. The natural sugar found in fruits, fructose, is no different than the fructose found in table sugar, sucrose (a disaccharide of glucose and fructose). ...Once a sugar is broken down into its monosaccharides your body simply can't tell the difference. Therefore, the sugars found in fruit juices aren't metabolized any different than the sugars found in soft drinks (HFCS).
Also, I have my doubts about organic "all natural" foods. Sure, I agree that we should probably stop eating animals injected with growth hormones, but I'm not convinced that organic fruits and vegetables are more nutritional and/or taste better.
Just because something isn't natural, doesn't mean its bad for you. Keep in mind, there are plenty of natural substances that could kill you far faster than something man-made. 😉
I guess being skinny is less of a stigma than being overweight.
I myself was pretty skinny as well, even more in the past, but I managed to put on some weight by exercising frequently (I refused to consume any of those supplements), I'm not exactly bulky now, but at least my body is now in a better shape than before.
I wouldn't be looking to add weight simply by eating more. If you want to add meat to a skinny frame weight lift.
Just eating more is going to make you add fat.
Iscariot
macrumors 68030
Being "skinny" is more likely to get you singled out and ostracized as an adult than being "fat" is.