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None. I'm underweight and need to gain weight, so I eat 4000 calories a day. I'm so thin all my ribs are easily countable without even stretching. I was built this way and am in perfectly good health (as per blood test, strength etc..) but hate the appearance of it. Every thread here seems to be about weight loss well think of us who are like sticks and want to gain weight, just as hard if not harder.
Come on down to Georgia and I'll fatten you up...LOL. What you need is some of our delicious BBQ pork, greens cooked with bacon, cheesy grits, country fried steak, rolls saturated with butter, etc, etc. Hit the gym 3x a week for weight training, and you'll be packing on the pounds like no tomorrow...lol.
If 4000 calories a day isn't enough for you, try increasing it to 5000, see if that helps. Eat the richest foods you can get your hands on, fettuccine alfredo is an excellent example, mix in some extra butter, and you'll be good to go. Also, drink lots of milk, the 4% kind, put heavy cream in your coffee, etc.
None. I'm underweight and need to gain weight, so I eat 4000 calories a day. I'm so thin all my ribs are easily countable without even stretching. I was built this way and am in perfectly good health (as per blood test, strength etc..) but hate the appearance of it. Every thread here seems to be about weight loss well think of us who are like sticks and want to gain weight, just as hard if not harder.
I don't know how old you are, but many "string beans" find that they put on weight a lot easier as they age - just like the rest of us. They don't necessarily get fat, but they fill out and get heavier.
Even though you are lean, you shouldn't be afraid of doing cardio. It will help to keep your heart healthy and maintain your muscle mass.
Come on down to Georgia and I'll fatten you up...LOL. What you need is some of our delicious BBQ pork, greens cooked with bacon, cheesy grits, country fried steak, rolls saturated with butter, etc, etc. Hit the gym 3x a week for weight training, and you'll be packing on the pounds like no tomorrow...lol.
If 4000 calories a day isn't enough for you, try increasing it to 5000, see if that helps. Eat the richest foods you can get your hands on, fettuccine alfredo is an excellent example, mix in some extra butter, and you'll be good to go. Also, drink lots of milk, the 4% kind, put heavy cream in your coffee, etc.
The 4000 has actually worked so far, I gained about 12 lbs but I don't really enjoy doing it, and I think a lot of it is water retention. Maybe if I could afford a gym membership and gain proper muscle mass it would be better. Because of my height this weight increase isn't even noticeable though the tape measure shows I gained about 1" in most places (thigh, chest, waist, etc..) but my upper arm is the same as before.
Exercise is extremely limited to produce fat loss. Over the lon gterm ALL voluntary fators are of extremely limited potency to affect bdoy fat and weight.
Body fat is tightly regulated and voraciously defended INVOLUNTARILY by your hypothalamus and complex neural circuitry collectively called the ADIPOSTAT.
Please look into genuine scientists on this topic. Dr. Stephan Guyenet Ph.D. is a scientist from the University of Washington who studies the neurobiology of body fat regulation.
Look up Dr. Jeffrey Friedman of Rockefeller University also. He is world renowned and one of the greatest pioneering obesity scientists all time.
Keep active and make sure you have a significant calorie deficit, you'll lose fat and gain muscle but your overall weight might not change---but your dress/shirt sizes will.
I am terrible. I don't exercise. When I was more overweight, exercise was painful and difficult to do, so I got a bad attitude.
Complicating this further, when I decided to lose weight, while in my mid-fifties, it seemed like everyone was intent on discouraging me. "At your age, it is very difficult to lose weight." "You'll just lose it and gain it all back, plus." "You'll never lose weight without exercise." "You should never say diet." "Diets don't work." I've heard all that and more.
So when I started losing, and wasn't exercising, I became encouraged and did it without exercise. Now, I am sorry. I think that if I had exercised, I would have less of that extra skin.
So I think of adding exercise to my work schedule. I work in a church that has three floors, stairways, slight inclines, and long halls. I never take breaks, so this would be a good thing in so many ways. And since I am usually the only one in the main area of the building, I could walk, jog, run, whatever.
I am terrible. I don't exercise. When I was more overweight, exercise was painful and difficult to do, so I got a bad attitude.
Complicating this further, when I decided to lose weight, while in my mid-fifties, it seemed like everyone was intent on discouraging me. "At your age, it is very difficult to lose weight." "You'll just lose it and gain it all back, plus." "You'll never lose weight without exercise." "You should never say diet." "Diets don't work." I've heard all that and more.
So when I started losing, and wasn't exercising, I became encouraged and did it without exercise. Now, I am sorry. I think that if I had exercised, I would have less of that extra skin.
So I think of adding exercise to my work schedule. I work in a church that has three floors, stairways, slight inclines, and long halls. I never take breaks, so this would be a good thing in so many ways. And since I am usually the only one in the main area of the building, I could walk, jog, run, whatever.
I'm thinking....
It's a shame you got such negative feedback. At around 45, 46, I noticed I was climbing up there in poundage, to the point where I couldn't see my toes over my belly when I stood up in the shower. My right hip was bothering me a lot, and I was having trouble with neuromas in both feet. When I got married at 30, I was around 135-138. It was a comfortable weight. Not great, not bad, just comfortable. I'd balooned after I stopped smoking to 180. So when I turned 50 I just decided to get back down again.
I joined a gym, learned how to use the machines, rode my bike everywhere in nice weather, walked to the supermarket if all I needed was a half gallon of milk, and got a part time job that kept me out of my desk chair for several hours a day. I started writing down what I ate to see where my trouble spots were, and made some adjustments to my carb and sugar intake. I bumped up my chicken consumption as well.
I didn't tell people "hey I'm gonna lose weight!" I didn't tell people anything really. I just started doing it, because I felt it needed to be done. After a couple of weeks I told some people I had started doing this and was excited about it because I was feeling more energy. And they were excited for me.
I did -not- tell them I was trying to lose weight. I told them I was working on getting healthier and more fit. The weight was coming off slowly, as a result of fitness. A year later, and I'm around 30 pounds lighter, I have muscle tone where I never remember even having it before, I can see definition in my abs, my thighs don't chafe when I walk, my back doesn't constantly ache, my hip doesn't hurt even half as often, and the neuroma hasn't given me much trouble at all.
People notice the difference. I don't tell them, they notice and tell me. And that motivates me to keep doing what I'm doing. No hurry, no rush, no urgency. Just a slow, steady, healthful, and non-exhausting return to health.
I'll be 51 years old tomorrow, and I feel younger than I felt 5 years ago. And so, I'm satisfied with my progress.
Go with what feels right for you, and don't do it to please anyone else. Do it because it needs to be done, and because you want to be healthy. Don't focus on weight. Focus on health and fitness. The weight will come off as a natural side effect of getting healthy and fit.
I didn't tell people "hey I'm gonna lose weight!" I didn't tell people anything really. I just started doing it, because I felt it needed to be done. After a couple of weeks I told some people I had started doing this and was excited about it because I was feeling more energy. And they were excited for me.
...People notice the difference. I don't tell them, they notice and tell me. And that motivates me to keep doing what I'm doing. No hurry, no rush, no urgency. Just a slow, steady, healthful, and non-exhausting return to health.
After those negative responses, I did the same thing. Why let someone try to kill my joy and enthusiasm?
And I was terrible. While overweight, I really hated to buy clothes, and I didn't realize how much fun it could be when thinner. I kept wearing the old clothes! So no one realized i was really losing that much weight! Most would mention that my face was thinner!
Then one day, I realized that I was going to lose my pants if I didn't go buy some smaller ones! So I went to my regular store, and the lady said, "We don't have clothes your size." I was stunned! What? So I went to a department store and had to go into the "regular" sizes! Size 22 had been snug the last time i bought them; that day, I wore 16s! Wow, was that a head-spinner! Now, I wear 8s. Seven more pounds, and I will have lost 100. Am I happy? You betcha!
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick
I'll be 51 years old tomorrow, and I feel younger than I felt 5 years ago. And so, I'm satisfied with my progress.
Happy birthday, Chick! I understand! I'm 62 and wish i had done all this decades ago, but I simply didn't "get it."
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick
Go with what feels right for you, and don't do it to please anyone else. Do it because it needs to be done, and because you want to be healthy. Don't focus on weight. Focus on health and fitness. The weight will come off as a natural side effect of getting healthy and fit.
You are so RIGHT! And I need to do that exercise! What is so great for me is that before, i could not run; now i can run. So I need to just Do IT!
Thank you for your generous encouragement! You are wonderful!
Run/walk, crunches, push-ups. You don't need to go to a gym, it's free, and it basically works almost everything.
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So I went to my regular store, and the lady said, "We don't have clothes your size." I was stunned! What? So I went to a department store and had to go into the "regular" sizes! Size 22 had been snug the last time i bought them; that day, I wore 16s! Wow, was that a head-spinner! Now, I wear 8s. Seven more pounds, and I will have lost 100. Am I happy? You betcha!
