# Body...peaking?



## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

I've been trying to gain weight since over a year and a half now and I managed to gain 20KG just over 7 months or so which was huge for me cause I went from an anorexic weight (48kg) to 73kg.

Im naturally very lean cause I simply have small bone density compared to most guys (my forearms are like twigs). I'm 5ft 8in and it is extremely hard for me to gain weight. I can drop a pound In a week but takes 3 weeks to put it on depending on what my body weight is.

atm I'm on 74kg and I feel like my body has stayed like this for like 6 months now and I don't know what I'm doing wrong! I eat around 3200 good calories from healthy foods and extreme mass, I use my fitness pal (phone app) to calculate how much I need to eat to gain weight and it says I need like 2900 so I'm well above the requirement. I try to train very hard at the gym. I have recently been doing 5x5 workouts and currently my lifts are as follow

squat: 110KG parallel (not lolsquats)

deadlift: 130kg

bench: 80kg (find this hard as I have weak rotator cuffs and it aggravates it a lot.)

i increase weight every week now to keep training intense. I go 3x a week.

i really wanna get to around 80kg but it seems near impossible my body won't budge a pound up!

any suggestions?


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## Munro83 (Sep 18, 2012)

First of all how old are you?

I think you need to learn to walk before you run food/diet needs to be nailed. Something I learned very very quickly. If your story is close to being true then gaining 20kg is huge but perhaps if you were clinically anorexic then it was the body having some form of reaction to the added calories & storing the food as fat! Were you clinically diagnosed as anorexic? And if so have you overcome this?

What is your current diet / daily food intake. What you class as good calories others won't. What do you do for a living - active job? Burning off the calories?


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

Munro83 said:


> First of all how old are you?
> 
> I think you need to learn to walk before you run food/diet needs to be nailed. Something I learned very very quickly. If your story is close to being true then gaining 20kg is huge but perhaps if you were clinically anorexic then it was the body having some form of reaction to the added calories & storing the food as fat! Were you clinically diagnosed as anorexic? And if so have you overcome this?
> 
> What is your current diet / daily food intake. What you class as good calories others won't. What do you do for a living - active job? Burning off the calories?


I'm 25 in May. Yeah I know..most people don't believe I gained 20KG but believe me if you looked at my pictures you would. I was not clinically diagnosed as anorexic, I was just diagnosed as "underweight" at 22 years of age when I was 48KG. My weight was simply rubbish because of bad diet, there was nothing wrong with me. I overcame this by going to the gym and eating like a horse. I eat good food though, I don't know by body fat % but I certainly don't Look fat cause my body burns off everything so fast. I've just been made redundant over 6 months ago but I used to be a mobile technician, working almost two weeks in a row without days off (overtime) most weeks. Now I'm studying a degree full time.

Breakfast is 4 eggs (no yellows), oats with raspberries, 2 bananas

Snack: bag of walnuts and almonds, banana and extreme mass with milk

lunch: grilled chicken/fish, salad and rice

snack: chicken sandwich with whole meal bread.

pre workout : cellucor c4

Dinner: steak/grilled chicken breasts, rice, steamed mixed veggies

Hour before bed: extreme mass with milk

roughly what I eat daily in good proportions so it equals around 3200 kcal, hope this helps!

My my diet hasn't really changed over a year and I found I had rapid growth between 50-60KG, it started slowing down from there and then just stopped eventually..


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## TheTransporter (Jan 30, 2014)

Fotget them apps telling you what to eat, dose your phone no if the guy holdin it is 12 stone or 20 stone? If it dose know that dose it no if ur naturally fat/skinny or muscly?

I think you just need to up ya grub more, 300 calories over what ya phone says aint a lot.

I always believed if you want to be a 100kg man you need to eat like one and eventually thru training and the grub ya been eating ya body will catch up.


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## Beardy (Feb 27, 2014)

Got to agree with Transporter. Those apps are ok to use as general guidelines but at the end of the day if you're not putting on weight then your not eating enough.


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## Plod (Nov 11, 2013)

As I remember 'MyFitnessPal' said I should be eating 1800 calories a day, whereas I actual aim for 2800


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

Plod said:


> As I remember 'MyFitnessPal' said I should be eating 1800 calories a day, whereas I actual aim for 2800


Hmm mm you think maybe I should up it to 4000? Although it is a drastic increase. I'll just eat bigger portions.


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## Plod (Nov 11, 2013)

muhammadali said:


> Hmm mm you think maybe I should up it to 4000? Although it is a drastic increase. I'll just eat bigger portions.


The app whilst useful, is probably too generalistic in some terms.

Whilst I'm not saying it's a 1000 calories out, there is no way I think I could cope on 1800, and 'one size doesn't fit all'

I think you need to keep experimenting to find out what works for you. Doubt anyone could give you a definitive answer, although maybe some of the more knowledgable might get close.

Just re-read your second post of the thread above and this stuck out for me.



> My my diet hasn't really changed over a year and I found I had rapid growth between 50-60KG, it started slowing down from there and then just stopped eventually..


I'm not the most knowledgable person, far from it, but this sticks out like a sore thumb to me.

To me, you've grown, but your diet hasn't grown to accomodate your new size, so I'd definately be upping my calorific intake.

Maybe not quite so big a jump, maybe 250 calories at a time and see if it has any effect, without laying on any substantial fat


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

Plod said:


> Just re-read your second post of the thread above and this stuck out for me.
> 
> I'm not the most knowledgable person, far from it, but this sticks out like a sore thumb to me.
> 
> ...


 Hmm good point, maybe I'll just increase one meal extra and incorporate more as I go along see if it helps. Sorry I should've been more clear I meant my diet hasn't changed as in I still eat the same types of food as the above. My proportions have increased dramatically over time. The "300" above what the app says worked for me for a long time so I figured it was legit until it just stopped. I'll try increasing a lot more as you said and see. I hope it just doesn't get stored as fat lol

P.s. Did you edit your current weight and "goal" In the app, cause that affects the amount t of calories required a lot. Also your daily activity level section and exercise routine section. All these things affect the app's calculations so it may be your issue. Thought that might help!

Thank you for your suggestion as well, I'll definitely try it


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## Beardy (Feb 27, 2014)

It's ok using these apps to help you, they're a great tool to have. But you've got to find out what works best for you by trying it. Everyone hits a plateau eventually, when my weight stops going up I'll just increase my calorie intake by 200-250 a day, try it for a couple of weeks and see how that goes. If nothing, add a bit more.

Everyone has different requirements, it's all about finding out what works best for you.


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## EXTREME (Aug 5, 2005)

Why not go to something like 3600 calories and see what happens? By upping it in smaller increments you are less likely to get fat all of a sudden.


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

Extreme said:


> Why not go to something like 3600 calories and see what happens? By upping it in smaller increments you are less likely to get fat all of a sudden.


I wanna get off the extreme mass, just to handle my body fat % a bit better (25% currently) You think maybe switching to pro 6 and extreme whey pwo is better? What would you recommend as the ideal supplements to take when bulking out?


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## gingernut (Dec 11, 2006)

You could make a good start by adding in the yolks from the eggs!


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

lancashirerose said:


> You could make a good start by adding in the yolks from the eggs!


I really despise yolks, I can tolerate them but it's never been a preference. Wouldn't that be a little fattening?

also looking to get off the mass shakes and go for pro 6 and whey/b+r what are your thoughts on this?


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## TheTransporter (Jan 30, 2014)

You aint guna grow following ramadan mate. it was dreamed up thousdands of years before ppl started bodybuildn or understood the human body, iot's not good for you and maks no sense.

I know muslims are strict at following it but i never heard of allay striking anyone down for a protein shake during ramadan!


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## gingernut (Dec 11, 2006)

muhammadali said:


> I really despise yolks, I can tolerate them but it's never been a preference. Wouldn't that be a little fattening?
> 
> also looking to get off the mass shakes and go for pro 6 and whey/b+r what are your thoughts on this?


Ok I suggested them as an easy way to up food intake without much effort(infact less effort).

Yolks are very nutritious, they have been in all my off and on season diets (including leaning up), they contain iron, useful fats, and a bit of extra protein.

No food is fattening as such and certainly not egg yolks unless that's all you eat. It's how it's combined that makes the difference.

I eat 4 whole eggs most mornings and when I stick to my clean diet I get lean, I am currently over a comfy level of bodyfat however this is nothing to do with eating 4 yolks most days, it's all to do with stuffing my face with chocolate, baguette sandwhiches and other junk food - and seriously exceeding my required kcal intake.

Yolks are not to be avoided, and fats are an important part of the diet. If however you really can't stomach them then find another food.

B&R will help you increase your protein intake whilst chucking in carbs and a bit of HMB & creatine. I use half a scoop(to fit my required macros) in a post-wo shake mostly for convenience and it mixes well with a scoop of protein.


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

TheTransporter said:


> You aint guna grow following ramadan mate. it was dreamed up thousdands of years before ppl started bodybuildn or understood the human body, iot's not good for you and maks no sense.
> 
> I know muslims are strict at following it but i never heard of allay striking anyone down for a protein shake during ramadan!


I know I know, I'm gonna pause the bulking for it, I've still got up until end of June to "grow". Which is why I was looking at suggestions on how to keep my gains that I get now. With the non fasting period being close to 4 hours. It's practically impossible to eat 3000 calories without getting seriously sick.

Anyway the main topic for this was to get advice on bulking the right way as I'm not concerned of getting a bit of belly fat! I can see it! And I thank all the contributors and rose for the input 

Keep those suggestions coming, you learn something new everyday!


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## gingernut (Dec 11, 2006)

muhammadali said:


> I know I know, I'm gonna pause the bulking for it, I've still got up until end of June to "grow". Which is why I was looking at suggestions on how to keep my gains that I get now. With the non fasting period being close to 4 hours. It's practically impossible to eat 3000 calories without getting seriously sick.
> 
> Anyway the main topic for this was to get advice on bulking the right way as I'm not concerned of getting a bit of belly fat! I can see it! And I thank all the contributors and rose for the input
> 
> Keep those suggestions coming, you learn something new everyday!


I could eat 3000kcals in a 4 hour period. Wouldn't be clean food mind you!


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## EXTREME (Aug 5, 2005)

3000 calories in 4 hours is easy. A protein shake in full fat goats milk is around 600 calories, 1 of them every half hour and you should be able to get in 8, that'd be 4800 calories.


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## gingernut (Dec 11, 2006)

Extreme said:


> 3000 calories in 4 hours is easy. A protein shake in full fat goats milk is around 600 calories, 1 of them every half hour and you should be able to get in 8, that'd be 4800 calories.


Gaining weight for some people requires the same hard work that losing fat is for others.


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

That sounds like it would make me hurl after the 2nd one. I agree with rose here, it is definitely something I try very hard at doing as my body is naturally lean. I think we're going a bit off topic here hehe, let's forget Ramadhan on this topic and keep it relevant where it belongs 

Extreme, would you say pro 6 + BnR is a better way to go about gaining less fat whilst still upping calories?


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## gingernut (Dec 11, 2006)

muhammadali said:


> That sounds like it would make me hurl after the 2nd one. I agree with rose here, it is definitely something I try very hard at doing as my body is naturally lean. I think we're going a bit off topic here hehe, let's forget Ramadhan on this topic and keep it relevant where it belongs
> 
> Extreme, would you say pro 6 + BnR is a better way to go about gaining less fat whilst still upping calories?


This depends on the remainder of your diet, training and how your body reacts.


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## muhammadali (Mar 31, 2013)

My usual diet is what I posted on page 1, I am finding that my belly fat is getting out of hand, I'm seeing it develop and I'm guessing it's because of the mass shakes in milk?


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## gingernut (Dec 11, 2006)

You're gaining fat because you are consuming more food than you need. Yes you could try cutting out the shakes and see what happens.

You could try swapping the bread for rice...........I find eliminating bread always helped me lean up without much extra effort, might work for you, might not.

Without amounts and weights it's also difficult to say exactly what you need to do.


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