• thrawn@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Isn’t it? I was underweight from (American units incoming) elementary school until college, BMI under 17.5. At some point I got serious about packing calories and exercising and I gained a ton of weight. Back on Reddit there was a sub called gainit where longtime underweight people, well, gained it.

      Now look, I don’t actually know if it was worth it. I don’t feel any different physically, despite being multiple times stronger than I was, nor do I feel healthier. I prefer the way I look now, but I actually hadn’t really noticed I was underweight until shortly before I started and I don’t spend too much time looking at myself. Almost no one commented on my thinness, and literally only one person ever did in a negative manner (saying I looked malnourished). Plus it was absolute misery packing bulk calories— when I finally got to cut the excess fat, it was delightful to return to a caloric deficit.

      But for me, and a lot of others, it really was that simple. Not easy, but simple.

      I also want to note that I have a lot of food allergies, making it difficult to eat high calorie fast food. To make matters worse I prefer lower calorie foods, almost 100% of the time I’ll take a no-protein salad over high calorie pasta or high protein chicken dishes. And finally I had to rely on small amounts of THC to block nausea while eating because I have a tiny stomach. The odds were stacked against me and I still don’t enjoy the amount of eating I have to do.

      Anyone underweight reading this who wants to gain weight, it will probably be easier for you. Start now and you can put on >30lb in the first year. I was under 100lb when I started and gained over 1/3 of my body weight. Track every single thing you eat— trust me, on the 3000th calorie you will be grateful for the 15 calorie vitamins you had earlier— watching for calories per day and protein. Try for 1g protein per pound of weight, but you can get away with less. Copy a gym routine from a friend or the internet, 3-5 days a week, aiming for ~5hr every seven days. Drink your calories if and when you can’t eat them, there are mass gainer powders. The gains will come.

      And if you don’t want it, well, having done it I don’t blame you. It didn’t change much besides how I felt about my appearance. Self love would probably give you the same thing without having to add a spoon of olive oil into everything you eat.

      • Dasus@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I’ve basically tried that for a few years and haven’t put on weight.

        All my family is pretty much overweight, but I can eat kebabs, spaghetti and chocolate all day, drink beer and soda (until I was literally fed up of all of it, felt the mountain of food in my throat pretty much) and not move a muscle and I still actually lost some weight.

        However I do think there’s some actual malabsorption or something behind it as well, just can’t get the public doctors to pay any fking attention no matter the evidence I have.

        So yeah it should be as simple as that, and for most people, it definitely is. But someone who actually makes a post about the subject might be more likely to have some sort of aberration.

        Personally I’m trying gluten free rn. I have been tested for celiacs in the past, but either I got false negatives or it’s NCGS, which would explain a lot, as it’s not as violent as celiac usually and wouldn’t show up on tests.

          • Dasus@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Mid-thirties yeah.

            The point is if it was just normal high metabolism, then why does no-one else in my family have anything even remotely like it, as they’re all overweight? (And I used to be a bit round at one point as a kid)

            And I know my brother’s are my brother’s with the same certainty the Mario Bro’s do, so it’s not like I have completely different genes.

            I do have a kidney thing and it caused high BP for some reason. And since the adrenals are located quite close to where the problem is and where they operated on, idk, might have something to do with that as well.

            Stress, diet, all that. Hard to science out by myself though. The public doctors here suck. And not in a good way.

    • monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      You know when you’re not hungry? Eat an ice cream or 2.

      Anyone can gain weight.

      Are you specifically trying to just gain muscle? If so, eat lots of steak and potatoes and lift weights.

      Skinny people stay skinny because they don’t eat.

    • ealoe@ani.social
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      6 months ago

      Previously underweight person here, it really is that simple. Just eat more, consistently, pay attention to it. I gained 35lbs and am now a healthy weight.