Group for skinny people trying gain weight

[koala_bear]

Today I started exploring the community tab in the Fitbit app to search for groups of people in my category - thin, trying to gain weight, try to eat high calories.

But to my dismay there are groups only and ONLY for people to lose weight. I have no issues with that but what's surprising is the lack of other side of coin. In weight management, I see groups like Weight loss(50+lbs), Trim Down, Get Toned, Maintain not Gain.  But where are group where we want to gain weight !

Either I'm looking in the wrong place or somehow Fitbit community just doesn't have audience of my kind.

Can anybody help ?

[Dominique]

Groups are one thing, forums another. This forum is about managing your weight:

Although a majority of people come here for advice on or to discuss about weight loss, it’s perfectly OK to discuss maintaining or gaining weight. 

[WendyB]

Welcome to the forums!

You can set up your own group in the community tab for this. But the draw back is they are closed groups so you need to invite people to join. So if you know people that need to gain weight set one up and invite them.

If not then I wouldn't even set one up as it is not searchable

[emili]

@koala_bear to your point, the majority I think are looking to either lose weight or gain fitness. I think you can pose the question on the app in several public groups to see interest. If you get lots of replies, you have the startings of a new group. If not very many are interested, you will know and maybe create a small group with just those folks. You can post in daily activity, the healthy eating ones and maybe even the work one. I think the rest are folks who wouldn't be interested in gaining weight. 

[Bill_k]

Probably not much demand for that here. I can gain 2 pounds just walking by a cinnabon store.

[Dominique]

@Bill_k : gaining weight on purpose may sound easy ("all you have to do is eat more"), but doing it sensibly / in a controlled manner can be challenging. It certainly is for me, as you can see from the green curve below (what I call my "dirty bulking" could certainly be less bumpy):

There could be demand for discussions on the subject.

[Ismailatique]

Hello Koala, I am looking to speak to some people who are skinny and underweight to understand their challenges for a project I am working on. Would you mind if I ask you a few questions? It wont take more than 10 mins. Feel free to email me. Thanks!

[Mattyyey]

It's worth pointing out (as the Fitbit android app makes very clear) that the food tracking does NOT work for gaining weight. It will only ever tell you how to eat enough to maintain your current weight. However, the graph does show when you are over eating, so I suppose you can still technically do it.

Now this can still be very helpful, as I was eating 3500 a day and thinking it was enough, but as a gym goer AND a long distance runner, the app has informed me that some days (when some extra long runs) I need to eat closer to 5000 calories! Wowsers. I was shocked, but with 30,000 steps a day maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

I also find the food tracking helpful for making sure I get at least 1g of protein per kg of bodyweight (minimum). So I need 140g of protein a day anyway. Not all protein is the same however. bioavailability is important. As not all protein sources has a balanced amino acid profiles.(Vegan diets especially). Steak and whey protein shakes with milk are my go to for that.

In the last 2 years I've gone from 52kg to 65kg, and still maintaining 15% body fat. My aim is to get to 70kg. 😎

[Meadecuba24]

I desperately need help gaining weight, I have gone from 135 to 101 lbs. I'm so upset I eat as much as I want and then some.  So PLEASE IF ANYONE CAN HELP IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANK YOU 

[Mattyyey]

@Meadecuba24 

You need to figure out WHY you are loosing weight... It could be doing little. It could be not eating enough. It could be burning way more than you think (that was my problem in the past). The Fitbit data will give you the hints on this. Also... It could also be health problems/illness. Not to scare you but that is a possibility too

use the fitbit to monitor your food intake and calories burnt. Don't rely on snacks / sugars to get those numbers up. Have 'real' meals. That makes sure you're not in a calorie deficit. Preferably eating too much according to the Fitbit. Next make sure you're getting enough protein. 1g to 2g per kg of bodyweight. 

That solves the weight loss.

To gain back what was previously lost, you need to exercise. Could just be walking, or go full on at the gym.

If you want to share some of your health data, we could give less generalized advice....