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I am a 22-year-old eggetarian guy. I hate all non-vegetarian food, so changing my diet is not an option for me. I eat milk shakes, milk products, and eggs every day.

I have tried all protein milk, shakes, tofu, going to the gym, etc., but nothing has helped me gain weight. One year ago my weight increased from 52.7 kg. to 60 kg. After that my increase in weight stopped. I want to bring my weight up to 70-75 kilograms.

What can I do to achieve more weight with natural methods and without going non-vegetarian? I am in a sitting job in software, no field work. I weight 60kg with a height of 5 feet and 9 inches.

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  • @DaveLiepmann i am not doing any workout but i take milk shakes,milk products and egg daily. – Ankit Sharma Apr 22 '12 at 20:41
  • @DaveLiepmann i didnot know about paleo diet, so i need to google it first. – Ankit Sharma Apr 25 '12 at 20:20
  • Please provide you height/weight and activity level during the day. Do you have an active job or are you sitting behind a computer all day? If you are a student, do you walk or bike to classes? We really need more information. – Robert Kaucher Apr 25 '12 at 20:49
  • @RobertKaucher see the new edit – Ankit Sharma Apr 25 '12 at 20:54
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    Start with a dozen eggs a day, go up as needed to gain weight. – Wayne In Yak Jun 19 '12 at 1:10
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As said by others, to healthily gain weight (by which I guess you mean lean weight -- muscle -- and not fat), you need resistance training and to eat more calories, particularly protein calories. Those calories do not have to come from animal sources.

I'm doing a course right now on vegetarian & vegan nutrition, and my particular focus is on atheletes and weight trainers. There are a couple of texts you should get hold of aimed at the vegetarian bodybuilder: one by Robert Cheeke and Enette Larson Meyer. Both are easy to search and find.

One personal recommendation for muscle/weight gain nutrition is to try adding hemp protein to your diet -- from shelled seeds or powdered for shakes. This article is a gungho one touting hemp as the answer to all your bodybuilding woes, but more moderately phrased appraisals can be found here, and this page has good info as well.

From the article Hemp Protein for Muscle Growth by Pauline Robinson:

Hemp protein contains all 20 known amino acids including the 9 essential amino acids (EAAs) our bodies cannot produce. Proteins are considered complete when they contain all 9 essential amino acids in a sufficient quantity and ratio to meet the body’s needs. Hemp seeds contain an adequate supply of these high quality proteins (EAAs) for a well balanced diet.

Hemp protein is free of the tryspin inhibitors which block protein absorption and free of oligosaccharides found in soy, which cause stomach upset and gas....

When pressed and milled, the result is the perfect high performance vegetarian whole food which may be used in place of all protein sources or supplements....In fact, hemp Protein is not only very high in fiber, but is unique in the plant kingdom for its perfect balance of protein, fiber, and carbohydrates, making it easy to substitute into any type of diet.

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  • +1 Good answer & references rule. Quoting from the linked articles would make it a great one. – Dave Liepmann Jun 19 '12 at 14:56
  • Yes, you're right about the quoting -- just got a bit lazy there. – user3495 Jun 19 '12 at 14:58
  • ... edited. More info/quotes provided. – user3495 Jun 19 '12 at 15:09
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    Would +1 again but I can't! :) – Dave Liepmann Jun 19 '12 at 15:12
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Your body needs stimulus to grow. Then it needs food to fuel that growth. Working out without increasing food intake will cause you to get leaner and somewhat more fit. Increasing food intake without working out will make you bigger only by making you more fat. Neither of those are a good idea for your goals.

Here's what I'd do. I'd eat a lot more food than you currently do: at least three big meals a day, each with significant portions of animal protein. Shoot for at least a dozen eggs and half a gallon of milk a day.

But your body isn't going to be hungry, and isn't going to do anything useful with the extra food, if you don't tell it what to do. I'd start lifting heavy three times a week: barbell squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, overhead presses.

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  • one disadvantage is in my case is my bad stomach, i mean i cannot eat heavy food and i want to gain weight before re-starting gym – Ankit Sharma Apr 25 '12 at 20:01
  • @Jason_vorhees What kind of heavy food? What happens? Why do you want to gain weight before starting lifting, particularly since that approach won't work as well? – Dave Liepmann Apr 25 '12 at 20:03
  • i cannot hold heavy food for a long time in my stomach and i need to go to toilet after it. I want to gain weight before going to gym because i want to gain muscle size before shape. – Ankit Sharma Apr 25 '12 at 20:08
  • @Jason_vorhees I don't know what "heavy food" means. – Dave Liepmann Apr 25 '12 at 20:10
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    @Dave Liepmann, while I agree that the Paleo diet can be an excellent way to gain muscle, stay lean, and counteract common food alergies he hade it pretty clear he's not going to eat meat; which would mean no to Paleo. – Robert Kaucher Apr 25 '12 at 20:43
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I think it is a foolish idea to try and start eating more before you start at the gym. Resistance exercise should increase your appetite and muscle mass. You will likely need to consume around 2200 calories or more to achieve your goal weight. I am assuming you are around 5' 10" (around 177 CM). I would also suggest about 240 grams of protein per day. You are going to need to take a supplement. Whey protein isolate is low in fat and does not contain lactose. It should be ok for you to take considering your digestive issues.

As a second point, if you are not against eating meat for ethical reasons, I would suggest that you consider trying the Paleo Diet as Dave Liepmann suggested. I cannot offer you factual scientific evidence to support this as no studies have been done, but I have known several people who discovered that their digestive issues were in fact linked to gluten sensitivity and not to eating heavy or fatty foods. They tried Paleo Diet for 30 days and it completely changed them. I would be interested in knowing if Dave has anything concrete, rather than anecdote, he can add to this as I certainly do not...

For someone your age, I think it might be worth trying as it seems to be a good way to build some lean muscle in conjunction with a resistance training program. Otherwise you are just going to have to increase your protein intake to around 240 grams and ensure your are eating over 2200 calories per day in conjunction with a resistance training program.

Regarding your edits:

If you want to gain the weight, you need to eat the calories. My estimate was within the proper range for your height and weight. Ensure that you are consuming at least 2200 calories per day (and of that 240 grams of protein) and that you are doing so relatively evenly through the day. You may need to eat more and you may need to increase that as you get closer to your goal. You need to practice a resistance routine in conjunction with this or the weight you gain will be mostly fat. It is a biological fact regardless of how you feel or your previous experience. If your body does not have a need to store the additional weight as metabolically expensive muscle, it will not do so. The only other alternative is fat. If you want to start going to the gym as a "skinny fat" individual rather than just a skinny individual, that is your choice. Notice I am not saying weights, I am saying resistance. it could be a combination of pushups at different angles and hand positions, pullups, dips, and unweighted squats and lunges. But again, if your body has no need to store it as muscle due to your activity, you will just get fat. QED.

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  • I can't eat non-veg , so Paleo is no option for me, the idea behind gaining weight before gym is due to my past experiense with gym. – Ankit Sharma Apr 25 '12 at 23:23
  • @Jason_vorhees We have laid out methods for eating non-veg, and we have laid out the reasons for why you shouldn't try to gain the weight without also lifting. It's up to you now. We don't make the rules. We're just telling you about them. – Dave Liepmann Apr 26 '12 at 15:11
  • @DaveLiepmann anyways thanx for the help – Ankit Sharma Apr 26 '12 at 15:13
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    You don't have to eat non-vegetarian to gain muscle. But you do need to increase your protein intake and calories. But you also need to perform resistance exercises or the additional calories to take in will simply be primarily stored as fat. It's just a fact of biology. Fat is much less metabolically expensive and your body is designed by millions of years of evolution to be efficient. Muscle, if not needed, will not be built because it is metabolically expensive. Storing fat is the efficient alternative. – Robert Kaucher Apr 27 '12 at 11:52
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Along with your normal diet, you should eat eggs & milk. I'm a 5'10 ft 22 yr male, and my weight just increased from 52 kg to 55 kg in 2 weeks. I hit the gym every day at 5:30 pm and take 3 eggs and 1 ltr milk after the gym, and otherwise continue with my normal diet. Also I have some almonds and cashews in my spare time every day. Perhaps this can work for you as well.

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    Welcome to Physical Fitness. Writing personal anectodes is perfectly fine but perhaps you could modify your answer to reach a wider audience. For instance, why does your specific diet and exercise regime lead to the results the Op is looking for? – Evan Plaice Jul 30 '13 at 18:04

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