Nutrition: Gaining weight/ muscle myths

When trying to gain weight, whether this be for bodybuilding, getting up to a certain weight class for your sport, or simply trying to gain weight because you have bad eating habits of hardly eating that you want to get rid of.

Food is import for these desired weight gain goals, however the manner in which they are done is different to what people will think it would be.

If someone would want to gain weight they would typically eat high calorie dense foods, i.e. pizza, burgers, fries, ice cream, and etc. This is no way to healthily gain weight as it doesn’t provide macro and micro nutrients the body needs to perform at a higher optimal level and improve overall health. When eating calorie dense foods, it could also lead to increase in LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein) cholesterol, this is known as BAD cholesterol. This is what clogs your veins and arteries, restricting blood flow throughout the body causing many medical issues to possibly arise

The correct way to gain weight is to eat, clean good, whole foods and lots of it. This is fruits, vegetables, rice, chicken, meat. Nothing that is processed and that you can buy in a box because this has added chemicals and preservatives that would have adverse effects in the long term. With eating whole foods however, it will provide a good amount of macro and micro nutrients which is what the body needs to keep it healthy.

In terms of how much you would eat differs from person to person. The amount depends on your occupation (do you sit all day in front of a computer answering emails, or work construction on a job site?), level of activity, financially able to afford the amount of food you would need to consume, and what your BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) would be, and etc. All these factors play a role.

Your first step would need to be working out your BMR; then your second step would be calculating your maintenance calories and add 10% of that amount. This will cause you to gradually increase weight in a healthy manner, whilst eating good clean whole foods.

This is the simplest version of the blueprint to gaining weight healthily, whether it be for a sport or just a change in lifestyle, they still apply for both.

If you have any more questions on the topic feel free to email ronin@macromeals.co.za

You can also contact this email if you are looking for a personal trainer &/or affordable, tasty meal prep.