Help a Skinny Boy


Hi!

My pics say it all: I’m too skinny and seem to be predisposed to be that way. I’ve been going to gyms for years now and whilst it has certainly kept me fit and lean for a guy my age, (I’m 32), I haven’t developed nearly as much muscle as I would like. If I eat more I errm… shit more and my belly seems to be the only thing that grows bigger. Over the years I’ve tried protein shakes etc but admit I’ve not been religious about it. My problem is sorting my diet out as I seem to get big sugar lows which result in me eating too many sugary foods at the expense of green leafy vegetables… althouh I’m not diabetic but it does feel like it sometimes.

Today I ate a basic green leaf salad,1 large chicken breast with salad and then spoilt it with 3 teacakes!!! Recently I’ve been trying to get about 170g of protein per day but have been finding all these tins of tuna hard going. (I weigh 10st 2Ib and my BMI is low and I train 3 times per week). I’m concerned that if I put lots of weight on that it will all go on the belly???Here’s a couple ofpics of me; Any constructive help will be much appreciated.

More details on goals/diet/training program please.

And when I say details I mean details.

Vroom’s beginner thread would be a great place for you to start.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=640350

Thanks for the direction. I’ve printed off the 7 Habits to Nutritional and eEfective Eating and will put this into practice straight away. I won’t bore you with details of my existing training/ eating etc as I can see that it has in no way been focused enough.(ie, it’s crap).

Whilst I eat relatively well, (in comparison to the average person), I can see that I need to do a LOT more research!! I’ll stick to the 7 Good Habits Guide and return with a new pic/feedback in a month…Thanks.

[quote]rich1973 wrote:
Thanks for the direction. I’ve printed off the 7 Habits to Nutritional and eEfective Eating and will put this into practice straight away. I won’t bore you with details of my existing training/ eating etc as I can see that it has in no way been focused enough.(ie, it’s crap).

Whilst I eat relatively well, (in comparison to the average person), I can see that I need to do a LOT more research!! I’ll stick to the 7 Good Habits Guide and return with a new pic/feedback in a month…Thanks. [/quote]

That has to be one of the most smart and wise posts I’ve read over here in ages.

The guy is applying Shugart’s “Shut Up, Do Stuff” principle to the max.

Way to go and good luck.

[quote]rich1973 wrote:
Thanks for the direction. I’ve printed off the 7 Habits to Nutritional and eEfective Eating and will put this into practice straight away. I won’t bore you with details of my existing training/ eating etc as I can see that it has in no way been focused enough.(ie, it’s crap).

Whilst I eat relatively well, (in comparison to the average person), I can see that I need to do a LOT more research!! I’ll stick to the 7 Good Habits Guide and return with a new pic/feedback in a month…Thanks. [/quote]

Rich, with a good attitude like that and realizing you have work to do, you’re going to succeed! Good luck to you, and we’ll look forward to seeing your progress.

Umm…also you should post what your workouts are. It’s probably kind of obvious, but if you train something it should respond. So train harder or more frequently the stuff that’s appropriate to your goals. Like if arms is your big thing hit arms every couple days. I like short, intense workouts throughout the week.

Example:
Day 1
Chins
Farmer’s Walks
Curls
Tricep Extensions
Day 2
Squats
GHR’s
Back Extensions
Calf Raises 1 set of 100
Day 3
Bench
Curls
Tri’s
Abs
Day 4
Car Pushing
Good Mornings
GHR’s
Day 5
Jerks
Curls
Tri’s
Calf Raises 1 set of 100

Also if you have to force yourself to eat you are probably not working hard enough, hard training makes me eat like I’m constantly starving and I tend to get leaner and more muscular.

Your idea that you ruined your meal by eating three cakes is probably contributing to your inability to grow. If you are going to eat only clean food then you must eat inordinate portions.

We’ll need the conversion from stones to lbs so we can figure out how much you weigh and also your height.

Thanks for all your help and advice everyone. Oh, my height is 5ft 8 and my weight 142IB or ) 63kg. cheers

bench,squat,deadlift. Im perty sure you know how to workout after years at the gym as long as you use the big 3 yu wil increase youre T levels and will grow. but i don’t give a fuck how much you lift if you eat crap yull be crap … I would recomend you read every thing John Berardi has in this site you might have the macronutrients ratios wrong.

[quote]Mr. Bear wrote:
Your idea that you ruined your meal by eating three cakes is probably contributing to your inability to grow. If you are going to eat only clean food then you must eat inordinate portions. [/quote]

All you did was add cals. So what. The meal was not spoiled if you are bulking. What did you eat the other 23 hours in the day?

I’m a true skinny guy. For me eating was key and 90% of the bulking game. At your age you should put it on pretty easily with good religious food forcing.

[quote]rich1973 wrote:
Thanks for all your help and advice everyone. Oh, my height is 5ft 8 and my weight 142IB or ) 63kg. cheers [/quote]

BTW I was 5’-7" and 130lbs (Feb 2005) and in 18 weeks got to 165. I’m now 74kg and mildly ripped. I only worked out 4 hours per @ week 4x per week.

I fed 24/7 or at least all waking hours. I’m about to start it again and going for 175-180 in another 16 weeks.

Chicken, beef, tuna, milk and eggs. 1 or 2 of each should be most of all 6 meals each day in my case. Do seconds at dinner. Add 2 shakes …1 morning and 1 @ night.

Is it entirely the picture’s fault that one of your hips looks higher than the other and the opposite shoulder looks higher than the other shoulder too?

I realize the answer could easily be yes, but I wonder if you might have poor posture.

LOL …I had the camera on ‘time mode’ (ie I took the pic myself) and had to run to the other side of the room before it snapped! But having said that, yeah I’ve always had 1 shoulder that dips a little bit. This is so wierd, I’ve been eating really well the last couple of days and I’m FULL of energy so much so that I couldn’t sleep last night and I’m not feeling tired although I ache from my workout. Furthermore, I do feel like I can eat all day now that I’m not in the ‘sugar fix cycle’.