Applied Strength

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

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.

7 comments:

Franz Snideman said...: 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.

Of 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!; 10:32 AM
Iron Tamer said...: good stuff Brett. So where are you tipping the scale these days?; 7:56 AM
Brett Jones said...: Thanks Franz - certainly a case of "simple but not easy".

Dave - high 190's ;)
(196-198 usually); 8:04 AM
Keats Snideman CSCS, CK-FMS, LMT said...: 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.

Last 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.; 3:03 PM
Brett Jones said...: Thanks Keats and I hope you are healed up and past your medical issue soon.; 6:18 AM
Mike T Nelson said...: I 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).
good info!
Mike N; 9:39 AM
Jordan Vezina said...: 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.; 10:19 PM