Weight Gain...

Hello folks! My entire life I've weighed less than what I should... I find it nearly impossible to gain a single pound. Do any of you have tips on healthy weight gain?

Play FFXI more?

edit: Oh... healthy

How it is possible to weight less that "you should"? How do you define what you "should" or "should not" be? Isn't it by comparing yourself to other people? People who are obviously not you? If you are thin up to the point of having health problems because of it, like anemia or bones that fragment themselves while you sleep, ***like that, I apologize and suggest you saw a specialist. But otherwise, I'm pretty sure you should simply try to eat well, do some exercise when you can (like walking outside) and you'll live just as long as all the other healthy people... ^-^

I have a friend with the same problem. He's tried numerous methods to no avail. This could be your natural metabolism kicking in and preventing your calorie intake from going anywhere. However what I would recommend is a protein rich diet (ie: meats, fish, nuts, dairy products etc.) and to take your own guided course of weight training/lifting. This will help build some muscle on top of what you already have and as a result will produce some weight gain. Remember, muscle is more dense than fat!

To be honest, I'm in the military, so I can give you a fair idea.
People often think to lose weight by working out, but here me out.
Muscle weighs more than fat.
Now, since you are low on fat, working out regularly can increase your muscle size and overall weight.

~Yote

In response to more FFXI:

I tried that a few years back, but I ended up losing weight... Over Christmas break I lost 5 pounds... completely opposite from the rest of the planet.

Well, there isn't really and definite number. Just a suggested weight for your height, age, and sex.



I hope to start weight lifting, but the gym where I live is always swamped, so I do pushups and stuff like that. Is that a close substitute?

I suggest rather then posting a thread in a gaming community, where there are most likely zero medically certified professionals, that you instead go see a doctor.

It may be a simple case of high metabolism, but it could be a case of a medical issue that is somehow preventing you from gaining weight. Only a doctor is capable of diagnosing any potential problems, as well as offering suggestions on how to combat your weight loss. Nutritionists can also work with you if it turns out to be a metabolism issue.

Haha! Hmmmm. I wonder if my insurance would cover that...

Being different may be abnormal (abnormal = something that differ from the majority), nothing really bad about it really), but it is certainly not wrong. However, if you are constantly losing weight and never gaining any, I guess this will eventually lead you to ... disappear... which doesn't really make any sense.

I do not think you have any illness, and if you had one, you would probably have mentioned about it by now. I think you simply feel like bettering yourself, and like most people, instead of taking your strong points and making them even stronger, you try to work on what you consider to be your weak points and lose self esteem in the process.

(ingame example: a tarutaru blm who does 2000+ damage versus a tarutaru obsessed by becoming the best sam ever)

Edit: Of course, all this is mere suppositions based on a couple lines of text you wrote. So if by any (lack of) chance, it's extremely far from what you consider to be reality, I beg of you to not hold any enmity towards me.

/em equips all enmity - gears available

Push-ups are a start.
Try going for nice long, slow runs before though.

Working out well means having your muscles stretched and warmed up prior to it.

Then there a lot of excercises that can work various parts of your muscles.
If you want to do push-ups, do something like this:

1. (10) Regular push ups (hands near your shoulders on the down position and push "up" at 90 degrees)

2. (10) Wide Angle push ups (hand out further than your shoulders)

3. (10) Narrow push ups (put your index fingers and thumbs to gether with your opened palm and make a diamond) (aka diamond push ups)

All 3 of these push ups work different muscles. Increase the numbers to what suits you.
The idea is this:
First set of all 3 should be easy.
Second set should make you a little out of breath.
Third set, you might need help with, or motivations (i.e. a friend pulling on your shirt a bit).

The key thing to working out in sets is the last set where your muscles burn the most
That is where they also develop the most.

Hopefully, this is a nice start. Use the same mentality with almost any workout.

~Yote

Send a PM to our certified know-it-all Korpg of Asura "aka the whopper" I'm sure he has a opinion for you. It may not be helpful but it should get a chuckle out of you.

Actually on second thought, just hang out here... I know he'll post eventually...

My own suggestion. Cut out the amount of sugar in your diet and get into weight training. I had the same problem as a kid.

Seriously folks being underweight i.e. skinny as a guy is the same sort of hell as it is a for a woman being fat. The abuse you take is on par.

Anywho, I wish you luck and my advice aside definitely check in with your doctor and get their input before you enbark on any alterations to your life.

Good Luck Man!

WebMD is your friend!

I work in the billing office for a large organization with various clinics across the state. I can safely say that 95% of insurances cover routine physicals at 100%, which bypasses the deductible and office co-pays. The only thing you need to look out for is frequency limitations, which is most commonly each fiscal year.

I don’t know your insurance, so I can’t say how much it’d cost, but I’d aim for seeing a doctor for a physical, not an office visit, and he’ll hopefully shed some light on your problem. Call your insurance and ask them how they process physicals, and make sure you see your PCP if you’ve been assigned one.

Thanks for all of the replies!

I was born with pectus excavatum, which really effected the way I saw myself. I wasn't able to breathe well which kept me from exercising and completely unmotivated. I had it fixed in my mid-teens, so now I'm looking to fill in the aftermath.

I don't think that is the reason for my low weight... I was just raised on poor eating habits since I didn't exercise.

EDIT: If you care to know, check out the surgery I had at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuss_procedure... it was an awful 3-4 month recovery.

I recognize this. But isn't this a little bit like telling the only black guy in high school to bleach his skin so he'll stop being bullied by his peers? Do you really think this is the way to fix their problems? By giving him all these advices, what you are saying is basically "you are right to feel bad about the way you are, it's not your imagination, you really are inferior, you should work harder even if it doesn't seem to work".

Way to go guys... >.>

I seriously don't understand why we aren't taught psychology since elementary school. This would really help everyone to be happier.

Edit: On this, I rest my case.

I too had the same problem for most of my life. With a lot of work over 8 years I've managed to go from 5'10" (177cm) and 105lb (46kg) to 172lb (78kg). I take fairly regular (warning: lots of skin behind link, if you click you lose your right to complain) gym progress shots and am pretty much where my personal ideal is at. That having been said, it took a ton of work (over 6000 hours in the gym over 8 years), and the standard advice out there about nutrition, fitness, and getting in shape did nothing for me -- I had to learn as I went along.

The truth of the matter is that saying "just accept who you are" and "don't care what other people think" is a form of weakness -- it is a form of personal capitulation and very unhealthy, both mentally and physically. However, caring only about what other people think is equally dangerous and unhealthy. The healthiest place is somewhere in between. That having been said, if your current physical shape is simply not in line with your ideal self-image, then you need to address the problem or risk spending most of your life dealing with the lingering unhappiness it causes.

The first thing people need to understand is that different genetic/morphic body types respond to sedentary, unhealthy activity in different ways. Most people respond by gaining weight uncontrollably, but some people (like me) lose it uncontrollably. Because the first type is far more common than the second type, popular culture seems to think that being too thin is somehow "easier" to fix, or less dangerous, than the other. The truth is that in both cases, the symptoms are equally dangerous for both your medical health and your self-image -- the problems just occur in opposite directions.

The two worlds are completely foreign to one another. Telling my type "just eat more" is equally as useless as telling the other type to "just eat less." The actual problem is significantly more complex than that, and the diet/exercise advice for one type cannot be applied in any way to the other. Because the type that gains weight easily is quantitatively more numerous than our type, the majority of popular diet and exercise plans are not tailored to us and should be completely ignored. If you try to rely on them, you will spin your wheels in place for many years and not go anywhere.

If you're actually serious about getting in shape and putting on some lean mass, I can try to provide you a plan. But realize that our type both gains and loses weight a lot more slowly than the other type, and so results come a lot slower for us. You need to be serious about making exercise and proper nutrition a part of your life for many years -- not just a quick temporary goal. If you're still willing to do that, drop me a PM and I can share some advice more tailored for us.

I didn't ask for advice because I feel the way I am is wrong. I asked for advice because I wanted help getting to where I want to be. I'm getting married in May and I would like to shape up before then.

supsup bacon

No advice, just wanted to say I hate you...

j/k, but I wish I had that problem. I can't even look at food without gaining weight. My brother is just like you, he could eat all day long and never gain a pound...actually, the only time he ever really gained weight was when he was in the Marine Corps and he drank Jack Daniels all the freaking time; not a particularly healthy method...since he quit (both drinking and the USMC) his weight quickly fell back to what it's been his entire adult life...

In all seriousness, I hope you can get your weight up, good luck! ^^

Keep in mind that being thin and unable to gain weight is a lot more common in men while you are still growing. The majority of your calories are going into growing your bones, internal organs, etc. Even if you're not growing vertically anymore, there's still a lot going on inside for a few years afterward. It is very normal for men to start packing on the pounds starting at around the age of 20-24, just because you've stopped growing both vertically and internally by that point, so your base metabolism and caloric needs have slowed but your eating habits remain unchanged.

My advice above is more for people like me who are past this point and still couldn't gain any weight, which is much more rare in men.

/sigh Malekith, could you stop bringing that up in every single thread you enter? It's getting old, and even Korpg has moved on. The stuff after that is good advice, though. Just don't cause any unnecessary trouble, please!


Jaerik, is there anything you DON'T know? O_O /awe


I agree with this: Check with a doctor to see if you have an overactive thyroid. There is a potential you may have something as minor as really high metabolism, or you may have hyperthyroidism, which is much more serious.

Another factor could be that you may have diabetes. A lack or shortage of insulin prevents your body's cells from taking in any glucose you obtain, meaning no matter how much you eat, you're still losing weight.

Hyperthyroidism and diabetes have a few symptoms in common, so definitely see a doctor and get some blood tests running--check your hemoglobin A1C and blood glucose levels for diabetes, and TSH levels for hyperthyroidism.

If you have an extremely high hemoglobin value (~6.0% or higher) or a a high blood glucose level (200 mg/dL or higher; but if this is your first diagnosis, it may be as high as 500-600 mg/dL, like mine was when I was first diagnosed), then you most likely have diabetes--if it is Type 1, you will need to take insulin shots; Type 2 you only need to take medication, along with a careful plan of diet and exercise. Also, they may also have you take a ketone test (simple pee-in-a-cup procedure) to check if you have ketoacidosis which is a key symptom in diabetes.

For hyperthyroidism, low TSH levels indicate hyperthyroidism as T4 and T3 are being overproduced and inhibiting the pituitary gland's secretion of TSH. If it is serious, you may have to undergo some treatment--one is to inhibit your thyroid's production of T3 and T4 so you can take them orally to maintain steadier levels of hormones.

Definitely consult a doctor--take care of your body as well as you can^^

Anye's advice on potential medical issues is good, and she's correct about most of it. Getting the occasional physical is a good idea just in general.

However, actual medical reasons for not being at one's ideal weight are vanishingly rare compared to people who just don't give enough effort, or don't know what kind of effort to give. I would suggest giving at least a few years of real "normal" effort and judging results before consulting a doctor about a potential medical defect.

In many cases, looking for a medical reason to explain your problem, before you've even started seriously trying to fix it, is simply a form of self-sabotage.

I really need to stop reading all these WebMD articles. Seeing and reading all the things that can go wrong with the human body makes me feel all paranoid and frail.

Thanks for all of the advice! I'm out for the day...

Hahaha, true. If the symptoms aren't really serious, then there really is no immediate need to run to the doctor's office and demand a blood test on the spot.


ROFL XD

A lot of it depends on where you live, too. Other people's definitions of "skinny" or "fat" depend a great deal on what the average weight / body type is for where you live. You could widely be considered overweight in one area, but considered skinny in another, just because the averages in each place are so different.

In some places, the average is so overweight that what's considered "thin" is still clinically obese and dangerous. In some places it's the opposite -- people think they're "fat" when they're still clinically underweight.

I'm 5'10" and 172lb, and I don't know of many people who would call me "skinny" when looking at pictures. So 179lb can really only be considered skinny if you live in an area where the average is a lot heavier. It's all relative.

However, another factor is your morphic body type. One height and weight figure for a base ectomorph can be considered relatively heavier than an endomorph at the same height and weight, for example.