I want to put on weight.

Harpy

Hey im just wondering what are the best types of foods to eat to put on weight??? i find it really hard to put on weight and im really skinny and im just sick of it now im in my 20's and look like a 12 year old.i'm really self conscious about it.i just want to be a healthy weight!. anyone have any advice?(and please dont say go eat a big mac.hate it when people say stuff like that cause that doesn't work for me)...

cozmik

I agree. Increasing your intake of junk food is not the way to do it. Healthy fats come from sources like salmon nuts/nut butters and seeds. Nut butters and tahini in particular are very high calorie and will definitely help you gain weight.

regards

cozmik

Khannie

I'd suggest you head over to the fitness forum. Lots of people there are deliberately trying to gain weight. It really does boil down to eating more, but as cozmik said; it's much better to get your calories from healthy nutritious sources.

g'em

What do you eat on a day to day basis right now? Chances are it will only take some small changes and a conscious effort to eat more with eat meal and eat more frequently.

As much as overweight people would love to blame a super-duper inhumanly fast metabolism as being the reason why skinny people are skinny, that simple isn't the case. They just eat less.

rockbeer

You certainly need your healthy fats, but to be honest boosting your intake of things like fish and nuts won't help you gain weight on their own.

As g'em says, it would be helpful to know what you usually eat at the moment. As a rule of thumb, you'll gain weight by boosting your daily carb intake to slightly above what you burn off. It's excess, unburned carbs that get stored in the body whereas excess fats tend to get excreted.

Try gradually increasing the amount of pasta, bread, potatoes and sugars that you eat. But be careful what you wish for.

Harpy

well say today i had for breakfast
4 slices of brownbread and a grapefruit for breakfast,
then for lunch i had a plate of chips with garlic and cheese
for dinner i had bacon and cabbage with mash

Sparkpeople.com is really handy because it works out your calorie requirements, gives you a calorie goal to achieve your weight gain,
and has a calorie tracker which will allow you to spot where you are going wrong.

corcaigh07

watch the simpsons episode where homer is trying to get disability!

Jesus Wept

g'em wrote: »

As much as overweight people would love to blame a super-duper inhumanly fast metabolism as being the reason why skinny people are skinny, that simple isn't the case. They just eat less.

I disagree.
While that may be true in many, even most cases, I don't believe it applies to all, I think metabolism can be a factor, it is for me.

g'em

The-Rigger wrote: »

I disagree.
While that may be true in many, even most cases, I don't believe it applies to all, I think metabolism can be a factor, it is for me.

A factor perhaps but the sole reason? Doubt it.

Does anything eve have a sole reason.
I think genetic makeup/metabolism can definitely be a factor in the inabilty to put on weight.
I have seen it in practice.

Faith

Moonbaby wrote: »

Does anything eve have a sole reason.
I think genetic makeup/metabolism can definitely be a factor in the inabilty to put on weight.
I have seen it in practice.

I think the point that g'em is making is that overweight people tend to think of metabolism speed as the sole reason for weight. They're fat because they have slow metabolisms, thin people are thin because they have fast metabolisms. It may be part of the reason, but it's not the sole reason, which is what g'em is saying.

Harpy, are you male or female? Although this may sound counter-productive initially, try lifting weights. Muscle tone and definition will help stop you looking skinny; you'll start looking nice and toned. Other than that, try getting an account on fitday.com and entering exactly what you're eating every day. You can see how many calories you're taking in, and how many you should be. The days food that you posted is probably:

4 slices of bread: ~400 calories, depending on size
Grapefruit: negligable
Chips with cheese: Depends on portion size, but lets say 700 - 1000
Bacon & cabbage with mash: 500?

That's still probably less than 2,000 calories per day. You need to eat more if you want to put on weight. Do try and avoid things like chips though. They're tasty but they're nutritionally useless. You want to be healthy too.

Harpy

hey im female..yeah im up the walls abit with college so im just kinda eatin when i get a chance at the moment.. i'm small boned naturally, id just like to look a bit bigger on my arms and legs.. i think im just gonna go buy loadsa pasta and nuts, and add like 2 bowls of pasta into my diet each day to see how that works..pastas good for puttin on weight isn't it?? i'm sorry im just clueless when it comes to calories and all that..

rubadub

The-Rigger wrote: »

I disagree.
While that may be true in many, even most cases, I don't believe it applies to all, I think metabolism can be a factor, it is for me.

So what do you think your basal metabolic rate is? i.e. how many calories do you need to take in per day to maintain your current weight and fat levels?

Most people have no idea at all. If you do not have a mini weighing scales at home and calculate what you actually eat then I cannot imagine how anybody can conclude that they have a fast or slow metabolism.

i'm sorry im just clueless when it comes to calories and all that.

The vast majority of foods have all the info you need on them, you just need a small scales and simple math. This post show how to calculate your needs http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=50956807&postcount=4 There is no secret or magic forumla. Most people are able to fuel their cars correctly but cannot figure out how to fuel themselves. If you cars fuel dial is low you need more petrol, if it is too high you can do with less, pretty similar to your weighing scales dial.

4 slices of brownbread and a grapefruit for breakfast,
then for lunch i had a plate of chips with garlic and cheese
for dinner i had bacon and cabbage with mash

That could be 500 or 5000kcal. That is the problem with guesswork.

eating or not eating 3500kcal of food will make you gain or lose approx 1lb.

So if I have a daily need of 2500kcal but overestimate my portions by just 5%, then that would be 2500kcalx365x5%=45625kcal, which equates to 13lb fat gain per year. And all from eating just 125kcal more per day, very easy to do.

Faith

Faith wrote: »

I think the point that g'em is making is that overweight people tend to think of metabolism speed as the sole reason for weight. They're fat because they have slow metabolisms, thin people are thin because they have fast metabolisms. It may be part of the reason, but it's not the sole reason, which is what g'em is saying.

I honestly have never heard that attitude from one overweight person I have meet nevermind all of them.
I've only heard it from extremely thin people.

Tim Robbins

Harpy wrote: »

Hey im just wondering what are the best types of foods to eat to put on weight??? i find it really hard to put on weight and im really skinny and im just sick of it now im in my 20's and look like a 12 year old.i'm really self conscious about it.i just want to be a healthy weight!. anyone have any advice?(and please dont say go eat a big mac.hate it when people say stuff like that cause that doesn't work for me)...

Hi,
I had a huge skinny problem when younger. In College, I was 6ft 1 and still under 10 stone, I was about 9.5. I am now the same height, 33 and 13 stone. I was sick of people telling me not to worry and I would eventually fill out. I didn't really fill out until about 28 or there abouts.

My advice to you would be, eat well 4 / 5 fruit veg a day and stay fit. I gave up playing rugby because I was so skinny. This was a mistake, I should have just done the pressups and weights. It doesn't matter if you are skinny, as long as you are fit and healthy. Players like Geordan Murphy are skinny but are fit and healthy. That would be the way to go.

Cheers.

g'em

Moonbaby wrote: »

I honestly have never heard that attitude from one overweight person I have meet nevermind all of them.
I've only heard it from extremely thin people.

It's the excuse I used to use when I was... rotund .

Genetics, food habits, behavioural considerations, sleep habits - these ALL affect the weight someone sustains, but my original point was that what you put in your mouth is the most important of those factors.

Did you really honestly believe that was the only cause? Or did you feel the need to condone your weight to other people with this explanation?
I know of people with weight problems who don't actually believe they are fat.

g'em

Moonbaby wrote: »

Did you really honestly believe that was the only cause? Or did you feel the need to condone your weight to other people with this explanation?
I know of people with weight problems who don't actually believe they are fat.

It's denial, pure and simple. When I was fat I was fat from eating too much. But while the simple way to solve it is to "put down the cake" the reality is a whole lot more complex. And scary - very, very scary. When you have a lot of weight to lose the thought of doing it is just that it's a monumentally huge (no puns intended) task.

It's hard to feel sexy and attractive and happy in yourself when everything you see in the media and every message you get from other people is that fat = lazy and greedy. So yes, I probably did condone my weight with excuses. It's also the reason I rarely tolerate the same excuses from other people who want to lose weight.

Just to clarify that though - if someone was overweight and was genuinely happy to be that way then it's their business and I won't pass judgment. However, if someone wants to lose weight and comes to me or comes to the board but makes excuses about how it's factors X, Y and Z that are contributing to the weight gain and they refuse to accept that these aren't reasons, simply excuses, then I'll have no qualms about telling them to grow up and accept responsibility for their situation.

It takes a lot of bravery to admit your own shortcomings, and I'll always respect someone even more for doing it.