Do You Need To Gain Weight?

Question: I’m struggling to gain weight. What can I do?

The media is crammed full of advice on weight loss, but rarely do I come across advice for weight gain. It figures… Who would want to gain weight, isn’t that in the naughty category?

The main reasons for weight gain are:

1. To improve athletic performance or aesthetics. This might be the strong man who needs to consume anywhere from 8000 to 20000 calories per day. If you’re the size of a truck, the truck is easier to pull. Or the body builder who wants to gain muscle mass to be ridiculously good looking (Zoolander, great film).

2. Malabsorbtion issues. This is usually from the digestive system being damaged through a food type (wheat, gluten, dairy), an imbalance in gut bacteria (e.g. heavy use of antibiotics), or even stress from negative thought patterns or a high adrenaline flow. Generally it’s a mixture of the above culprits plus others. This group have lost too much weight and it’s effecting their strength, bone density and energy levels.

3. To survive a nuclear fallout.

Heal your gut.

The no. 1 way to gain healthy weight is to get to the root of the problem. It’s to heal your gut.

This can be long and painful. I’ve suffered from malabsorbtion issues for the last few years. Mine resulted from heavy antibiotic use and stress. However I will share with you some of my most helpful lessons learnt:

Lesson 1 – cut out all processed food and refined sugar until symptoms subside.

Lesson 2 – try an exclusion diet where you cut a common irritant from your diet for 21 days.

Lesson 3 – take probiotics daily. In food form (sauerkraut or kefir) or a supplement. I take “Dr Mercola Complete Probiotics” which has 35 billion good bacteria in 1 capsule.

Lesson 4 – have high omega-3 foods everyday (anyone for sardines?). If fish isn’t your thing, try a krill oil supplement.

Lesson 5 – try a 24hr Juice fast once a week. I find this resets my system if it’s been triggered off.

By keeping a food diary, I concluded that I would cut out wheat and gluten. Which is a good shout for everyone.

But weirdly, insoluble fibre was terrible for my gut. Vegetables and some fruit are high in insoluble (cannot dissolve in water) fibre.

As Chris Kresser puts it:

“consuming large amounts of insoluble fiber when your gut is inflamed is a little bit like rubbing a wire brush against an open wound. Ouch”

This means I now Juice some of my veggies that are particularly high in insoluble fibre and take a soluble fibre supplement (organic psyllium husk) to add… Umm… bulk to my stool… You made me write that.

To clarify, both forms of fibre are important for digestive health. But can you see even a super healthy food like vegetables may have to be scrutinised. Leave no stone unturned!

Simple weight gain strategies

I still have bad days (and weeks!) with my gut, but it’s heading in the the right direction. Over the last year I’ve put on 10kg through applying what is in this blog… That’s healthy muscle mass not a six pack made of flab.

Remember once we have a healthier gut, we will be more efficient at gobbling up all the nutrients and energy of every mouthful. Now some simple weight gain tips:

1. Increase portion size.

Hate to state the obvious. If you have 2 eggs every morning, try having 4. More food = more calories. Ease yourself into a gradual increase over time and aim for variety.

2. Liquid calories.

It’s not just thick shakes with protein powder and coconut oil that hit the spot. After having a meal I will sometimes make a healthy dessert of full fat organic yoghurt, mashed banana and some dark chocolate. That kind of meal just slips down and gets your stomach used to eating more.

3. Don’t be scared of fat.

You will know by now that I’m not scared of fat. My best sources are organic butter, coconut oil and olive oil. Mark Sissons has a nice blog on it. Other good fat sources are avocado, nuts (moderate as high in omega-6 and phytates), and raw organic dairy (if well tolerated).

4. Go after carbohydrates.

Especially if you’re exercising frequently you’ll be burning through your muscles’ stores of glycogen. That needs to be replaced. My favourite carb is mashed potato (blitz it up until it’s runny and creamy. Yum!)

5. Start powerlifting as a hobby

Exercises such as back squats will stunt naughty weight gain and enable the good stuff to dominate. We all have the (sometimes untapped!) potential to be strong, athletic and muscular.

Thanks for reading and contact me with any questions, I would be more than happy to help.

Dorchester personal trainer - Dave Wall - www.dorchesterpersonaltraining.co.uk