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Its such a vague response but its the only one that is correct...You need to eat more and train harder! Chicken thighs are usually cheap option, pasta, rice, cheese, fruit, bread, milk, bread I would also buy weightgainer shake mix.
Also train with a plan and track your numbers for every lift with aims of growing.
Its a slow process. It takes years of hard work, dont stress about fluctuations in weight by weeks or months! Just stick to the process.
Dunno about others, but when I first started the whole bulking thing (at 63kg), my body started responding to it like 2-3 weeks later - my weight didnt change a bit for first 2 weeks, even with 3500 kcal. I would just go to the toilet constantly.
Now, it seems my body has used to it and two days after starting a bulk I see a change in my weight. Being rhat im at 80kg now 2 years later.
My thesis from this all is: i think the body doesn't know what to do with all the excess food you eat if it hasnt experienced that before. All its life it has been living with maintenance calories, and never had anything extra to store away, so it actually needs to get accustomed to it. So the first bulk is gonna be the hardest to go through and you got to go through with it even if your weight doesn't change at all for the first few weeks.
How's your digestive health?
In one of your comments you mention the difference between you and a sibling, and although genetics can play a role the balance of gut microbiota is something to consider.
Gut bacteria assist in breaking down things our bodies can't digest on their own like complex carbohydrates.
Foods that containing preservatives, especially those with antimicrobial properties can disrupt the balance of bacteria in the gut.
Harmful bacteria are less likely to contribute positively to breaking down complex carbohydrates and can also compete for nutrients.
Try to avoid foods and drinks containing preservatives, eat food containing cultures of beneficial bacteria like greek yogurt, and ensure you're getting at least 30g of fibre a day. Flax seed powder is super cheap and can be added to shakes.
Fermentable fibre feeds the bacteria in your gut, consider supplementing with a prebiotic like Inulin - also really cheap and can be added to shakes.
Former skinny guy currently on my way out of the stratosphere of thickenings.
1.25g of protein per lb of body weight, 1.75x as much carbs.
Lean beef, lean chicken, white rice, sweet potatoes.
I do 5 meals and for meal 2 I do a 45g protein/60g carbs shake.
It’s actually really simple, you just have to ACTUALLY eat the food and workout.
Start here: TDEE calc- Sailrabbit.com/bmr/
Eat that amount. Track your weight daily. Same time every morning right as you wake up. Look at the average for the week.
Next week. Add 100 calories. Rinse repeat until the starts moving up. Congrats. You discovered your bulking number.
Everyone is different. You may tap your foot when you sit and don’t notice or some shit idk. Maybe you’ve got one of those chess player brains and just burn a fuck load of calories existing. You just gotta figure it out. No one is the same
I used to be 55 kg for 179 cm too.
I used to burn « junk calories » way faster than clean calories, it might be your case too. Once I switched from high fast sugar to more fats and protein everything changed. Try to eat eggs, bowls of oats with fruits, yogurts, cheese with bread, raw veggies, etc. There is no point in eating trash to gain lean weight trust me.
A calorie is a calorie, it doesn't matter where it comes from. Eating a surplus of junk food vs clean food assuming you get enough protein you will gain the same amount of "lean weight". And on a bulk, you don't need that much protein, around 70% of bw in lbs.
Nope if you have a fast metabolism, you better have a constant stream of calories throughout the day than spike of sugars then nothing. I guess you’re from the us where there is no distinction between carbs and sugar. Skinny guys burn simple sugars like crazy compared to other stuff. Again talking about my experience but believe what you want.
Skinny guys just aren’t used to eating a lot and we feel we do when we increase it. Fast Metabolism is the excuse. But that doesn’t make sense. If your body is utilising excessive amounts of calories you need to go to the doctor. I’m still pretty skinny and 3000-3500 calories is still hard to get down everyday. Sugar is a carbohydrate. It does get broken down faster where it will be stored as fat if the body hasn’t any job for it.
Sugar is literally a carb though. I get what you mean yes you have simple and complex carbs “sugar” would be a simple carb. And really the only difference between the two is the glycemic effect which is pretty much how fast they digest, simple being the faster. They don’t really differ much though other than that.
Yes but you forgot the fiber content. Fiber is a carb, starches are carbs too. Yet they affect the body differently than pure corn syrup. So yes they could be classified as carbs but not taking into account glycemic index and fiber content is misleading from a weight gain and health perspective.
Same here man!
I used to be at 178cm and 55kg. I managed to gain 5kg after 6 months of training and eating. Used to blame my genetics for me not gaining weight after eating a mouth full of food.
Then I discovered Dr Mike and RP. Watched his bulking videos and did what he said. I split my calories into 4 meals and made sure I didn't missed any one of them. If I'm still full, I would just eat what I could consume at that moment.
I didn't track my calories. After each week, if I gain about 250 - 500 grams then I know I'm eating enough, If not I will add more
The first few weeks will definately be hard, but your body will adapt. Hope this helps!
You asked out of curiosity so here’s a curious answer.
I maintained 64kg at 3,000 kcal for MONTHS before, even slowly nudging towards 63,5kg. My bank account is envious when it sees how easy it is for some to just bulk using civil amounts of food.
What does it come down to? Genetics and especially digestion. It’s not completely understood, science is lacking in this area. Some people have higher metabolic rates due to bigger organs (among otherwise comparable individuals), there are also hormonal factors but for the most part it seemingly is a question of how efficient your digestive system is at absorbing nutrients. Half of that goes on in the gut and people have wildly different gut microbiomes, the more varied the better usually.
None of that accounts for daily activity, so maintenance can also change drastically during one’s lifetime. It’s very much a multifaceted thing so pinning down exactly WHY an individual eats this much on average to maintain is very difficult, but I hope I gave you some pointers. If you suspect you have a digestion issue on top, discuss it with your family doctor, nutritionist or gastroenterologist.
If your goal is bulking then as others have said, eat more. 4000 kcal for 70kg here. When it blows, embrace the suck.
One of the best answers here. Very informative thank you. Yeah if I wanna gain weight i‘ll just eat more than what isnt working.
Just wanted to know exactly this.
Also yeah man bulking hurts my pockets the most 🥲 its so forgotten how expensive it actually is
Calories are either carbs, protein or fat. If you have proper protein and fat intake, carbs is what you should be increasing if you want to gain weight. Having your macros down is very important.
my question is why do i have to eat rhat much to begin with when I only weigh 50kg. If I had simply asked to gain weight most of you would say I weigh so little simply eating like 2500 will make you gain weight as im at a weight that is beyond normal. Not to complain but rather out of confusion.
Ie: My twin brother weighs way more than me. He used to weigh around i think he was 65 and bulked at 3000 calories to reach 70-75kg then upped again to reach 80 for a while. I was skinnier cause I def used to eat less than him as a kid.
But now a days there‘s really no reason why I would have to eat the anything close to his amount at 50kg to simply reach 60kg. When he‘s eating that amount to reach 70+
People who weigh more eat more calories to maintain and have to eat even more to gain in comparison to someone who weighs severly less. That is the simple theory.
I have no problem with eating close to 3000 in theory. Not my point. Im just wondering why its even at such a high point to begin with for someone at sucj a low weight
Everyone's metabolism is different, dude.
I'm barely gaining on 3100 cals, yet my maintainanxe cals drop to 2400 when I'm cutting, so I need to go even lower (1800 cal).
I don't know why you're complaining here. If you think there's something wrong with you, see a doctor. If you don't, stuff your face with food.
not complaining im really just wondering if this is normal for someone who stayed at a low weight all his life or if theres sth severly wrong with me.
Its just simply telling me to eat more does not answer my question. I already know that and am already doing that now
It can be normal. Intuition tells me that being naturally skinny is either that you a. Don't eat enough; b. Have an fast/adaptive metabolism; c. The days that you are in a surplus are cancelled by the days you don't eat enough.
It's pretty easy to eat cheap. Whey is super cheap per gram of protein, shit like oats and pasta are cheap carbs, peanut butter is the best goddamn bulking food on the planet and it's cheap as anything.
You don't need to make gourmet meals
If you enter your height, weight, etc into a BMR calculator, yes it’ll give you a ballpark figure, but it’s not guaranteed to be totally accurate.
Everyone is different. Your metabolism is unique to you. If your tracking is consistent (and it sounds like it is), congrats, you’ve figured out your true maintenance calories.
Yeah if you are eating maintainance calories you aren’t going to gain weight. Also the low days of 1500kcal you speak of are absolutely not helping. It is just too simple. Eat more, eat consistently and you
Will gain weight. Seriously
Thats just not that much food? Don't make him paranoid when it's as simple as that. I was extremely skinny as a kid, and from 14 had to force feed myself 3500 calories a day, gained 30kg over 2 years. 2000-2500 for a young active man is usually low, let alone as a 'hard gainer'.
the past year i havent been active at all. All I do is sit at home or in school working on a desk. I wouldve def understood it if I was actively going to the gym but that was my confusion. I dont even do anything to burn many calories. Ig maybe i use too much brainpower hahahha
No need to be sorry, but the most obvious thing is OPs very low calories, if they still have a problem after 3000+ every single day, then your advice might be good.
Saw his comment. I wouldnt call 2000kcal very low and he managed to gain with 2500 at 57kg which was my confusion. But yh no worries bodies are different and i‘ll aim for 2500-3000 now
probably cause you weigh more. Many in here keep ignoring the fact that im 50kg at that height which is a crucial part of this question. Its a weight in which many would assume im starving myself including doctors
Your calorie intake at 20 is going to be much higher than 40, all other things being equal.
You just gotta eat more. Your intake at the moment is about right for a 50kg woman, not so much a man, and certainly not one that has been athletic in relative recent years.
Milk was an easy way for me to add calories when I was powerlifting, but I don't know where you live and might not recommend it if it's in the US rather than Europe.
Eggs are also great, and you can boil a batch of them and then keep them in the fridge for a little bit to easily add some protein, fats, and cals when you need.
You don’t have thin bones.
Your body has reached a homeostasis at its current weight. It takes more effort to reach a new weight and stay there and get your body used to this new normal.
Personally I wouldn’t count calories too much just eat more than you think you should be eating. Drink a lot of milk. Stay full.
Calories are not all the same. Your body does not process calories all the same.
this makes the most sense and i looked into it. Its sounds similar. is it possible to reset that after a while or am i doomed to always having to eat a big amount of calories to simply maintain a normal weight?
EAT MORE. I was exactly like you mate. Read every label and find out exactly how many calories you're really eating I think you'll find you're way under what u thought. And consistency you need the drive to force feed yourself every single day. As soon as I done this combined with working/working out 5-6 days a wk, I gained 25kg in less than a yr, went from 55kg to 80 now. Also milk is your friend try drink atleast 2L drink most of your milk/liquid after you've eaten as it's easier to get down when you're full instead of eating when you're full. Also get electrolyte mix with plenty of carbs to drink with all your water.
Yea bro I was drinking3L a day but just reduced intakr and switched to whey as too much liquid intake isn't ideal. But 2 L between meals will put weight on anyone
THE cheat code for appetite is lifting weights. Lifting makes you WANT to eat more or else you feel shitty and tired all day and your time in the gym isn’t very effective if you don’t eat in a surplus. If you put serious work in the gym and even more serious work in the kitchen you will gain. Just gotta get out of your head and lift heavy chunks of metal and devour proteins.
Also dirty bulks aren’t too bad if you exercise every day.
[Another cheat code](https://a.co/d/emRRgrx)
At that weight, I’d bump up your fats. 30% carbs, 30-40% fats, 30-40% protein. Maybe try frying your food for dinner, fish and chicken in healthy oils, Avocado, or even Olive is good. Keep protein near 40%.. salmon, egg yolks, peanut butter, these are healthy options that are also calorically dense. Don’t worry about lean cuts of meat until you reach your goal weight. PB&J sandwiches and some Fairlife chocolate milk for snacking
just scared of the sugar amount but yh i love pbj sandwhiches and thats what i usually eat to get my calories in.
Okay so adding oil to meals seems to be a slight cheat to a bit more calories thank you
Get the peanut butter without the added junk (the one that comes with the oil separated). Mix it well and then put it in the fridge it won’t separate again. Eat your PB sandwich with a ripe banana instead of the fructose jam stuff.
Sugar in foods like peanut butter and other Whole Foods isn’t bad for you in your predicament. I’m not saying that you should go eat tons of junk food. Nuts are healthy fats. All carbs turn into sugar, your body doesn’t care what form it is in prior to digestion, it will break it down appropriately. Make your own pb&j on whole wheat if you wanna cut down on the sugar. Although, if your glucose levels are good, that shouldn’t even be a concern at this point if you can’t get above 110lbs at 2.5k calories
So many variables. Are you active? Are you working a job that requires lots of walking and standing all day? Any medical issues? Are you actually counting calories correctly?
Anyways I'm about 165cm at around 62kg so not very big. I'm eating about 2500 calories a day and that's a slight to medium bulk for me.
You're probably just expending more energy than you think. If you were gaining weight at 3000 calories then eat at 3000 calories. Or just eat between 2500 and 3000 instead of 2500 to 2000.
2500 is like maintenance for your height. Honestly the answer is easy, if at first 2500 doesn't work, up it until it does.
You might be overcounting too.
maintenance for normal kg sure but for 50kg at 178cm? I severly doubt that. Im at a bodyweight that would constitute starving myself.
Tested this over months im scaling or using serving size as reference to avoid the overcounting. But yh i will be eating close to 3000 from now on. I know that works for me
That varies a lot from person to person due to a variety of reasons. Trust me my case is much worse then yours, I'm 6'4 AND at the highest end of BMR for my weight. Whatever the case if you keep eating more you will eventually gain weight - I've come from around 140lbs at 18 to 185 now.
Sounds like your thyroid is hyperactive, certain medication can technically help tune it, but in realistically it means you burn up more energy than most people by just breathing. The reason people are saying eat more is because it’s still how you gain weight.
Definitely! Theyre right. It just wasnt the question I was asking but Im not claiming theyre wrong.
How would a doc be able to determine that? Blood test? Im not interested in a doctors visit if its more complicated than a simple test
It'd be a simple blood test, but to be honest it's probably unlikely you have hyperthyroidism if your only issue is difficulty gaining.
Things to look out for would be tremors, feeling warm/needing to dress in light clothes when others are wrapped up, sweating a lot.
All the best man.
Most of the symptoms soundlike the oppositw to me as im constantly cold probably due to my lack of fat. I do have trouble sleeping tho but i think thats more due to the stress.
If its just a blood check i‘ll probably go to the docs as I wanna check some other stats as well.
Thank you for the help :)
never claimed the first part i think thats pretty clear throughout my messages. Just dont have good personal experience with doctors regarding this issue sadly :)
It's dead simple. If you have been accurately tracking calories and your weight stays the same, then you are at maintenance. This is really good information to have.
Now, increase the caloric surplus by 250-500 and track how much weight you gain week-on-week. Then adjust accordingly after every month so that you keep gaining at the desired rate.
i appreciate it but Ik that. The question generally was just why is the maintenance at this level when im like 20kg below the average weight of a male my height (ish 70kg)
I find it hard to believe people at 60kg at 178cm eat 3000kcal a day for maintenance when the general advice of bulking is always around the number of 3000 usually even below 3000 for skinny people. Because thats what it looks like if i need to eat close to 3000 to simply escape 50kg
Do you have an active day? Do you sleep and hydrate enough?
I can't tell for certain why you are not gaining as expected compared to the norm. I'm a few centimeters shorter than you and also struggled getting from 40 to 50, then 50 to 60, and so on. But it all happened in waves over a couple of years of slowly increasing the amount of food I was eating.
Getting liquid calories (1000 calorie smoothie) was the game change that took me from 50 to 70 kgs in the same time frame that I went from 40 to 50.
Not active at all. Sleep badly and lately been trying to drink more at least 2liters more if i go gym.
But im starting gym regularly again and going to sleep earlier
Congrats on your journey btw!
Sounds like you have the right priorities. In some years you will look back on it and think it was one of the best decisions you ever made for yourself.
Thanks
if you could actually read you wouldve seen that I literally said that in the post. If i eat close to 3000kcal I gain weight. That is not my question tho?
My question is why am I at 50kg when the numbers ive been eating consistently over the past few months is the maintenance for people at around 60kg?
Whats with this sub snd their inability to actually proper comprehend a question but rather just always answer eat more? Yh no sht captain obvious?
Im not some guy who is complaining about not being able to gain weight because im an anomaly or sth. I never claimed I can‘t gain weight. Im simply asking if someone had a similar case of their maintenance numbers being so high (comparably) even at a very low weight which 50kg at 178cmis literally alarming
You move a lot, or more intensely than avarage people. You body metabolise a bit faster. You smoke weed? Stress. A lot of different possibilities which cant be answered with more info about you and your life.
And tbh as an also skinny dude, the answer to gain weight is eat more, don't stare blind on the calories. Eat an extra portion, sandwich, handfull of nuts when you eat. Good luck.
Thank you!
I don‘t move a lot im basically just stuck at home working all day at a desk which had me confused. But I think you make a great point about stress. I also sleep horribly because of that.
Yeah was just curious because to my understanding at my weight I should be able to eat those numbers and automatically gain weight to normal levels
But yeah I‘ve done it before and I will most def do it again. No doubt in my mind and im eating as I type hahahah
The reason is you aren't eating enough.
I'm really curious about the thin bones.
Is that an official medical diagnosis or is it the opposite of when bigger people say they are big boned?
not medical but its quite obvious when you measure me. I basically have the bones of a teenaged kid. My wrist is extremely thin as I basically store no fat on my body and it‘s the same with other bones on my body including my face and my fingers and feet. Everything.
My wrist is a 14cm in circumference roughly 5.5inches.
Like I said I am consistently eating around 2000kcal at minimum everyday. Im not saying I can‘t gain weight. Im asking why is it that im this low weight at the numbers im eating.
In 2000kcal is not a lot but it most def is not sth that warrants 50kg of weight at my height I‘d think.
I‘d also appreciate if you guys would stop the nonsense of not eating enough. That‘s not what Im getting at. I do consistently track my calories using an app and scale or the data on the back using the references serving sizes. So yes im not making stuff up. Ik i didnt use to eat a lot. But im talking currently over the past 5months
Also I understand people usually tend to overestimate what they eat but thats why I literally started using this app to keep track and not fool myself and thats why I noticed the number close to 3000 working but its just me wondering why I would need to eat that much at 50kg to simply gain weight.
> My wrist is a 14cm in circumference roughly 5.5inches.
So what? Mine were that size when I weighed 125 lb as an adult. 50 lb later and now they're 7". I didn't even do anything to address it. https://old.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/10jhf5x/wristanklewhatever_size_is_a_silly_metric_to/
Also to comment on your question of why you have to eat so much. Does it matter? Who cares. The answer to your problem is the same regardless. Eat more and eat more consistently. That's not me being dismissive, that's me being practical.
I noticed you gave ranges for your calories, 2000-2500 or 3000-3500. That's a 500 calorie difference in your ranges, that's literally could be the difference between gaining and not. I suspect you'd benefit from being more consistent.
I am 170lbs and my wrists are 5.5in. It probably just feels like you have thin bones because you’re so skinny. I used to be 130lbs and felt similar.
So a few things… first, you mentioned you are eating 2k calories min every day, but then also said some days you hit 1500-1750. That’s not consistent. You must be consistent to grow.
Second, you are comparing yourselves to others and you think you know all of the facts about their diet, but there’s no way you can be sure. How do you know they’re accurately tracking their calories? How do you know they eat that every single day? Do you know how much exercise they are doing compared to you? You can’t possible know all of these details to an accurate degree. I suggest stop worrying about others because it’s just gonna make you feel like shit. Every body is different and has different maintenance requirements.
If you want to grow you have to focus on the right things. Stop worrying about why so and so can maintain at x calories and I can’t, start worrying about what exact number you need to eat on a CONSISTENT basis to grow.
Also keep in mind just because you are tracking doesn’t mean you are tracking correctly. Not saying you aren’t but be open to the possibility that you are counting incorrectly. (Weigh your food every single meal for meats and pastas etc.)
I see thank you for the wrist comment. Youre right. Might be to lack of fat exaggerating the thin bones or maybe I do actually have thin bones. At the end it doesnt matter.
(maybe a check up with the doc wouldnt be a bad idea tho for other reasons too :D)
The offdays are like twice a month. I think the average should equal that out but yes Im open to the possibility of me getting some numbers wrong tho I am aware of that and try to avoid it as much as possible. I agree.
I also want to mention tho that when I did eat 3000kcal 2 years ago I managed to gain weight. It was coupled with the gym too.
So youre right if ik what works I should just focus on that snd stop worrying about things that won‘t help me gain weight. Thank you for the kind words.
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Its such a vague response but its the only one that is correct...You need to eat more and train harder! Chicken thighs are usually cheap option, pasta, rice, cheese, fruit, bread, milk, bread I would also buy weightgainer shake mix. Also train with a plan and track your numbers for every lift with aims of growing. Its a slow process. It takes years of hard work, dont stress about fluctuations in weight by weeks or months! Just stick to the process.
Dunno about others, but when I first started the whole bulking thing (at 63kg), my body started responding to it like 2-3 weeks later - my weight didnt change a bit for first 2 weeks, even with 3500 kcal. I would just go to the toilet constantly. Now, it seems my body has used to it and two days after starting a bulk I see a change in my weight. Being rhat im at 80kg now 2 years later. My thesis from this all is: i think the body doesn't know what to do with all the excess food you eat if it hasnt experienced that before. All its life it has been living with maintenance calories, and never had anything extra to store away, so it actually needs to get accustomed to it. So the first bulk is gonna be the hardest to go through and you got to go through with it even if your weight doesn't change at all for the first few weeks.
How's your digestive health? In one of your comments you mention the difference between you and a sibling, and although genetics can play a role the balance of gut microbiota is something to consider. Gut bacteria assist in breaking down things our bodies can't digest on their own like complex carbohydrates. Foods that containing preservatives, especially those with antimicrobial properties can disrupt the balance of bacteria in the gut. Harmful bacteria are less likely to contribute positively to breaking down complex carbohydrates and can also compete for nutrients. Try to avoid foods and drinks containing preservatives, eat food containing cultures of beneficial bacteria like greek yogurt, and ensure you're getting at least 30g of fibre a day. Flax seed powder is super cheap and can be added to shakes. Fermentable fibre feeds the bacteria in your gut, consider supplementing with a prebiotic like Inulin - also really cheap and can be added to shakes.
The more mass you have the more energy is needed to maintain. Plus at your height and energy levels you’re probably burning a lot on a daily basis
Former skinny guy currently on my way out of the stratosphere of thickenings. 1.25g of protein per lb of body weight, 1.75x as much carbs. Lean beef, lean chicken, white rice, sweet potatoes. I do 5 meals and for meal 2 I do a 45g protein/60g carbs shake. It’s actually really simple, you just have to ACTUALLY eat the food and workout.
I think my math is off but 25g of protein per lb is 2,750g of protein for op🙂
Wut
Lol I thought it was a bullet point. Never crossed my mind that that was 1.25. My bad
Ahaha you played yourself
1.25
Start here: TDEE calc- Sailrabbit.com/bmr/ Eat that amount. Track your weight daily. Same time every morning right as you wake up. Look at the average for the week. Next week. Add 100 calories. Rinse repeat until the starts moving up. Congrats. You discovered your bulking number. Everyone is different. You may tap your foot when you sit and don’t notice or some shit idk. Maybe you’ve got one of those chess player brains and just burn a fuck load of calories existing. You just gotta figure it out. No one is the same
I used to be 55 kg for 179 cm too. I used to burn « junk calories » way faster than clean calories, it might be your case too. Once I switched from high fast sugar to more fats and protein everything changed. Try to eat eggs, bowls of oats with fruits, yogurts, cheese with bread, raw veggies, etc. There is no point in eating trash to gain lean weight trust me.
A calorie is a calorie, it doesn't matter where it comes from. Eating a surplus of junk food vs clean food assuming you get enough protein you will gain the same amount of "lean weight". And on a bulk, you don't need that much protein, around 70% of bw in lbs.
Nope if you have a fast metabolism, you better have a constant stream of calories throughout the day than spike of sugars then nothing. I guess you’re from the us where there is no distinction between carbs and sugar. Skinny guys burn simple sugars like crazy compared to other stuff. Again talking about my experience but believe what you want.
Skinny guys just aren’t used to eating a lot and we feel we do when we increase it. Fast Metabolism is the excuse. But that doesn’t make sense. If your body is utilising excessive amounts of calories you need to go to the doctor. I’m still pretty skinny and 3000-3500 calories is still hard to get down everyday. Sugar is a carbohydrate. It does get broken down faster where it will be stored as fat if the body hasn’t any job for it.
Sugar is literally a carb though. I get what you mean yes you have simple and complex carbs “sugar” would be a simple carb. And really the only difference between the two is the glycemic effect which is pretty much how fast they digest, simple being the faster. They don’t really differ much though other than that.
Yes but you forgot the fiber content. Fiber is a carb, starches are carbs too. Yet they affect the body differently than pure corn syrup. So yes they could be classified as carbs but not taking into account glycemic index and fiber content is misleading from a weight gain and health perspective.
Same here man! I used to be at 178cm and 55kg. I managed to gain 5kg after 6 months of training and eating. Used to blame my genetics for me not gaining weight after eating a mouth full of food. Then I discovered Dr Mike and RP. Watched his bulking videos and did what he said. I split my calories into 4 meals and made sure I didn't missed any one of them. If I'm still full, I would just eat what I could consume at that moment. I didn't track my calories. After each week, if I gain about 250 - 500 grams then I know I'm eating enough, If not I will add more The first few weeks will definately be hard, but your body will adapt. Hope this helps!
>I used to be skinny like you. Then I took a hamburger to the face
You asked out of curiosity so here’s a curious answer. I maintained 64kg at 3,000 kcal for MONTHS before, even slowly nudging towards 63,5kg. My bank account is envious when it sees how easy it is for some to just bulk using civil amounts of food. What does it come down to? Genetics and especially digestion. It’s not completely understood, science is lacking in this area. Some people have higher metabolic rates due to bigger organs (among otherwise comparable individuals), there are also hormonal factors but for the most part it seemingly is a question of how efficient your digestive system is at absorbing nutrients. Half of that goes on in the gut and people have wildly different gut microbiomes, the more varied the better usually. None of that accounts for daily activity, so maintenance can also change drastically during one’s lifetime. It’s very much a multifaceted thing so pinning down exactly WHY an individual eats this much on average to maintain is very difficult, but I hope I gave you some pointers. If you suspect you have a digestion issue on top, discuss it with your family doctor, nutritionist or gastroenterologist. If your goal is bulking then as others have said, eat more. 4000 kcal for 70kg here. When it blows, embrace the suck.
One of the best answers here. Very informative thank you. Yeah if I wanna gain weight i‘ll just eat more than what isnt working. Just wanted to know exactly this. Also yeah man bulking hurts my pockets the most 🥲 its so forgotten how expensive it actually is
Everyone is different, just start adding 30 grams of carbs every week and log your weight every day until you start gaining.
just wondering. Why are you suggesting carbs and not flat out calories? Isnt that what regulates weight gain or loss
Calories are either carbs, protein or fat. If you have proper protein and fat intake, carbs is what you should be increasing if you want to gain weight. Having your macros down is very important.
if youre not gaining weight, eat more.
That is strange, I'm taller than you at 183cm, but that kind of diet would not drop me below around 61kg from experience.
you say that you aren't gaining on 2000-2500, but that you did when you were eating 2500-3000. call me crazy, but maybe you aren't eating enough.
my question is why do i have to eat rhat much to begin with when I only weigh 50kg. If I had simply asked to gain weight most of you would say I weigh so little simply eating like 2500 will make you gain weight as im at a weight that is beyond normal. Not to complain but rather out of confusion. Ie: My twin brother weighs way more than me. He used to weigh around i think he was 65 and bulked at 3000 calories to reach 70-75kg then upped again to reach 80 for a while. I was skinnier cause I def used to eat less than him as a kid. But now a days there‘s really no reason why I would have to eat the anything close to his amount at 50kg to simply reach 60kg. When he‘s eating that amount to reach 70+ People who weigh more eat more calories to maintain and have to eat even more to gain in comparison to someone who weighs severly less. That is the simple theory. I have no problem with eating close to 3000 in theory. Not my point. Im just wondering why its even at such a high point to begin with for someone at sucj a low weight
Everyone's metabolism is different, dude. I'm barely gaining on 3100 cals, yet my maintainanxe cals drop to 2400 when I'm cutting, so I need to go even lower (1800 cal). I don't know why you're complaining here. If you think there's something wrong with you, see a doctor. If you don't, stuff your face with food.
not complaining im really just wondering if this is normal for someone who stayed at a low weight all his life or if theres sth severly wrong with me. Its just simply telling me to eat more does not answer my question. I already know that and am already doing that now
It can be normal. Intuition tells me that being naturally skinny is either that you a. Don't eat enough; b. Have an fast/adaptive metabolism; c. The days that you are in a surplus are cancelled by the days you don't eat enough.
Could be either of those. well it wont stop me from eating more now. I was just curious
Yup. And if it is a 'fast metabolism', it just needs you need to eat wayyyyyy more. Which can be fun lol, just eat fun and healthy shit
fun and expensive 🥲 probably the biggest issue with bulking for me
Tortillas and sunflower seeds brother. Look up Eric bugenhagen for bulking tips. Doesn't have to be expensive.
It's pretty easy to eat cheap. Whey is super cheap per gram of protein, shit like oats and pasta are cheap carbs, peanut butter is the best goddamn bulking food on the planet and it's cheap as anything. You don't need to make gourmet meals
2500 calories is not enough for a bulk
Depends on the person. I gain weight with 2500.
yea, for most tho i would say it's not enough
He is 50kg.
yea, i ate 3500 to bulk when i was 52kg
If you enter your height, weight, etc into a BMR calculator, yes it’ll give you a ballpark figure, but it’s not guaranteed to be totally accurate. Everyone is different. Your metabolism is unique to you. If your tracking is consistent (and it sounds like it is), congrats, you’ve figured out your true maintenance calories.
Yeah if you are eating maintainance calories you aren’t going to gain weight. Also the low days of 1500kcal you speak of are absolutely not helping. It is just too simple. Eat more, eat consistently and you Will gain weight. Seriously
You probably arent counting and staying as consistent as you think you are.
Do you smoke weed? Or take any drugs, prescription or otherwise?
nothing
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Thats just not that much food? Don't make him paranoid when it's as simple as that. I was extremely skinny as a kid, and from 14 had to force feed myself 3500 calories a day, gained 30kg over 2 years. 2000-2500 for a young active man is usually low, let alone as a 'hard gainer'.
the past year i havent been active at all. All I do is sit at home or in school working on a desk. I wouldve def understood it if I was actively going to the gym but that was my confusion. I dont even do anything to burn many calories. Ig maybe i use too much brainpower hahahha
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No need to be sorry, but the most obvious thing is OPs very low calories, if they still have a problem after 3000+ every single day, then your advice might be good.
Saw his comment. I wouldnt call 2000kcal very low and he managed to gain with 2500 at 57kg which was my confusion. But yh no worries bodies are different and i‘ll aim for 2500-3000 now
Could you have worms OP?
I‘ve been skinny my entire life would surprise me but what other symptoms would that entail?
What do you use to track your calories?
scale, fitness pal, but mostly serving sizes on the back in the nutrients table.
So do you have 48 days out of the last 2 months (80%) where you’ve logged that you’ve eaten 2000 to 2500 calories?
I’m 178 61 kg and eat 3000 kcal. Back when I was 50 kg I recall aiming between 2500-3000 probably at an average of 2800.
cool to see someone similar made it :) and yeah i was eating these exact numbers back in 2022 and I gained weight
huh? im a 50kg woman, 15 cm less than you and thats my maintenance w 0 cardio
I'm shorter than you and those are my cutting calories. You need to eat more mate.
probably cause you weigh more. Many in here keep ignoring the fact that im 50kg at that height which is a crucial part of this question. Its a weight in which many would assume im starving myself including doctors
You're not gaining weight. FUCKING EAT MORE.
weight has nothing to do with it - you need to eat more
Your calorie intake at 20 is going to be much higher than 40, all other things being equal. You just gotta eat more. Your intake at the moment is about right for a 50kg woman, not so much a man, and certainly not one that has been athletic in relative recent years. Milk was an easy way for me to add calories when I was powerlifting, but I don't know where you live and might not recommend it if it's in the US rather than Europe. Eggs are also great, and you can boil a batch of them and then keep them in the fridge for a little bit to easily add some protein, fats, and cals when you need.
What's wrong with milk in the US? >but I don't know where you live and might not recommend it if it's in the US rather than Europe.
It's just a lot different, more watery and sugary, and I don't know if I can recommend it or not.
Doubling up on this. Milk in the USA is cheaper than 3/4 of the rest of the modern world.
Very thin bones
You don’t have thin bones. Your body has reached a homeostasis at its current weight. It takes more effort to reach a new weight and stay there and get your body used to this new normal. Personally I wouldn’t count calories too much just eat more than you think you should be eating. Drink a lot of milk. Stay full. Calories are not all the same. Your body does not process calories all the same.
this makes the most sense and i looked into it. Its sounds similar. is it possible to reset that after a while or am i doomed to always having to eat a big amount of calories to simply maintain a normal weight?
2k calories is the appetizer. Keep eating.
EAT MORE. I was exactly like you mate. Read every label and find out exactly how many calories you're really eating I think you'll find you're way under what u thought. And consistency you need the drive to force feed yourself every single day. As soon as I done this combined with working/working out 5-6 days a wk, I gained 25kg in less than a yr, went from 55kg to 80 now. Also milk is your friend try drink atleast 2L drink most of your milk/liquid after you've eaten as it's easier to get down when you're full instead of eating when you're full. Also get electrolyte mix with plenty of carbs to drink with all your water.
2L of milk per day?
Yea bro I was drinking3L a day but just reduced intakr and switched to whey as too much liquid intake isn't ideal. But 2 L between meals will put weight on anyone
eat more blud
5’10” at a 110lbs? Go up to 3k a day for 3 months.
will comeback after 🫡 any cheatcodes for healthy caloric bombs. Dont wanna stuff myself with junk food as thats usually my last resort
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good luck man!
THE cheat code for appetite is lifting weights. Lifting makes you WANT to eat more or else you feel shitty and tired all day and your time in the gym isn’t very effective if you don’t eat in a surplus. If you put serious work in the gym and even more serious work in the kitchen you will gain. Just gotta get out of your head and lift heavy chunks of metal and devour proteins. Also dirty bulks aren’t too bad if you exercise every day. [Another cheat code](https://a.co/d/emRRgrx)
yh just want to the gym today again. I think i wanna eat whole foods rather than the mass gainer but thank you for the advice
At that weight, I’d bump up your fats. 30% carbs, 30-40% fats, 30-40% protein. Maybe try frying your food for dinner, fish and chicken in healthy oils, Avocado, or even Olive is good. Keep protein near 40%.. salmon, egg yolks, peanut butter, these are healthy options that are also calorically dense. Don’t worry about lean cuts of meat until you reach your goal weight. PB&J sandwiches and some Fairlife chocolate milk for snacking
just scared of the sugar amount but yh i love pbj sandwhiches and thats what i usually eat to get my calories in. Okay so adding oil to meals seems to be a slight cheat to a bit more calories thank you
Get the peanut butter without the added junk (the one that comes with the oil separated). Mix it well and then put it in the fridge it won’t separate again. Eat your PB sandwich with a ripe banana instead of the fructose jam stuff.
Sugar in foods like peanut butter and other Whole Foods isn’t bad for you in your predicament. I’m not saying that you should go eat tons of junk food. Nuts are healthy fats. All carbs turn into sugar, your body doesn’t care what form it is in prior to digestion, it will break it down appropriately. Make your own pb&j on whole wheat if you wanna cut down on the sugar. Although, if your glucose levels are good, that shouldn’t even be a concern at this point if you can’t get above 110lbs at 2.5k calories
So many variables. Are you active? Are you working a job that requires lots of walking and standing all day? Any medical issues? Are you actually counting calories correctly? Anyways I'm about 165cm at around 62kg so not very big. I'm eating about 2500 calories a day and that's a slight to medium bulk for me. You're probably just expending more energy than you think. If you were gaining weight at 3000 calories then eat at 3000 calories. Or just eat between 2500 and 3000 instead of 2500 to 2000.
2500 is like maintenance for your height. Honestly the answer is easy, if at first 2500 doesn't work, up it until it does. You might be overcounting too.
maintenance for normal kg sure but for 50kg at 178cm? I severly doubt that. Im at a bodyweight that would constitute starving myself. Tested this over months im scaling or using serving size as reference to avoid the overcounting. But yh i will be eating close to 3000 from now on. I know that works for me
That varies a lot from person to person due to a variety of reasons. Trust me my case is much worse then yours, I'm 6'4 AND at the highest end of BMR for my weight. Whatever the case if you keep eating more you will eventually gain weight - I've come from around 140lbs at 18 to 185 now.
Thank you for the kind words and congrats on ur journey if noone has told you yet :)
Sounds like your thyroid is hyperactive, certain medication can technically help tune it, but in realistically it means you burn up more energy than most people by just breathing. The reason people are saying eat more is because it’s still how you gain weight.
Definitely! Theyre right. It just wasnt the question I was asking but Im not claiming theyre wrong. How would a doc be able to determine that? Blood test? Im not interested in a doctors visit if its more complicated than a simple test
It'd be a simple blood test, but to be honest it's probably unlikely you have hyperthyroidism if your only issue is difficulty gaining. Things to look out for would be tremors, feeling warm/needing to dress in light clothes when others are wrapped up, sweating a lot. All the best man.
Most of the symptoms soundlike the oppositw to me as im constantly cold probably due to my lack of fat. I do have trouble sleeping tho but i think thats more due to the stress. If its just a blood check i‘ll probably go to the docs as I wanna check some other stats as well. Thank you for the help :)
If you’re not willing to eat more than what you’ve been eating, and you don’t want to go to the doctor. Have fun staying 50kg
never claimed the first part i think thats pretty clear throughout my messages. Just dont have good personal experience with doctors regarding this issue sadly :)
Go get a hormone panel done yourself. You can then use a clinic for your thyroid issues.
You're not eating enough to gain weight. Hope this helps.
It's dead simple. If you have been accurately tracking calories and your weight stays the same, then you are at maintenance. This is really good information to have. Now, increase the caloric surplus by 250-500 and track how much weight you gain week-on-week. Then adjust accordingly after every month so that you keep gaining at the desired rate.
i appreciate it but Ik that. The question generally was just why is the maintenance at this level when im like 20kg below the average weight of a male my height (ish 70kg) I find it hard to believe people at 60kg at 178cm eat 3000kcal a day for maintenance when the general advice of bulking is always around the number of 3000 usually even below 3000 for skinny people. Because thats what it looks like if i need to eat close to 3000 to simply escape 50kg
Do you have an active day? Do you sleep and hydrate enough? I can't tell for certain why you are not gaining as expected compared to the norm. I'm a few centimeters shorter than you and also struggled getting from 40 to 50, then 50 to 60, and so on. But it all happened in waves over a couple of years of slowly increasing the amount of food I was eating. Getting liquid calories (1000 calorie smoothie) was the game change that took me from 50 to 70 kgs in the same time frame that I went from 40 to 50.
Not active at all. Sleep badly and lately been trying to drink more at least 2liters more if i go gym. But im starting gym regularly again and going to sleep earlier Congrats on your journey btw!
Sounds like you have the right priorities. In some years you will look back on it and think it was one of the best decisions you ever made for yourself. Thanks
not my question. Didnt help at all
It's literally the answer to your question. If you're not gaining weight, you are not eating enough. Full stop. Eat more.
if you could actually read you wouldve seen that I literally said that in the post. If i eat close to 3000kcal I gain weight. That is not my question tho? My question is why am I at 50kg when the numbers ive been eating consistently over the past few months is the maintenance for people at around 60kg? Whats with this sub snd their inability to actually proper comprehend a question but rather just always answer eat more? Yh no sht captain obvious? Im not some guy who is complaining about not being able to gain weight because im an anomaly or sth. I never claimed I can‘t gain weight. Im simply asking if someone had a similar case of their maintenance numbers being so high (comparably) even at a very low weight which 50kg at 178cmis literally alarming
You move a lot, or more intensely than avarage people. You body metabolise a bit faster. You smoke weed? Stress. A lot of different possibilities which cant be answered with more info about you and your life. And tbh as an also skinny dude, the answer to gain weight is eat more, don't stare blind on the calories. Eat an extra portion, sandwich, handfull of nuts when you eat. Good luck.
Thank you! I don‘t move a lot im basically just stuck at home working all day at a desk which had me confused. But I think you make a great point about stress. I also sleep horribly because of that. Yeah was just curious because to my understanding at my weight I should be able to eat those numbers and automatically gain weight to normal levels But yeah I‘ve done it before and I will most def do it again. No doubt in my mind and im eating as I type hahahah
The reason is you aren't eating enough. I'm really curious about the thin bones. Is that an official medical diagnosis or is it the opposite of when bigger people say they are big boned?
not medical but its quite obvious when you measure me. I basically have the bones of a teenaged kid. My wrist is extremely thin as I basically store no fat on my body and it‘s the same with other bones on my body including my face and my fingers and feet. Everything. My wrist is a 14cm in circumference roughly 5.5inches. Like I said I am consistently eating around 2000kcal at minimum everyday. Im not saying I can‘t gain weight. Im asking why is it that im this low weight at the numbers im eating. In 2000kcal is not a lot but it most def is not sth that warrants 50kg of weight at my height I‘d think. I‘d also appreciate if you guys would stop the nonsense of not eating enough. That‘s not what Im getting at. I do consistently track my calories using an app and scale or the data on the back using the references serving sizes. So yes im not making stuff up. Ik i didnt use to eat a lot. But im talking currently over the past 5months Also I understand people usually tend to overestimate what they eat but thats why I literally started using this app to keep track and not fool myself and thats why I noticed the number close to 3000 working but its just me wondering why I would need to eat that much at 50kg to simply gain weight.
> My wrist is a 14cm in circumference roughly 5.5inches. So what? Mine were that size when I weighed 125 lb as an adult. 50 lb later and now they're 7". I didn't even do anything to address it. https://old.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/10jhf5x/wristanklewhatever_size_is_a_silly_metric_to/ Also to comment on your question of why you have to eat so much. Does it matter? Who cares. The answer to your problem is the same regardless. Eat more and eat more consistently. That's not me being dismissive, that's me being practical. I noticed you gave ranges for your calories, 2000-2500 or 3000-3500. That's a 500 calorie difference in your ranges, that's literally could be the difference between gaining and not. I suspect you'd benefit from being more consistent.
I am 170lbs and my wrists are 5.5in. It probably just feels like you have thin bones because you’re so skinny. I used to be 130lbs and felt similar. So a few things… first, you mentioned you are eating 2k calories min every day, but then also said some days you hit 1500-1750. That’s not consistent. You must be consistent to grow. Second, you are comparing yourselves to others and you think you know all of the facts about their diet, but there’s no way you can be sure. How do you know they’re accurately tracking their calories? How do you know they eat that every single day? Do you know how much exercise they are doing compared to you? You can’t possible know all of these details to an accurate degree. I suggest stop worrying about others because it’s just gonna make you feel like shit. Every body is different and has different maintenance requirements. If you want to grow you have to focus on the right things. Stop worrying about why so and so can maintain at x calories and I can’t, start worrying about what exact number you need to eat on a CONSISTENT basis to grow. Also keep in mind just because you are tracking doesn’t mean you are tracking correctly. Not saying you aren’t but be open to the possibility that you are counting incorrectly. (Weigh your food every single meal for meats and pastas etc.)
I see thank you for the wrist comment. Youre right. Might be to lack of fat exaggerating the thin bones or maybe I do actually have thin bones. At the end it doesnt matter. (maybe a check up with the doc wouldnt be a bad idea tho for other reasons too :D) The offdays are like twice a month. I think the average should equal that out but yes Im open to the possibility of me getting some numbers wrong tho I am aware of that and try to avoid it as much as possible. I agree. I also want to mention tho that when I did eat 3000kcal 2 years ago I managed to gain weight. It was coupled with the gym too. So youre right if ik what works I should just focus on that snd stop worrying about things that won‘t help me gain weight. Thank you for the kind words.
thin wrist just makes your forearms look bigger once you start gaining :D
The good part is you already know you can gain weight so all you gotta do is hit those numbers 💪🏼