gaining weight?

[Chelsea Rohrbach]

I figured there would be some people here who know a thing or two about fitness so here's my question...

I'm trying to gain a few pounds (3 to 6: closer to 6 is better). I just started running 4-6 days a week and do bjj 2 nights a week and have been losing a little. I don't know much about fitness, exercise etc. so what should I be doing/eating to gain weight? (Btw, I'm a vegetarian so no meat)

[Adam Litchfield]

[Firaas Hakim]

you're in the best country in the world to ask how do you gain weight. go to any all you can eat buffet for expert advice
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[Bryan Walsh]

I know a thing or two about gaining weight, since I started working out and training over a year ago, I've gained over 20 pounds of muscle.

What really helped me see the most gains was two main things, lifting heavy weights and increasing my calorie and protein intake. Basically as long as you consume more calories than your body needs, you will slowly gain weight. for example, if your body needs 1800 calories a day to maintain your current weight, if you consume 2500 calories a day you will start gaining weight. Now doing all that running every week, your burning all those extra calories, which means you have to eat more just to make any gains.

Heres a few tips that will help you gain weight.. the healthy way.

Eating 5-6 times a day is a good way to reach your calorie goals. That can be 2-3 large meals a day(breakfast,lunch and dinner) with 2-3 smaller ones throughout the day. Basically eat something every 2- 2.5 hours. Whether its some healthy snacks like string cheese, protein shake or a half of a sandwich.

One tip to help you reach your increased protein and calorie goals is whey or soy protein shakes(especially since i believe it might be kinda hard to get enough protein as a vegetarian?). They are great for quick breakfasts or a good snack an hour before a hard workout.

cheese, milk and complex carbs like oatmeal , potatoes, and wheat bread are your friends.

I could go on for hours with all the info i know about gaining weight, I know you probably don't want to gain that much serious weight, but hopefully some of this info will benefit you to help you reach your goals.

[Harold Doran]

Chelsea

Hit me up with a PM or find me over on FB if you're on that. Let's work on a fitness-based nutrition plan for you.

There are a number of ways to do this, but there are only a few smart ways to do this. It's important to consider insulin level control, supporting energy systems for the kinds of activities your involved in, post-workout strategies, etc.

Gaining weight is not about eating a ton. It's about bringing in the right kinds of foods at the right time in slightly greater amounts.

Two things. First, I'm not a fan of vegetarianism. Your body isn't biologically designed to live this way. Typically, many vegetarians get their protein from things like nuts. But, nuts, like almonds, are very high in insoluble fiber.

Your body does not digest insoluble fiber, it passes through you. So, humans can extract anywhere from 40 to 70 percent of the protein in foods high in fiber. This depends on how much fiber is in the food and it is never really possible to know if it is soluble or insoluble. I often get concerned when people tell you nuts are high in protein. Yes, there is protein there, but your body doesn't access much of it.

When you look at labels to see protein intake, some companies subtract off the amount of protein lost in this process and others don't. But, again you never know who does this.

It is possible to live a healthy vegetarian life, but you need to be cognizant of things like this and eat a lot more food than you think you would otherwise need to support protein intake.

Second, I'll help you, but only if you're willing to do some work (e.g., write down what you eat, make changes, etc).

I would encourage you not to micromanage your diet; but to MACROmanage your diet. Think strategically about protein, carb, and fat intake. Your goal should be to bring in clean and as close to complete protein sources as possible, complex carbs low on the GI scale and with a low glycemic load, and monounsaturated fats at every meal.

But, with a goal of gaining weight, we would want to change the proportions of these macronutrients to support that goal.


OK, this is enough for now. Hit me up.

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[Chelsea Rohrbach]

I don't eat any meat, poultry or fish. By products don't bother me...I eat eggs, cheese, dairy etc. (use chicken broth for cooking)

[Jeremy Lafreniere]

I bought spirulina - straight - before, and figured out from that what I hated about the Ultimate Meal, and other greens products. Something about spirulina that I just cannot stomach. However, there is no question that it is good for you.

[Chris Doscher]

I've never been a hardcore supplement user (aside from "male enhancers"), but I've always found brown rice protein to be easy on the stomach and neutral enough in flavor to mix with cereal, fruit, or whatever.

I don't think anybody likes spirulina. It tastes like something a sea lion might enjoy. The only green supplement I've liked is Light Force, which I used to occasionally buy before I got married and lost control of my bank account. It tastes more like hay than kelp.
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[John James]

The simple answer:

Running will not help you gain weight. Replace half of the running with Crossfit or other load bearing exercises.

Calories in - Calories out = weight gain or loss

Want a more complicated/complete one PM me.
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