Fitness advice for skinny people that can’t gain weight because of having a fast metabolism or not knowing how much to eat. This is a common problem for skinny people because most claim the struggle bulking up, is a result of a really fast metabolism because they have tried eating more but can’t gain weight.
I will go over the reasons why this may occur along with some diet and fitness tips to help you naturally and healthily gain weight and eventually bulk up to build some muscle!
Stop Guessing Your Calories!
Many “skinny fat” people think they eat massive amounts of food, but in reality, they don’t. “I eat 5 meals a day, surely I’m eating 3000+ calories a day” when really you’re probably eating 1800 calories. Put the foods you’re eating into a food tracking app such as MyFitness Pal to portion everything, and you’ll be surprised at how few calories you eat.
What if I Feel Too Full To Eat More Meals?
If you’re struggling to eat more, that’s not a problem. Instead of trying to eat more plates of food, think about how you can make that same plate of food more calorie-dense. For example, if you’re someone who would normally use Fry Light, the 1-calorie per spray oil, try switching it out for actual cooking oil such as olive oil. You’d be surprised how many calories are in 1 tablespoon of oil.
Another example would be drinks. Let’s say you’re having a protein shake. Adding in whole milk, bananas, peanut butter, or anything calorie-dense will bump up your calories drastically without you having to physically eat another meal.
When Should I Move Up The Calories and What Macros Should I Follow?
When changing your calorie intake, you should do it gradually. Doing anything too fast isn’t going to be beneficial for you. Increasing your calories too fast and drastically will only lead to gaining fat and not in your favor either!
When trying to put on weight/size, you need to strategically look at what you’re eating as it still needs to be somewhat macro-friendly, although it’s usually more flexible as you have a little more calories to play with.
The rule of thumb for macros when doing a lean bulk is 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 20% fats.
For a more extreme hard gainer, macros will look similar to 45% carbs, 30% protein, and 25% fats.
Tracking Calories and Still Can’t Gain Weight
Now you may be getting the food right, but you could be possibly doing everything else wrong.
- Just eating alone won’t make you build muscle! If you’re not training properly, you won’t grow.
- You may need to work on progressive overload in your workouts.
- You need to really put those calories to use.
- You may also find that you’re someone who has a labouring job such as a carpenter, builder, etc. and then you’re training on top of that – as hard as it is to believe, you may even need to up your calories even more.
I hope this blog brings a more clarity to those in these situations and like always for a more in-depth view please check out the YouTube
