QuestionHello Sarah thank you for taking time to help me out. I am 29 years old and a mother of one. I weighed 105 lbs before I became pregnant, 165 lbs at full term, then back down to 110ish now, 2 years later. I take B-vitamins, I even tried Muscle Milk. I can build muscle but because I'm only 5'3 and small framed so it's difficult to gain any weight at all. I was also told I have a high metabolism. I am searching for some sort of shake I can take every day. My husband is overweight (trying to lose weight) so cooking is often difficult. People say I am "sickly thin" and I agree. Is there anything special I can do or do you have any advice for me as to what I can eat/drink to gain more healthy weight? I would like to reach about 120 lbs. Thank you!
AnswerHi Jenny,
your story is very familiar to me. For a long time I was quite underweight; 96 pounds at 5'4". I struggled to put on weight. It can be done. My question is, do you just want to put on weight or do you want to put on muscle? When we gain weight it's either fat or muscle. Gaining fat is simpler than gaining muscle. It's calories in vs calories out. If you take in more calories than you burn in a day your body is going to store what you don't burn as fat (or use it to build muscle if you're training right). So in reality you don't need a shake, just more total calories. Foods with good fats pack in a lot of calories (natural peanut butter, dry roasted nuts, olive oil). There is nothing wrong with a shake though. Just know that it's not the shake that causes weight gain, it's more total calories.
If you want to gain muscle weight, it's a little different. Weight training, of course, is necessary. When you lift you would want to be lifting a weight with which it is tough to get 6-10 repetitions per set. Increasing the total resistance as often as possible is important, meaning either increasing the weight you are lifting or doing another rep or two. If you do decide to lift, shakes become important. A shake after a workout is very helpful. A good way to get a lot of calories in after a workout and start the muscle growth process is a shake like muscle milk, mixed with milk, and 3 or 4 tablespoons of dextrose. Whey and dextrose are the best carb-protein combo to start the repair and regrowth process.
I hope this had made sense. Really, it's a matter of more calories. I know that canbe really hard though. If you have any more questions for me please do not hesitate to ask.
Sarah
www.sarahpersonaltraining.com
