Hi everyone,

I'll try to keep it brief - I work out quite intensely and although I'm gaining muscle...my weight has gone down a couple of pounds. It's not intentional - but I have a high metabolism and exercise almost daily. I'll say it right now: I will NOT change my exercise routine, as I enjoy it very much and keeps me grounded.

I'm looking for healthy ways to gain weight in the nutrition perspective. I currently eat 5-6 times a day, about 1700-1800 calories a day. I am 5'7 and weigh about 112 lbs.

I eat clean almost 100% of the time (fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, healthy fats, low-fat dairy, eggs, tuna, and water) I don't eat any meat, unless you count tuna.

I have a protein shake after my workouts, and it's quite high calorie due to extra things I add in there...so I count it as a meal.

ANY suggestions on how to gain weight in a healthy way are greatly appreciated. I don't want to get any skinnier!

Melissa, as all gym trainers have told me....if you are burning off more than you consume, you will lose weight. If you are intense with exercise, you will have to increase the number of calories you consume.

Originally Posted by Ingrid2

Melissa, as all gym trainers have told me....if you are burning off more than you consume, you will lose weight. If you are intense with exercise, you will have to increase the number of calories you consume.

Thank you Ingrid,

I had assumed that I would have to do this, I guess my question should have been more specific. I wanted to know if anyone had any good and healthy ideas on how to add more calories to my diet. Sorry for not being more specific!

[Umbral_Seraph]

Try consuming about 2500 a day, and if that doesn't work bump it to 2750. Given your height and weight, you probably burn about 1800 doing absolutely nothing (I burn about 2200). Perhaps you could try adding some nuts or quinoa?

Originally Posted by melissa.recovering

I'm looking for healthy ways to gain weight in the nutrition perspective. I currently eat 5-6 times a day, about 1700-1800 calories a day.

To gain weight you need to consume more calories. I suggest eating a little bit more each meal. Even if you ate just 50 more calories for each meal then your calories per day would go from 1700 - 1800 to 1950 - 2100. To increase how much you eat per meal without having to change your diet too much you can either increase your portions or add some food to the meal (or both). You can easily add some calories to your meals by eating something like a piece of low fat string cheese or a handful of granola.

Umbral_Seraph suggested nuts which are good because they are a very concentrated source of calories as is both fruit/vegetable juice and dried fruit. Those are good ways to sneak in calories. Someone trying to lose weight would want to avoid foods like that and eat things with less calories per ounce (such as fresh fruits and vegetables).

[SomedayWriter]

Have you checked out a site like http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ ? While it's certainly more catered towards folks like me who are trying to lose, I know there are people on there trying to gain, and I just took a quick look at site tools again, and I do have the option to get a suggested calorie intake to "gain weight" instead of losing.

May not be what you're looking for but still may be worth a look? Good luck, regardless.

[anna342]

If you're only wanting to gain muscle then add in another serving or two of lean protein. If you're not bothered about what it is you gain, then just increase your intake, don't swap the protein shake for a meal for example, have it plus a meal.

[lynn P.]

Good advice so far. I agree don't swap the protein shake for a meal and have it with a meal or a snack. You do need to increase your portions since you're burning so much. When I was your age I also had a very fast metabolism too and was thin by circumstance. As I got older it slowed down a little but I'm still slim. Definitely increase the portions and calories.