Need help gaining weight

[Lithare]

Hey there,

This is my first post on here. Here's a little about me. I'm 5'8". I weigh 141, as of yesterday afternoon. 143 is the most I've ever weighed in my life. I have a crazy high metabolism. Also, I cannot eat a great deal at a time, which I think works out well for the 6 meals a day concept. I only have 3.2% bodyfat.
There's the basics. I've been lifting for awhile, and I'm one of those that avoided legs for a few years, so I definitely look goofy in shorts. That's beside the point, though. Just wondering some cost-effective meal plans. By cost effective, I mean fit into my unemployed college student budget. The only supplements I use are creatine monohydrate and glutamine. Anything I should combine with those would also be useful to me. Thanks in advance.

Brandon

[Bouncer]

Lay out exactlly what you have been eating. Also 3.2% 141lbs at 5'8 means you are extremely shredded. You should be able to see veins in your abs very clearly. 3.2% is very low.

[decadecadeca]

Yeah, how did you reach that 3.2% figure? Caliper,scale or hydro?

And what physical activity do you do outside lifting or on off days?

[Lithare]

I don't have a set eating routine since I'm used to subsisting on cafeteria food. A typical day will include a chicken salad sub on wheat with lettuce and white american cheese. An oatmeal granola bar with every meal. Grilled chicken sandwiches have been regular, too. I down a protein shake every day, but it's only 20 grams of protein. I also eat cans of tuna quite regularly. I know you probably want a consistent daily schedule, but I do not have one of those as of yet, and that is something I'm struggling to set up. I have an almost anorexic mindset in that I hate to eat and always have since I was little, so just getting in enough protein and calories to maintain takes a lot for me. Not to make excuses. Anyway, I'm mostly set up to have to take in somewhat unhealthy foods. The occasional snack for me is ravioli or beef stew.
An area of major interest to me is breakfast. I have a hard time eating breakfast because the wrong foods make me feel like crap the rest of the day. I suppose it doesn't help that at my cafeteria, about everything is the wrong food because it is greasy. Any easily prepared breakfast items would be extremely helpful.
As for activity, I play frisbee (ultimate) a lot. I've been playing table tennis, which is much more cardiovascular than I ever knew. I play racquetball quite a bit. I'm one of those crazy hyper kids that seems like he has ADHD. I usually end up doing a couple hundred pushups or other endurance workouts late at night. Let me know if you want more. I'm kind of scatterbrained at the moment, so I'm sure this wasn't as consise and detailed as it could have been. Thanks in advance.

Brandon

[Scrumhalf]

Eating healthy is actually a lot cheaper than eating unhealthy, contrary to the common notion that "health" foods are always much more expensive than regular stuff.

Also, one immediate thing you can do is to stop the supplements and use that money for food.

[Severedties]

Eat more. And i doubt you are 3.2% bodyfat with out seriously trying to stay there... even at 140 lbs

[psyko1]

isn't such a low bodyfat unhealthy? just eat more man, stay away from junk food, and since you're in college stay away from alcohol and the other "fun stuff" people do. you're main problem here is getting over not liking to eat, once you get over that you'll throw on some weight.

[Gort]

I have a friend who used to look shredded all the time.
I was painfully skinny but had some fat in my skin (maybe 12%) due to eating large ammounts.

Find tuna on sale. I have 107 cans in my locker at work. That should last me 3 weeks. Chain an opener to your backpack and get some plastic forks. Peanuts are pretty cheap. The idea is to keep protein snacks around at all times. Treat eating like it's your job. If you have not eaten in 3 hours eat your snacks, hell, punish yourself for forgetting.

Cut down on the running around, if you train hard enough you won't want to. Take up meditation, it really can help.

5-HTP is a godsend, used to take L-Tryptophan before they pulled it. Calms you down, helps you sleep. I take Caprylic Acid for digestion problems associated with breakfast. It's really good for cramps and intestinal gas pain followed by diarrhea. I would rather take those and calcium, a multi-vitamin, and maybe ALA than creatine and glutamine.

Always get your diet, training, and general health straight before going for supps.

[sana]

Originally posted by Gort
I have a friend who used to look shredded all the time.
I was painfully skinny but had some fat in my skin (maybe 12%) due to eating large ammounts.

staying shredded is NOT 3.2% body fat. your idea of shredded is the average guy with abs - which is more realistically at like 8-10%. if you did not have abs, you're not anywhere near 12% - even if you were skinny.

3.2% is like a competitive bf% that bber's will try to GET to for a show - say maybe maintain that for approx a week.

it is NOT healthy as you need fat for your organs to funtion. and if you truly were at 3.2%, you'd have paper thin skin and would see basically veins EVERYWHERE - i mean EVERYWHERE. and you should see clear striations in your muscles all the time.

[Gort]

Originally posted by sana

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Gort
I have a friend who used to look shredded all the time.
I was painfully skinny but had some fat in my skin (maybe 12%) due to eating large ammounts.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

staying shredded is NOT 3.2% body fat. your idea of shredded is the average guy with abs - which is more realistically at like 8-10%. if you did not have abs, you're not anywhere near 12% - even if you were skinny.

3.2% is like a competitive bf% that bber's will try to GET to for a show - say maybe maintain that for approx a week.

it is NOT healthy as you need fat for your organs to funtion. and if you truly were at 3.2%, you'd have paper thin skin and would see basically veins EVERYWHERE - i mean EVERYWHERE. and you should see clear striations in your muscles all the time.

Indeed, my friend had virtually no skin for years. Very vascular, every vein poped out, striations everywhere. He was about 5'8'' and 125lbs. I had ribs and abs but little vascularity. I was 6' and 150lbs. I have no idea why he was like that, he ate nearly as much as I did. He was about 1/4 American Indian.

[Lithare]

Well, despite your doubt, I really am only about 3.2% bf, and I don't do it on purpose. When I ended my vertical growth spurt I was 5'8" and about 100 lbs. That's just how I am. Ultra thin. And I think you might be envisioning me with a larger frame than is true. I'm certainly not beefy by anyones ideas, but 140 is decent on my frame, which is naturally small. I'll definitely try to discipline myself to eat even when I don't want to. As for creatine and glutamine, I have seen results from taking those, and they aren't hurting my budget because I've gotten them wholesale, so I'm set. However, I appreciate the ideas as far as sleep assistance and the like. Excessive energy is definitely a problem for me. Even when I should be collapsing, I can have a hard time sleeping. Anyway, thanks again.

Brandon

[decadecadeca]

Not to flog a dead friggin horse but how do you know it's 3.2%?

Discipline yourself, eat....lift......sleep. In that order and do nothing else. Kinda simplistic but hell that's all ya need to do.

[Lithare]

It is approximately that. We just did bf tests in my ridiculous concepts of health and wellness class. I know skinfolds aren't entirely accurate, but it is definitely somewhere that low. I know it's not healthy, but no one ever accused me of being healthy. Not that I don't try. Anyway, that's how I know.

[Face]

The calipers are only as accurate as the person using them. If your bf measurements were taken by an inept amateur, then they are most likely wrong.

I am surprised that you haven't been to the doctor to check for thyroid problems; 3.2% bf is not healthy at all, bodybuilders only attain that level to look good for shows, it is not a bodyfat level to maintain year round. Go and see a doctor.

[Lithare]

Dude. It's not a thyroid problem. It's naturally how I am. My dad is exactly the same way. He weighed 100 lbs at 5'9" at one point in time. I didn't try to reach 3.2%. It's just where I'm at. And I'm sure it is actually higher than that, but it's definitely not more than 10%. I don't know how inaccurate the calipers can be, but I think it was pretty close. Anyway, forget about the bf%. It's really rather irrelevant.