[jepp]

I don't have a problem losing weight, in fact I have a problem gaining weight. I didn't realized that I lose 15 lbs. untill I weighed myself on my recent vacation while working out at a gym. 15 pounds...that can't be! I started riding bike obssesively a year ago. Seriously, I bought a FS bike, then transformed my hardtail to singlespeed. I'm riding 8-10 hours a week (2 hrs on bike trainer, 2-3 hours on SS and the rest is FS riding on technical and steep trails). I pretty much eat anything, but process food.

Any healthy ideas on how to gain weight? I'd like my 10-15 weight back.

 

[Unknownrash]

You probably burned off all the fat you were carrying around. Who needs it? Seriously, you climb faster without it. Why do you think people are always trying to shave off weight on their bikes? Consider yourself lucky in that you can eat whatever you want and still burn it off!

 

[gunfodder]

easy solution

Eat more.

 

[Blue Shorts]

I don't have a problem losing weight, in fact I have a problem gaining weight. I didn't realized that I lose 15 lbs. untill I weighed myself on my recent vacation while working out at a gym. 15 pounds...that can't be! I started riding bike obssesively a year ago. Seriously, I bought a FS bike, then transformed my hardtail to singlespeed. I'm riding 8-10 hours a week (2 hrs on bike trainer, 2-3 hours on SS and the rest is FS riding on technical and steep trails). I pretty much eat anything, but process food.

Any healthy ideas on how to gain weight? I'd like my 10-15 weight back.

Now there's a problem I can't identify with. I sometimes need to eat more than I want if I'm training for a race, but the pounds I put on while hibernationg more than make up for it.

Consider yourself lucky. Sorry.....no suggestions excpt eat higher calorie foods.

 

[Kallisti]

Eat more often

My husband and I both have to watch our weight a bit - for just the same reason. The thing is, not everyone understands that it can be hard to hold onto weight for some people.
Here's what we do:
-eat more meals. We usually have breakfast (which is light), second breakfast (which is heavy), elevensies (light), lunch (heavy), 3:00 snack, 5:00 snack, dinner (moderate to heavy). Notice how the majority of food is early in the day, when we need it most.
-Go out of your way to preload with carbs the night before a big ride. I was shocked to find out that I need double the amount of daily calories for an epic ride. Literally, I usually have 2000 calories daily, but need to increase it to 4000 calories when I ride an epic.
- Have a high calorie, good snack always on hand. My husband's metabolism is lightning fast, so he always keeps cashews around, and I've come to know a certain expression on his face that tells me he could use some juice right away. I always have fruit on hand for myself.

We both went through dropping a lot of weight when we started to increase our activity levels. For me it was ten, for him it was fifteen. That was five months ago, and now we're both at comfortable weights again, using this method. Hope this helps.

 

[man w/ one hand]

Somebody better put this one under glass & display it. Ain't gonna be anymore posts like this. Seriously...Sounds like its time to hit the weights. The weight your wanting to put on is muscle. Building denser lean muscle is what we all would love to do. Take advantage of this obession before it disappears. It will one day. Hit the iron.

 

[dtmartin46]

man w/1hand is one billion percent right. Kallisti has good points, too.

Hit the weight pile, hard and heavy. Do that a few times a week, and make sure you eat a lot of good food. Sounds like you are already on top of that. That's the hard part. Now you need to get in to the gym. Weight lifting will add muscle, but extended bike riding will make you burn away muscle, unless yer feeding yourself. When you go ride, take a cooler filled with garorade, and a sandwich, or somethin to devour when you are done riding. Eat that GU stuf during your ride, too. This'll help your muscles recover after riding.

I am going to eat fricken voraciously this MTB season in an attempt to not lose any muscle mass... We'll see if that works.

 

[man w/ one hand]

Dosing up w/ amino acids within 45mins after extreme excersize will help build muscle mass. Listen to dtmartin46, over doing the excersize will burn away muscle after the fat is gone. Then you really start having problems. Too lean can be worse than too heavy. Don't let it get out of hand. Spend a' lil time workin' on the bikes & not over doing the riding... did I just say that out loud!! ....what am I sayin'.
Get a plan don't fly by the seat of your pants. Stick to it.

 

[Kallisti]

Good points all around

I should mention that my husband rock climbs 2x a week, and bmx's once a week. I hike mountains twice a week, and I'm just starting to bmx too.
Point is that we both do things that, although are not weight lifting per se, are anaerobic activities, that build muscle. Since we reallyenjoy these activities it keep us motivated. If you like going to the gym and lifting weights, then definitely go for it, but there are alternatives if you just can't deal with the gym thing.

 

[mandodude]

I'm a lean guy myself who has been trying to gain weight for years. It does take discipline to keep eating, and eating, and eating...

Here's a link to a calculator that tells you how many calories you should consume on a given day, depending on your activity, to gain weight:

http://www.johnberardi.com/updates/july262002/na_masscalculator.htm

 

[brado1]

Bread & Beer (Liquid Bread)

Bread & Beer (Liquid Bread) works for me! i'd be fifty pounds lighter (easy) if i could depart from the callings of both! but hey i'm having too much fun and strong enough to ride all day.. Just hope the bike can take it!

 

[daddy2]

What problem? You seem to be healthy, happy, and ride alot.
Don't worry about the 10-15lbs. If you need the weight you must eat and eat and cut down on all the cardio. Also, take some safe additional supplements like Whey protein and lift heavy weights with low reps.
Eat, lift, and ride. Sounds good to me.

 

[abegetchell]

I have the same problem.

When I got into mountain biking last year I dropped twenty pounds over the span of three months. I didn't like being as skinny as I was and realized I wanted to put the weight back on. The easy solution was to eat more. I don't mean cram icecream and candy down your throat, but eat more of what you're already eating. I gained ten pounds back and am happy where I am now.

 

[zenorb]

Method 1
Step 1) Start taking ultragen after your rides. This will replace ~300 of the calories that you blew while riding.
Step 2) Start eating more. Include more fat and protein in your diet. Have a Ribeye once a week. A 12-16 oz ribeye has over 1000 cal. Put with a twice baked potato and corn on the cob - you just can not get much better. Use real butter too. mmmmmm butter.
Step 3) Do some different exercises. Lift weights to build lean muscle mass.
Step 4) On your rest days (you do have rest days yes?) actually rest.

Method 2 (see step 4 above)
Step 1) Sit on your ass and drink beer. Nothing low cal like Guinness or Amstel light. Bring in the big hittters like an IPA.
Step 2) Repeat Step 1

Method 3) Turn 30

Congrats on your lean problem. Anytime you want, I'll trade problems with you. It really is kinda like hearing Bill Gates whine that he isn't able to spend his money fast enough.

Edit:
Adding a thought:

People can eat only so much - if you are eating like mad and still losing - look at the calorie density of your food. Eat more calorie rich foods. You have been told all your life that red meat is bad, chicken is good.... guess what? That is for the average person. You, my skinny friend, are not average. Scalops? Great! Wrap those puppies in bacon! Eat some beef and whatever else you might want. Eat desserts. Just have your blood tested yearly for cholesterol etc..

FYI:
10 years ago I was heavy into kayaking. Had the same issue you do. I ate like a horse. Then I got hurt. Blew out both shoulders and had to stop boating. Kept on eating tho....If you ever stop exercising, watch what you eat - it may come on all too quickly.

 

[ignorant]

http://www.fitday.com/

i was using fitday to track everything. Kinda of a pain to setup but once you do you're golden.

I was skinny and strong, then I got married... and by that I mean I let myself go do to a lack of dedication. Time for me to start hitting the iron again.. I'll get back to deading 400 sometime soon..

To build mass, do exercises that involve multiple muscle groups with free weights, i.e. deads, squats, curls, bench, pullups(weighted or unweighted), military press, and dips(again weighted or unweighted). simple 2-3 a week day workout routines, will really beef you up pretty fast..

 

[RobW]

We usually have breakfast (which is light), second breakfast (which is heavy), elevensies (light), lunch (heavy), 3:00 snack, 5:00 snack, dinner (moderate to heavy).

What're you, fricken hobbits?

 

[zenorb]

Wow Ig, that fitday program looks really nice. I'm going to try it. Thanks. (Of course... I am going the opposite way =))

 

[tlg]

I take it you haven't watched Supersize Me?

Oh, you said "any healthy ideas on how to gain weight?". Nevermind.

 

[bmateo]

If you are truly eating like a horse and loosing weight, you might check your family history for Cystic Fibrosis. Sounds like this is not your case, but it is a classic sign.

Other red flags:
do you sweat a lot
is your sweath extra salty
do you have a recurring cough/cold/allergies?


Like I said, it is not likely that you have CF, but it is the first think I think of when someone says "I eat like a horse and loose weight". If you have any doubt, you should check it out with a Dr.

 

[trailrash]

Method 3) Turn 30

Amen to that. I was the same weight from age 18 to age 29, and that includes all the damage I did to my body in college...fast food everyday, cases upon cases of beer, etc.

It seemed like the minute I turned 30, my gut started getting bigger. Now, I can't seem to get the fat off. You're a lucky man, jepp.