Gaining

Hello!

I'm very frustrated about a plateau that I just can't seem to get out of, and was wondering if anyone would have any tips on how to break out of it.

For the last six weeks I have been diligently counting calories trying to reach about 5000 a day. There has only been two or three days where I've failed to do so, and even then it's been 3500+.

The problem is that I'm not gaining weight. I weigh in once a week and the scale is stubbornly stuck on 110 kilos. I am 183cm tall.

My stomach feels fine and it doesn't feel like I'm suffering from maldigestion or some kind of food allergy.

I am just so bummed out. Eating this much is expensive and takes a lot of energy. Yet I'm not seeing any results.

Here's what a normal day of eating can look like:

Breakfast:
Two sandwiches and yoghurt

Lunch:
Pizza from a takeout place

Second lunch:
Mashed potatoes (made with heavy cream) and hot dogs

Gainer shake:
500ml heavy cream, 200ml milk, 200ml ice cream, 100g pineapples + A digestive enzyme supplement to help digest the fats

Dinner:
Some kind of food pie or frozen meal

Post-dinner snack:
200g cookies

The gainer shake alone is 2000 calories. I don't feel sick or nauseated after drinking it.

I just don't understand how it's possible to eat this much and not gain one single pound. I am nearly sedentary so I can't be burning that much off.

I have tried the following things:
- Skipping breakfast
- Decreasing fats and increasing carbs
- Eating more right before bed
- Eating LESS right before bed
- Switching out heavy cream with milk (essentially GOMAD)
- Light cardio and weight lifting
- Naps after meals

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Try losing ten pounds or so. People usually gain back more than they lost.

Yeah, maybe I'm "saturated" somehow.

On another site someone suggested adding maltodextrin to my heavy cream shake, since my shake is so high in fats.

Don't give up keep trying, it will come. Someone said about losing ten pounds, I don't think you have to do that. You could try backing off on your intake for a few days to mess with your metabolism.

This works for me when I hit a plateau.
I do a drastic diet for a week, like the egg diet as it shocks my system. I then hit it hard with high calorie days and the weight goes without any problem.

Really makes me wonder if that someone actually tried it.

Once I tried mixing in maltodextrin powder.. whether it's pure maltodextrin or is mostly it (like a lot of weight gain powders are), it seems to clump up SO bad when mixed with dairy fat. Forget about ever being able to drink it. I had to throw out the mix.

So unless there's some trick to it that I don't know, I can't imagine that working out very well.

An update if anyone stumbles upon this thread later on.

I fixed it!

It turns out my gainer shake was too large for me to digest properly. Most likely it was too high in fats, despite the fact that I take a lipase supplement.

Now I have bought three mason jars and pour my gainer shake into them in the morning. So, instead of drinking one large shake in one sitting, I have three smaller ones spread throughout the day.

Despite consuming the same amount of calories as before my plateau is now broken.

I am up eight pounds in about 16 days of doing this.

So far I don't feel the need to experiment with maltodextrin. I'm having a very stable weight gain.