How To Eat More
First, I've been away for a bit but I'm back now and hope to get some regular posts up going forward.
Second , I am working on a new section at the site which will eventually give illustrations of videos and pictures of all the top muscle building exercises. So far, 13 exercises are up, check them out at the Weight Training Exercises Database.
Third, a frequent question I get is, "Exactly how do I eat more?
If this is an issue for you, check out this new trend...
Human feed bags for more convenient eating
Don't know about you, but that made me laugh hard.
Seriously, if you are trying to eat more in order to gain quality muscle weight, it can be difficult at first. There are some tips on how to eat more in the following article...
Making the Healthy Weight Gain Diet Stick..
JP
Second , I am working on a new section at the site which will eventually give illustrations of videos and pictures of all the top muscle building exercises. So far, 13 exercises are up, check them out at the Weight Training Exercises Database.
Third, a frequent question I get is, "Exactly how do I eat more?
If this is an issue for you, check out this new trend...
Human feed bags for more convenient eating
Don't know about you, but that made me laugh hard.
Seriously, if you are trying to eat more in order to gain quality muscle weight, it can be difficult at first. There are some tips on how to eat more in the following article...
Making the Healthy Weight Gain Diet Stick..
JP
Labels: bodybuilding diet, muscle building diet, weight gain diet
posted by JP Clifford at 9:36 PM
66 Comments:
Hi JP - I generally find people who are struggling to consume their calorie intake do so because the limit they've set being too high. For example, I see many programs advocating a 500-1000 surplus where as if they set their limits lower, say between 250-350, they would find eating their surplus easier but most importantly, less fat gains and a shorter time spent cutting. I feel for the bodybuilders who weigh 200lbs+ though. I really do. Having to eat over 3,500-4,000 calories just to maintain is an insane ammount of food for anyone.
Eating 6-7 meals a day is the way to put weight on, but I find it so hard to be organised and almost forget to eat. I was reading about a cooler called stax systems, I dont have one, but it looked really good. It is a long skinny cooler which has color coded containers for protein/carbs/vegies etc. Plus it has a timer on the front which goes off when it is time to eat(you set the time intervals). Love your blog, I have used many of the exercises
Cheers
Yeah I used to follow your older posts, it will be great when you get back in the swing of things.
I've read the content of your blog and like it it has a loads of good info on Muscle Building.
Thanks for the review.
My favorite is Rippetoe's suggestion that to gain weight, simply drink a gallon of milk each day.
hi, i have a few enquires.
is whey protein siutable for all ages? (i'm 16)
is it necessary for me to take up supplements?
can you tell me more on toning up?
thanks.
The problem with eating stacks of food in a vein attempt to get bigger is the fact that the body will only convert what it needs at that moment into muscle mass (a small amount). The rest is deposited as fat or fills your toilet bowl up multiple times a day. It's just a waste.
Why not exercise with patience and proudly watch yourself grow naturally over time.
Save yourself lots of money and lots of belly upsets.
Cheers,
Doug.
Some great tips here. I think the most important on is to gradually work your way up.
Always use your mirror as your guide. If your tummy starts to arrive at destinations before you do it's time to slow down the eating.
Remember - bodybuilding is ALL about building our health - it's not just about size.
Cheers,
Doug.
I Am just starting out with my more agressive eating plan. I have a lot of protein drinks in that eating plan. Is this bad or good?
Great blog home skillet!
It is always good to find a social forum that shares the same interest as I in respect to body building and getting jacked.
Cheers to being SWULL!
Joshua
hey bro
how did you find that crazy video?
are these guys serious?
sound like a disaster to me.
One of the tricks I use for eating more is eating every 30 minutes or so after a workout for a few hours at a time. Works great for building muscle fast!
Man that was some funny stuff
The amount of food is important, but you cannot disregard what it is that you consume. Gaining fat is completely different than increasing muscle mass.
You have a nice blog here.
Personally I haven't ever had a problem with not eating enough as unless Im plowing into a family feast KFC style I alway feel like im on a diet lol trying to eat less.
The day I stop training is the day I add myself to the ever growing worldwide statistics of the obese. lol.
Breaking down meals really helps the diet immensely...good tips here.
lol first of that video is hilarious,secondly I find that just like working out if you eat a little more each and everyday you will soon expand your stomach to be able to intake your recommended calories.
well if you want to get big and fat, just drink beer from this thing:
http://funcfash.com/2009/08/giant-beer-for-giant-man/
if you want muscles, eat chicken breast, run and lift weights for 1.5 hours.
A great deal of probable bodybuilders do not realize it is more than just lifting weights that accounts for potential muscle growth. If they know the full process of how muscle is really gained , they will see that while they don’t see instantaneous results, their daily activity is conducive to their victory.
http://jumpnkicks.blogspot.com/
I believe that eating more comes from a strange discipline that takes time to master.
I found that whilst working up for competiton, the best thing was preparation. By preparing several meals each night, the thought of wasting them does not come into play.
My advice is preparation, eating more is definate for growth, 60 percent of results come from the food, so start making it the night before and eat eat eat.
Nice article, I used to have a problem gaining weight, but once my metabolism slowed down I started gaining weight like crazy!
Eating 6-7 meals a day is the way to put weight on, but I find it so hard to be organised and almost forget to eat. I was reading about a cooler called stax systems, I dont have one, but it looked really good. It is a long skinny cooler which has color coded containers for protein/carbs/vegies etc. Plus it has a timer on the front which goes off when it is time to eat(you set the time intervals). Love your blog, I have used many of the exercises
Cheers ..
Hi JP
I have just started reading your blog and I must say that you have really good articles in here especially for people who are looking to build their muscles and just need free information. I have a friend who is skinny and he finds it really hard to eat a lot because it is not part of his habit to do that. I will tell him about your article then update you on what will happen
good post. thx! eat, eat, eat and gain muscles!
I think your calorie intake should match your Body Shape. For Example, if your an Ectomorph you will be typically a hard gainer and that's why it's really important to go right up to 1000 Cals over your daily requirement of Calories to effectively put on weight. Believe me I'm an Ectomorph and I could make any significant gains if I was only a couple of hundreds Cals over...
Love the Blog btw!
Kieran
The key to eating more is by following a set routine. You can't just go off the cuff. Once you get on that routine your body will get used to it and will start to get hungry around your eating times.
To shift all that protein and keep a balance diet (and a balanced life) is quite a formidable task. When you start it is as hard as the training itself as you seem to be forever eating and if you are not eating, you are preparing and if you not preparing you are training!!!
Eating more and yet not getting fat need coordination of a balanced diet and regular exercise.
Instead of takiNG Meal in BIG portion, you can break into up into 5-6 meals per day with fewer portion in each.
This is a adviseable because you can gain weight naturally and yet no harming your body.
Good advice man, the links definitely helped as well. Helped me sharpen up my diet just a bit.
I found snacking a great way to increase my calorie intake. I would obvious have my 6 meals per day but snacking on things like juice, bananas and especially cashews nuts helped me find the extra Calories I needed without feel overly stuffed
I like your blog as there is more to building muscle than just exercise you have to eat the right thing and have the right calorie intake.
I have the same problem, i am not getting the proper weight gain...hope your tips will help me...thanks for shring
The problem with eating stacks of food in a vein attempt to get bigger is the fact that the body will only convert what it needs at that moment into muscle mass (a small amount). The rest is deposited as fat or fills your toilet bowl up multiple times a day.
I find it really funny because blogs about losing weight is alike an epidemic and here we are discussing how to gain weight.
Milk does a wonderful effect, make it as your usual fluid intake and you'll really notice something good is happening.
Nice post. I've definitely found that eating 5-6 times a day has helped tremendously, the only problem is most people I know just eat 2-3 times, so sometimes its hard to coordinate a good time with them.
You have to eat more and eat the right foods. But i think Pete Owen makes a good point. A slower but more consistent increase in calories may result in more long-term changes.
Does anyone have any tips on high calorie but high quality foods?
Hi Jp,
Are you still maintaining your blog? I really enjoy reading!
Pete - I think the insanely high eating goals are what some of the harder gaining people among us need to gain any weight at all. I'll often fall short of my 800 calorie surplus when i'm trying to gain and its ok. . . but it seems like when i fall short of 400 calorie-surplus, my body does a better job of compensating for the smaller surplus and it seems like i cant put on weight at all. aim high, hard gainers =)
Thank you very much, you should build better website for your subscribers :)
I've always had problems eating so much because i have stomach issues but i found that using liquid calories (milk and the such) have helped me gain weight without feeling like I am going to puke. Personally I'd suggest drinking a lot of milk and high calorie drinks if you have a hard time gaining weight. Food is always your best bet but liquid is so much easier and if you want you can add some protein powder at any time. Great blog btw I have my own very similar blog and you seem very knowledgeable.
Eating every two hours should do it.
I´m eat and two hours later I take a protein shake and so on, works best for me and my body!
It's hard trying to eat more when you're easily getting full from an average sized meal. I had to throw in a couple of protein shakes everyday to see any results and that definitely wasn't fun. No matter how hard I tried I could never get those things to mix right.
Well what i have seen after being in gyms since 1993 is that it is almost impossible for someone to follow a strict routine eating every 2 hours or so. Daily rythm just wont allow it. So at least let us focus on consuming as much protein food as we can and for those who are seeking for mass lots of carbonhudrates but only until afternoon.
One thing to be sure to do is not just eating anything you see. That was my problem. It's much more efficient to eat fruits, veggies, protein shakes, lean meats, chicken, fish, etc., etc.
Great article!
Great to see you back in the swing of things.
I saw a few comments about protein powder. I will throw in my 2 cents.
You will be fine adding protein powder to your diet even at the age of 16.
protein powder is a great way to add extra calories and protein to your diet. You would not want this to be your main food source but it is an excellent way to supplement your diet.
I am not a big fan of milk. There is lots of research suggesting it is not the best option for adults.
What I suggest is adding nuts to your diet. Lots of calories and good fats. Plus adding olive oil to things will also give you some good calories that can add up quick.
Gallon of milk a day GOMAD - it's a lot harder than it sounds! I had a friend try this with a weight gainer. It worked for him but his wife complained he smelt like ammonia!
i needed that, thank you :)
I have found that I can gain weight without taking in massive amounts of food per day by correctly timing my protein intake with my workouts.
Diet plays a big role and it can be hard to eat more and more to put on that mass that we all want so badly. Great post.
Very nice post, most people just don't understand hoe important diet is for your bodybuilding goals.
Yeah man, gaining weight can be tough. I started at 132lbs and ended at 186lbs around the one year mark. It's actually pretty easy to do as I'm sure you know. People tend to over look the basics. For naturally thin guys like me, the key is eating as you've stated. Eating clean foods is the tricky part.
Glad to see someone else share this info. I decided to blog about my journey/guide to gaining to help other's as well.
As long as you split it up over 6-7 meals it makes it much easier.
Hi All, Over the past 3 months I have made some good gains but body weight has stopped around the same. Strength has gone up and looking far more ripped and lean. I did 4 things all about the same time started eating more beef mainly at lunch, started lifting atlas stones gerrr!mixing it with the steel, went gluten free, bought a big pile of amino tabs and munched them about every hour. Dont know if it is any individual factor but together they are working for me.
Stay Well Stay Happy
John
Hi there,
First of all, I'd like to say thanks for all the information on your blog! Very helpful indeed.
I agree with the previous coments. I think a large block of the bodybuilding community have the notion that you need to eat an excessive amount of calories to gain muscle. No wonder people are having difficulty trying to eat more when their estimated caloric intake is 4000, 5000, 6000+ etc, This is just asking for fat gain.
I think a good way to find out how many calories you require is to keep a food diary for a week or so, see how your weight fluctuates and adujust your caloric intake as accordingly.
Interesting article! Though it can be hard to find time to eat 6x a day at times.
Eating more is easy when you eat right all the time.
If you avoid refined sugar, it should be easy to snack on nuts, fruit and vegetables all day long.
Nice post! I definitely have struggled with this in the past. At times I definitely could say that eating enough food was almost as difficult as the training itself. The way that I found was easiest was by "sneaking" calories throughout the day. Rather than trying to force down all of my calories in one sitting, I would break it up into small meals throughout the day. I would try to "stay hungry" as much as I could. I never wanted to over stuff myself, but rather tried to feel like I could always eat throughout the day. This definitely helped me along with high calorie protein shakes.
I find it very hard to consistently eat enough calories, weight gainer shakes have helped me out a lot.. but food is expensive, I get tired of eggs... so many excuses!!
Milk after each meal will usually do it!
They are some good tips here. Also, drinking 3 protein shakes a day with whole milk helps get in calories as well as help increase testosterone(from higher saturated fats). I recommend taking one first thing in the morning, one post workout, and a slow releasing(casein) shake before bed.
Eating more is a difficult task to do. Its pretty much difficult to eat about 6-7 times a day. Plus the calorie intake after having 7 meals in a day would be real high which can also remain undigested. So quite a difficult task to eat more.
sad to see you haven't posted on the blog in a while. i tend to find putting on mass to be easier when i blend my food or mix whey or casein powder with other food stuffs, making it a whole lot easier to hit the right macronutrients portions!
Regards,
Luke @ www.foodformass.com
Great post. one of my biggest problems in gaining weight was eating enough calories. I used to drink weight gainer shakes which definitely would help
Hey JP,
That clip you showed earlier was pure comedy!
I actually thought it was real for a second lol.
But I like your suggestions for "how to eat more".
My method to fitting in more calories is to blending up meals into shakes.
You can add fillers like peanut butter, oatmeal, leafy greens, you mean it. That'll definitely up the calorie intake.
Eating plan performs a big part and it can be difficult to eat more and more to put on that huge that we all want so poorly. Excellent publish.
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