From: Scott.Johnson@FtCollinsCO.NCR.COM (Scott Johnson)
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: weight training and weight gain
Date: 8 Sep 92 09:10:30 GMT
Reply-To: Scott.Johnson@FtCollinsCO.NCR.COM
Organization: NCR Microelectronics, Ft. Collins, CO
In-reply-to: U59985@uicvm.uic.edu's message of 5 Sep 92 03:18:18 GMT

>>>>> On 5 Sep 92 03:18:18 GMT, U59985@uicvm.uic.edu said:

>> I have a question on weight gain. What is the best way to gain weight safely? I
>>  know the word "best" means many things to many people. What I want to know is
>> a safe way to gain weight, and keep it, over a reasonable amount of time.

>> I read another post that advised to go to a gym and work out. I have been doing
>>  this for the past month. I think I'm beginning to hit upon the limit that work
>> ing out will do. I think I'm going to need some change in my diet. I would like
>>  to avoide the weight gainer's powder and pills and stuff like that. So I guess
>>  my question is what are some good diet recommendations? I mean in terms of cal
>> oric intake, carbohydrate quantities, protien quantities, etc.


I don't know if this is the best way or not, but I am currently taking a
nutrition class with a Registered Dietician and this is how she figured it out
for me:

1)  Get your current weight in pounds and divide by 2.2 to get your weight
    in kg.
2)  Multiply by 24.  This is the amount of calories that a hospital would
    pump into you if you were lying in a bed all day just to maintain your
    current weight.
3)  Add another 30% for light exercise (for me this was having a desk job,
    walking 2-3 times a week for 1/2 hour, and 45 min of lifting weights
    twice a week), 40% for moderate exercise, and 50% for very heavy.  I don't
    have the definitions of light, moderate or heavy (but then again neither
    does the FDA when you talk about labeling, so I guess I am acceptable :-)
    This is the total calories you need to maintain your current weight.
4)  Add 250-500 calories.  This is APPROXIMATELY good for 1/2 to 1 lb. of
    weight gain a week.  So now you have your total calories for weight gain.
    Now you need to break it down into what foods.  Her recommendation is
    (which is based on AHA, ADA, and others):

    60% carbs
    20% pro
    20% fat
      1/3 from poly unsaturated
      1/3 from mono ""
      1/3 from saturated

    Note that these numbers are in CALORIES not weight (like meat and milk
    products).

5)  The program is based on exchanges.  The basics she said I needed were
    3 milk exchanges (1 = 1 c. skim milk)
    4 vegees (1 = 1/2 c. vegees)
    5 fruit (1 = 1 sm. to med. fruit)
    Then you figure out your protein, starch (carb) and fat exchanges based on
    your total calories and what is left after the basics.

6)  Carbs:                         Example:  (3000 calories/day)

     0.6 X total #                  .6 x 3000 = 1800 calories
     / 4 cal/gram		    / 4 c/g   = 450 grams
     - 12 g/milk exchange	    - 36 3 milks
     - 5  g/vegee exchange	    - 20 4 vegees
     - 10 g/fruit exchange          - 50 5 fruits
                                              = 344 grams
     / 15 g/carb exhange                      = 23 carbs

    Note that the aboves are all approximations of course.

7)  Protein:

    0.2 x total #                   .2 x 3000 = 600 calories
    / 4 cal/gram                    / 4 c/g   = 150 grams
    - 8 g/milk exchange             -24 3 milks
    - 1 g/bread exchange            -23 23 breads
    - 1 g/vegee exchange            -4  4 vegees
                                              = 99 grams
    / 7 g/exchange                   /7       = 14 exchanges

Note that 1 oz. of meat is approximately an exchange for pro.  Also note that
there are lean, medium, and high fat meats which contribute to the next fat
exchange.

8)  Fat:

 
    0.2 x total #                    .2 x 3000 = 600 calories
    / 9 calories/gram                / 9 c/g   = 67 grams
    -3 g/meat exchange               -42 14 meat
                                               = 25 grams
    /5 g/exchange                    /5        = 5 fat exchanges

You can see that you don't get much fat at all when a teaspoon of margarine or
butter is 5-7g fat itself.  So even on weight gain, too much fat is a no no :-)
One other thing she told us about was that no one, no matter what your weight
gain goal, should have more than about 8 fat exchanges per day.

By the way, the above method works exactly the same for weight loss.  Except
in step 4, subtract 250-500 calories a day.  (Basically 1lb of fat = about
3500 calories.  You don't want to lose more than 1/2lb to 1lb of fat a week
or else your body is tricked into thinking it is in starvation.  Yo-yo dieting,
etc. etc.  I'm no expert, but this is why most quick weight loss programs don't
work permanently.  By subtracting 500 calories/day (7 * 500 = 3500) and doing
exercise, you should start to see a weight loss).

Anyway, this is a 10 week course, and we are in week 9 now.  I don't expect to
be able to tell you everything in 1 quick message.  But for a quick anecdote:
About 6 months ago, I started lifting weights.  I gained probably about 5
pounds in 4 months.  Ugh.  Since I started this program, in 8 weeks I have
gained about 8 pounds.  No fat either.  The best thing in my opinion is that
if I do hit this age that everyone says I will start gaining weight easier, I
am already on a nutritious way of eating so it should be very easy to control
however I want it to.

Also, notice that all of the calculations are based on a starting weight, so
as you gain or lose weight, you need to periodically re-do the calculations.
(i.e. if you gain weight, you now need more to maintain it, so you need to
increase your intake even more, visa versa for losing weight).

Hope this helps some people.  There are a lot of schools of thought out there,
and I am not the expert.  Just passing on some information that I found very
useful for me.  (BTW, of the 8 people in the class I am the only one using it
for gain, others are for loss or just better eating habits.  So far works for
all).  One final note she always stresses at the end of every class.  Variety.
Since there are so many schools of thought, and they are all always changing,
the best thing you can do is get a lot of variety to get nutrition we don't
even know about or understand yet.

-Scott
--
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which case they are yours and I denounce all responisbility).
GA to SK
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition,rec.food.veg