Trying to Use FitDay to Gain Weight? Read Me!
09-09-2010, 01:40 PM
#71
FitDay Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 5
Metabolism
I'm not sure if this is a bug or I'm using it wrong or... what.
How do I change my basal metabolic rate in the software to reflect reality?
I just started using the site, so made up a 'standard' day for me. What I eat most often + my usual routine. When I plugged in all the numbers, it says I eat 4300 calories per day (plus my shakes which I JUST started) and burn only 2800. Since my weight has been a steady 125-128 for 8 months, I need to set my baseline metabolism about 1500 calories higher.
When I click 'customize metabolism' and raise it to 3000 with my entire day already filled with activities (like sleeping and computer games and pacing, I'm being honest with myself here) it has no effect at all. However, the estimate for yesterday and tomorrow (no activities) are suddenly 4900
Metabolism is THE issue for me, and the calories I burn through activity are the thing I have to watch when I try to gain weight. (When I eat more I get more energy and just burn it all off if I'm not careful.)
How can I change the basal metabolic rate in a way that effects the activities? (everything from sleeping to calisthenics)
Edit: About an hour later (I think?) everything changed and now it says I burn 3900 cal with the same activities. Something is odd about how the system implements things, but it's working, kinda. :S
How do I change my basal metabolic rate in the software to reflect reality?
I just started using the site, so made up a 'standard' day for me. What I eat most often + my usual routine. When I plugged in all the numbers, it says I eat 4300 calories per day (plus my shakes which I JUST started) and burn only 2800. Since my weight has been a steady 125-128 for 8 months, I need to set my baseline metabolism about 1500 calories higher.
When I click 'customize metabolism' and raise it to 3000 with my entire day already filled with activities (like sleeping and computer games and pacing, I'm being honest with myself here) it has no effect at all. However, the estimate for yesterday and tomorrow (no activities) are suddenly 4900
Metabolism is THE issue for me, and the calories I burn through activity are the thing I have to watch when I try to gain weight. (When I eat more I get more energy and just burn it all off if I'm not careful.)
How can I change the basal metabolic rate in a way that effects the activities? (everything from sleeping to calisthenics)
Edit: About an hour later (I think?) everything changed and now it says I burn 3900 cal with the same activities. Something is odd about how the system implements things, but it's working, kinda. :S
Last edited by tristanridley; 09-09-2010 at 02:57 PM. Reason: update
09-09-2010, 02:28 PM
#72
FitDay Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 5
Goal of 145 in three months
I know this site, like all the rest, is mostly for those trying to lose weight, but I would love some support, or a buddy, or ... anything. I have tried to reach a healthy BMI many times before, and can only keep it up for a couple of months. Then I get distracted and slowly drop again.
I have one issue: metabolism.
I eat and eat and eat and can't gain a pound. I've always been this way, as is my father, and was my grandmother until she turned 60.
Before you get jealous, consider how much you would enjoy food if you HAD to eat 5 meals a day. I would love it if I never had to eat again, but what can you do? Of course, my system needs a lot more nutrients and doesn't absorb them as well, so I have to eat HEALTHY food.
My sedentary metabolism is about 4000/calories per day. I know this because when I was depressed and out of work I pretty much didn't move for 3 months farther than my computer. I worked out the calories from the cans/wrappers I had eaten and it was about 4200/day average of pasta, lentils, split peas, brown rice, quinoa, apples, and oatmeal. Oh, and enough ice cream that I developed an alergy.
When I eat more than 4000 calories a day, I just get more energy and burn it off. (If I resist physical activities I simply pace and drum/tap.) It took a number of futile attempts (5500 calories/day with no gain after 3 weeks) before I theorised that my body only keeps weight in the form of muscle. If I work out AND eat a lot I can put on weight, but that means I have to also eat enough to fuel the exercise itself. I've managed this twice. Once I got my weight from 100 lbs to 125, which fell back to 110. The second time I got up to 138, and have since fallen back to 125.
I was POUNDS from a barely healthy weight, something I haven't seen since my first growth spurt.
My target weight right now is 145, based on BMI. After that I want to target 165 and then maybe even higher, as even at 145-165 I will have a dangerously low level of body fat.
If I eat 5500 calories a day and work out hard for an hour (and compensating for all that extra pacing) I should have about 500 to 1000 calories/day extra, I think. That translates in to one to two pounds gained per week.
145 - 128 = 17lbs 17 / 1.5 = almost 12 weeks, 3 months. Healthy by Christmas, if I can keep up that regimen.
Anyone have the same sort of goals to be my buddy?
Alternately, anyone feel like cheering backward? ("Yeah, good job on those extra 500 calories!")
I have one issue: metabolism.
I eat and eat and eat and can't gain a pound. I've always been this way, as is my father, and was my grandmother until she turned 60.
Before you get jealous, consider how much you would enjoy food if you HAD to eat 5 meals a day. I would love it if I never had to eat again, but what can you do? Of course, my system needs a lot more nutrients and doesn't absorb them as well, so I have to eat HEALTHY food.
My sedentary metabolism is about 4000/calories per day. I know this because when I was depressed and out of work I pretty much didn't move for 3 months farther than my computer. I worked out the calories from the cans/wrappers I had eaten and it was about 4200/day average of pasta, lentils, split peas, brown rice, quinoa, apples, and oatmeal. Oh, and enough ice cream that I developed an alergy.
When I eat more than 4000 calories a day, I just get more energy and burn it off. (If I resist physical activities I simply pace and drum/tap.) It took a number of futile attempts (5500 calories/day with no gain after 3 weeks) before I theorised that my body only keeps weight in the form of muscle. If I work out AND eat a lot I can put on weight, but that means I have to also eat enough to fuel the exercise itself. I've managed this twice. Once I got my weight from 100 lbs to 125, which fell back to 110. The second time I got up to 138, and have since fallen back to 125.
I was POUNDS from a barely healthy weight, something I haven't seen since my first growth spurt.
My target weight right now is 145, based on BMI. After that I want to target 165 and then maybe even higher, as even at 145-165 I will have a dangerously low level of body fat.
If I eat 5500 calories a day and work out hard for an hour (and compensating for all that extra pacing) I should have about 500 to 1000 calories/day extra, I think. That translates in to one to two pounds gained per week.
145 - 128 = 17lbs 17 / 1.5 = almost 12 weeks, 3 months. Healthy by Christmas, if I can keep up that regimen.
Anyone have the same sort of goals to be my buddy?
Alternately, anyone feel like cheering backward? ("Yeah, good job on those extra 500 calories!")
im trying to get my weight to 145 to impress the ladies
09-10-2010, 12:39 AM
#74
FitDay Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 165
Did you ever get checked for some conditions that may be impairing the absorption of nutrients? I'm thinking to celiac disease but there may be a ton of others. Do you get sick or get any GI symptoms after you eat certain types of foods?
09-10-2010, 05:15 AM
#75
FitDay Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Westminster, CO
Posts: 965
Can you give us some stats like height, weight, age? I doubt you can add 17lbs of muscle in 3 months unless you are using steriods but that is not to say that your 500 to 1000 calorie surplus is a bad plan. Weight training will be the key to your success. Lift heavy (5 reps to failure) and make sure you are doing compound lifts like squats and deadlifts. Compund lifts build your core muscle group and will add muscle weight faster than doing just isolation moves. If you do cardio only do it for 5-10 minutes as a warm up to lifting.
Consider adding Whey Protein shakes or even a weight gain supplement to your diet. These are a great way to add calories without having to consume a massive amount of food. Mix the protein shakes with whole milk to add even more calories.
Check out Bodybuilding.com for more information about training and nutrition for hard gainers like yourself.
Consider adding Whey Protein shakes or even a weight gain supplement to your diet. These are a great way to add calories without having to consume a massive amount of food. Mix the protein shakes with whole milk to add even more calories.
Check out Bodybuilding.com for more information about training and nutrition for hard gainers like yourself.
09-10-2010, 07:57 AM
#76
FitDay Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: St. Paul, MN
Posts: 232
If you are a hard gainer it is going to take twice as much work in the kitchen as it will in the gym. Take your bodyweight x20 for a mass building calorie intake. And you need to be eating all good foods just as if you were trying to lose weight. You should be aiming to get like 30-35 grams protein per meal, with 60-70g carbs per meal with your protein. Skip cardio and aerobic exercise altogether, unless you must.
Like Ron said 17 pounds of muscle in 12 weeks is sort of not very realistic for a natural bodybuilder. .8-1 lb of muscle per week is really all the body is capable of adding, so aim for that.
Some tips I have that I use:
1 bottle of gatorade + 1 scoop whey for post workout nutrition, and 1 full meal an hour later.
Cottage cheese before bed. High in protein and slow digesting, perfect before bed.
Work out for 45 mins no more. When lifting naturally your testosterone only will last you for 45 minutes of vigorous exercise, so keep your routines short. The needle pumpers lift for hours at a time, because they are supplementing testosterone. For a natural your intensity will fall off and the extra time spent is useless.
Instead of always eating chicken breasts, try chicken thighs. These cuts are higher in fat, are more flavorful, and will help you increase the calorie intake.
Also when you gain weight, your required calorie intake increases especially when the weight gained in lean muscle. So when you put on a few pounds your maintenance calorie intake will go up, you probably didn't account for this before and that is why you lost the weight that you worked so hard to gain.
And as Ron said check out bodybuilding websites, they are full of articles and forum posts about how hard gainers can pack on muscle. You might not be eating as much calories as you think you are, because if you were eating 5500 calories there is no doubt you'd be gaining weight. If you haven't been recording your intake there is no way to really know how many calories you are eating. 5500 calories would be like ten fairly large meals, so that seems like you are overestimating it.
I'm not a hardgainer, I'm the exact opposite. I seemingly build muscle just looking at a barbell, but I gain fat just as easy. On the opposite end of this spectrum someone like me has to be very careful about what they are eating or my metabolism will punish me. I am about 206 right now, and at 190 I will be close to 12% body fat and that is still 15 lbs above my healthy BMI. Don't worry too much about bmi. Just stick with your routine, get more diligent in the kitchen, avoid cardio, lift as heavy as you can without hurting yourself, and the gains will come.
If you don't have a food scale and measuring cups to help you portion out your meals, you should really invest in them, they are highly valuable for getting accurate measurements.
Like Ron said 17 pounds of muscle in 12 weeks is sort of not very realistic for a natural bodybuilder. .8-1 lb of muscle per week is really all the body is capable of adding, so aim for that.
Some tips I have that I use:
1 bottle of gatorade + 1 scoop whey for post workout nutrition, and 1 full meal an hour later.
Cottage cheese before bed. High in protein and slow digesting, perfect before bed.
Work out for 45 mins no more. When lifting naturally your testosterone only will last you for 45 minutes of vigorous exercise, so keep your routines short. The needle pumpers lift for hours at a time, because they are supplementing testosterone. For a natural your intensity will fall off and the extra time spent is useless.
Instead of always eating chicken breasts, try chicken thighs. These cuts are higher in fat, are more flavorful, and will help you increase the calorie intake.
Also when you gain weight, your required calorie intake increases especially when the weight gained in lean muscle. So when you put on a few pounds your maintenance calorie intake will go up, you probably didn't account for this before and that is why you lost the weight that you worked so hard to gain.
And as Ron said check out bodybuilding websites, they are full of articles and forum posts about how hard gainers can pack on muscle. You might not be eating as much calories as you think you are, because if you were eating 5500 calories there is no doubt you'd be gaining weight. If you haven't been recording your intake there is no way to really know how many calories you are eating. 5500 calories would be like ten fairly large meals, so that seems like you are overestimating it.
I'm not a hardgainer, I'm the exact opposite. I seemingly build muscle just looking at a barbell, but I gain fat just as easy. On the opposite end of this spectrum someone like me has to be very careful about what they are eating or my metabolism will punish me. I am about 206 right now, and at 190 I will be close to 12% body fat and that is still 15 lbs above my healthy BMI. Don't worry too much about bmi. Just stick with your routine, get more diligent in the kitchen, avoid cardio, lift as heavy as you can without hurting yourself, and the gains will come.
If you don't have a food scale and measuring cups to help you portion out your meals, you should really invest in them, they are highly valuable for getting accurate measurements.
Last edited by midwestj; 09-10-2010 at 08:23 AM.
09-15-2010, 02:30 PM
#78
FitDay Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 1
Goal Weight higher than Current weight
Hi there -I am new, and I think this is a great tool so far. Can someone tell me who I can contact to see if they can fix the bug in the software that does not allow a goal weight higher than the current weight of the person. I have the unusal need to gain weight instead of lose.
Thanks so much in advance,
Craig
Thanks so much in advance,
Craig
09-21-2010, 03:31 AM
#80
FitDay Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Westminster, CO
Posts: 965
Unless you are below 12% bodyfat healthy weight would be in the form of muscle. To build muscle (not necessarily size but density) you need to undertake a a weight and resistance training program where you lift heavy. (Use a weight that allows only 5 to 6 repetitions of a movement before you can not perform another movement.)
You will also need to fuel your body for building muscle. This means .5 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of lean body weight. I personally try to keep my protein at 30% of my calories. Check out Bodybuilding.com for more exercise information.
Eat 200 calories over your maintenance level to make sure you have the nutrients for gaining. If you find you are gaining fat, cut back on the calories or include some cardio work into your routine.
If you are a beginner don't try to jump in to weight training too quickly and risk injury. Learn the proper form before attempting a new exercise. Gaining muscle is a long term process but can help you create the body you desire.
You will also need to fuel your body for building muscle. This means .5 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of lean body weight. I personally try to keep my protein at 30% of my calories. Check out Bodybuilding.com for more exercise information.
Eat 200 calories over your maintenance level to make sure you have the nutrients for gaining. If you find you are gaining fat, cut back on the calories or include some cardio work into your routine.
If you are a beginner don't try to jump in to weight training too quickly and risk injury. Learn the proper form before attempting a new exercise. Gaining muscle is a long term process but can help you create the body you desire.
