Tip Know Your Food Intake Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Diet & Fat LossEating Tip Know Your Food Intake Not making gains It' s probably more diet-related than training-related Here' s a reality check by Andrew Heming August 29, 2016April 5, 2021 Tags Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements, Tips In gyms all over the world, you hear the following conversation: Skinny guy: "I can't gain weight." Coach: "You need to eat more." Skinny guy: "But I eat a ton!" At this point, the skinny guy usually blows off the coach and walks off in search of someone else who will tell him what he wants to hear: "You just need to find a special, really complicated, super-scientific workout program." Too bad the coach didn't just demand to see the guy's food log. Keep a Food Log In the same way that the obese typically underestimate how much they eat, many so-called hardgainers overestimate it. They may feel like they're eating a ton, but if they actually crunched the numbers, they'd see that their intake is pitiful. Use a website, app, or an old-school notebook and track your food intake. Keep increasing this intake until your weight starts to climb. Unless you have a tape worm, you'll gain weight. Food Quality First Eating more calories isn't the whole picture. While "a calorie is a calorie" in a food incinerator that measures calories, it's not that simple when it comes to food and the human body. What you eat is just as important. Many hardgainers go all Michael Phelps and start pounding back junk food to get their calories in. Most will be able to gain quality weight with a lot fewer calories than that per day. If you only need 4,000 calories per day to be in a caloric surplus, then you can get the majority of these with high-quality foods. (If you want to use a "weight gainer" shake, make a healthy one, like this.) Make whole foods your dietary base. This base can also include natural calorie-dense foods (nuts, nut butter, dried fruit). Then, live a little and enjoy some treats. As a result of having the majority of your diet consist of high-quality foods, you'll gain less unwanted fat, have more energy for training, recover faster, reduce inflammation, and enjoy better health. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Diet & Fat Loss Tip Eating Crap For 2 Weeks Won t Affect You A new study shows the surprising effects of eating nothing but McDonald's food. Dietary Myth Busting, Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements, Tips TC Luoma December 22 Supplements Tip Take Curcumin Every Day Not only is it a great natural anti-inflammatory, it also has 7 other benefits. Check 'em out. Curcumin, Nutrition & Supplements, Super Health, Tips TC Luoma January 1 Diet & Fat Loss Carb Cycling That Actually Works Carb cycling doesn't work the way you think it works. But it can be used to preserve strength, energy and muscle while losing fat. Here's how. Carbohydrate Control, Diet Strategy, Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements Alain Gonzalez April 26 Eating The Smoothie Diet for Weight Loss or Muscle Gain Here's an easy, realistic, and economical way to lose weight or fuel muscle growth without all the diet math. Try the protein smoothie diet. Diet Strategy, Nutrition & Supplements, Protein Chris Shugart May 13