Now for something a little different....

[Zippy]

Hey girls - I'm hoping someone out there can give me some advice...

I was born an ectomorph. :cry: Can eat till the cows come home, and find weight gain very difficult. Have been weight training for two years now, (with minimal gain since before I started), currently having a two-month break so ready to get back into it. At the moment I'm 58kg and about 160cm. I would do anything to reach 65kg but I'm finding it impossible.

Was taking Myofusion protein and creatine, didn't really notice much change. Diet wasn't fantastic, as I wasn't religious about it, mostly because I don't know enough about what I should/shouldn't eat. People say "Just eat more", :x but I need more info.

I'd like to know if anyone can suggest a nutritionist or trainer who has experience with females wanting to gain rather than lose, and which supps are the best for this. I was getting some help from a BB male friend of mine, but what works for him didn't work for me - I need something more specialised for my gender and size.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

sorry can't suggest a particular nutritionist but the next best thing, some advice on how you can start making a difference yourself!

start out by finding out important things relating to diet such as your BMR/maintenance calories :

get BMR from http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ - this is what you need if you were to just lay in bed all day

and then multiply that BMR based on your actual daily activity level factor here : http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calcu ... -equation/

so now you know your supposed maintenance intake (lets assume 2300 kcals per day), now you can start experimenting but before you get started, take some basic measurements

-> you can add 300~500kcals to that figure so eat 2600~2800kcals per day and at the end of the month, do the measurements/weigh-ins again to see if you've gained or not.. if you are still not gaining (faster metabolism rate than the norm), then slowly increase this figure again depending on the result on the scale. eg, stayed the same weight then add 500 kcals again, if you lost weight then get more aggressive & add 800kcals... keep doin it until you get your desired results (which will come!)

now theres a couple ways to do this. clean or dirty? clean way -> count your calories (somewhere such as http://www.myfitnesspal.com). dirty way -> eat as much as you possibly can.. and then force yourself to eat even more but this is tricky if you've not counted the cals before because you do need to have a general idea of what you're eating & that you're getting in enough. i say this because i read you say "'can eat till the cows come home, and find weight gain very difficult'" - i used to say it too haha, was thinking i was overeating and still not gaining weight... problem? once i worked it all out, i was actually not eating enough for my activity level :doh:

another important factor is how you make up those calories. try make sure you get in enough protein and lets not forget, carbs are just as important when it comes to weight gains. that fitnesspal site can help make suggestions as to how to divide the macro nutrients once you tell it you're interested in weight gain & how much you'd like to gain.

also, you got a workout program sorted right? not doing ridiculous amounts of cardio or something?

once you got the gains rolling ( :pfft: ) in, you can start paying a bit closer attention to the measurements (skinfolds or just basic waistline etc.) and determine whether you are gaining too much fat for your liking or not. if you are, don't rush into some cut just dial down the caloric intake little by little and it'll eventually take care of itself.

[Zippy]

Hey thanks so much buddy! What an awesome reply - fantastic advice. I'm going to look into everything you suggested asap. :pfft:

I'm very conscious of doing too much cardio, although want to do the Round the Bays run in Feb so did do a 7.5km training jog the other day! Definitely don't overtrain cardio though, very aware of the dangers of this.

I would love to find a trainer/nutritionist who could give me a strict diet. I have no problems with the discipline, it's just the knowledge... everyone has different opinions on this and there is too much info on the net! But seeing most females are wanting to lose weight, I'm starting to think that this sort of trainer does not actually exist.

Hope your training is going well, thanks again.

[runveerun]

Hey Zippy, can you post up your diet so we can take a look at it?

[teamfatboy]

And which area are you in, for the trainer/ nutritionist ?

[Dinahlady]

My advice would be to try and eat some protein carbs and fats every 2 or so hours. There are so many different diets and so much info about eating right out there. If you are having trouble putting on weight/mass I'd just try and practise getting something down you this regularly while you are getting your head round macros/calories and increasing portion sizing etc then start bringing them into it as you gather more info from this site, others and from nutritionists etc.

In my opinion (there are many opinions out there) the most important thing for gaining muscle is the post workout meal and the meal after that. So straight after the gym you want to eat some fast release carbs and protein, but keep it low fat. so maybe white bread, or rice/low fat rice pudding (easy and convenient). and then the next important thing is the meal after that, so make sure within an hour or so you get a full meal with protein carbs and fats in.

[Zippy]

Thanks everyone, and I will find the diet I was using late last year and post it here. Unfortunately over the summer I have let my diet and workout routine fall through the floor!! But even at the strictest of diet and working out, I didn't notice any visible changes, which is why I got so disheartened by it all. I don't want to give up on this though... you don't know how much I hate my skinny arms! :cry: