Gaining Weight for Women

Jason Donaldson · 08-22-2007, 06:44 PM

G'day guys

I have a mate who is trying to put on a few kilos. She presently sits around the 48-50kg mark and is built like a marathoner. All ribs!!

She is trying to fall pregnant (no I'm not helping with that part, although I have offered!! LOL!) and needs to put on some weight, both fat and muscle.

I know diet is a huge part of it and I've advised her on what to eat and to eat a truck load of it. She is a very fussy eater and has trouble getting enough food down so the diet side of things is a battle in itself.

Now in regard to training, she loves doing metcon CrossFit workouts that involve running. I'm trying to direct her more towards a ME Black Box or a Starting Strength type program, but she really dislikes the iron.

So what I'm after is any suggetsions on how I can make this enjoyable for her and help her reach her goals. Apart from telling her to stop whinging, lift heavy stuff and eat heaps. (Done that and she just got cranky with me! WTF!!)

Mike ODonnell · 08-22-2007, 07:55 PM

of course the answer is simple....eat more and burn less calories/workout less (esp cardio activities).

For some reason I am guessing she comes from a joggers or distance runners background? Most are usually very light and have low muscle mass. If so explain that excessive exercise does not burn fat but rather just breaks down her muscles. Keep her workouts shorter if she refuses to stop. Of course resistance training is required. That and eat, eat, eat. Easy way to pack in the calories is fat, fat, fat. Jump on almond butter, nuts and forget anything that is low fat...get full fat.

Greg Everett · 08-22-2007, 09:08 PM

what Mike said. Whether or not she likes it, she needs to eat more (lots of quality protein and fat) and lift big heavy things a bunch (unless she just wants to get fat). There's no arguing those points there, so either she gets over it and gets on with it, or she is wasting her time.

Steven Low · 08-22-2007, 11:11 PM

Or you could've just said:

+food = +weight

Jason Donaldson · 08-24-2007, 05:41 AM

Thanks guys.

Pretty much as I thought. Shove food in her gob to stop the whinging and then give her something heavy to lift!!!!

Cheers

Shannon Clark · 08-26-2007, 10:22 PM

I posted this in the nutritional section as well but maybe I'll ask here too.

For women and gaining weight, how possible is it to effectively gain weight while in ketosis? (say doing a TKD diet, with 50-60 grams of carbs around training and then another 30 or so during the day from vegetables/incidental carbs).

Are you really shooting yourself in the foot by not eating a minimum of 100 carbs per day before training is factored in?