Eating to gain weight or Perception vs. Reality:
This is an "amusing" topic for me as Squat + Eating have provided me with almost 20 pounds of increased weight in the past several months without really wanting it to.
I hear people talk about not being able to gain weight or bemoaning the fact that they are "eating like a maniac". When it is broken down this is usually a matter of perception vs. reality.
For example: A banana is not a "weight gain tool" - unless that banana is consumed with half a jar of peanut butter in order to finish off your 6th meal of the day.
For example: Eating like a maniac does not include "fruit as snacks" - eating like maniac means 6 meals a day + protein shakes + waking up at 3 am to drink another protien shake. And the meals are of above average size - not weight watcher plates.
Squat heavy, Press heavy, Pull heavy - Rest - EAT A LOT - do these things in reality and you will grow - period.
Check your perception vs. reality in your plans to accomplish your goals before failing.
So true Brett. I think those hard gainer types (I used to put myself in that category) have no clue that you really do have to eat a TON! When I got married I weighed 155 pounds and ate like a bird. 3 years later I weighed 183 and it didn't happen by accident. I would eat bowls of rice with each meal, tons of pancakes every morning, tons of mexican food and about 2 wegiht gainer shakes per day. Guess what.....it worked.
ReplyDeleteOf course I wouldn't recommend that to everyone......at least not the way I did it....but I will say I felt way stronger when I was heavier!
good stuff Brett. So where are you tipping the scale these days?
ReplyDeleteThanks Franz - certainly a case of "simple but not easy".
ReplyDeleteDave - high 190's ;)
(196-198 usually)
Brett, you speaketh the truth for sure! As someone who's never really broken out of the "hardgainer" excuse, it really does come down to eating more consistently.
ReplyDeleteLast summer I gained 10 lbs in less than 12 weeks and it was all due to a "massive" eating schedule.
When I look at the results I attained I realized I wasn't a hardgainer afterall, but actually an "easygainer" if I would just eat enough fricken calories!
Unfortunately, I've lost all that extra weight I gained due to a drug-induced esophagus injury I've been suffering from since June of this year. My meals are now much smaller and less frequent (4-5 meals instead of my usual 6-7) due to the requirements of the medication. I'm just about to try to ween myself from the meds (I've tried several times without success) and hope to get back to a hypercaloric eating plan.
Thanks Keats and I hope you are healed up and past your medical issue soon.
ReplyDeleteI remember 2 articles that finally clicked for me one by Jason Mueller title "Massive Eating" and Dr. Berardi's first series of articles. I remember him saying (paraphrasing) "at some point you WILL out eat your metabolism"--yep, he was right! In less than a year I went from 185 to 215 (with a fair amount of fat at the end).
ReplyDeletegood info!
Mike N
Great post. I saw this myself coming from 114 lbs. at 21 to 170 lbs. now at 32. Exactly as you said, after stumbling around for years I figured out the obvious= eat more and lift heavy.
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