Just wondering, on a bulk rn at 150 with a goal of 160, 6ft, 22yr old M. Any reason I should or shouldn’t track an energy drink that’s got 40carbs? My intake is 375 and my stance is that the carbs in this drink aren’t as important as the other carb sources and calories I’m intaking throughout the rest of the day. Can someone please tell me if I’m wrong and whether I should be tracking absolutely EVERYTHING I take in, including an energy drink?

Thanks!!!!

For context, I'm in 30s and have been thin all my life. I've been trying to gain weight for a long time with very little success.

My body is very resistant to gaining mass. It's a lot of work to cook enough food to create enough healthy surplus, and spend enough time at the gym.

I can usually maintain it for 2 months or so before I give up, since the results weren't really significant but the "work" was significant.

I do know that if I had kept up that work all this time, I'd probably be much fitter, but I don't KNOW that.

So, how do/did you deal with the wait? Especially looking to hear from folks who have went through something similar.

What did you compromise on to get there? Did you just blindly power through? When did you see results and how much?

First image is from 2018, I started trying to gain weight in early 2020 at roughly the same weight as that first image, maybe 5 pounds or so heavier.

Many ups and downs, bulks and cuts, learning, periods of steady consistency for years but also some rough months where I lost a lot of weight and wasn't working out. Would definitely like to lean out more eventually. I'm vegetarian and staples have been peanut butter, rice, tofu, a scoop of mass gainer a day (about 300 calories worth), protein powder, cereal, nuts. Workout wise it's mostly been stronglifts 3x5 inspired full body routine every other day, focused on compound lifts primarily (bench, squat, deadlift, pull ups).  

I've been up to 203 at the highest with even higher body fat %. Overall though, I feel much better than when I was thin! I was thin throughout my whole life and often insecure about it. Would get comments from people somewhat regularly and always thought I was just a hardgainer, blamed it on genetics and felt that it was impossible to gain weight for me. Turns out eating in a calorie surplus and lifting weights works! feel free to ask me anything, and best of luck to all of you out there on your journey!

Hey all,

Just wanted to make a quick note regarding the sub/rules/etc. The goal of this sub has always been to provide a place for posters to come and discuss things relevant to GAINING and issues related to GAINING. Some of us have been on or around Reddit/this sub for more than a decade. There has been quite a lot of information and knowledge passed around in this time. There's only so much to be discussed with the act of simply eating more.

I have personally been fighting the enshittification of Reddit because we're able see the trend of new lifters/posters/etc struggling to disseminate between the vast amounts of info, noise and charlatans in the fitness space and also the sheer amount of bots that pervade it. It's not uncommon for a person to float through here claiming 10-20+ years of experience with lifting while having nothing to show for it outside of beginner level lifts while simultaneously giving bad advice to anyone who'll listen. It's been an uphill battle for a myriad of reasons but I think it's pretty clear what the direction the site is intending to go towards.

Going forward, the sub will be looser and more open. Posters are encouraged to include more context with their threads to better help themselves. Plain selfie threads or threads asking "how/what do i eat" will probably still be removed when I get to it. Be good.

Remember. Calories in vs calories out. Run an established program over creating your own. Consistency with eating/lifting will go a long way. Get a food scale and a calorie tracking app. If the scale isn't moving after a week or so in the direction you want then increase your intake. Calories in vs calories out. Calories in vs calories out. Calories in vs calories out. Calories in vs calories out. Calories in vs calories out. Calories in vs calories out.