just skin'n'bones

[skinNbones]

Hi,

 

Just thought I'd post quickly on here to say hello.

 

I've been incredibly thin my whole life. I have a pretty fast metabolism and due to an illness as a child, I don't think my body processes fats very well.

 

According to the fitbit aria I have a body fat percentage of 6% despite not being all that fit or healthy to start.  I'm a typical programmer, frequently missing lunch, if I'm just trying to solve a tricky bug, and then suffering later (I can sometimes be literally shaking by the end of the day).

 

Anyway, I've decided now in my thirties to finally take this seriously and try and gain some weight and put on some muscle mass. Ideally I want to get my fitness levels back up to be able to play a full game of basketball again. I'm making an effort to eat more than normal, mixing in porridge with my muesli and stocking up on fruit and nut bars, but I can't really take the Paleo diet too seriously, as I need whatever calories I can get.

 

So to start will be just be trying to get through the beginners bodyweight routine, and also work towards being able to jog for an hour (on alternate days).

 

Hope this makes sense, happy to take critical advice.

 

[Noname123]

Welcome!! Have you thought about prepacking/prepping your lunches for the week for those crunches? Some lean meats with whole grain pasta/rice, veggies and additions like avocados with olive oil drizzle should help make a filling meal with some added calories for lunch. Additionally, I'm  a huge fan of protein bars, shakes and most of all peanut/cashew butter- so calorie dense!!! You throw in things like greek yogurt/oats/honey in the morning, a couple of those high calorie snacks and a decent dinner and you should see your weight start to tick up. 

 

Have you thought of calorie counting or macro tracking if paleo isn't for you? It would give you a solid calorie number to shoot for for a healthy gain to supplement your strength training. 

[EmbraCraig]

My goal is the opposite of yours, as I'm trying to lose rather than gain weight, but I'll second the idea that prepackingg lunches helps a lot. I've bought a couple of salad boxes so I can keep my greens, meat and dressings separate until I eat them so everything stays crispy, and they come with a knife and fork in the box, so I can quickly eat at my desk.

I'd also recommend a couple of portions of raw, unsalted nuts as snacks - calorie dense, good bit of protein and lots of the better kinds of fat, and again they're easy to eat at your desk if you can't get away (I'm not following paleo, so mix them in with some fat free cottage cheese for an extra protein fix)

[skinNbones]

Thanks for those suggestions. Pre-packaging lunches is defintely a good idea, as I can spend almost a tenner just on buying sandwiches around where I work.

 

I'll try and stock up on some peanut butter. Didn't know cashew butter existed though, so looking forward to trying that.

 

Not sure I'm motivated enough to actually calorie count though. My wife does that , and it does take up a bit of time, even with the myFitness Pal barcode scanning.

 

What's macro tracking?

[Noname123]

Thanks for those suggestions. Pre-packaging lunches is defintely a good idea, as I can spend almost a tenner just on buying sandwiches around where I work.

 

I'll try and stock up on some peanut butter. Didn't know cashew butter existed though, so looking forward to trying that.

 

Not sure I'm motivated enough to actually calorie count though. My wife does that , and it does take up a bit of time, even with the myFitness Pal barcode scanning.

 

What's macro tracking?

It's like another layer to calorie counting- people who like numbers use this to help build diets out based on whether they're building muscle/leaning out/eating for performance. (it's a further analysis of intake looking at macronutrients, protein, carbs, fat and fiber)

 

But yes cashew butter is delicious Additionally, prepacking lunches means that your calorie counting is already done for at least 1 major meal of the day But if it doesn't work for you in the long run no worries but doing it for just a week or two would show you roughly the amount you'd need to intake for proper gaining! 

[skinNbones]

I've relented and got myfitness pal on mobile to track calories. Looks like kt has basic macro tracking too. So this should give me a better idea how much I need to be eating.

Thanks for the advice.

[skinNbones]

Just as well . I was 1000 calories under the target when i got home!

[Noname123]

Just as well . I was 1000 calories under the target when i got home!

 

It's pretty grounding when you figure out stuff like that isn't it!? I used an example of unintentionally over-eating earlier today. I was logging 190 calories of peanut butter....but my two 'tablespoons' amounted to 1/2 cup....so it was really 750 calories, over a 500 calorie misreport, no wonder I wasn't losing!