Gaining weight

[Frohike]

Hi. I am a 19 years old almost-vegan. I have always been very thin, and my weight is only ~110lb. My arms are thin and my legs and the rest of my body likewise. One could say that my appearance is rather "vegan stereotype", and frankly i HATE that. How should i eat to become larger? I´ve heard that one should eat alot of proteins, but HOW much? I want numbers...

Thanks.

[Renecarol25]

What do you normally eat? There are lots of bulking diets around here. Personally I have no problem gaining weight. I can easily eat 100 grams of protein a day. Though I'm trying to cut that down to about 80-85grams.. it'd be nice if I could cut my calories to go with it.

Give us something to work with.

[Mary]

Also, remember you are only nineteen! My Dad was a wraith at your age (I've seen the pictures) and if you are a bloke then it is almost to be expected that you wouldn't have bulked up if you were growing up until recently. In fact my ex was six foot five and (wait for it) under nine stone at your age. (He could stand to lose a few pounds now though. )

In other words, don't panic! If you work at it another few years you will be mr muscle!

(I am a female, five foot ten, 69k. So no vegan stereotype)

[JP]

Hi frohike, welcome to the board!

you are male right?

Can you add your location to your profile so people can see where you are from, cheers!

I think 4 things are pretty important: diet, diet, diet and training. If you stick around on this board you are destined to some serious gains. I wish i started to train at your age man!

Some of us are naturally skinny, i used to be. For us bulking is harder, but can be done no problems.

First thing to check is your diet, like Renee said, give us something to work with Whats your diet like currently? Whats your training like as well?

Or alternatively, check out some past messages in the diet & nutrition section, and then in the training section for some quality advice.

[Mary]

I can't imagine you skinny Joni. Neil says he does though... personally I would have to see pictures to prove it.

[JP]

I can't imagine you skinny Joni. Neil says he does though... personally I would have to see pictures to prove it.

I think i might have met Neil when i was a skinny bastard. Some day i'll scan some "before" photos of me at about 68-70kg mark, almost bloody 30kg lighter than i am now!

[Renecarol25]

I was 108 my freshman year of college.. so that sounds like a female weight. During the next few years my body changed so much. If I weighed less that 120 now I'd probably look like I had starved to death already. So like everybody is saying your body is still growing.

[Frohike]

I eat varied. About 1dl/day (measured unboiled), tofu, beans, fruit, potatoes, rice, pasta, vegetables, almost anything... Drink soymilk for breakfast (not every day), water or orange juice for about every meal. Then of course i eat burgers, falafel and stuff like that sometimes.

Actually my dad was also like me when he was my age he says, and he is just like anyone else today. But the thing is that I have been about the same size since i was like 13-14...

I am male yes. Actually... A bit embarrassing, but I dont work out more than 100 situps and 60 push-ups every ~2 days. I do this at home. I will start working out soon though. But i have been thinking that it would be important to first know what to eat and so on before. Since i dont grow any bigger on the diet i am now, working out would logically require me to get more energy (through proteins and stuff), so the body have someting to work with while exercising. If you get what i mean...

Any ideas?

[JP]

dude, 60 pushups is great!

if you don't exercise then most of what you would eat would end up as fat. It's ok if you are really skinny, but not cool in the long run

Basic thermodynamics though: to grow, you need calorie surplus. The selection of foods sound good overall. What i'd suggest is to try to break your eating so that you'd eat smaller quantities but frequently, every 2-3 hours. Also, you mention that you drink soy milk for breakfast, but i hope thats not all you have for breakkie? If thats the case, that would be the first place to fix. Have a solid breakfast, oatmeal, mysli, cereal etc.

Sounds like you just have one of these superduper metabolisms, so you just need to eat a bit more. Thing is though, it slows down as you get older and thats when the waistline starts creeping in just being vegan does definitely not stop it!

[Frohike]

No no i have soy milk with cereals for breakfast...
So i need more calories? Do you have any receommendations to any calorie rich food?

[Renecarol25]

Okay here's what I had today.
breakfast large amount of grits (like oatmeal but made from corn) 400 calories worth. Lunch two veggie bologna and soy cheese sandwiches roughly about 500 calories. Mid afternoon snack Trail mix about 300 calories worth. For dinner I'm thinking about spaghetti and maybe make some toast with it. A cup of spaghetti with marinara sauce is about 250 calories. I'll have at least 2 cups and maybe some toast. This is about the least amount of food I've ate in one day in a long time... about 1700 calories. Go me!!
Yesterday I ate..
Bagel when I woke up 250 calories, breakfast grits about 300 calories worth, 2 sandwiches as above named 500 calories, Trail mix 300 calories, potato chips 2 bags from vending machine 300 calories, soy chick'n about 150 calories worth, beans about 250 calories worth, and cup broccoli about 40 calories. And I had a gatorade about 100 calorie size container. That's what 2340 calories. Fitday is awesome for keeping up with what you eat. Actually now that I've figured it out I don't feel I have eaten as poorly as I thought I had. Trips to the vending machine have been what's been killing me lately.

[JP]

eat like Renee and you'll gain mass

calorie rich and useful are not necessarily the same thing.

If you want to grow muscle, you need to start thinking of taking up training - otherwise why would your body want to put on any muscle? Muscle is expensive to maintain from your bodys point of view and it would much rather just pack on fat.

Start snacking on nuts in the first instance. They are calorie rich, but still full of goodies, good fats, minerals, protein etc. Examples: mixed nuts bags, almonds, cashews (expensive!), pistachios etc.

Fat is calorie rich of course, so perhaps if you have a salad, pour a bit of olive oil on it, or if you are having pasta or rice, pour some olive oil on that too - it's tasty and boosts the calorie content.

There are millions of little tricks, but thats just two of them for now - others probably have their own tricks as well?

[Frohike]

Thanks! Ive done the best i can the last week, with the olive oil, alost of pasta etc... i cant say that i have gained any weight yet... But i guess it'll come.
If you have any other advice, shoot:) I find it pretty hard to find info about gaining weight, its usually the other way around. People who wants to LOOSE wieght...

[JP]

peanut butter or tahini & bread - can't go wrong with that I'm basing a lot of my bulking on those simple but high protein, high calorie small meals.

[Strix]

For me, high carbohydrates with fat is a weight gainer. Eat, for examples, pasta with sauce that has oil or add it if it needs it, top with vegan parmesan; potatoes (like mashed or baked) with margarine, vegan sourcream, or vegan cream cheese; breads(bagels, baguettes, sliced, tortillas, English muffins, etc.) with nut butters, margarine, fatty fillings and toppings, such as hoummus, rich dips, etc., vegan cheeses; pancakes with margarine and maple syrup. Lots of high carbs with fat should do it