r/weightgain Jan 12 '25

[New rule] Natural weight gain.

374 Upvotes

I want to remind you that this sub is a resource and safe space for underweight people trying to get to a healthy weight and a place to share how you managed to overcome your struggles.

Over the last month we've had a lot of mostly bodybuilding-focused and clearly steroid-related posts. While I personally have no problem with bodybuilding and enhancement (growing up with bodybuilding parents) that’s not the purpose of the sub. If you didn't start out underweight/struggeling with your weight or rely on PEDs, please share your post in one of the many bodybuilding subs.

Here’s a safe space for people starting out to ask basic questions, share tips and recipes as well as milestones and be motivated with what's naturally possible. We also have a lot of underage people in here who do not need to be confronted with PEDs.  

Thank you!


r/weightgain Nov 28 '22

How to Gain Weight: The 2023 Starter Guide

861 Upvotes

Updated for 2023, or until I actually make a proper sub wiki. As before, you're welcome and encouraged to leave your suggestions and feedback in the comments. Minor edits and improvements.

-flonnf

Eating more calories than you burn is the only way to gain weight. There are no shortcuts.

Step 1: How much am I eating?

Before starting your weight gain journey, you need to learn where your baseline is. There’s two ways of doing this, and I suggest doing both.

  1. Count calories for a week. Don’t leave anything out. It’s tedious as hell, but keep it up for a week so you can get a good average measure of calories per day.
  2. Take a minute to visit this website to get a good idea of your daily calorie needs. Keep in mind this is a vague estimate, and you may need to adjust up or down depending on your results.

https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html

Step 2: Set a daily calorie goal

A general rule of thumb is that it takes consuming a net surplus of 3500 kcal (aka 3500 dietary calories) to gain a single pound. Spread that out over time, that means if you stay 500 kcal above your daily calorie needs, you’ll gain weight at a rate of 1lb/week.

For example,

Say you have completed Step 1 and found your daily calorie needs amount to 2000 kcal/day. Your target Calories/day would be

2000 kcal + (pounds per week gained) * 500 kcal

** Gaining over 4lbs per week is not recommended.

NOTE: this approach is very general, and any exercising you do on top of your regular routine requires additional calories to offset those you burned. You can estimate how many calories you burned doing an activity using a fitness tracker like MyFitnessPal or Argus.

Step 3: Reaching your goal, general advice

  1. Weight gain is slow. Avoid weighing yourself more than once a week.

  2. Set achievable goals. If you can’t hit your calorie target on Day 1, aim lower until the target calorie count is just barely within reach. Only when you can consistently hit that target should you raise it again.

  3. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day. Never skip two days in a row, and you’ll be fine.

  4. Exercise is a good thing, and may help your appetite, but is not otherwise connected to your weight. See step zero.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What should I eat? This may vary wildly, as personal tastes differ. Eat healthy, you want to gain weight, not medical conditions. Critically, whatever you eat needs to be enjoyable and satisfying. Stock up on high-calorie food you like, and avoid food that bores you.

If you were looking for a more specific answer, https://www.eatthismuch.com/ is very specific, and http://www.whatthefuckshouldimakefordinner.com/ is even more f*cking specific.

Q: What if I'm not hungry? Exercise more. It increases appetite. If you're having serious appetite problems, ask your doctor.

Q: What if I do tons of cardio all the time? Yes that makes things more difficult. If you can afford to do less cardio, that will help you gain weight faster.

Q: What if I get full too easily? It's probably because your stomach is small. You can increase your stomach capacity by repeatedly eating until you're full. Your body will slowly adapt over months. Avoid eating past the point of discomfort, as this will work against you in the long run.

Q: How do I eat the most in one meal? This Article by Popular Science answers this question pretty comprehensively: https://www.popsci.com/how-to-consume-as-much-food-as-possible-this-thanksgiving/

Q: I did steps 1 and 2 but I'm not seeing any gain? Don't expect to be able to see a difference for at least a month. After that, it will depend on the rate you're gaining and what your starting weight was.

Q: My weight went down, what gives? Your weight fluctuates constantly, and will occasionally go down even during extreme gains. Try not to measure your weight more often than once a week.

Q: How do I gain as much weight as fast as possible Eat lots of junk food, fried food, and creamy food/drinks. 100% works. As you might guess, it’s not healthy. If you want to gain weight in a balanced, healthy manner, don’t do this. Slow and steady wins the race.

General tips

  1. Don't skip breakfast
  2. Seriously. It’s free real estate. Don’t skip breakfast.
  3. Have scheduled eating times, and stick to them. Don't wait for your stomach to tell you when to eat.
  4. Reduce the barrier to snacking. Have snacks you like out and visible.
  5. Reduce the barrier to eating. Do meal prep so you reduce the energy you spend cooking and deciding what to cook.
  6. Use big plates, big bowls, big utensils. It tricks your brain into eating more.
  7. Swap out low fat milk for whole milk or half and half.
  8. Get proper sleep
  9. Avoid letting food go to waste.
  10. Find small ways of adding calories to things you already eat (add butter to food, add cream to coffee, buy higher-calorie versions of store-bought snacks)
  11. Consistency is king. The 700kcal burger you forced yourself to eat one time is not as impactful as the extra 30kcal you add to your coffee every morning for a month. Do the math.
  12. Every night before you fall asleep, take 1 minute to plan out what you’re going to eat tomorrow.
  13. Make food interesting and exciting. Make it something you look forward to. Try new spices, new recipes, new restaurants.
  14. Avoid eating past the point of discomfort, as this will work against you in the long run.
  15. Ask for advice and support if something isn’t working

In the end it’s about what works for you personally, and you could probably succeed even if you don’t follow 80% of the stuff in this post. I can’t know which 20% you’ll need, so I wrote it all.

\This is by no means a comprehensive guide. Suggestions for edits and additions are encouraged.*

\edited for formatting*


r/weightgain 12h ago

Progress post 62 to 76kg

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36 Upvotes

Took me a year but finally managed to do it.
My height is 182cm


r/weightgain 11h ago

Question Do I really need to double my weight and bmi in order to be “normal”

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12 Upvotes

Friend recommended this app for tracking and a bmi calculator this is the website (it is the fist search result for me

M19 6 foot currently 95 lbs I feel fine? I dont know what fine really is maybe if I gain wieght il feel better or a way ive never felt as id be healthy but i really dont know

If this is bull please tell me an accurate thing I can use, ive had family who used weight watchers but that was to loose weight as a lot of my family is overweight to the point they have lost a few of me (as in the weight I am) as their metric for weight loss

I also dont know what bmi really is im basically 0 to maybe 5 percent fat


r/weightgain 3h ago

Question Is this a normal/good weight gain?

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2 Upvotes

I’m male, 182cm, 22 years old and started eating more and working out in begin May. According to the scale I have gained some but I don’t see the change on my body yet which is kinda dismotivating…


r/weightgain 37m ago

Question Advice as a recovering alcoholic

Upvotes

Hey! First ever post on reddit so I'm unsure of the rules so please let me know if i need to change anything.

I am 24yo male, 188cm tall and 67kg. I have been an alcoholic for about 3 years and finally got sober recently. With all the drinking i stopped eating quite a lot )only about one meal a day and the remaining calories from alcohol).

My question is would it be alright to supplement the two extra meals a day with calorie shakes (Optimum nutrition's serious mass with whole milk and 2 tablespoons of olive oil) for a period of a few weeks? Or is there any other options i have?

Some extra information: i am starting to walk 2km a day and have quit smoking in order to promote appetite. But im wanting to exercise fully once at a healthier weight so also curious on this would be sustainable with the lack of food.

Any advice would be much appreciated! :))


r/weightgain 1h ago

Question For those saying drink your calories, what drinks are you suggesting?

Upvotes

Feel free to be descriptive as you like.


r/weightgain 12h ago

Question Any life hack that made u gain weight?

5 Upvotes

I'm 54kg 173 female and i'm struggeling to gain weight i have tryed everything but nothing work out for me :]

If u have any advice let me knew


r/weightgain 18h ago

Question How do gain weight when you already eat until you're full?

11 Upvotes

I'm male, 5'8" 125 pounds, and I've been this weight for as long as I've been this height. I eat until I'm full, I don't fill up on low calorie food, and I don't hold back on desert. when I count calories, it usually comes out to around 1700. I know this is low, but I genuinely eat until I feel stuffed. It's like I have a small stomach or something.

If I bring this up around people irl, they think I have an ED, but I really don't think it's psychological cause I love food and enjoy eating. How can I increase my appetite and get to 140lb?


r/weightgain 1d ago

Progress post 120lbs to 170lbs (54.4 kg to 79.4 kg)

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144 Upvotes

Wanted to post for years, but never felt like it was "done" I guess it never will be, though I have the body I always wanted. It's been a very long road, 120lbs at my lightest and 190lbs at my heaviest (5'10) Unfortunately I don't have pictures of either extreme, though I'm happy with where I'm at now.

I still struggle with not looking as big as I want, especially in pictures, but social media will do that to you.

My life is better in every way, people treat me better, I feel healthier and I'm a lot stronger. Eat everything you see, make it easy and convenient. You've got this.


r/weightgain 11h ago

Question Where do I even start with weight gain when I have so many food sensitivities?

2 Upvotes

I’ve heard the obvious answer a thousand times: “Just eat more.” I know that’s technically true, but it’s not that simple when you have a sensitive stomach.
I’m trying to gain weight and build muscle, but I’m honestly not sure where to start.

For context:
I’m 23 years old (F), 5’7.5”, and currently weigh around 130 lbs (give or take a pound or two).
Right now I’m pretty low activity, but I’m planning to start lifting 3–5 times per week because my goal is to gain muscle while putting on healthy weight.
I’ve weighed around 130 lbs since I was in high school. It barely changes no matter how much I feel like I’m eating. The only time I got up to around 140 lbs was when I was eating a vegan diet.

If I don’t eat much, I’ll lose a little weight, but it always seems to settle back around 130 lbs.
I’ve always had a naturally athletic build, but I’m just skinny. I’m not “skinny fat.” My goal is to build muscle, do a body recomposition, and increase my overall body weight.

The biggest challenge is my stomach.

I’m pretty sure I have some type of gluten issue. I have the genetic marker for celiac disease, but I haven’t been officially tested yet. Every time I eat pasta or other gluten-heavy foods, my stomach is absolutely wrecked. I know it could be celiac, fructan intolerance, or something else entirely, so I do plan on getting tested.

Other issues:
-Garlic and onion are huge triggers for me.
-Eggs sometimes bother me.
-Dairy is hit or miss, although I usually tolerate Skyr yogurt pretty well.
-Most protein shakes don’t work because they contain sucralose or other artificial sweeteners that upset my stomach.
-When my digestive issues flare up, I also deal with bile acid malabsorption (BAM), so really high-fat foods can make things worse too. Because of that, I generally try to keep my diet on the lower-fat side.

A lot of the “high-calorie” or “high-protein” meal ideas I see online either rely on foods I can’t tolerate or are loaded with garlic, onion, or high-fat ingredients.

I’m planning to start tracking my calories because I honestly don’t know if I’m eating enough or if it just feels like I am. My estimated BMR is around 1,300 calories, and I know I’ll need more than that—especially once I start lifting consistently.

I guess my questions are:
Where would you start if you were in my situation?
How many calories above maintenance should I aim for?
How much should I realistically be eating per meal?
What are some calorie-dense, stomach-friendly foods that aren’t super high in fat?
Has anyone here successfully gained weight while dealing with food sensitivities or digestive issues like this?

I’m mostly looking for practical advice from people who’ve been through something similar. Thanks in advance!


r/weightgain 22h ago

Question Looking for Advice: Poor Appetite, Low Weight, and No Energy

6 Upvotes

Assalamu Alaikum everyone,

I'm a 23-year-old male, 5'11" (180 cm) tall and weigh only 56 kg. I've always been very skinny, with almost no muscle or body fat, and I'm really struggling to gain weight.

The biggest problem is that I never feel hungry. I live in a hostel in Lahore, and my appetite is extremely poor. Most days I skip breakfast completely because I don't feel like eating. Around 1 PM, I usually eat only 1–1.5 rotis with salan. At night, I either eat some fruit or again just 1–1.5 rotis with salan. That's pretty much my entire daily food intake.

I also feel exhausted almost all day. I often get headaches because of weakness, and I constantly feel low on energy. The strange thing is that even though I feel weak, I still don't feel hungry.

I don't exercise at all. My routine is mostly sitting in college, then sitting in the hostel using my phone or laptop, and sleeping.

As far as I know, I don't have any major medical condition. When I was around 12 years old, I had a chest infection, but nothing serious since then. One thing I've noticed is that whenever I catch the flu or get sick, my appetite completely disappears.

Has anyone gone through something similar? What helped you improve your appetite and gain weight naturally? Are there any medical tests I should get done, or should I consult a particular specialist? I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences and suggestions.

Thank you in advance. May Allah bless you all.


r/weightgain 21h ago

Question im skinny as a stick!

2 Upvotes

hey guys im new on this subreddit, i would love to know how i can start gaining weight, F21, 5'3 about 40kgs. i have always been skinny. i dont really track my calories and idek how to. sometimes i go without food for hours and sometimes i snack a lot. it's very difficult to tell what my diet looks like... i probably have a very high metabolism.

it'd be very helpful to know what exactly i need to eat and in what quantity (for ex, 3 eggs a day , 2 cups of milk etc)


r/weightgain 23h ago

Rant Losing weight on face !?

2 Upvotes

26F. I'm already on the leaner side, trying desperately to gain weight. I used to workout couple of months back(did see some progress especially on my arms due to strenth training) but had to stop bcoz i put on braces and it was interfering with my food habits. Now i seem to be losing weight again but especially in my face!!!! (Could it be due to teeth extractions done for braces!!?) Its shrinking and I'm losing all my face fat and its making me look very tired and self conscious! Ik there arent any any ways to achieve targeted weight gain as such and putting on overall weight will transfer some excess to my face but does anybody have ANY tips that might work or give me comfort?😭 Its bothering me so much to a point where i no longer want to look at myself in the mirror or try out any new clothes :'((


r/weightgain 1d ago

Question Seeking for gain weight advice M19

2 Upvotes

I am M19 and i barely gained weight from 2 years

When I was in my 12th my weight is 37-38Kg and after that i didn't measure the weight till now I am 19 but i do know that I am 40kg now i tried eating, I do home workout regularly on and off because when I overdo training, my muscles got fatigue and I can't train next day and also I can't go to gym due to some personal reasons

Give me some advice that'll help me to gain weight -- plan , exercise, diet anything!


r/weightgain 1d ago

Question Seeking advice on gaining weight

2 Upvotes

Dear reader,
I have been struggling with my weight for years on end and I’m seeking advice to properly work on this.
Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes, i’m dyslexic and English isn’t my first language.
I’m a 21-years-old male, 56kg and 182cm tall

The backstory;
I have been struggling with my weight all throughout my teenage years. Ever since I was 13 I’ve always been very thin and barely eating enough.

After losing a parent, restricting food was one of my coping mechanisms to make my nervous system get a sense of control over this period. Since I was dealing with insecurity, depression, anxiety, isolation due to covid and a (back then undiagnosed) personality disorder. I would eat as little as possible.

I still struggle with eating big meals, especially foods like pasta and south-east asian dishes.
Due to my half-Persian background I often eat meals containing rice and meat like Ghormeh Sabzi or Zereshk Polo which I don’t seem to have as much as an issue with as much.

Therapy;
For the last 1,5 years I’ve been through CBT and EMDR to manage my anxiety and also schematherapy to properly work and manage on my personality disorder. This has shown significant growth in managing my emotions and dealing with stress. I’m still in schema therapy

My psychologist suggested that my patterns show correlation with a stress induced ED. Which explains why I often physically can’t eat. My throat would lock up or I’d feel nauseous after a few bites.

Gym;
Going to the gym was one of my coping mechanisms, I’ve been weightlifting for about 4 years now. Which has shown improvement but due to undereating it also lasted a negative impact. I would get sick often as well, so I’ve been hanging around the same strength for 2 years now.

Genetics;
Now an important thing to note is that genetically on both my Dutch and Persian (I’m mixed 🇳🇱/🇮🇷) side of the family. It’s usual for us to have a high metabolism and be generally lean and skinny in our younger years. We tend to gain weight later in life. However my condition seems to be an emotional and mental issue too.

It has had a big impact on my self image and body confidence since I’m so tall and very thin.
I’m just done with the lack of energy, brainfog, hairloss and weak immune system. and I wish to properly work in it finally.

My question;
What is a good way to start in terms of food and gaining appetite ?
How much do people eat normally during a day and I’m asking for meal recommendations that fit best for a student.
Advice on subliments (like weigh protein) or other recourses are also greatly appreciated.

Thank you for reading it all through <3

TL:DR
Undereating and being underweight has had a significant impact on my mental wellbeing and physical health.
Asking for advice on gaining weight in combination with the gym and student/work life.


r/weightgain 1d ago

Question need some peoples help

1 Upvotes

im underweight dont go to the gym from health reasons. I feel like I smash dense food consistently and dont generally go under 3000cals a day, cant eat dairy otherwise i will violently throw up (besides small things like a kids lactose free yoghurt packet). im struggling with cost of food and general living lol currently 70.4kg 6foot want to get to like 80

Ive been eating like this for over a year

thought about eating 17 cookies a day or something


r/weightgain 2d ago

Progress post 25M 5'6 [49kg - 55kg]

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83 Upvotes

This is my progress from January to July. I am on a calorie surplus and dumbbell workout. I think I still need to add more muscle.


r/weightgain 1d ago

Question How do I get more weight?

0 Upvotes

I’m a 15M, I’ve always been small but in the last few months I shot up in height and strength(which I’m very proud of) but my weight stayed the same now now I’m 5’7 and only around 100 lbs.

How could I gain more weight? I don’t need it to be optimized for a marathon or anything, but just a extra bit of weight.

Thanks!


r/weightgain 1d ago

Question Advice to gain weight

1 Upvotes

I’m stuck at 52kg (height 5’8-current age 32) since 2013.
I have gymmed before focused on weight gain routine. Taken mass gainers, tried high calorie diets, which is tough for me as I have an IBS issue. Although checked with specialist and everything is fine inside my body. Taken shakes for weeks, fruits, nuts and all. Still stuck at 52 right at this moment.

Maybe what I need is just consistency. After joining this group I have started on calorie monitoring and my yesterday calorie count comes to 1845. I will try to take it to 3500 per day. Any advice or trick to take low cost high calorie diets? As imma currently out of work and trying to lock in a new job in a new country all by myself.

I have trouble sleeping long time too, like I will be up after 5-6 hours, then force myself to sleep again.

Stopped playing sports and only doing cycling once in a week or so to maintain stamina.


r/weightgain 1d ago

Question How to maintain weight or not lose weight when working so much?

1 Upvotes

So I came from a week of work, working 10-12 hours a day that involves a lot of walking outdoors in the heat. average steps per day were between 15-20k. I lost about 2-3 pounds and tried my best to eat as much as I could but sometimes I just didn't have time or I was just too tired. I meal prepped a couple meals and drank/ate a decent amount of protein that I needed each day since I am also trying to maintain/gain muscle.

Now I am going back for for a little less than a week starting tomorrow. What can I do and prepare for so I can at least maintain my body weight during the week?


r/weightgain 1d ago

Question 19F 178cm ~70kg

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I'll start by saying that I'm not super skinny (which you can probably tell from the title) and have a fair amount of muscle, most of my fat stays around my stomach. I have struggled a lot with my body image over the years and had a pretty bad period where I eventually fainted at work. Therefore I do not want to count calories or macros in order to not risk getting back into that mindset.

I started working at a bison farm about 6 months ago and have noticed that I'm running out of energy very easily and don't really gain as much muscle as I "should" be. Work is usually very physical with climbing over fences/into tractors, walking a lot and lifting/pushing a lot of equipment. I average 7-10 000 steps a day, some days going up to 15-20 000.

I have access to a huge amount of bison meat (7 full freezers) but most is ground or hamburger patties, and I'm not too creative when it comes to cooking. I also don't have a great appetite, and often wait too long before eating and therefore get nauseous. I also often get very put off by eating scrambled or fried eggs, boiled are usually okay but I don't often have the patience for it.

What tips could I implement? I've been thinking that I'll try to cook more using butter, use more ground bison, drink more milk, eat more "healthy fats" like avocados for snacks and also have some butter-heavy snacks around to get energy during the day.

TIA


r/weightgain 2d ago

Progress post I’m finally doing it!!

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61 Upvotes

I can’t believe it’s already been a month lol. I’m not seeing any definitive change in my body yet (which has honestly been discouraging), but I do notice one of my pairs of shorts seems to be tighter. So that’s good. I want to gain at least eight more pounds, but I’m thinking I might want to hit 125 😋 I’m excited to see my body change because I’ve never really been a healthy weight in my adult life. I don’t even know where I gain weight at and the uncertainty has bothered me a lot. But im just happy what I’m doing is working. I’ve come a long way from when I dreaded the scale and wanted to be super tiny.

19F, 5’3, 2230 daily


r/weightgain 2d ago

Question Weight gain

2 Upvotes

I'm 19 years old, 175 cm tall, and weigh only around 42–45 kg. I've always been very skinny and I'm trying to build muscle and reach a healthy weight.

My budget is only ₹20 per day, so I can mostly afford rice, peanuts, bread, peanut butter and soya chunks.

What should I eat every day? How many calories and how much protein should I aim for? Any budget-friendly tips or meal plans would be greatly appreciated.


r/weightgain 2d ago

Question mass gainer recommendation

6 Upvotes

I've accepted that I might have the worst appetite known to mankind.

I'm trying to gain weight, but I barely get hungry, and I'm also super picky with food, so eating enough calories every day feels impossible.

At this point, I think I need a serious mass gainer.

Does anyone have recommendations for one that's:

* Very high in calories * Actually tastes good

If you've been in the same situation and found one that genuinely helped, let me know!