The Hardgainer's Guide to Nutrition: EAT!

A fraternity brother of mine recently asked me if I had any advice for him on how he could gain some weight. Like a lot of us, he's a hardgainer: thin bone structure, long limbs, naturally lean body composition, and a naturally high metabolism. For guys like him, losing weight is NOT the problem. It's gaining weight that's the real predicament.


Outside of using a training routine that requires the use of a ton of heavy squatting, pressing, and rowing, there's only one other trick of the trade (that's legal): Eat food. Eat lots of food. And do it often.

This doesn't mean you should eat everything in sight. Try to consume as many calories per day as possible while staying away from refined sugars and fatty foods. Eat too much of the bad stuff and your next question will be, "How do I lose this gut?" To which I'll refer you to this article. You must eat clean in order to ensure that your weight gain is in the form of lean muscle tissue and NOT fat.

Start by setting a benchmark of consuming 2,500 calories per day divided amongst 4-8 meals. You should be eating something about every 2 to 4 hours. Personally, I try to take in approximately 4,000 calories per day. Calories are simply how we measure the body's energy input and output. So in order to gain weight you must take in more calories per day than you put out. (Vice versa for weight loss.) You can't expect to get big when you're burning thousands of calories a day lifting weights, doing cardio, and playing ball. Just eat, lift heavy 3 or 4 times per week, and minimize the cardio (if any at all).

Protein consumption is a key component to gaining lean muscle tissue. For weight gain, you are to eat 1.5 - 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. You read right, fellas. That's a LOT of protein. If you're sure to eat a good quality source of protein at each meal, then this shouldn't be too big of an issue. This is where protein shakes and bars come in handy. Use them as snacks between your regular meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You should also drink a high calorie/high carbohydrate protein shake within 30 minutes following your workouts to help with muscular recovery and repair.

Eating correctly, no matter what your goal, can be a little tricky at times. But the trick is to find a good rhythm or routine in order to force it all into becoming a habit. Enough reading. GO EAT SOMETHING!

Now, what are you going to do?

CAS

Eat Food to Lose Weight? Yep.

Ask any one of my past or present clients and they'll tell you that in regards to nutrition, I do NOT believe in dieting. I believe in healthy and proper lifestyle choices and practices. I have never prescribed a specific "diet" to a client whether it be for weight loss, gain, or maintenance. Every Tom, Dick, & Harry out there thinks he has THE perfect dietary program for allowing you to shed your extra pounds. There's the Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet, the Body Type Diet, etc. Hell, even Dr. Phil's fat ass put out a diet book. Why in the bloody hell would anyone listen to Dr. Phil's nutritional advice? First, he's neither a nutritionist nor a dietician. He's not even a licensed psychiatrist (it's true, look it up.)! Secondly--HE'S A FAT ASS!!! Don't know about you gentlemen, but I'd have issues with taking eating advice from a unqualified fat boy. I'm just saying. So with all of that crap out there telling you how to lose weight, what are you to do? K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Proper eating is about portions and timing.

Eating properly is not as difficult as it may seem. First and foremost, you have to determine what your daily caloric needs are (i.e. calories consumed vs. calories burned). For the sake of weight loss, you want to eat less calories than you expend per day. For example, if you eat 1,600 calories (kcal) each day, then your goal is to burn more than that through your daily activities (including your workout).

From there, your daily calories must be split up amongst 5 to 8 meals. That means you should be eating every two to three hours. Eating often increases your basal metabolic rate (BMR - the rate at which the body burns calories at rest), which in turn will help you lose weight if you're eating the proper smaller portions. A good rule of thumb, never catch yourself starving, and never catch yourself stuffed. You should be at a middle ground throughout the day. Remember, we eat food to fuel our bodies, not just for the hell of it.

But what's all the hoopla about carbs? Carbs are what our bodies like to use most efficiently for energy, so it's important consume them daily. Understand that not all carbs are created equal. There are generally two types of carbohydrates to initially pay attention to: simple sugars and complex carbohydrates. Simple sugars are found in your basic junk foods (desserts, soft drinks, sugary cereals, etc.). Stay away from these, as they are not good fuel sources and they convert to bodyfat quickly. Complex (or starchy) carbohydrates consist of pastas, rice, potatoes, and breads. They give off a slow burning energy over a longer period of time. This explains why cyclists and marathoners "carb up" prior to an event. If you don't utilize the energy that carbs produce, then your body WILL convert said carbs into bodyfat. And that, my good men, is what bodyfat is--stored energy. And it's precisely the reason why you DON'T go to bed with a belly full of carbs. Consume the majority of your daily carbohydrates earlier in the day when you are the most active. But as the day progresses, begin to decrease the amount of carbs per meal. For example, your breakfast should contain the most amounts of carbs, while your dinner should contain the least.

At each meal, you should take in a quality source of protein. Think of it like this, your muscles are mostly made up from protein and water. You want muscles? Eat protein and drink water. Pick from lean meats such as chicken (white meat), fish, and turkey. You should consume 1 gram of protein per pound in bodyweight per day in order to maintain muscle mass. If you have issues getting your daily fill of protein, then try supplementing with low carb/low fat/low kcal protein shakes and protein bars. Use the shakes/bars as a snack between your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That makes for five meals! See how easy that is?!

As mentioned before, be sure to drink plenty of water. Taking in a daily minimum of 64 ounces is the standard. Oddly enough, water acts as a natural diuretic for your body. In other words, water helps you lose water. (And no, that's not a typo.)

Like I said, fellas, eating right is not exactly rocket science like some make it out to be. It all comes down to "what" and "when". Follow these simple guidelines and you'll be on your way to going shirtless in the winter.

Now, what are you going to do?

CAS