r/weightgain

I'm going to preface this by saying I've tried everything,and I mean EVERYTHING to gain weight naturally. I've sometimes counted 3-4k calories in one day,I've done weight lifting for a bit and I've gained like barely 5kgs from it. My starting weight was 45kg at 165cm height,I'm now around 50kg but I want to get to at least 55-60kg. I've always been told I have a genetically fast metabolism,but it's fast to the point of nothing ever staying in my body. I have problems with iron because of it,but that's easily fixable with diet and supplements. I've also been told it's because of my age (18F). I'm really lost on what to take to slow my metabolism even by a little (I've read about antihistamines,antidepressants,even prenatal supplements) and doctors usually write me off as lucky for being skinny. Please help !

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I am a 25-year-old male currently weighing 46 kg, and I am finding it incredibly difficult to reach my goal of 52 kg. My metabolism is extremely high, and despite trying to eat "heavier" meals for almost a month, I am not seeing any visible changes. I am hitting a significant wall because of a few specific constraints. My stomach is quite sensitive, and I have found that direct buffalo milk or high protein milk and standard protein powders trigger immediate digestive distress and loose motions, making supplementation very difficult for me. Additionally, I have a peanut allergy, which rules out many common calorie-dense snacks, and my work schedule makes eating multiple frequent meals throughout the day impossible. As a non-vegetarian who only consumes eggs, I am limited in my protein sources and need suggestions on how to achieve a calorie surplus without triggering my digestive system or requiring an unmanageable eating schedule. Has anyone else been in this position, and what are some calorie-dense, easy-to-digest foods that could help me finally see some progress? I would appreciate any tips or strategies that have worked for those with similarly high metabolisms and delicate systems.

M 25, 70kg looking to add 10kg, i am eating 3 meals a day and i am looking to add shakes between meals, is anyone using them to add weight ? If so what are you adding.

21, 5’9/10, 100lbs, Female. I’ve always been skinny, in highschool I stayed around 120lbs. I had a baby a year and a half ago and still breastfeed at night. I eat all the time, 3 meals a day + snacks, I’ve always ate a ton and for the most part I try to eat healthy. I’ve started working out a little at home and drinking protein shakes, but I also did that my senior year of highschool and it didn’t do much, it turned my very little fat into muscle but I never really gained anything extra. I’m tired all the time, I can barely do any activity, and I struggle to hold my own kid or be active with him. I realized after I had my kid that alot of this is caused by how skinny I am. I have stomach issues, I have to take MiraLAX daily, doctors tell me to just eat more but I’m practically eating every second of the day. Lots of yogurt and fried rice, beef, fruits and veggies, oatmeal too. I don’t like chicken, nuts, white rice or peanut butter. Also a lot of not healthy foods here and there too, I have a pretty bad sweet tooth 😅. I started a multivitamin today because I probably need it and I’m trying to drink more water. I did creatine in highschool but wasn’t sure if that would help me and just took it because others did. I can make my own calorie/protein shakes but wasn’t sure what’s best and I’m so picky, everything I see has peanut butter and nuts in it and I cannot stomach those. I do like pb & j sandwiches and try to eat 2 a day to get some peanut butter in my diet but not sure if that helps much.

“Bulk” or recomp?

5’3, 19F, 107lbs, lightly active! I think my maintenance is around 1700kcal. Currently I’m eating 2230kcal a day. I’m handling it pretty well, but I need to make decision 😭

I don’t know if I should start lifting now or wait until I reach my goal weight to start. I’m doing pretty good with the surplus I’m in now, but I know that lifting will put me in even more of a needed surplus that I don’t know if I’ll be able to stomach. Though it could also be nice to bypass the bloated period and just build muscle as I go. Either way, I still plan to lift after I gain the weight. It’s no problem of building a habit, I just don’t know what’s best to do right now

Any opinions? Thanks :)

F, 19, 5’6”, 100lbs. i have been very underweight my whole life. i have always struggled with having no appetite.

i want to start by saying that i know the only way to gain weight is by eating in a caloric surplus.

i tried to gain weight a while ago by eating in a 2-300 calorie surplus for 8 weeks or so. while i did manage to put on a few pounds, every day i felt nauseous and sick trying to eat enough. i thought that my appetite would increase over time and that id get used to eating more, but i just felt awful.

i had never considered it could be a medical issue until recently, so i recently went to the doctor to get blood work done… thyroid, anemia, nutritional deficiencies… and they called me a day later and let me know that my labs were completely fine.

i feel stuck, but i feel weak and tired and im insecure so i dont want to live like this anymore. i am extremely aware that eating in a calorie surplus is THE ONLY way to gain weight, but im just asking for tips from others about how i can increase my appetite so i dont feel sick trying to eat 2-300 calories over maintenance. exercise? eating on a schedule? what foods did you go for/avoid? man, i just wanna gain like 20 frickin pounds.

what helped increase your appetite the most?

thank you for any responses <3

17M 183cm/6ft 60kg i want to gain about 5kg weight but i dont really enjoy eating big meals, i feel hungry pretty often but i cant bring myself to eat, i think i have fast metabolism because i eat pretty much the same as my family but it doesnt feel like enough

I m 24 M want to gain weight by increasing calories intake. What are the options

My weight being 57 kg height 5'8

Any suggestions?

I am gaining weight successfully and I also am eating all my calories . It's Just that when I see it all (at once / in a plate) my mind goes crazy and my appetite goes away. I do eat half and half so my mind doesn't play these tricks. Idk why I feel this way ? I was underweight so maybe ...

I had to eat a tons of snacks every 2 hours to finally eat because I was alwyas starving and barely eating. I got my appetite back. Now I think I can do bigger meals and make my life easier but I can't

Im 18F, 5'1 height ~36kg weight. Can someone pls make a good diet plan. I eat veggies and in non veg i get to have chicken and eggs sometimes.

I feel really insecure abt my weight nowadays and everybody's just taunting me..

So I've 17M height 5'8 been under weight my whole life and I've recently been trying to gain about 15-20 lbs to reach about 130-135 lbs, and I'm just wondering what some good high calorie dense snacks are, mainly cause I don't want to have to cook and price is a slight issue.

about a year ago i set out a goal for myself to gain weight. I was at 46.5kg and decreasing and I am now at 53.8kg, now averaging gaining 1kg/month (5'6, 19F). I dont have a goal weight in kg atm.

I was more desperate to just see some meat on my bones rather than get swole or anything. skip to the end of this para if you dont care ab context: Ive always hated the gym. this guide does not include gym stuff although its always advisable to stay active of course. My physique was thanks to anxiety, not working out much, but mostly genetics. I tried a weight gain diet before and followed meal plans that worked for others, drank protien shakes daily and lifted heavy, but ultimately gave up because my appetite did not keep up with what i was forcing myself to eat. So, this guide is aimed at women who are trying to battle against genetics, arent super sporty, dont have a massive appetite and just wanna see the number on the scale go up a healthy amount.

so heres what helped me average gaining ~1kg/month:

1. indulging in the foods you like

all the weight gain meal ideas i saw/tutorials all involved nasty amounts of unseasoned meat, oats, beef mince and protien powder. Idk about anyone else but i kinda hate eating that stuff, its like my least favourite genre of food after my first time attempting to gain weight.

Instead, I for example, love buttery foods, avocado, pastries, candy, canned food. Is it massively healthy? no. but neither was the trajectory of my weight at the time. Imo, the food you eat should first and foremost make you happy. Go for the foods that your body is calling for. indulge! even if it isnt the most calorie heavy food, your appetite will increase soley from indulging more regularly.

For this to work, its important that you at least have a say/control what the weekly shop looks like.

2. Olive oil

Switch to olive oil. It has health benefits, anti inflamatory effects and is an effective form of healthy calories. Its super easy to just drizzle it on your meal at the end of preperation and tastes amazing.

some other ideas for using olive oil in meals: using it as your cooking oil for eg eggs, drenching ur salads in it, dipping bread in it as a snack, drizzling it in your pasta, if you make shakes its an easy tasteless ingredient.

3. relationships & stress

this is certainly not the most accessable piece of advice but one cannoy deny it...

being in a happy and stable relationship will massively lower your baseline anxiety. As women, we internalize our stress more. High cortisol and adrenaline can supress hunger and speed up metabolism. Even if youre not anxious as a person, mood and appetite are heavily connected, and that boost of happiness you get from a loving partner will for sure make a difference.

Stress can still take place outside of a relationship for sure, but having a partner there for you does give your nervous system some retreat that on the baseline level makes a massive difference.

4. divided portion tray

I got one of these metal ones, deep sections, not the shallow cafeteria ones. This helped me in a low effort way, ensure i was hitting all the food groups in a meal. the big section: carbs, round section: meat, 3 small sections: other protien, two veg (usually cooked). This is the typical formula id follow for all my meals.

This made big meals a lot less daunting to clean up after, and the deep sections (as opposed to like a plate) made it seem like there was less food than there was, making the large amount that i was eating look less overwhelming.

5. sport

Hate the gym? me too (I'm working on it). pick up a team sport on a regular basis. The team part is important becuase it feels like (weather or not this is the case) you are being held accountable to regularly attend. Also team sport is good for you blah blah blah. your appetite wont pick up if you dont get your heat rate going somehow. even on a week where practice has been cancelled, I find that just as instantly, my appetite will dissapear. It doesnt need to be much excersize, but one hour on the same day every week will make all the difference.

BONUS TIPS:

- put on something to watch while eating, it distracts you from how full you are if you are trying to increase meal size/appetite

- one meal a week, that's heavy, dense, calorie rich and the same every time. I do steak, mash and gravy! saves on decision effort and if your food is different every week, keeps you in the routine of eating in a calorie surplus if that makes sence

- stock your fridge with more food that doesnt need cooking

- learning how to make and meal prep a good jammy boiled egg is a game changer

- your appetite wont increase no matter how much you try if you stay at home all day every day

- if you struggle w 3 meals a day, do 2 big meals + snacks

- medical 🍃 for appetite

Okay i hope you enjoyed my wight gain cheat sheet i rlly just infodumped everything thats been floating in my head ever since i started to notice progress. I wanna note also, that in increasing your appetite/meal size, you may experience uncomfortable bloating especially if you are doing this from an underweight state. remember to drink lots of water, eat foods that help you poop, drink herbal tea, and dont lie down straight away after finishing a big meal. my idea for this method of weight gain is eat food that make u happy, happy u = more appetite, more appetite = more food, more food = more weight gain!

I'm v happy to answer questions but pls be nice this is my first post on here...

M29, 5’3”, 100 lbs. My metabolism is high as is, and have to force myself to eat most times. Just wondering if there’s others with this issue and what I could do to overcome it. Thanks

I'm 5'9, 19 yr old male, current weight is 53 kg.

I've recently started bulking as I'm underweight. My calories intake before was \~1200 (yes that quite low, I ate like two times a day, I don't really like eating a lot) but now my daily calories are around \~2500. I wanted to know if this sudden jump is okay or causes any side effects. I haven't noticed anything other than my stomach being a bit upset and light belly pain every week that lasts around 20-30mins.

I was sedentary before, but now I've started gym and the workout is pretty strong.

A detailed description of my intake daily is:

\~2.5k calories, \~150g protein, \~40g fiber. I have around 5 meals, 3 before gym and 2 afterwards.

If I'm doing anything wrong please guide as I'm a noob.

How did you gain weight naturally?

I'm 23 years old, 5'11", and my weight has been around 52–55 kg for years. No matter how much I eat, I don't seem to gain weight.

I don't want a muscular body—just a healthy weight and a better body shape.

If you were naturally skinny and managed to gain weight, what worked for you? Any food tips, workout suggestions, or daily habits that helped?

I'd really appreciate your advice. 🙌