How to gain weight if you're a skinny guy?

Nasdin94

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Hi

I am a skinny guy, I have been trying to gain weight for past 3 years.
My BMI has been fluctuating between 16-18, mode is about 17.

My height is about 175-176.
This has been really unhealthy and the method I've tried so far is stuffing myself up with food, I've been eating lots of hawker centre food, lots of fast food, about 2 meals at a time, sometimes even coping other people's food but still to no avail, I'm still about underweight.

I thought of parasites once, so I got myself some detox from the pharmacy, but it appears that I have none.

Therefore it appears that I have a really high metabolism
Any recommendations on how to gain weight?

Regards
 

jokerk

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Not eating enough
Outside of poor training (which can be either too much or too little), not eating enough is the number one mistake I see most trainees making who can’t gain muscle. This is true even of individuals who swear up, down and sideways that they eat a ton but no matter what they can’t gain weight. It’s been said that ‘hardgainers’ tend to be overtrainers and undereaters and there is much truth to that.

Almost invariably, when you track these big eaters, they really aren’t eating that much. Research has routinely shown that overweight individuals tend to under-estimate food intake (e.g. they think they are eating much less than they actually are) but in my experience ‘hardgainers’ are doing the opposite: vastly overestimating how much they are actually eating in a given day, or over the span of a week.

Similarly, although such trainees may get in a lot of food acutely, invariably they often compensate for those high-caloric intakes by lowering calories on the following day (or even in the same day). So while they might remember that one big-assed lunch meal, they won’t remember how they ate almost nothing later in the day because they got full.

Some people simply lack the appetite to eat sufficient amounts to gain muscle (or any weight at all). While they may be able to force feed calories for a little bit, their appetite regulatory mechanisms kick in and they unconsciously reduce calories. Their bodies also tend to upregulate metabolic rate better than others, so they burn off more calories (a phenomenon called non-exercise activity thermogenesis or NEAT).

But the simple fact is this: if such ‘big-eaters’ were actually eating as much as they think they are, they would be at least gaining some body fat, even if they were gaining zero muscle. If a trainee swears he’s eating a ton, but he’s not even gaining body fat, I know he’s still not eating enough (or even as much as he thinks he is).
Muscle Gain Mistakes | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald

tldr; you are undereating even though you think you're eating more.

sign up for myfitnesspal and count how many calories you're really consuming per day for 1 week. You'd be probably surprised at how low it is.
 
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lee_tired_sheep

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Do your squats, drink your milk. Gallon of full fat milk a day in addition to your current diet and heavy compound lifting... You don't grow I tok.
 

ketua

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What is your age? Born in 1994?

I ask because hormones play a part too.
 

galapogos

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Post what you eat everyday for a week. Be very specific about the type of food, preparation and amount. It's very likely you're not eating as much as you think you are.
 

king82

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IMO since you were saying u already eat alot and not gaining weight probably you would like to add more fats and carbs into your diet. Getting cals from protein will suck alot as you will be feeling very full and yet low cals intake. Try to get it from breads which u can eat thruout the day or even pastries if your motive is just to add weight. To make it simple you eat as per how u r eating right now and bring in some snacks like bread loaves pastries or full cream milk and eat them as and when you feel you are not full. Pls note eat when you are not full and not eat when you are hungry.
 

ketua

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And be careful when you want to put on 'weight'.
(What weight? fat or meat?)

You don't want to transform from skinny to fat.
I know how you may feel, that being slightly fat is still better than being skinny. Cos I was once very skinny too.

phageezy.png
 

SatkiFitzaiKorkor

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Hey buddy, i used to be underweight too. Last year, my height was 186cm, 60kg, i went to many cheap buffets like seoul garden to bulk up and also start going to the gym. I ate 5 meals a day and started using weight gainers. This year, i have successfully hit the normal weight range (188cm, 73 kg).
 

ketua

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I've posted before and I'd like to repeat.
Don't get too obsessed with weight with no regard to bodyfat percentage.

Both same weight same height (hence same BMI)
body-composition.jpg



And what's 'normal' is subjective.

For me, my guiding formula is that to have a decent athletic built:

minimally: Height (cm) - 100 = Weight (kg) with <15% bodyfat

e.g. 175cm - 100 = 75kg with <15% bodyfat (approx)

Nevertheless, there's nothing wrong if you want to be as big as possible or look like K-Pop star.
It's your subjective choice.
 

freddisier

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I"m very skinny myself, finally got some progress this year. and my answer to you, my friend, is that just EAT BIG.

the only way for your body to gain more weight is to eat more. training will only determine what kind of tissues those weight would turn into, fat or muscle and of course strength gain.
 

frostbyte88

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I agree with jokerk that tracking your food intake is the way to go. The body wants to stay in homeostasis and doesnt like change. Eating a few big meals a week will be autoregulated by the body to remain at the same set point. To gain weight you need to consistently overfeed it. Everyday. For a long period of time to give the body some time to adjust to a new set point. There's an article i wrote about this on singasports.com

Here's an excerpt:

All else being equal, your body weight usually hovers around a certain number (give or take a kg or so). This is the body weight Set Point and is determined by personal, hereditary and environmental factors.

You see, our bodies, much like ourselves, get very comfortable in its current state and dislikes sudden changes. It will do its best to remain the same. This is known as homeostasis.

The human body is intuitively intelligent, which means it is able to adapt to complex situations without you having to tell it what to do. It is perfectly capable of regulating our bodyweight, which means that we should be able to eat (without having to count calories) and keep within our set point range. There are two functions that occur to ensure this, namely the Famine Reaction and Fat Brake.

You can read more here : IS LOSING WEIGHT AS EASY AS 1, 2, 3? - SingaSports
 

osirisx

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but what if you want to gain weight AND lose fat to sub 10%(lower if possible)

if you stuff yourself silly, you won't lose much fat right? (even with daily training)?
if you watch your carbs then you won't gain much weight

like some kind of tradeoff:(
 

jokerk

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but what if you want to gain weight AND lose fat to sub 10%(lower if possible)

if you stuff yourself silly, you won't lose much fat right? (even with daily training)?
if you watch your carbs then you won't gain much weight

like some kind of tradeoff:(

You need to set your goals.

Typically, AFAIK there are 3 typical goals individuals normally work with

1) "Bulking"/Gain muscles with minimal fat gain. (total weight gain)

2) "Cutting"/ Lose fats with minimal muscle loss. (total weight loss)

3) "Recomposition" / Gain muscles and lose fat (no net change in weight, but a very slow process)

If I was skinny(skinny fat/normally skinny), i'd aim to build as much muscles as I can. Using SS/SL 5x5, coupled with a diet which supports weight/muscle gain (1g/lb of BW, high carbs, moderate fat)

If I was obese(BMI >30 / BF% above 15/ or just visually fat), i'd aim to lose fats first. The kitchen would be the ideal gym for this. No amount of exercise is going to be a main factor of you losing fats/weight. Exercise helps to be generally healthy though, but doesn't really do much towards weight/fat loss at this stage.

Exercises that work for weight loss:
1. Table pushaways.
2. Fork putdowns.
3. Mouth close superset with head shake.
 
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Iamblack

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Do weight training and track your caloric intake. Be consistant at it. Eventually you'll gain lbm. If you are still not growing, simply EAT MORE.
 
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