# Struggling to gain weight



## T-Bone90 (Nov 15, 2013)

Hi,

Since the beginning of the year I have been trying to gain weight whilst eating as clean as possible. Going gym 4-5 times a week, purely weights.

First few weeks were a real eye opener but I am starting to get the hang of it now, well I thought I was.

I'm 6ft 4 I started off at 84.6 kg on 19th January and am now 88.6kg.

I have always been naturally skinny, but with lovehandles :sad:

I have been eating around 3500 calories each day, if not more

Average day would look like this:

Breakfast: 7:30

Omelette 2 whole eggs 4 whites

Shake - 100g oats, scoop of impact whey protein, scoop of creatine monohydrate, 300ml skimmed milk, banana

11am

50g of tesco high protein pasta, tin of tuna

2pm

Grilled chicken breast and brown rice

4pm

Wholemeal bagel and 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter

Dinner 6pm

Usually be either high protein pasta or sweet potato and one of a chicken breast, turkey or steak and veg.

GYM

Post workout

Shake - 50g of oats, 1 scoop of protein, 1 scoop of creatine, 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter

2 fried eggs (Fry light 1 cal spray) and 2 wholemeal slices of bread

Usually around

Cals - 3500

Fat - 100g

Carbs - 340g

Protein - 300g

I have kind of stalled with my weight gain now and I know if that is the case then I should up my calorie intake. But I am not sure where I can add more calories, looking at my food diary, it would seem I could probably add more to my dinner, but with what?

I bought a house with my partner last year and to be honest money is a bit of a struggle. I get by fine, but I don't really have the money for additional meats and things.

I wonder if anyone had any ideas of some cheap high calorie meals. I was thinking of adding another shake to the middle of the day but I have read on here that it is not ideal to be drinking a lot of your calories and that would see me having three of them shakes a day.

I'd really appreicate any feedback.

Cheers


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## SK50 (Apr 7, 2013)

4kg increase in 2 months? That is more than enough for an natural trainee. Your rate of gain is superb if it's all muscle. Any quicker and those love handles will only get bigger.

If it has stalled, increase calories by an extra couple hundred a day.


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## T-Bone90 (Nov 15, 2013)

SK50 said:


> 4kg increase in 2 months? That is more than enough for an natural trainee. Your rate of gain is superb if it's all muscle. Any quicker and those love handles will only get bigger.
> 
> If it has stalled, increase calories by an extra couple hundred a day.


Cheers for the reply.

Maybe I am just being impatient, it is just a little frustrating sometimes to think you've been eating lots and well all week to stand on them scales and to see them maintain or even drop!

This has been my weight each week since I started:

19/01 - 84.6kg

26/01 - 87.4kg

02/02 - 87.9kg

09/02 - 86.5kg

16/02 - 88.8kg

23/02 - 88.6kg


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## Sionnach (Apr 19, 2010)

2 scoops protein

100g oats

2 tbsp peanut butter

1 banana

spinach

5g creatine

2 tbsp honey

Shake ^

twice a day on top of diet.


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## Bora (Dec 27, 2011)

terry020790 said:


> Cheers for the reply.
> 
> Maybe I am just being impatient, it is just a little frustrating sometimes to think you've been eating lots and well all week to stand on them scales and to see them maintain or even drop!
> 
> ...


your gaining weight every week apart from the last week, up carbs a little and adjust accordingly


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## SK50 (Apr 7, 2013)

terry020790 said:


> Cheers for the reply.
> 
> Maybe I am just being impatient, it is just a little frustrating sometimes to think you've been eating lots and well all week to stand on them scales and to see them maintain or even drop!
> 
> ...


The problem with scale weight is daily fluctuations in water weight. I can fluctuate +/- 2kg water any time depending on diet, low carb, alcohol etc

As long as the weight is tending upwards over a prolonged period of time the results are good. Scales are only one tool in measuring progression - The mirror will tell you whether you are gaining muscle or fat.


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## Kristina (Apr 12, 2014)

You don't need to do anything drastic... as already mentioned, 100-200kcal increase is more than enough. That could just be another tablespoon of peanut butter. Simple. Don't over-do it...


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## T-Bone90 (Nov 15, 2013)

Cheers for the replies.

Yeah I should really take more note of whats looking back at me in the mirror rather than the scales!

I'll start this week by adding a dollop of peanut butter in my shakes and see where I am in a weeks time!


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## dannythinx (Oct 4, 2014)

terry020790 said:


> Cheers for the replies.
> 
> Yeah I should really take more note of whats looking back at me in the mirror rather than the scales!
> 
> I'll start this week by adding a dollop of peanut butter in my shakes and see where I am in a weeks time!


If your shirts/tees feel tighter across the back and around the arms then your heading in the right direction. Don't get too hung up on the scale. You can loose half a pound of fat and gain half a pound of muscle and they don't move


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## ohh_danielson (Oct 16, 2013)

Yeah you've progressed quite a lot weight wise tbh. If you are stalling just add in another like 40-50g of carbs. I wouldn't personally up your fat much more, I'd up the carbs. That could just be a little extra pasta on your meals tbh.


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## T-Bone90 (Nov 15, 2013)

Weigh day this morning and up to 90.1kg :thumb:

Off to Bradford for a few days on the drink this weekend to watch Reading! Hopefully I can at least maintain this week!


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## clarked21 (Mar 8, 2015)

I'm similar to you, although not as dedicated in 6'4 and started at 76.8kg on January 12 and as of today I am 85.7kg. And seem to be averaging for the past couple of weeks .5kg gain a week. Watching this thread with keep interest. Keep it up bro!


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## T-Bone90 (Nov 15, 2013)

Weighed myself this morning and up to 92.2kg!

To be fair the large dominoes and pudding on Friday night and cake on Saturday have probably contributed a fair whack to that!

More disciplined this week, so hopefully I can at least maintain this weight!


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

A few thoughts...

Reduce your protein intake to 200g per day. You don't need more than this and it will save you money. (2.2g per kg is an upper limit of what you need, assuming you are natural?)

Not sure how big your scoops are but you only need 5g of creatine per day. It doesn't matter when you take it each day.

I'd recommend getting some calipers to measure body fat, rather than just relying on what the scales tell you.

Gaining muscle naturally is a slow process which takes patience. Don't obsess about gaining lots of weight or the likely outcome is you'll just get fat. If you're making progress in the gym all is good  .


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## T-Bone90 (Nov 15, 2013)

92.6kg this morning! Happy with that.

Slightly worried that I am putting on more fat. Might take the plunge and upload some pics tonight.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

Are you nattie? If so, read this:

https://www.t-nation.com/training/truth-about-bulking


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## shaboy (Oct 21, 2014)

Ultrasonic said:


> Are you nattie? If so, read this:
> 
> https://www.t-nation.com/training/truth-about-bulking


Cheers for that, very intersting read with some great information


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## T-Bone90 (Nov 15, 2013)

Ultrasonic said:


> Are you nattie? If so, read this:
> 
> https://www.t-nation.com/training/truth-about-bulking


Cheers for that, was good to read.

However I am slightly confused by this? I am eating clean for 99% of the time. So should I cut my calories?

To be honest I am sort of at a crossroads here. I have got bigger and my lifts have got stronger which is all good news! But I can see my stomach getting bigger than it already was.

I suppose this is the catch 22 of weightlifting.

My aim at the start of the year was to get bigger and to create a base where I could then cut from. Maybe it is time for me to lower my calories and begin the cardio


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

I posted that article because, as others have already said, it sounds like you are expecting to gain weight more rapidly than is reasonable, without gaining more fat than you need to. As I posted above, I find bodyfat calipers helpful for monitoring this, although many just use a mirror.

Eating 'clean' won't stop you getting fat if you are eating too many calories.


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## JohhnyC (Mar 16, 2015)

i might have missed it terry, but what age are you?

I am 6'3 and at 19 I was about 72kg, (seriously!) I am 94kg at 41 now and a bit too much bf for my liking. My peak was about 96kg lean about 8 years ago. You might just have one of those metabolism, i.e. a typical hard gainer

Personally I never bothered too much by the cutting phase. My arms and legs are naturally skinny so could never have fat legs or fat arms. The wrist and ankles are tell tale signs I just watched the waist line and that's it. A good stomach routine will pull a lot of it in and the odd cardio session will get rid of the love handles. I just always concentrated on bulking. However now given I am old actually its become more important and I am not at all interested in a defined 6 pack, just don't want a large one pack.

Depends on what you are after.

PS: One thing to bear in mind, I went through many many phases of going crazy in the gym and diet. However its the long steady continual progress over years and years that keep you going. Oddly enough, I can miss a gym for a 6 months but after a few weeks back be a lot stronger than when I was 21. Dunno why


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## T-Bone90 (Nov 15, 2013)

Ultrasonic said:


> I posted that article because, as others have already said, it sounds like you are expecting to gain weight more rapidly than is reasonable, without gaining more fat than you need to. As I posted above, I find bodyfat calipers helpful for monitoring this, although many just use a mirror.
> 
> Eating 'clean' won't stop you getting fat if you are eating too many calories.


Cheers, I understand now that putting on kilo's per week is clearly not realistic. Anything like this amount and you would be putting on fat, which I think I have done.


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## T-Bone90 (Nov 15, 2013)

JohhnyC said:


> i might have missed it terry, but what age are you?
> 
> I am 6'3 and at 19 I was about 72kg, (seriously!) I am 94kg at 41 now and a bit too much bf for my liking. My peak was about 96kg lean about 8 years ago. You might just have one of those metabolism, i.e. a typical hard gainer
> 
> ...


I'm 24.

Not overly fussed about getting a six pack, would be nice to lose a lot of fat around my stomach.

Not sure whether to now lower my calories and start with the cardio. I suppose I could see how it goes and assess from there.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

terry020790 said:


> Not overly fussed about getting a six pack, would be nice to lose a lot of fat around my stomach.
> 
> Not sure whether to now lower my calories and start with the cardio. I suppose I could see how it goes and assess from there.


It's just a question of what your priority is really? Although you don't have to do cardio if you want to lose some fat, you just need to eat fewer calories than you use (a calorie deficit). This calorie deficit can be achieved from whatever combination of eating less and moving more (cardio) that you prefer. Cardio is good from a health point of view of couse  .

Do you track your daily calorie intake? Myfitnesspal makes this pretty easy if you haven't tried it - but do check the data for each time you use a new food as occasionally you find another user has entered something daft.

If you are going to reduce your calorie intake I would start by reducing your protein intake.


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## T-Bone90 (Nov 15, 2013)

Ultrasonic said:


> It's just a question of what your priority is really? Although you don't have to do cardio if you want to lose some fat, you just need to eat fewer calories than you use (a calorie deficit). This calorie deficit can be achieved from whatever combination of eating less and moving more (cardio) that you prefer. Cardio is good from a health point of view of couse  .
> 
> Do you track your daily calorie intake? Myfitnesspal makes this pretty easy if you haven't tried it - but do check the data for each time you use a new food as occasionally you find another user has entered something daft.
> 
> If you are going to reduce your calorie intake I would start by reducing your protein intake.


Thanks for your input on this thread, it is very much appreciated.

Yeah I do use myfitnesspal, saying that I haven't been using it for a week or so because I am pretty much eating the same each day and got lazy!

I am seeing a continuos increase in my lifts at the moment which is really keeping me motivated, so I think I will continue with the 'bulking' for now. I will review this again in two weeks and see where I am. I might take a photo of me now and compare in two weeks time. I really wish I had done that at the beginning of the year!


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

terry020790 said:


> I am seeing a continuos increase in my lifts at the moment which is really keeping me motivated, so I think I will continue with the 'bulking' for now. I will review this again in two weeks and see where I am. I might take a photo of me now and compare in two weeks time. I really wish I had done that at the beginning of the year!


In that case my suggestion would be to reduce protein by 50g per day (and therefore calories by 200) and see how you get on. This will still be bulking but likely with a more sensible calorie excess. It will also save you money.


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## T-Bone90 (Nov 15, 2013)

Right, I've decided that I am no longer going to continue to try and gain.

Time to shift this belly once and for all!!!

Whilst gaining weight my lifts have gone up dramatically. It's been really good to see and I can actually start to see veins in my arms. I know that this is probably a little strange, as you would not expect this on a 'bulk' but as I mentioned I have always been naturally skinny.

I have noticed a real difference in my body, but I've had enough of the fat.

I was looking at potentially starting a keto diet but this looks like it would be too much of a dramatic change for my body. I also think my lifts would suffer too much.

I am therefore going to look at dropping my calories to 3000.

I looked at doing a 40/20/20. However taking into account @Ultrasonic link above I want to keep the amount of protein I consume a reasonable amount, say 1.2g per lb. This works out as 252g.

@Ultrasonic I would be grateful for you view on this. Would you say this is reasonable or still slightly high?

3000 Calories:

Fat - 600kcal 67g

Carbs -1392kcal 348g

Protein - 1008kcal 252g

It seems a lot of carbs to be eating when trying to lose weight.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

I don't claim to be a diet expert but FWIW these are my thoughts:

Weren't you gaining weight on 3500 kcal per day? If so you'd probably best cutting on less than 3000 kcal. Aiming for 500 kcal below maintenance, so maybe start at 2800 kcal?

The macros you wrote out were 33/47/20 (P/C/F) which I would say is too high carb and too low fat. Your protein figure isn't daft so maybe go for something like 250g protein, 200-250g carbs and the rest fat, up to a 2800 kcal total.

Just a suggestion. Whatever you do you need to try it, see how you get on and adjust accordingly.

Good luck.


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