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VERIFIED CONTENTAuthor: Aleksandra Żyłowska-Mharrab, dietitian, food technologist, educator

Trying to gain weight is definitely less frequent than trying to lose weight, but sometimes it is definitely more difficult. Do you think you eat a lot and you can't gain weight? Find out why this is so, what mechanisms govern it and what to do to gain weight easier.

Why do I eat a lot and can't gain weight? How many times have you asked yourself this question? There are many factors that may contribute to the fact that your body defies dietary rules and patterns, and that trying to gain weight is not easy. First of all, any he alth problems that affect weight gain should be ruled out. However, if your body is functioning properly, there may be other causes of a lean body in your opinion if you eat a lot of food.

What to do to gain weight?

Before we start analyzing the reasons that may impede weight gain, let's consider what you need to do to gain weight.

To put it simply, for body weight to grow (and not only in adipose tissue), you need a caloric surplus - you eat more calories than you consume - and resistance training that stimulates the growth of muscle mass.

Whether or not you eat more calories than you consume isn't that obvious. You may think that you are eating a lot. You may eat a lot compared to your friends or partner, but for your body it is not necessarily "a lot".

Each body has different energy needs and uses different amounts of calories for the same activities, so it's hard to estimate how many calories you actually need.

The formulas for basic and total metabolism are unlikely to be helpful here, as they do not take into account what is likely to cause weight gain problems - that your body uses more calories than the average.

How do I know how many calories my body needs?

The best method to estimate the body's energy needs is the "experimental" method. It takes some patience and discipline to be effective.

What do you have to do? Weigh at the same time each day for at least a week and record the results. If you are menstruating, choose a date for your measurements right after your period ends, so that the results are not distortedfluid retention due to cyclical hormonal changes.

At the same time, on the same days, use the application to note down exactly everything that you ate. Really everything, every bite of food and a sip of juice. This is quite a pain, but only keeping an accurate record of how many calories you are actually consuming in the course of the day.

You may find that the amount is not as large as you think. Check each day how many calories you have eaten, and at the end of the week take an average.

Watch your body weight every day. If it is relatively constant (small fluctuations of 100-200 g per change up or down indicate the stability of the body weight), it means that the amount of calories consumed by you is similar to the body's energy expenditure.

If after one week your body weight is lower than the starting one, it means that you are eating fewer calories than your body is using. If your body weight gradually increases over the course of a week (days with a higher weight index than the week before, even very little, predominate), you are gaining weight, although you may not notice it yet.

Knowing the amount of calories you eat and their effect on your weight, add 15% to your calories if your weight is relatively constant or higher if you are losing weight. How much more depends on how much you lose weight with your current caloric intake.

Try increasing the caloric content of your meals by first 15%, then by 20-25% and watch what happens to your body weight. Don't forget to turn on weight training so that the calories eaten are not only converted into body fat.

Example

If you eat 2000 kcal a day and your body weight is constant, you should eat:

2000 + 20000.15=2000 + 300=2300 kcal

The caloric value of the gaining diet should be increased with increasing body weight. A heavier body with more muscle mass will use more energy than originally.

Make sure that your weight gain does not exceed 0.5-1% per week. Otherwise, you run the risk of gaining mainly fat. If you are putting on weight too fast, increase the intensity of your training, add cardio to your strength training or reduce the caloric value of your diet.

Now that you know how many calories you need per day, let's take a look at the possible causes that make you need to eat a lot to gain weight. I'll try to answer your question.

You don't eat as much as you think

Many people think that they eat a lot of calories because they eat more high-calorie foods than the people around them. Each of us hasa friend who could eat chocolate and donuts, but not gaining weight at all.

Perhaps you are the friend who is envied by all shapes and does not understand why you cannot gain weight.

In some cases, it turns out that such people actually eat a lot of sweets or eat pizza often. However, they eat a lot less of other foods and ultimately, in the daily balance, they do not eat more calories than the body needs.

The second situation when eating high-calorie products may be high spontaneous physical activity (spontaneous, i.e. non-training).

You may eat a lot of ice cream, but you walk several kilometers to work every day. Perhaps you have a small child who needs constant supervision and you hardly ever sit down a day. Perhaps you walk a lot at work, work standing up, run late to the bus.

It all adds up to spontaneous physical activity. It generates energy expenses that you are completely unaware of.

You have "thinness genes"

Genes account for 40-70% of the tendency to be thin or obese. Remember, however, that we are talking about a trend. Despite your predisposition, your thinness or obesity can be significantly influenced by your lifestyle and diet. So people with "thinness genes" are not doomed to be underweight, but they find it harder to gain weight.

To be precise, I must emphasize that in fact most of the "thinness genes" and "obesity genes" are the same genes, but in different variants and activated to different degrees.

As one researcher commented, thinness and obesity are genetically two sides of the same coin. If you have trouble gaining weight despite eating a lot, chances are you have variants of genes that predispose you to be thin and he althy.

One of these genes is the ALK gene, whose low activity is associated with thinness. Scientists found in one study that flies and ALK knockout mice remained lean and resistant to diet-induced obesity.

In addition, although ALK deleted mice had the same diet and level of activity as ALK gene active mice, they had lower body weight and fat content.

Studies in mice have also suggested that the lack of ALK activity stimulates the burning of more fat from the food.

ALK is just an example of the "slim-obesity gene". We have many such genes in DNA and it becomes clearer and clearer that we have less influence on our body weight than we think. Testsscientific evidence confirms that obese people have a greater genetic risk, ie have more "obesity genes", than lean people. And vice versa.

The tendency to be slim and he althy is inherited . This feature is passed on in successive generations. 75% of lean people have at least one lean parent. If you are from a lean family, possibly because of your genetic makeup, you burn more calories than other people.

Read more: Thin gene discovered!

You are an ectomorph

The body type depends on the close genotype-phenotype relationship. A genotype is a set of genes. It is responsible for physical features such as:

  • height,
  • amount of muscle mass and adipose tissue,
  • bone mass,
  • secretion of hormones
  • and many more.

Physical traits determined by genotype are visible in the phenotype, or simply put, in how we look and how our bodies function. The phenotype changes under the influence of external factors.

This means that by appropriate modifications you can affect many features of the body, including those related to the appearance of the figure. However, these changes only take place within a specific framework for which the genotype is responsible. Your body type is assigned to you in your genes and you cannot change it.

You can influence the appearance of your body, but due to the type of figure and the predispositions resulting from it, some things will be easier for you, others more difficult.

People who eat a lot and still can't gain weight are usually ectomorphs. Science describes ectomorphs as being very slim, tall, with a linear body shape, not too much muscle mass, low body fat, light bones, slim legs and arms.

In one of the sources we read: "Ectomorphs have a hard time gaining weight. It is characterized by a fast metabolism, burns more calories than the average. Gaining muscle mass for ectomorphs is difficult and frustrating. Even with resistance training, gaining muscle mass is slow and difficult. "

Ectomorphs are people who can eat anything, not get fat. Does the description suit you? Gaining weight will be easier if you use protein supplements, gainers, glutamine and creatine.

You suffer from something that makes it difficult to gain weight

Difficulties in gaining weight result mainly from genetic predisposition and body type or incorrect assessment of the amount of calories consumed (of course, I'm not talking about eating disorders, which are a major he alth problem).

However, it happens that problems withgaining weight do not result from the structure of the ectomorph or the presence of gene variants, but they appear as a result of diseases.

What medical conditions can make it difficult or impossible to gain weight despite eating a lot?

Hyperthyroidism

An overactive thyroid gland causes increased secretion of hormones by this gland. Thyroid hormones are involved in controlling many biochemical processes in the body, including metabolic rate.

People with hyperthyroidism usually have an accelerated metabolism and burn more calories compared to he althy people and themselves before the disease.

Type I diabetes

Untreated type I diabetes (usually in the pre-diagnosis period) is manifested by the secretion of glucose together with the urine and the feeling of a very high thirst. The urine of people with untreated type I diabetes is sweet.

Glucose from food is not used for energy, because the body does not produce insulin that metabolizes glucose, and its excretion in the urine causes weight loss - the body deprives itself of the source of calories.

Intestinal problems

Chronic diarrhea and inflammatory bowel diseases make it difficult for the body to absorb nutrients into the blood and use them.

People with intestinal diseases often say that "food passes through them" - it is not digested properly, a large proportion of valuable nutrients are excreted.

This contributes to the difficulty in gaining weight despite eating a lot.

What to do when I cannot gain weight?

If you are unable to gain weight, start by eliminating the underlying he alth issues. When you are sure that you do not get sick with anything, move on to establishing the caloric diet that is right for you. Eat more than your body needs while doing weight training. It is necessary for the weight gain to be not only adipose tissue.

Just because you can eat a lot doesn't mean you can eat sweets and junk food without your inhibitions. Food is supposed to nourish, don't forget it. Eat valuable products:

  • oily sea fish,
  • poultry with skin,
  • good cheeses and creams,
  • nuts,
  • avocado,
  • use oils and fats,
  • eat carbohydrates.

Of course, you can reach for home-made cakes, chocolate, eat pizza from time to time. However, don't forget that your meals should be dominated by he althy products.

If you have trouble getting a lot of calories from solid meals, drink protein shakes and gainers. Also, remember not to drink water just before a meal, so as not to take up valuable spacefood in the stomach.

  • The theory of energy balance - what is an energy balance?
  • Diet to gain weight, or how to gain weight?
About the authorAleksandra Żyłowska-Mharrab, dietician Food technologist, dietitian, educator. A graduate of Biotechnology at the Gdańsk University of Technology and Nutritional Services at the Maritime University. A supporter of simple, he althy cuisine and conscious choices in everyday nutrition. My main interests include building permanent changes in eating habits and individually composing a diet according to the body's needs. Because the same thing is not he althy for everyone! I believe that nutritional education is very important, both for children and adults. I focus my activities on spreading knowledge about nutrition, analyze new research results, and make my own conclusions. I adhere to the principle that a diet is a lifestyle, not strict adherence to meals on a sheet of paper. There is always room for delicious pleasures in he althy and conscious eating.

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Slimming